Building a pc for Skyrim

[Aegrus]

Hello, I'm very new to this forum and pcs in general. I'm building my first gaming pc, to hopefully max Skyrim when it releases. (Without antialiasing or x2 antialiasing, as my monitor is 1080 and I've heard that antialiasing does very little at that resolution.)

What is the minimum Cpu that could max Skyrim if it wasn't being bottlenecked by any other parts? Right now I'm looking at getting a very cheap Athlon II x4 620. I've opted for this low end part because it's the cheapest quad-core I could find (and Skyrim, I heard, runs most easily on quad-cores), and because I've been told by randoms online that the Cpu is almost meaningless in gaming.

Am I wrong? If my Cpu doesn't stand a chance at running Skyrim maxed, are there any suggestions for what will run it? My budget for a Cpu is 150 USD or less.

This is a link to a page showing Skyrim's reccomended settings.

http://www.systemrequirements.in/system-requirements-for-the-elder-scrolls-v-skyrim.html




Conversation on building system continued in General Hardware.
http://forums.anandtech.com/showthread.php?t=2202434

AT Moderator ElFenix

 

[DominionSeraph]

What's your budget?
Also, do you need an OS?

Regardless of anything, there are better options than the Athlon.

 

[Aegrus]

My budget for a Cpu is listed above, at $150. I am, however, very flexible on that. For the entire Pc, it's $1200.
For an OS, I'm thinking Windows 7 premium.

 

[Soccerman06]

Hard to say what will be required to run skyrim without it being out and whatnot. We dont know how well its coded so saying 4 cores will be good is also hard to guess.

First question for you is, what mobo do you have?

wait, if you have $1200 as a budget you could easily get an i5 2500k and 570/6970...

 

[DominionSeraph]

My budget for a Cpu is listed above, at $150. I am, however, very flexible on that. For the entire Pc, it's $1200.

Yeah, ignore budgeting for individual components. With $1200 we can get you an i5 2500k no problem.

Is that $1200 including operating system, monitor, mouse and keyboard? i.e., are you reusing any components from your current rig?

 

[sandorski]

Best to wait for the release of the game before deciding, IMO. Let some testing be done, then decide. You never know when some factor, like Cache size for eg, makes a big difference and is the difference between a Good/Bad CPU for that particular use.

edit: Oh, ya with that kinda $ it's not going to be a problem then.

 

[TakeNoPrisoners]

Skyrim will be a CPU heavy game. It also is threaded for quad cores.

Get either a 6870 or a 6850 and you will be able to run the game maxed.

 

[DominionSeraph]

Best to wait for the release of the game before deciding, IMO. Let some testing be done, then decide. You never know when some factor, like Cache size for eg, makes a big difference and is the difference between a Good/Bad CPU for that particular use.

He can afford an i5 2500k. There's no need to worry about the difference in cache between the Phenoms and Athlons. The i5 2500k is always superior.

OP, will you be doing any overclocking? If not, we can spec the (unoverclockable) i5 2500 instead of the "k" version. It's a little cheaper. But the i5 is a great overclocker so the "k" is a good value. (It's around 10% more money but 30% overclocks are standard)

 

[Aegrus]

Skyrim will be a CPU heavy game. It also is threaded for quad cores.

Get either a 6870 or a 6850 and you will be able to run the game maxed.

Thanks, everyone. And I'll into the i5 2500k.
6870 and 6850. . . aren't those graphics cards?
Also, I can't use parts from my old rig because I have no old rig. :awe:
This will be my first attempt to build a gaming pc. Up until now, I've been happy with a ps3 console and a older laptop, but a lot of the new games releasing are mind blowing, and I want to get the best experience possible.

 

[sandorski]

He can afford an i5 2500k. There's no need to worry about the difference in cache between the Phenoms and Athlons. The i5 2500k is always superior.

Ya, we're kinda missing Posts/Edits here. You never know, though, when more Cores or even BD(for eg) comes out on top for such a particular circumstance. Time will tell.

 

[OVerLoRDI]

i5 2500k

6950, 6970, or gtx 570

Do some research on the performance difference of those video cards and decide how much you want to spend.

 

[TakeNoPrisoners]

Thanks, everyone. And I'll into the i5 2500k.
6870 and 6850. . . aren't those graphics cards?
Also, I can't use parts from my old rig because I have no old rig. :awe:
This will be my first attempt to build a gaming pc. Up until now, I've been happy with a ps3 console and a older laptop, but a lot of the new games releasing are mind blowing, and I want to get the best experience possible.

Yes those are GPUs.

With your budget though you can afford to go with something like a GTX 570.

 

[Cerb]

Ya, we're kinda missing Posts/Edits here. You never know, though, when more Cores or even BD(for eg) comes out on top for such a particular circumstance. Time will tell.

Especially since it is Bethesda. I love their games (I recently got re-addicted Morrowind--damn that affordable GOTY package, and all those mods! ), but code quality has been a weakness since Daggerfall.

To OP: once it is running, go over to GoG, and/or Steam, and get yourself some games you either missed out on, or that have been given life anew by mods.

 

[DominionSeraph]

Holy shit have hard drives skyrocketed in price. It's $100 more for a 1TB drive than it was a month ago.

I might just spec a single SSD at these prices.

 

[Aegrus]

I have a gpu already. It's a Radeon HD 6950 2 gb, and I think I'm going with the i5 2500k for a cpu.

