The Perfect Skyrim Machine

[MarcusArelius]

This is my first time here on these forums and I'm sure my question has already been asked and answered but I wanted to open up the discussion once more since we are 9 months out from this game's release.

I am going to build an entirely new machine with one goal in mind:
To play The Elder Scrolls Skyrim at 100% max settings.

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I know that might sound superficial to some, but I did this very thing before Oblivion was released, absolutely loved Oblivion....fast forward 6 years later and I'm ready to rinse and repeat with a completely new machine that can handle Skyrim like it was cotton candy.

This is where I need your help! I realize there have been no official words on Skyrim's requirements so I would like you to give me some advice on what you think/feel will be required and the PC rig that would be capable.

I have no budget at this point so don't worry about how expensive this gets. Remember, the goal is to run the game at 100%. If $600 can do that then great but if it takes $1500+ that's great too. I just want to hear from you on the specific components that can help me reach 100% enjoyment out of this game because my current machine won't. I really appreciate any and all help you guys can offer!

11/11/11
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[rstrohkirch]

Wouldn't this be a bit more fruitful to post about a month before the game is released instead of 9 months?

 

[MarcusArelius]

Wouldn't this be a bit more fruitful to post about a month before the game is released instead of 9 months?

I'm sure it would but I'm planning to build the computer sooner rather than later.

 

[VulgarDisplay]

Any high end machine at this point in time will max out skyrim unless it's poorly optimized garbage like every other game these days.

 

[Ross Ridge]

Unless you were planning on going with an AMD CPU now is probably not the best time to be building a new computer, regardless of what you're planning on using it for. Wait until Skyrim comes out. The Sandy Bridge chipset will be fixed, motherboards and CPUs will be a bit cheaper, video cards might be a fair bit cheaper. You'll also might find out that the PC you have now is good enough for Skyrim. There's not a lot of reason to believe it'll be a lot more demanding than Oblivion. It still has to run well on the Xbox 360.

 

[Soundmanred]

"there have been no official words on Skyrim's requirements"

You said it yourself. No amount of even educated guessing would be a good idea at this point. Nobody knows, period.

 

[Soundmanred]

Any high end machine at this point in time will max out skyrim unless it's poorly optimized garbage like every other game these days.

That's the thing - it just might be that way.

My recommendation is to buy the fastest thing you can with the budget you've got. What else can you really do?

 

[AyashiKaibutsu]

Wait until the game is out then build a machine for it. Stupid to build a machine specifically for a game and have the machine age before you even get to play it.

 

[lavaheadache]

That's the thing - it just might be that way.

My recommendation is to buy the fastest thing you can with the budget you've got. What else can you really do?

exactly, never did understand these threads. I look at them more as thinking out loud. What do you want us to say other than buy the fastest stuff out?

 

[dennilfloss]

Wouldn't this be a bit more fruitful to post about a month before the game is released instead of 9 months?

Yup. I may upgrade my vidcard just about a month before the game. Doing it now means probably less performance for the buck.

 

[bunnyfubbles]

Yeah, by the time Skyrim comes out we should certainly have AMD's Bulldozer as an option as well as Intel's 2011 platform as an option.

If I had to configure a gaming rig RIGHT NOW it would be planned around an intel 2500K + P67 or Z68 and 2 x 4GB DDR3 sticks which would run right around $500 for just those parts.

I would certainly wait on committing to video card(s) until we can at least see some benchmarks, and it also depends on the monitor(s).

But as was said originally we should see some new CPU platforms as well so its hard to recommend what would be best of the best for SKyrim once its finally available.

 

[Mike Gayner]

Give me $10,000 and I'll build you a machine that will come as close as possible to maxing out Skyrim. Seeing as you have no budget, and we know nothing about the game, this is the only sensible option

 

[zerodeefex]

Who knows? What if the only system config that can max out the game on 3 2560x1600 monitors doesn't come out until a week before the game launches? Wait until right before launch and then get your machine.

 

[shortylickens]

I'm sure it would but I'm planning to build the computer sooner rather than later.

Then plan on wasting money.

You're new so I wont fault you, but just so you know we have this discussion all the time at Anandtech and the results are pretty much always the same:

Do NOT upgrade or build your computer to suit one specific game, even more so if that game isnt actually out yet and the required specs are tentative. And the required specs are ALWAYS tentative. Ever since the Doom days and those stupid MPC specifications games have constantly surprised users by shipping with requirements much higher or lower than previously assumed. That ticks off a lot of people who either spent too much money on a gaming rig, or not enough. Either way cash is wasted.

WAIT!

This will be the first, last and only time someone tells you politely. And if you go into one of the hardware forums asking the exact same question it will probably be locked. The moderators here do not like cross posting.

 

[AstroManLuca]

I'm sure it would but I'm planning to build the computer sooner rather than later.

Bad idea. May as well burn your money.

 

[Rhezuss]

I'm sure it would but I'm planning to build the computer sooner rather than later.

If you want a computer soon but don't want to wait till Skyrim is out...then you don't have much choices...

1- Build a cheap machine now and upgrade later...
2- Build a gaming machine now and hope it'll be enough...

Either way is a waste of money since we don't know how the game will run...it's in 7 months from now...in 7 months you'll have updated Sandy Bridge platforms and you'll have the AMD Bulldozer available too.

Building now is a waste of time and money, especially for 1 single game that we don't know nothing about...

 

[Kudro]

As others have mentioned, it's not a good idea to build a machine based on a game that is still a long time away from being released (not to mention there are no confirmed system requirements, afaik). That being said, PC graphics aren't consecutively pushing the limit these days mainly due to multiplatform development. If you're gaming at 1920x1080 or under, then it is quite possible the current high-end solutions (GTX 570/580, Radeon 6950/6970) will run the game well. However, if you're gaming at 2560x1600 and are using multiple monitors, then it's anybody's guess. (Actually it's all anybody's guess.)

If you have to have a new gaming rig now, go ahead and build it and play your current games maxed out, but just be ready to buy a new video card come Q4 of this year.

EDIT: And be sure not to fall into the mindset of "well I'll just buy two ultra high-end cards to be absolutely certain it runs great!" For all we know, SLI and Crossfire may tank in Skyrim (on release).

 

[MarcusArelius]

My bad on the post everyone...I realize the question itself is rather useless when we don't have any clue what the requirements are. I have just let the excitement of this game get the best of me.

I don't need to upgrade now...I will wait until better components are released and we get official word on system requirements.

 

[NoSoup4You]

I'll be shocked if a GTX460 isn't enough to max the game at 1920x1080, Bethesda afterall primarily designs for consoles at this point anyway. I'm comfortable my rig will max it out @1080p, obviously I'm just guessing here but again - I don't see it being anything even remotely close to the way Oblivion wrecked my pc back in 2006.

 

[lozina]

Buy that Watson supercomputer from IBM. Heck maybe it will even play the game for you while you go to work/school. Wouldn't that be cool?

 

[Pr0d1gy]

Not to be a douche but you'd be able to play it in 1080p, and probably 3D, on the PS3...lol

That said, we don't know the specs but it can't be too taxing since they'll just port the 360 version like they always do with games nowadays.

 

[Cheesetogo]

I'm sure it would but I'm planning to build the computer sooner rather than later.

Almost always a bad idea. There's going to be something faster in 9 months. Unless you want to play Crysis 2 or something, I would hold off.

 

[Mike Gayner]

Why does everyone think the game will look exactly the same on PC and Xbox/PS3? Oblivion didn't, Fallout didn't, why would this?