Gaming Desktop for Skyrim on ultra + Mods. Will it offer above 50fps (ish)

[Jack-]

Case
COOLERMASTER CM STORM ENFORCER - GAMING ENTHUSIAST CASE


Processor (CPU)
Intel® Core™i5 Quad Core Processor i5-3570K (3.4GHz) 6MB Cache


Motherboard
ASUS® P8Z77-M: MICRO-ATX, USB 3.0, SATA 6GBs, ATI®CrossFireX (This is the basic option, should I aim higher?)


Memory (RAM)
8GB KINGSTON HYPER-X GENESIS DUAL-DDR3 1600MHz, X.M.P (2 x 4GB KIT)


Graphics Card
2GB AMD RADEON™ HD6970 - 2 DVI,HDMI,2 mDP - DX® 11, (Special Offer) (Sadly, the 680 is too much, will this do the job?)


Memory - 1st Hard Disk
750GB WD CAVIAR BLACK WD7502AAEX, SATA 6 Gb/s, 64MB CACHE (7200rpm)


1st DVD/BLU-RAY Drive
24x DUAL LAYER DVD WRITER ±R/±RW/RAM


Power Supply
600W Quiet 80 PLUS Quad Rail PSU + 120mm Case Fan (£59)


Processor Cooling
SUPER QUIET 22dBA TRIPLE COPPER HEATPIPE INTEL CPU COOLER (£19) (Enough cooling? Don't want any overheating obv)


Sound Card
ONBOARD 6 CHANNEL (5.1) HIGH DEF AUDIO (AS STANDARD)


Network Facilities
10/100/1000 GIGABIT LAN PORT - AS STANDARD ON ALL PCs


USB Options
6 x USB 2.0 PORTS @ BACK PANEL (MIN 2 FRONT PORTS) AS STANDARD

£930 inc VAT and Delivery.

I'm looking to run skyrim with the top mods (eg. texture packs etc) on max settings.. Will this suffice? I've scrounged where I thought safe to bring the price down, as I'm trying to hug close to £1000. Any higher than about £1100 is getting tricky :/ thoughts anyone?

Thanks

 

[tom_gr7]

I'd go for this mate, much better than your spec, and allows for you to add another 7950 in the future, for a massive gaming boost

Case
COOLERMASTER CM690 MKII ADVANCED CASE
Processor (CPU)
Intel® Core™i5 Quad Core Processor i5-3550 (3.3GHz) 6MB Cache
Motherboard
ASUS® P8Z77-V: PCI-E 3.0 READY, WIFI, SLI, CROSSFIREX
Memory (RAM)
8GB KINGSTON HYPER-X GENESIS DUAL-DDR3 1600MHz, X.M.P (2 x 4GB KIT)
Graphics Card
3GB AMD RADEON™ HD7950 - DVI,HDMI,2 mDP - DX® 11, Eyefinity 4 Capable
Memory - 1st Hard Disk
750GB WD CAVIAR BLACK WD7502AAEX, SATA 6 Gb/s, 64MB CACHE (7200rpm)
1st DVD/BLU-RAY Drive
24x DUAL LAYER DVD WRITER ±R/±RW/RAM
Memory Card Reader
INTERNAL 52 IN 1 CARD READER (XD, MS, CF, SD, etc) + 1 x USB 2.0 PORT
Power Supply
CORSAIR 650W ENTHUSIAST SERIES™ TX650 V2-80 PLUS® BRONZE (£69)
Processor Cooling
SUPER QUIET 22dBA TRIPLE COPPER HEATPIPE INTEL CPU COOLER (£19)
Sound Card
ONBOARD 6 CHANNEL (5.1) HIGH DEF AUDIO (AS STANDARD)
Network Facilities
10/100/1000 GIGABIT LAN PORT - AS STANDARD ON ALL PCs
USB Options
6 x USB 2.0 PORTS @ BACK PANEL (MIN 2 FRONT PORTS) AS STANDARD
Operating System
Genuine Windows 7 Home Premium 64 Bit - inc DVD & Licence (£79)
Office Software
FREE Microsoft® Office Starter 2010 (Limited functionality Word & Excel)
Anti-Virus
BULLGUARD INTERNET SECURITY - FREE 90 DAY TRIAL
Warranty
3 Year Standard Warranty (1 Month Collect & Return, 1 Year Parts, 3 Year Labour)edit, add the extra warranty for a fiver.
Delivery
STANDARD INSURED DELIVERY TO UK MAINLAND (MON-FRI)
Build Time
Standard Build - Approximately 10 to 12 working days
Quantity
1

Price: £1,077.00 including VAT and delivery.

