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What to upgrade for Skyrim?


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This is my current setup and it gets me close to 60fps on ultra setting in Skyrim. I'm not sure if this is all the information as I simple copied it from my dxdiag, if anything is missing please ask.

 

Operating System: Windows Vista™ Home Premium (6.0, Build 6002) Service Pack 2 (6002.vistasp2_gdr.111025-0338)

System Model: P5Q SE

Processor: Intel® Core2 Quad CPU Q9400 @ 2.66GHz (4 CPUs), ~2.7GHz

Memory: 3326MB RAM

DirectX Version: DirectX 11

Card name: NVIDIA GeForce GTS 250

Display Memory: 2415 MB

Dedicated Memory: 1007 MB

Shared Memory: 1407 MB

 

Unfortunately I've been spoiled by the graphics mods for previous Bethesda games and can't stand Skyrim's low res textures. When I use texture replacers for Skyrim along with a few other fps killers like enhanced shaders and FXAA I get lower than acceptable fps, generally 18-30fps and often experience memory related crashes. So my Question is, what should I go about updating in order to run Skyrim at more than 40fps while running the inevitable hundreds of mods I will install. Currently I'm considering getting more RAM but I am not sure if that will really fix anything as I know Skyrim doesn't take advantage of RAM very well, can someone explain this too me? I really don't know very much about hardware :unsure:

 

-On a side note I would love if someone could explain to me whether my graphics card needs updating, as I checked some reviews, and they state that my card is basically a POS which I find strange as it runs Crysis at max setting except for AA which I leave at 4X. Thanks in advance for any help and please forgive my English: Im working on it :turned:

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Your graphics card needs an upgrade.

I recommend from Nvidia a GTX 460 or a 560 ti, from ATI/AMD a 6870.

The cheapest and slowest one is the 460 though it's still quite a bit better then your GTS 250.

The 560 ti and the 6870 are about the same, and both are a fair bit better then the 460 but also more expensive.

 

Also, I can't see if you're running a 64 bit OS.

If yes, also grab a few more GB of RAM, it's cheap now and it won't hurt.

Edited by Iv000
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Shared Memory: 1407 MB

why am I having troubles imagining this in a desktop?

 

I'm not sure what you mean, that is what I get when I type RUN>dxdiag in my search menu, please elaborate I'm fairly clueless about what shared memory even does.

 

Thanks for the reply lv00. I like the sound of the GTX 460 because it seems like Nvidia cards have better support for Skyrim which is my main reason for upgrading. Do you think the 560 ti would be worth the extra cost in comparison? And if you wouldn't mind could you post the approximate price of the two Nvidia cards and a few sticks of RAM cost? I'm just curious as to how bad I'm getting ripped when go to my local computer shop, their prices don't usually compare to what you see online unfortunately. And where would I find out if im using 64 bit? Thank you for your help.

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Click on your start menu, find 'my computer', right click it, select 'properties'. The info in there will tell you if your running 32 or 64 bit. If you're adding more ram, I recommend changing to Windows 7 64 bit or else the operating system may not see it.
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560 ti - http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814130604

460 - http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814130749

6870 - http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814102948

 

Here's a comparison between the 460 and the 6870: http://www.hwcompare.com/8240/geforce-gtx-460-1gb-vs-radeon-hd-6870/

The 6870 costs about 25$ more, but it is 15% faster then the 460.

 

Here's a comparison between the 560ti and the 6870: http://www.hwcompare.com/8890/geforce-gtx-560-ti-vs-radeon-hd-6870/

The 560ti is 15% faster then the 6870, but the price is about 100$ higher.

 

And finally, comparing the 560ti and the 460: http://www.hwcompare.com/8871/geforce-gtx-460-1gb-vs-geforce-gtx-560-ti/

 

If I were you, I'd go for the 6870. But the 460 is not a bad deal either, your choice.

 

As for RAM, it's extremely cheap right now. 8Gb costs 42$: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820231311

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Thanks for the info, I think I'm going to grab a 460 and maybe some RAM. My computer is running 32 bit though and that might need to be upgraded too then.
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maybe some RAM. My computer is running 32 bit though and that might need to be upgraded too then.

if you keep your 32bit OS, it will never see any of your new RAM

 

If I upgrade RAM I'll get a new OS too. Can anyone recommend which version of windows 7 to get?

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