Best build for Skyrim with graphics mods $700 budget

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JohnD7

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May 15, 2013
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Im thinking of a budget no more than $750 $800 tops...a good enough build to play Skyrim on maxed out graphics with graphics mods, nevermind other games, Im ok playing other games with lower graphics settings..the components I wanna buy are:

CPU
GRAPHICS CARD
MEMORY
HARD DRIVE
19" OR BIGGER MONITOR (1080p)
TOWER CASE
MOTHERBOARD
DISC DRIVE
POWER SUPPLY
UPS(uninterruptable power supply)

Ill be playing in 1920×1080, no more than that
 
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My gut reaction is that what you want is impossible. It'd probably cost you $500-600 just in core hardware to max out Skyrim without mods at 1080p.

And you want a UPS and a monitor on top of that.

I'm sorry if what I've said sounds harsh. I really don't mean it to be; the point is to moderate your expectations a little. I've read articles about people who've used a ridiculous number of graphical mods in Skyrim, enough to bring even the most high-end of high-end hardware to its knees. Because mods are, by definition, unlimited in their potential scope, it's impossible to say what you would need to achieve your desired performance goal. The matter is subjective.

What I can tell you is that Skyrim can be run quite beautifully on fairly inexpensive hardware -- say an i3 3220 and an HD 7850. Such a configuration would likely run just fine with a few graphical mods, but if you're expecting to run a bajillion 4k texture packs and all of the most demanding lighting/effects tweaks you're probably not gonna be happy.

Do you think you could provide some examples of the type of mods you want to run?
 
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With a monitor, I really doubt you will get anything decent if you want a monitor in that price and UPS.

Edit: Usually I try for challenges of seeing if I can make a budget build, but....can't do it with that budget for all that.

I have every HD pack and many lighting mods, edited .ini files for max everything, and I run like 35 - 45 FPS with my set up. My graphics cards VRAM is usually around 1900 - 2000 GB's full playing.
 
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Ok nevermind the UPS and monitor then....Im not experienced in building PCs...this is how I wanna play Skyrim:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZwlzlRR71qM&feature=youtube_gdata_player

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mu97TriqU0o&feature=youtube_gdata_player

Either of those...but Im guessing my budget wont be enough...so at least a build good enough for just a few mods for at lighting and textures, anything thatll make the game look and feel a bit more realistic

besides my budget build, what build would I need to play like in the videos I provided?
 
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Yep. And your rig is quite a bit beefier than what the OP's budget can accommodate. When I mentioned bringing the best-of-the-best hardware to its knees, I was talking about stuff like this:

http://www.pcgamer.com/2012/11/19/skyrim-graphics-mods/

Admittedly, that's an extreme example, but it proves the point, which is that there's effectively no upper limit on the performance a particular user might need to run a modded Skyrim (or any other game) as he prefers.

(The comments in that link correct some of the performance comments in the article. Point being that the dude who makes the screenshots has to juggle about 800 different mods, 100 at a time. He's not simply loading up the game in any particular mod configuration and playing it normally; the screenshots are taken singly, each using cherry-picked mod configurations, precisely because the game isn't consistently playable in the displayed state.)
 
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yeah a monitor will be stretching it... look on ebay for a used monitor maybe. as far as build goes. here is some help
fx-6100 ($119) newegg
ECS Elitegroup A990FXM-A motherboard ($112.99) newegg
HyperX 8gb ($49.99) newegg
Sentey Optimus Extreme Division Tower Case ($54.99) newegg
EVGA GeForce GTX 650 Ti 2GB 128-bit ($169.99)
APEVIA ATX-CB500W 500W ($24.99) newegg
Asus Dvd writer ($17.99) newegg

Total 550.93 thats without tax and shipping but it will max skyrim & have the ability to upgrade processor in future when your money is better.

 
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So what does everyone else think about this build??
 
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the mans on a budget...so we are talking budget parts right??? 500 ish is his max...so how about some people puts some more builds together to help out and maybe we can mix and match some parts...give prices so we can calculate cost.
 
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PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant / Benchmarks

CPU: AMD FX-6300 3.5GHz 6-Core Processor ($117.99 @ NCIX US)
Motherboard: MSI 970A-G46 ATX AM3+ Motherboard ($78.56 @ Amazon)
Memory: Wintec One 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1600 Memory ($57.99 @ Newegg)
Storage: Western Digital Caviar Blue 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($64.98 @ Outlet PC)
Video Card: XFX Radeon HD 7870 2GB Video Card ($199.99 @ NCIX US)
Case: NZXT Source 210 (White) ATX Mid Tower Case ($39.99 @ Newegg)
Power Supply: Corsair Builder 500W 80 PLUS Bronze Certified ATX12V Power Supply ($29.99 @ Newegg)
Optical Drive: Lite-On iHAS124-04 DVD/CD Writer ($14.99 @ Newegg)
Total: $604.48
(Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available.)
(Generated by PCPartPicker 2013-05-16 12:32 EDT-0400)

$604 and will max skyrim.