 

[DominionSeraph]

Here's what I came up with:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16827151233
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16824236052
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16814102929
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16817371031
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16832116986
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16820148442
http://www.newegg.com/Product/ComboD...t=Combo.750150
http://www.newegg.com/Product/ComboD...t=Combo.747068

Promo Code: EMCJKHC44 for $20 off the monitor.

(going to add some comments on the build by edit. Gimme a minute.)

Ok, this build doesn't actually have a spindle drive (regular magnetic hard drive). Since costs for those have gone through the roof I just specced you a much faster (but much smaller) SSD. It's standard nowadays on an uber rig to spec both a SSD and a hard drive -- you can pick up the hard drive later when they're back at $50. 128GB will do you just fine for now.

Keyboard and mouse are a personal choice. I (err) didn't leave any room in the budget for them, so I hope you can swing a few extra bucks.

 

[mnewsham]

Here's what I came up with:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16827151233
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16824236052
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16814102929
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16817371031
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16832116986
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16820148442
http://www.newegg.com/Product/ComboD...t=Combo.750150
http://www.newegg.com/Product/ComboD...t=Combo.747068

Promo Code: EMCJKHC44 for $20 off the monitor.

(going to add some comments on the build by edit. Gimme a minute.)

Ok, this build doesn't actually have a spindle drive (regular magnetic hard drive). Since costs for those have gone through the roof I just specced you a much faster (but much smaller) SSD. It's standard nowadays on an uber rig to spec both a SSD and a hard drive -- you can pick up the hard drive later when they're back at $50. 120GB will do you just fine for now.

Nice build, i support this.

 

[TakeNoPrisoners]

I have a gpu already. It's a Radeon HD 6950 2 gb, and I think I'm going with the i5 2500k for a cpu.

Good choices. I think you will be happy with how Skyrim performs on that PC.

 

[Aegrus]

Good build. However, I actually have a full build. (complete, to the best of my knowledge.) I was more just curious about the CPU. (I took the i5 2500k suggestion.) My build is listed under the General Hardware category, in case anyone wants to critique it.

 

[DominionSeraph]

My build is listed under the General Hardware category, in case anyone wants to critique it.

Will do.

Radeon HD 6950 2 gb (GPU)

Dark Fleet-85 (case)

8 GB (2x4) 240 Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1333 (RAM)

Samsung SH-S223F 22x DVDR (DVD drive)

HD10351 Samsung Ecogreen F2 1tb 5.4k (Hard Drive)

Intel i5 2500k (cpu)

Asus M4A785TD-V Evo (motherboard)

Corsair Professional Series Hx650 (630 Watt) (psu)

Acer S211HL bd 21.5 Inch Widescreen LED, 1080p (12,000,000:1)(monitor)

Windows 7 Home Premium (OS)

Norton 360 Antivirus Software

The final price, all considered, comes out to about $1380. I think I've cut prices on everything possible. The monitor is incredibly cheap considering the quality.

Ok, first of all, THAT MOTHERBOARD IS NOT COMPATIBLE WITH THE PROCESSOR! It's AM3, not LGA 1155.

(Gonna post that now so you don't make the mistake of ordering it. Will add more comments by edit...)

Edit:
Ok, video card: Good.

Case: What the hell do you need a $150 full tower for? Unless you're enamored with the looks or need to mount 12 drives, just get the HAF 912. It's got a great combo with a Z68 motherboard and it gets great reviews.

Hard drive: Do NOT get a 5400RPM "Green" drive as your system drive. They're built for bulk storage, not for speed. I really do suggest you skip the hard drive altogether for now and just get a SSD. Wait for the 1TB 7200RPM hard drives to come back down to $50. You really do want a SSD if at all possible -- they are WAY faster than a normal hard drive.

PSU: Good. But so's the Antec I specced, and it's half the price. You can get an 80 PLUS Gold Seasonic 520W for cheaper than that Corsair. (newegg pricing) I don't see a point in going with that PSU.

Monitor: I don't know anything about that one. I know the 23" one I specced gets good reviews.

Norton 360: Just no. Use Microsoft Security Essentials. It's free, it's good, and it's unobtrusive.

 

[lehtv]

+2 on Dom's build. Just a couple of notes:

Crucial M4 128GB is only $195 on Amazon (10 left in stock).

Some like to buy their monitors from Amazon due to their superior return policy, I've heard. The same Asus VH242H is only $166 on Amazon.

The 2500K is highly overclockable, if you want to try your hand at that, get a Cooler Master 212+ for $26.

EDIT: And I should add that I fully support Dominion's build over the parts listed in the above post. Why? The modular PSU is not needed, the case is overkill, it could include the SSD (buy the HDD later and buy 7200 rpm), the screen should be 24", the antivirus software is not needed... and the motherboard is incompatible.

 

[DominionSeraph]

Crucial M4 128GB is only $195 on Amazon (10 left in stock).

$10 shipping, though, so you're only saving $5 and you're buying from some photography partner store. Amazon's front page is $205 + $3.62 from Tigerdirect.

 

[Aegrus]

Thanks, this has been a ton of help. I will indeed go with The antec power supply, the cooler master (for overclocking), and microsoft security essentials. However, I think i'm sticking with the 21.5 inch monitor.

Since It'll take a while to save up money and buy all of this, I'll wait on the Hard Drive (buy it last) and hope prices go down in the meantime.

But there's still the matter of a good motherboard. All the suggestions I see are quite expensive, and I don't think that having a good motherboard is all that important in a gaming pc, is it?

 

[mnewsham]

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16813128520

that is my suggestion for a motherboard.

 

[lehtv]

You'd like the 24" monitor much better than the 21.5" one, trust me... 25% more surface area -> 25% more immersion in Skyrim