What do I need to maximize my Skyrim experience? (specs)

[NickYez]

Hi everyone,

 

First of all, I'm sorry if this is the wrong place to ask this.

 

Recently I've started to play on the PC, and have lots of fun modding Skyrim. I bought a pre-made PC from a website that sells parts and pc's, and I was wondering how I can get the most out of my system.

At the moment i'm getting around 30fps (which is fine for me since i'm used to consoles) with good settings. Since I'm still a newbie on the whole pc gaming, I wondered what I can change in the settings to improve the visuals (for example, today I learned about SMAA vs AA). I already have some performance boosters too.

 

Seeing all the amazing screenshots of other people I'm also wondering how I could efficiently upgrade my system to be able to play with all these great texture packs etc on really high settings

 

These are my specifications (had to translate some things, hope it's comprehensible)

 

Processor: Intel® Core™ i5-4440

Processor cores: 4

CPU frequency: 4x 3100 MHz

Cache: L1 4x 64 KB

L2 4x 256 KB

L3 6144 KB

Working memory 8192 MB DDR3

RAM 8 GB

Memory type DDR3-1600 MHz

Maximum memory 16 GB

Chipset Intel® H81 Express

Hard drive 1 2,5" SSD, TRIM Capacity120 GB

Details SATA III / 256MB

Hard drive 2 Capacity 2 TB

Details SATA III / 7200rpm / 64MB / 8,5ms

Graphic Type

Intel® HD Graphics 460

PSU: 450W

 

Thank you for reading!

Edited September 14, 2014 by NickYez

[gromulos]

I would definitely invest in a new GPU. You don't want your FPS to fall below 20 or scripts will not fire when they are supposed to. Also, with a 460 GPU you're going to have a very hard time using any mods that are high resolution, IE: Weapons, Armors, faces, and so on.

 

I have an Asus 6450 2 gig GPU and presently I get 33 FPS outside and 55-60 inside

[Valkasha]

You need a dedicated GPU. A gtx 770 should be affordable.

[NickYez]

Thanks for the advice! Are there any other budget friendly GPUs that I can look for on the 2nd hand market? It doesn't have to be the best of the best :)

[gromulos]

try this site, some of the moderators in the chat room use it themselves

 

http://pcpartpicker.com/parts/video-card/

[NickYez]

try this site, some of the moderators in the chat room use it themselves

 

http://pcpartpicker.com/parts/video-card/

Thank you for the website, though since I'm located in Europe I'm guessing it wouldn't really work out with the shipping

 

Edit: What do you guys think of the Geforce GTX 570? I found a second hand seller, price is 80€/100$, which is my max budget. The ad says it has 4gb, which should be really good, but I also don't find alot of info, so where these cards made with so much gb?

Edited September 13, 2014 by NickYez

[gromulos]

Amazon, is your best friend, look up that GTX 570 on Amazon and it should list the specs, also, you can check out the reviews on it, i personally won't buy anything if the bad reviews ( 1 star ) = > 20%

 

as for the website I linkd you, it all depends on each individual seller, so if you see something on pcpartpicker you want, just click the link and ask the seller, it can't hurt :smile:

 

One other thing to note, that GPU you found for $100, you stated it had 4 gigs of memory. BE VERY CAREFUL, I researched that card and the 4gb version is at least a $300 card, make sure the person you are dealing with can be trusted. IE: make the payment in a way that you know you are covered. Honestly, that card for $100 sounds too good to be true, just my opinion.

Edited September 13, 2014 by gromulos

[Valkasha]

 

try this site, some of the moderators in the chat room use it themselves

 

http://pcpartpicker.com/parts/video-card/

Thank you for the website, though since I'm located in Europe I'm guessing it wouldn't really work out with the shipping

 

Edit: What do you guys think of the Geforce GTX 570? I found a second hand seller, price is 80€/100$, which is my max budget. The ad says it has 4gb, which should be really good, but I also don't find a lot of info, so where these cards made with so much gb?

 

I used to have a gtx 570 1gb version before I upgraded to 780 ti, it ran Skyrim just fine, even with a light ENB and a lot of texture mods I got around 50 fps in most places and 60 fps in interiors, if that's really the 4gb version it should be perfect for Skyrim :smile: Could you post a link to the ad?

Edited September 13, 2014 by Valkasha

[NickYez]

 

 

I used to have a gtx 570 1gb version before I upgraded to 780 ti, it ran Skyrim just fine, even with a light ENB and a lot of texture mods I got around 50 fps in most places and 60 fps in interiors, if that's really the 4gb version it should be perfect for Skyrim :smile: Could you post a link to the ad?

 

http://kleinanzeigen.ebay.de/anzeigen/s-anzeige/-geforce-570-gtx-4gb%27/232107368-225-1955?ref=search

 

Not a lot of info besides that it's from January 2011 though. Thanks for your answer, it's always better to hear this kind of information from personal experiencee than benchmark statistics.

 

Some other cards I found in my price range:

Asus Geforce GTX 570 direct cu-ii 1280mb

Phantom gtx 560 ti 1gddr5

Sapphire Radeon HD6870

Sapphire Radeon HD 6950 2GB

Gigabyte ait 7850 oc 2gb

Edited September 14, 2014 by NickYez

[Valkasha]

That's a 1280 MB version of gtx 570, not 4gb.

 

From that list the 570 is still the best option as far as framerates goes though, with the 560 ti and the 6950 2gb coming second with quite a significant difference.

The 570 is cooler and quiter than the 6950.

The 560 ti is cooler and quiter than the 570.

Edited September 14, 2014 by Valkasha