Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim: PC Performance, Benchmarked
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Page 1:Can Your PC Handle The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim?
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Page 2:Image Quality And Settings
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Page 3:Test System And Benchmarks
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Page 4:Medium Detail, No Anti-Aliasing
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Page 5:High Detail, FXAA Enabled
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Page 6:Ultra Detail, 4x MSAA Enabled
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Page 7:Ultra Detail, 4x MSAA Plus FXAA
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Page 8:Ultra Detail, 4x MSAA Plus Transparent/Adaptive AA
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Page 9:CPU Benchmarks
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Page 10:Skyrim Scales Well On Slower Systems
Skyrim Scales Well On Slower Systems
Oblivion asked a lot out of hardware when it was released back in 2006. At its highest detail settings, Skyrim is certainly more demanding than its predecessor. To be honest, though, what you see as an improvement doesn’t seem commensurate with the hardware requirements. Thankfully, graphics and CPU technology have both come a long way in five years. And, for gamers with modest PCs, the game does a great job of scaling detail down to manageable levels without sacrificing too much visual appeal.
Skyrim simultaneously taxes CPU and GPU resources. So, if you’re looking to run at ultra detail settings using 1920x1080 and texture transparency AA, you need a Sandy Bridge-based CPU and a Radeon HD 6850 just to hit a 30 FPS minimum. For a smoother experience, consider a GeForce GTX 570 or Radeon HD 6970, or maybe even a dual-card setup. Nvidia hit us with its 285.79 beta driver capable of enabling SLI in Skyrim, while AMD claims its CrossFire driver is on the way. It's just a shame there's nothing to show the folks looking to play this game with a pair of Radeons at launch.
The good news is that you don’t need an uber-rig to enjoy the game. A 2.5+ GHz Phenom II matched up to a Radeon HD 5770 or GeForce GTX 550 Ti is enough to enjoy at least 40 FPS using high-quality details at 1080p, even with FXAA enabled to help smooth out the bothersome aliasing artifacts. That’s a reasonable requirement that probably won't necessitate many upgrades. Best of all, the result looks almost as good as ultra-quality details.
Gamers at the entry-level side of the spectrum should be happy to learn that a GeForce GT 430 or Radeon HD 5570 delivers a 35 FPS minimum frame rate at 1680x1050 using medium details. As settings drop, so do CPU requirements. So, any dual-core processor running at 2 GHz or more should be ample.
That covers the hardware requirements, but what about the game? If you loved Oblivion, you’ll love Skyrim. If you like RPGs but haven’t played Oblivion, you owe it to yourself to give this title a shot.
- Can Your PC Handle The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim?
- Image Quality And Settings
- Test System And Benchmarks
- Medium Detail, No Anti-Aliasing
- High Detail, FXAA Enabled
- Ultra Detail, 4x MSAA Enabled
- Ultra Detail, 4x MSAA Plus FXAA
- Ultra Detail, 4x MSAA Plus Transparent/Adaptive AA
- CPU Benchmarks
- Skyrim Scales Well On Slower Systems
Is this that new Scrolls game being made by Notch?
Looks like I'm both CPU and GPU limited with Phenom x4 and ATI 4870.
Well with a Athlon II x3 450 and an AMD 4850 512mb GPU w/6 gb's of DDR2 it seems to work fine. The game has picked "Ultra" settings when launching the game the first time. I haven't seen all of the settings that the game has selected, but the game looks pretty good and is running quite well. I haven't run any FRAPS on it, but it seems to be about 30-40 FPS, from what I can tell, which is good enough for me
Looks like I'm both CPU and GPU limited with Phenom x4 and ATI 4870.
Well with a Athlon II x3 450 and an AMD 4850 512mb GPU w/6 gb's of DDR2 it seems to work fine. The game has picked "Ultra" settings when launching the game the first time. I haven't seen all of the settings that the game has selected, but the game looks pretty good and is running quite well. I haven't run any FRAPS on it, but it seems to be about 30-40 FPS, from what I can tell, which is good enough for me
Just look at 6850/GTX460 and 6970/GTX 570. The 560 Ti and 6950 will be in the middle of those, closer to the higher end though.
But even if this game doesn't quite push the top cards, you gotta commend them for the great scaling! Some of the worst console ports doesn't even HAVE graphics settings, in other games the settings make little difference in the hardware needed, and based on these screenshots (if rather small, larger ones please!) the game looks almost as good if you turn the settings down some.
I bet you that CPU is plenty to push something like a 4850 with reasonable resolution and quality. I mean my old Core 2 Duo with a 2600XT managed to hack Fallout 3 fairly well at appropriate resolutions and quality settings.
So does the 6850...barely, but it does...
Would be good if we could just get charts for both games with max VRAM usage for cards with memory greater than 1GB for ultra and high settings at various resolutions...i know my 9600GT goes up to 800MB with BF3 set mostly to medium at 1024x768...
Sounds promising, even if I'll have to push it to 1920x1200.
I can do without AA but I'd like the action to stay smooth even (and especially) when crowded by opponents.
Is this that new Scrolls game being made by Notch?
I think Skyrim enables it by default and you have to either turn it off in an .ini file or force it off with the graphics driver.
How can this run on console hardware, yet so poorly on a more recent computer?
$$$