Everything is better quality.
 
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this is true but now we are in the 600 range for this guy....how about replacing the 6100 with the 6300...that would keep him in the 550 range. i missed that 6300 for some reason. Also with the msi 970 will he be able to upgrade to steamroller in the future.. giving him a little wiggle room for the future. 5 extra bucks for a better power supply isn't bad either. yes and a 650 ti boost ($169.99) the 7850 is extra money ($199.00)., he would have to sacrifice something else to cover the cost
 
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Your build didn't include an HDD, unless I missed something -- so tiny voices' build isn't so much more expensive when you really look at it. I'd go with his build for the power supply alone; the fact that he upgraded your 650 Ti to an HD 7870 is a huge honking deal too.

The CPU debate might be worth having, but for the above reasons, I don't think there's any comparison between the two builds. The second one is miles better.

 
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PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant / Benchmarks

CPU: AMD FX-6300 3.5GHz 6-Core Processor ($117.99 @ NCIX US)
Motherboard: ASRock 880GM-LE FX Micro ATX AM3+ Motherboard ($54.99 @ Amazon)
Memory: Wintec One 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1600 Memory ($57.99 @ Newegg)
Storage: Seagate Barracuda 500GB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($53.98 @ Outlet PC)
Video Card: EVGA GeForce GTX 660 2GB Video Card ($187.99 @ Newegg)
Case: NZXT Source 210 (Black) ATX Mid Tower Case ($24.99 @ Newegg)
Power Supply: Corsair Builder 500W 80 PLUS Bronze Certified ATX12V Power Supply ($29.99 @ Newegg)
Optical Drive: Lite-On iHAS124-04 DVD/CD Writer ($14.99 @ Newegg)
Total: $542.91
(Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available.)
(Generated by PCPartPicker 2013-05-16 12:46 EDT-0400)

There we are.

Should still max skyrim.

For reference, I have an i3 and a 7870 and I can max Skyrim.
I would recommend the 6300 over the i3 for sure in this case though.
 
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This one seems good...would it be good with a AMD Radeon HD 7950 instead??...or would I need to make any other adjustments if I choose the 7950?....by the way no I dont have the video card yet, so yeah the vid card is part of the budget
 
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Ok lets suffle things around a bit

AMD FX-6300 3.5GHz 6-Core Processor $117.99 ncix
ASRock 990FX Extreme3 $119.99 newegg
650ti boost $174.99 newegg
HyperX 8gb ($49.99) newegg
Thermaltake V4 Black Edition $39.99 w/$10 dollar rebate (newegg)
EVGA GeForce GTX 650 Ti 2GB 128-bit ($169.99)
PCorsair Builder 500W 80 PLUS Bronze Certified ATX12V Power Supply ($29.99 @ Newegg)
Lite-On iHAS124-04 DVD/CD Writer ($14.99 @ Newegg)
Seagate Barracuda 500GB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($53.98 @ Outlet PC)

588.92 with tax and shipping minus 10 dollar rebate = 579.92

i like some of you guys other ideas

a 7950 gonna cost you a lot more money
 
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Still not quite as good as my builds. The most important thing here is the GPU.
 
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lol for some reason i thought john d7 budget was smaller than 700...it's 800 max ...oh hell then id add a 7950 to my build...great build tiny voices. my only question is how upgradeable is the ASRock 880GM-LE FX Motherboard for johnD7 in the future???
 
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Yeah. At the risk of beating a dead horse, I don't know why anyone would spend $170 on a GTX 650 Ti when you can spend the same amount of money for a GTX 650 Ti Boost, which performs about 35% better.

If the OP takes nothing else away from this discussion, he should avoid the GPU choice in Derrick's build. Personally, I'd probably go with the first build you posted (with the 7870) -- but then again, the OP's budget is a little up in the air at this point. If we go with the max budget listed in the original post ($800), and if we don't have to buy a UPS or a monitor, then he could buy a near-high-end Core i5/7950 rig that'd handle most anything he can throw at it.

But based on what I can infer about the OP's budget, I'm not sure we should quite go that far. Seems like ~$600 for the core build is the safest bet. He still has to buy an OS, a monitor, and (presumably, at least at some point) a UPS.
 
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