Need advice on fastest Skyrim build

[TheHorror]

Into: important points are bold

Hey all. So my CM HAF fell off my printer stand and knocked a bunch of stuff loose. I replaced the HD and its functioning fine but, well you know, any excuse to build a new rig... right? I was more than a little tempted to pick up an MSI GT70 ONE with some sick stats but my nostalgia for the soon-to-be-gone days of Desktop builds is still strong. And there's the fact that I tend to overspend for sick gaming rigs and only play Skyrim (over 1000 hours logged) most of the time. I did play Half-Life 2 all the way through and have lost years playing Diablo but these days its just Skyrim (play GTA on my PS3).

BUT, I love speed. And reading "more than adequate for most applications" makes me sick to my stomach. I want to build a rig that will wreck Skyrim without spending it all on my GPU... because I'm looking for overall, insane, speed.

Budget: I'd like to stay at 2k. I was willing to drop 2500 on the MSI but that was for portability and 2k should be plenty for what I want to do.

Do not need lots of storage. Last HD was 640 and that was more than enough. SSD or 10k all the way. I cloud and/or back up to external for most of my files/music.

Oh, and I try to build the quietest machines I can.

Current build:
Cooler Master HAF 932 (big slow fans = quiet and cool)
Corsair TX650 PSU
ASUS Crosshair IV Formula
AMD 1090T Black (run at 3.8)
Zalman cooler
Sapphire HD 6950
8 G RAM at 1333
SG 500GB HD @ 7200 (replaced WD Black to isolate problem after fall)
Windows 7

This build has been extremely stable, fast, quiet, and cool.

I can re-use parts except case. The fall broke part of the plastic off but it did surprisingly well considering it landed on a tile floor. Kudos to Cooler Master for building a solid case!

AMD or Intel build... I'm fine with AMD. Been looking at the 8350. Was thinking I7 but again... I'm open and if I can save money on the GPU to upgrade the SSD then I will.

Thanks for any input, and/or Skyrim specific info that can help steer me to a GPU that won't be overkill, but all that I need.

p.s. If we can sneak a nice, music oriented, sound card in that would be nice!

 

[manofchalk]

You dont need much in the way of an upgrade to make Skyrim run fast.
Better CPU because Skyrim is largely CPU bound, motherboard to go with CPU, larger heatsink to make it quiet. The real difference will be the SSD, especially with frequency of load screens in Skyrim (I put Fallout 3 on my SSD, its such a different experience when load screens are so common). 256GB so you can hold a decent game library along with the OS (you will need a new one), use that Seagate for everything else.

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant / Benchmarks

CPU: Intel Core i5-3570K 3.4GHz Quad-Core Processor ($189.99 @ Microcenter)
CPU Cooler: Noctua NH-D14 65.0 CFM CPU Cooler ($79.98 @ Outlet PC)
Motherboard: Gigabyte GA-Z77X-D3H ATX LGA1155 Motherboard ($128.98 @ SuperBiiz)
Storage: Samsung 840 Pro Series 256GB 2.5" Solid State Disk ($229.99 @ Adorama)
Total: $628.94
(Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available.)
(Generated by PCPartPicker 2013-04-24 20:37 EDT-0400)

 

[TheHorror]

You dont need much in the way of an upgrade to make Skyrim run fast.
Better CPU because Skyrim is largely CPU bound, motherboard to go with CPU, larger heatsink to make it quiet. The real difference will be the SSD, especially with frequency of load screens in Skyrim (I put Fallout 3 on my SSD, its such a different experience when load screens are so common). 256GB so you can hold a decent game library along with the OS (you will need a new one), use that Seagate for everything else.

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant / Benchmarks

CPU: Intel Core i5-3570K 3.4GHz Quad-Core Processor ($189.99 @ Microcenter)
CPU Cooler: Noctua NH-D14 65.0 CFM CPU Cooler ($79.98 @ Outlet PC)
Motherboard: Gigabyte GA-Z77X-D3H ATX LGA1155 Motherboard ($128.98 @ SuperBiiz)
Storage: Samsung 840 Pro Series 256GB 2.5" Solid State Disk ($229.99 @ Adorama)
Total: $628.94
(Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available.)
(Generated by PCPartPicker 2013-04-24 20:37 EDT-0400)

Different OS as in Windows 8?

Ugh... honestly that the only reason my MSI is still sitting in the box behind me. I am just... stubborn... when it comes to my my Windows 7. I didn't want to migrate from XP and this 8 is just...

I know, start buttons can be added, etc. I just don't feel like I have control over it and with 7 I know I do.

BTW thank you for the excellent feedback!

 

[manofchalk]

New OS as in "the old one will be invalid because of the new motherboard, so you need a new key which you can obtain by buying a new copy".

EDIT: You dont have to buy a new copy if you have the retail version. The key that comes with it can be used on multiple machines. However if you bought the OEM/Systems Builder version, you will need a new key as they are only valid on one machine (the key ties itself to the motherboard.

 

[TheHorror]

New OS as in "the old one will be invalid because of the new motherboard, so you need a new key which you can obtain by buying a new copy".

EDIT: You dont have to buy a new copy if you have the retail version. The key that comes with it can be used on multiple machines. However if you bought the OEM/Systems Builder version, you will need a new key as they are only valid on one machine (the key ties itself to the motherboard.

Ah, got it.

Can you explain why you didn't choose an I7 for the CPU? Given, there's more going on than just GHz but isn't 3.9 > 3.4?

 

[manofchalk]

The i5-3570k has a stock speed of 3.4Ghz, which then through Turbo Boost goes up to 3.8Ghz when its needed. The i7-3770k has a stock of 3.5Ghz, with a Turbo clock of 3.9Ghz.
In terms of clock-speed, both are about the same. Besides, the setup I made above can easily overclock well over 4Ghz.

What really separates an i5 and i7 is Hyperthreading. Each core of the CPU supports a thread, which can be likened to a stream of resources that programs can use. An i5 is a quad core, so it can support up to 4 threads. In i7 is also a quad core, but with Hyperthreading it uses any leftover resources from each core and uses them to create an additional thread, so a total of 8 threads.
This is great for multi-threaded programs that can use those extra threads. But games wont benefit much, very rarely will they utilize more than 2 threads.
An i7 will perform better for games, but its not worth the $100 over an i5.

 

[TheHorror]

The i5-3570k has a stock speed of 3.4Ghz, which then through Turbo Boost goes up to 3.8Ghz when its needed. The i7-3770k has a stock of 3.5Ghz, with a Turbo clock of 3.9Ghz.
In terms of clock-speed, both are about the same. Besides, the setup I made above can easily overclock well over 4Ghz.

What really separates an i5 and i7 is Hyperthreading. Each core of the CPU supports a thread, which can be likened to a stream of resources that programs can use. An i5 is a quad core, so it can support up to 4 threads. In i7 is also a quad core, but with Hyperthreading it uses any leftover resources from each core and uses them to create an additional thread, so a total of 8 threads.
This is great for multi-threaded programs that can use those extra threads. But games wont benefit much, very rarely will they utilize more than 2 threads.
An i7 will perform better for games, but its not worth the $100 over an i5.

Thank you sir.

 

[Brewda]

New OS as in "the old one will be invalid because of the new motherboard, so you need a new key which you can obtain by buying a new copy".

EDIT: You dont have to buy a new copy if you have the retail version. The key that comes with it can be used on multiple machines. However if you bought the OEM/Systems Builder version, you will need a new key as they are only valid on one machine (the key ties itself to the motherboard.

Call up Microsoft and tell them your mobo died and you replaced it. They should do it, at least they did with my friend.