Configure Here: http://www.pcspecialist.co.uk/computers/intel-ivy-bridge-pc/

 

[dangro474]

Seconding Toms spec above, however advising the correct GPU is difficult without knowing exactly which mods you intend to use. For example the FXAA post processing and forced SSAO mods take a heavy toll on your GPU (SSAO mod only being available to Nvidia GPU customers).

I run the game in Ultra presets with ultra texture pack enabled (with increased LOD, forced grass shadows, shadows on trees, etc etc etc massively tweaked .inis) and averaged 45-60 FPS with a Geforce 580 GTX. After upgrading to a 680 GTX however I was getting a solid 60 FPS throughout, even after forcing SSAO.

Toms spec above is pretty much the best you can get for your £1100, and given the benchmarks below you will definitely enjoy the performance it will deliver

 

[Jack-]

Thanks for the tips- I've reconfig'd to match your suggestions, and I'm liking the step up for the minimal cost increase.. Doh for not seeing that before! :/

Can you or anyone else confirm whether or not this current build will run Skyrim on max with mods at around 50fps (or an otherwise decent performance rate)?

Cheers

EDIT: Ah ok dangro, thanks..

I've heard that those post-processing additions can impact on performance quite considerably. If say I were to run with the tweaked mods like yourself and avoid FXAA- perhaps instead opting for MLAA (I heard this isnt as much of a burden, though it blurs more apparently).. Am I good to go? And also, what say you to the option of using my 40" HDTV as a monitor. I'm willing to sacrifice on pixel density to save me buying another device.. But is there any other downside i should know of?

 

[dangro474]

Hi Jack,

I can't think of anything that may impact your system performance while using your 40", only the image quality due to the pixel density as you mentioned.

Regarding FXAA; it does indeed negatively effect your performance. I have found that it gives distant objects a more appealing overall visual due to the blur effect added, however whether you fele the same way is definitely down to personal preference. I have noticed that it does significantly blur textures even those very close to your character, which leaves most people preferring 8xAA 16xAF with FXAA disabled.

As amazing as Skyrim looks with the HD textures enabled its lack of SSAO support really lets it down. If you opt for an Nvidia GPU however you can force enable this with an applicaiton available on skyrim.nexusmods.com.

 

[Jack-]

Hmm ok, thanks for the info.

Only thing about an Nvidia GPU is that the two closest to my price range are the: GTX 570 (1.25GB) and GTX 680 (2GB). But the 680 really is too much and i fear the 570 isn't good enough, which is why so far I've selected the HD7950 (3GB) which is inbetween the two in terms of price- BUT its not Nvidia so no SSAO... What do you suggest?

 

[Buzz]

Was just reading a good write up on the 7970 Vs the 680's both at pretty much same price you may be interested in.


powercolor-pcs-hd7970-vs-gainward-gtx-680-phantom

There is a bit of price difference between the 7950 and 7970. I think about 60 quid.

 

[dangro474]

I can confirm that the 680 GTX will literally give you borderlike constant 60 FPS depending on the mods you use etc.

I now use TrSSAA (anti aliasing transparrency) instead of FXAA as it looks a lot better and does not blur textures / distant objects. It is however more GPU intensive and results in an average framerate of 50 down from 60+.

 

[Jack-]

Sigh... That 680 is tempting.. Just too much for now :/ Perhaps I'll wait for a bit.

Oh, i checked out the 7970 and its a good option I think. Ill have to re-check what I can afford and when so that if i find the extra cash ill either go for the 7970 or the 680. Any idea whether i can expect the price of the 680 to drop anytime soon?

 

[Zelios]

I think the 680 is currently out of stock due to such high demand, so I doubt it.

 

[Jack-]

Dang.. Oh well, fair enough i guess. Thanks for the help guys.

EDIT: How often do you guys upgrade or replace your rigs?

 

[dangro474]

I'm a reallty, really bad person to ask that

Estimating the lastability of current gen tech is extremely difficult as overall trends change year to year, but since 2003 I have owned two desktops, upgrqading the GPU's once every 2 years or so. My longest lasting GPU was the Geforce 280 GTX which i used from 2007 - 2010 at which point i built my 1366 based system with a 580 GTX. I did upgrade to a 680 GTX only a year later however so that I could pass my 580 GTX on to my cousin, rather than buy him a new GPU

OVerall I would estimate that a system with high end current gen components should last you at least 2 years before you would need to consider a GPU upgrade, and u nless significant technological advances take place your mobo/cpu should last a good 3-4+.

 

[Jack-]

I can deal with that I think, ta