A good $600-$700 computer build to play Skyrim on high/ultra

[Travalanche]

Can anyone please offer some advice on this, I currently have a computer that I bought for $300 from my cousin that plays Skyrim on medium but I would like to build my own for fun as I've never done that before.

I have a budget of $700 max and I would prefer AMD over Intel as it seems more price efficient,also does Skyrim even utilize more than a dual core? If not I'd rather have a dual core with a better stock clock rate, I am not interested in overclocking either. I also want to play on 1080p and 1280/1024 which is a fairly low resolution in comparison to most gamers so that should make a good FPS easier to obtain.

I always would prefer Home premium over ultimate for my OS and I want this case as it has no annoying LED's and a high rating for a low cost.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.a ... uter-Cases

I was looking online and I saw the following post... http://www.pcworld.com/article/238006/b ... _1000.html

This seems way overkill to me and I think you could do better for a lower price seeing as that post is over a year old. I MIGHT play Crysis on it but I seriously don't think that build is necessary with Xconfig at all!!!!


So whats a good build for me if I want to play Skyrim on high/ultra settings and prefer AMD over Intel and don't want to spend more than $700 including the OS?

[Andere]

AMD heat problems were mainly a cause with Athlon processors, class Socket A. I have an AMD FX-8120, it hasn't got over 50 degrees Celsius, not in games, nor with 3DMark11. And if you ever tried a light bulb, you must have noticed the HEAT - far above 50? Electricity causes heat, 50 degrees means nothing, I had a video card that had a safe function up to 120.

I recently built a new PC, and I chose AMD, because I thought the cost/value was much higher than that of Intel. And like I noted above, where's the heat issue?

[Archea47]

You should seriously consider switching CPU brands. I'm not Anti-AMD, but AMD chips do get hotter than Intel chips. You want less heat when you game, otherwise you'll run the risk of heat damage.

Like Andere said, that may have been the case years ago but it's the opposite these days. I haven't been able to break 50c on my overclocked quad-core $80 AMD chip, where I know 2 intel i7 rigs that have a hard time staying under 80c while playing the same games (with the same CPU cooler). The i5s stay ~10c cooler than the i7 though

Here's a quick price out I did a few weeks ago, not sure if the parts are still available but it will give you an idea:

Video Card: ($166.75)
XFX ATI 7850 1GB
http://www.tigerdirect.com/applications ... CatId=7387

Motherboard, CPU & RAM ($199.99)
http://www.tigerdirect.com/applications ... &CatId=332

Case and 700w Power Supply ($54.99)
http://www.tigerdirect.com/applications ... u=M69-0063

Windows 7 Pro ($139.99)
http://www.tigerdirect.com/applications ... No=5213934

$642.73 with Illinois sales tax, no warranties (other than manufacturer and DOA)

Of course, optical drives and hard drives aren't included in that price and some people like to go with high-end power supplies

(FYI that article you posted is a year old - the vid card I posted is better and cheaper than the one they used)

[Andere]

I'm not going to argue about this - and I don't even claim to have the best of best processors. But I claim to have a very nicely working one, doing just slightly less than my ASUS ENGTX560 Ti DCII TOP video card, with 4905 points with 3DMark 11 Advanced Edition at performance, no oc, BIOS settings at Auto.

I trust Archea47 has made the most reasonable comment this far.

There is the issue of price versus quality. One of the main issues why not everyone are driving Ferrari. Although they know it is a better and faster car, they may not have the money to buy it OR the will not want to pay for that extra. In case you want the bits the bits the bits... go pay for it. I WILL not.

In common, it's called free enterprise, free commerce, and - God bless - free choice.

[Travalanche]

Thanks for the build archea.

[Archea47]

Glad I could help. If you're serious about this I can do it again - that was just something I put together real quick as an example of how much one would cost for a friend of mine. Most of those prices have since gone up @ tiger direct; I'd be happy to do a more current one using newegg for you just give your budget and if you already have hard drives to use, if you need blue ray reader/burner, etc

[Travalanche]

If you have the time I wouldn't mind, I'm planning on building one in a month or two, I'd prefer a site that takes money orders though because I don't have a credit card, I don't think newegg does anymore but I'm not certain. If they don't that sucks because newegg is really the best choice in most cases.

[Archea47]

TigerDirect accepts money orders or certified checks. You can buy squaretrade warranties from them, but ONLY ever buy squaretrade warranties on new, unopened parts

XFX Radeon HD 7850 Core Edition 1GB ($179.99)
http://www.tigerdirect.com/applications ... CatId=7387

and this package with an 8-core AMD, 8 gigs of ram, mid-size case, 650 watt PSU ($429 after rebate):
http://www.tigerdirect.com/applications ... &CatId=332

With that in the future you could upgrade to 2 of the 7850s in crossfire

And it doesn't look like that comes with a CPU cooler, so

Coolermaster 212+ (16.99 after rebate)
http://www.tigerdirect.com/applications ... &CatId=798

That would be a pretty awesome machine for ~$650, then you have to buy an OS

[Travalanche]

Awesome this will give me something to think about, thanks or all your helpful input!

[Archea47]

For HD & OS ...

256GB OCZ solid state & Win8 Pro 64bit (199.99 after rebate)
http://www.tigerdirect.com/applications ... pc-inc.com

I'm running Win8 pro on one of my machines after running the b8ta and customer preview. It's pretty much the same as 7, just annoying but with a more competent real-time AV than previously (I still suggest ESET Smart Security)

[jackalsilva]

My Xbox just broke and I'm making the switch to PC, myself. This will be my first gaming PC! I've been doing a lot of reading at Tom's Hardware, and this is going to be the basis of my build:

[edit: I can't post links out, PM me for the link or Google "toms hardward best 500 gamer ever"]

They built a $500 machine, and I was surprised that it was a dual-core processor. Also that it wasn't an Intel chip (which I'm partial to). They have specs specifically for running Skyrim, which is what convinced me.

For an extra $100-200 I plan on adding an SSD and a Blu-Ray drive. I'm a dedicated Mac guy, so this rig will be used exclusively for gaming, streaming Netflix and a slingbox feed, and playing movies. I promised The Wife it would be a $600-700 box.

PS - thanks [uesp=]Archea47[/uesp] for the tip on the SSD from tigerdirect!

[Xarnac the Conqueror]

Here you go.

[Archea47]

FWIW their "Fair" computer at $532 will play Skyrim on Ultra all day long like it's playdo, though some of the prices on that chart seem to be the optimal sale price, possibly including mail-in rebates, and/or the cheapest manufacturer

[Xarnac the Conqueror]

You can get all of those deals on NewEgg as is. Although you can go even cheaper than what the list says. You can go cheaper on the Case, PS and you don't need an SSD.