Skyrim question

[thespyder]

So, I found out that my rig will not run Skyrim. I do have a backup plan but wanted to get people's thoughts. I also have a 360 that should run it just fine. While this isn't ideal, here are my concerns.

• 
  1. It is Bethesda and that means that at launch the game should be reasonably buggy. Even the reviews I have read confirm this.
  2. I don't have Xbox Live or any kind of internet connection for my Xbox to download any patches. This is intentional as if I want an internet game, it will be on my PC.
  3. I know I won't have the ability to upgrade my PC until mid next year at the earliest in all of the categories where it failed.
  4. When I played Oblivion on my Xbox I had problems with some of the minigames like lock picking with the xbox controller that I did not have on a PC.

Any opinions on if I should get it for the console anyway? I have played all of them all the way back to Arena so it is not an option to skip it. Opinions?



Asked and answered. Enjoy the game and feel free to join the discussion in one of the other Skyrim threads.

Anandtech Moderator
KeithTalent

 

[dmoney1980]

pc specs?

 

[terry107]

Depends on if you mess with mods at all. If you have any interest in installing mods at all, then I would wait and upgrade. By that time, most of the bugs should be squashed (through official and community patches) and there should be plenty of mods to enhance the game.

 

[TakeNoPrisoners]

I really wouldn't get the PC version for mods, I disklike them.

It should play just fine on the Xbox, just be aware it isn't as pretty.

 

[DaveSimmons]

PC vs. PS3 opinion thread with poll:
http://forums.anandtech.com/showthread.php?t=2200387

PC wins of course. Much better graphics, mods, unofficial bugfix patches.

 

[Chaptorial]

Don't settle for the 360. Wait till you've upgraded your PC.

As stated above the mods alone make this a PC only buy IMHO.

 

[thespyder]

pc specs?

Where it fails is with my Dual Core 2.0 CPU. And my Mobo is a P5W DH, so I am not getting anything better to mount that will run it. Nor do I want to spend any more money on my current rig until I upgrade later next year.

As for Mods, I didn't play any on Oblivion (obviously as I played it on my 360). I had plenty of fun with that, so maybe I don't need them for Skyrim. I was mainly concerned with the patches. But not enough to kit out my 360 with Internet connection, so...

 

[Qbah]

Hacked Xbox I bet :awe:

Anyway, apparently Xbox runs ~low settings. If your PC can't even do that, then wait till you can upgrade it before playing.

 

[Red Storm]

I remember some Oblivion configs that came out and optimized performance for low end computers. I imagine that's one of the first types of mods we'll see for Skyrim.

I honestly couldn't imagine playing a Bethesda game without mods. They are an essential component to fixing the issues with vanilla Bethesda games (as well introducing tons of cool custom content and new features).

 

[mazeroth]

Where it fails is with my Dual Core 2.0 CPU. And my Mobo is a P5W DH, so I am not getting anything better to mount that will run it.

Which processor do you have and are you against overclocking? I used to have an E4300 which is 1.8ghz. base. I had it overclocked to 3.4 ghz. on the stock cooler and it ran just fine. That's a near 90% overclock. My brother's E2180 was 2.2 ghz stock (if I remember correctly) and he also used the stock cooler and ran his at 3.4 ghz. You may just need an upgraded video card. Which one do you have?

 

[SMOGZINN]

personally, I would wait until next November and get the GOTY version with all 15 DLCs and a ton of patches that make it not crash every few hours.
In fact that is just what I plan on doing, and my computer will run it just fine.

 

[Kristijonas]

What I'd do:
I'd sell XBOX with all the games.
I'd sell my old PC
I'd take some more money out of my pockets and buy a new suberb PC for 750$ (which is enough to run any games withoug lag on medium-max settings.) If anyone says that a PC for 750$ is not good enough for gaming - they are wrong and go listen to IT professionals.

 

[thespyder]

All great ideas and I appreciate the points of view. Just to clarify, the only reason I can get Skyrim at all is I have a gift card. So NO money at all to spend on anything extra. Pretty much unless it is "Free" I am stuck with what I got till next year. That is what happens when you have a Teen entering college.

so I think I am just going to go with The 360 version. And hey, Amazon gives me $10 back, so it is win/win.

 

[Kristijonas]

How much money would you get by selling your old pc and xbox? Sorry, maybe it's just me, but I'd never play with xbox when I have a PC.

 

[thespyder]

So I get your point. But I do have some games on my 360 that I play. And having the Xbox around when I can't get access/don't want to bother with the PC is a nice thing.

But to answer your question, not sure what the going rate for 360s are. Maybe $75-$100? 20 games at about $10 a pop but with replacement cost at about $20 to buy the PC equivalent puts me in the hole by about $100.

As for Selling my current rig, if I sell to an independant non gamer, I maybe would get $200? A gamer wouldn't want it because it won't last for the next couple of years. And a non gamer could get something to fit their needs for maybe $300. so why buy used for more than that? so even if I got $300-$400, I am still in the hole.

And then I would need to have the new PC built before selling so I could transfering all of my files over to a new one. And no ready cash to do that.

In the end (a) too much hassle. (b) Probably wouldn't get an even trade on cost. (c) I am not the only one on the house that uses the PC, so having the Xbox around when I don't have access to the PC is actually advantagous.

Besides, when I do upgrade, i am not going to be looking for something "Good enough" to run Games now. My rig now is "Good enough" to run most games. Just not Skyrim. But I will probably want something that will keep me in games for the next 5 years. While $750 might get me a mid range current gaming system, If i go High end now, it will still be (or should be) midrange in a couple of years.

 

[mazeroth]

What CPU and video card do you have?

 

[MustangSVT]

don't play the game.

get a job.

you'll survive.

 

[Chaptorial]

don't play the game.

get a job.

you'll survive.

And when the time is right buy that new rig and play the hell out of it.

 

[flexy]

Seriously, Skyrim system reqs are rather LOW, any decent system can run this game. It runs even on my wife's laptop.

You must have a VERY old PC so Skyrim would not run. Skyrim is NOT the system killer as some people made it look before release...it runs on a DX9 card even.

 

[Arkaign]

I know that mobo precisely. You can play oblivion easily, just grab a 45nm Pentium Dual Core E5700 or so, it will run wonderfully. Make sure to use the Asus update before you swap CPUs.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16819116381

$67

If you have a very old video card, then replace with this :

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16814161395

$85

That combo will be fantastic for the game (indeed much better than X360!), and with that mobo you can easily run that CPU well into the 3ghz range. Sell your old CPU, and if necessary, the old GPU to recoup a few bucks.

Done

 

[frozentundra123456]

The game just unlocked an hour or so ago. How do you know your computer will not run it? I think a 2.0 ghz dual core should run the game at low to med settings if you have any kind of decent graphics card at all. This would probably still look as good as the console version.

Do you have a laptop or desktop, and what video card and power supply? I have a 2.2ghz E4500 and a 9800GT. I am anticipating that I will be able to run at 1440x900 at medium settings. Right now, someone else is using my comp, so I havent tried the game, although I pre-ordered it from Steam. Hopefully tomorrow I will get to actually play the game. I can hardly wait, hope it is not too buggy.

 

[Kristijonas]

Any ideas how would skyrim run on intel HD 2000? (i3 2120)

 

[Arkaign]

Any ideas how would skyrim run on intel HD 2000? (i3 2120)

No bueno, but a dirt cheap video card would fit with that CPU to make a very good experience. Even a 5670 or 6670 would be a monumental upgrade that wouldn't break the bank.