Skyrim PC Build

[Tomarama24]

I'm looking at building/buying my first actual gaming PC to run several games such as Skyrim and other Steam games I can.

I've had a look on this site on the forums for help with this matter but i'm not a PC expert so I can't really put together all the information I've read.

I'm hoping to be able to run Skyrim at 1920x1080 on high or medium I'm not after ultra unless it can be done within my price range. I would like to get a CPU with 3.0GHz though as some games I've been looking at specify that for recommended settings.

My price range is around the 500 pound range but I would be willing to go maybe 600-700 if it's worth it. The other problem I'm having is other than the site "http://www.tekheads.co.uk/" I don't know of any places to buy computer parts from in the UK.

My current PC isn't too spectacular. I don't think there are any parts I could keep apart from the case.

 

[Scremin34Egl]

Use uk.pcpartpicker.com to find cheap parts and merchants in your country

Basically you would want an i5 and your budget might allow you to go for a gtx 760/770

 

[PepitoTV]

Here's a suggestion:

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant / Benchmarks

CPU: AMD FX-8320 3.5GHz 8-Core Processor (£107.92 @ Amazon UK)
CPU Cooler: Cooler Master Hyper 212 EVO 82.9 CFM Sleeve Bearing CPU Cooler (£25.18 @ Aria PC)
Motherboard: Asus M5A99X EVO R2.0 ATX AM3+ Motherboard (£95.98 @ Amazon UK)
Memory: G.Skill Ripjaws X Series 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1600 Memory (£62.99 @ Amazon UK)
Storage: Western Digital Caviar Blue 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive (£43.99 @ Amazon UK)
Video Card: MSI GeForce GTX 760 2GB Video Card (£176.98 @ Amazon UK)
Case: Corsair 200R ATX Mid Tower Case (£47.98 @ Aria PC)
Power Supply: XFX 550W 80+ Bronze Certified ATX Power Supply (£44.96 @ Amazon UK)
Optical Drive: Samsung SH-224DB/BEBE DVD/CD Writer (£11.96 @ CCL Computers)
Total: £617.94
(Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available.)
(Generated by PCPartPicker 2014-01-22 17:02 GMT+0000)

 

[markaflias]

Are you going to play skyrim with mods and al that stuff ?¿

 

[Tomarama24]

Mod wise, just the Unofficial patches for the game and DLCs.

 

[markaflias]

I said it because if you plan to play heavy mods and all that stuff (nexus mod manager for example) you will need a gpu with more than 2GB , maybe an 760 with 4GB will do fine . Otherwise with 2GB you will be good .

 

[iparaez]

I said it because if you plan to play heavy mods and all that stuff (nexus mod manager for example) you will need a gpu with more than 2GB , maybe an 760 with 4GB will do fine . Otherwise with 2GB you will be good .

I was wondering about Skyrim & mods as well.
I have an i7-4770 and will be getting the EVGA Nvidia GTX 760 (most likely) and this is one of the games w/mods I wanted to be able to play smoothly.

 

[iparaez]

I said it because if you plan to play heavy mods and all that stuff (nexus mod manager for example) you will need a gpu with more than 2GB , maybe an 760 with 4GB will do fine . Otherwise with 2GB you will be good .

Not sure about that. But my 2gb GTX760 is handling the HD resolution mods very well

Are you using many mods? I plan on trying out a lot of the mods I've seen available.

 

[Tomarama24]

I tried that site out to build my own.
http://uk.pcpartpicker.com/p/2FHgY
I'm not sure how good it is (or if it's even fully compatible) but I seem to have gone quite high
I think I would rather buy a pre-built PC as I do not know what I am doing really.
I should add I do not wish to get Windows 8 I'd rather stick to 7.

 

[Scremin34Egl]

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant / Benchmarks

CPU: Intel Core i5-4440 3.1GHz Quad-Core Processor (£129.87 @ Ebuyer)
Motherboard: Asus H81M-PLUS Micro ATX LGA1150 Motherboard (£41.63 @ Amazon UK)
Memory: Patriot Viper 3 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1600 Memory (£59.99 @ Amazon UK)
Storage: Seagate Barracuda 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive (£43.97 @ Dabs)
Video Card: MSI GeForce GTX 760 2GB Video Card (£189.99 @ Ebuyer)
Case: Cooler Master K280 ATX Mid Tower Case (£33.43 @ Amazon UK)
Power Supply: XFX 550W 80+ Bronze Certified ATX Power Supply (£44.96 @ Amazon UK)
Optical Drive: Samsung SH-224DB/BEBE DVD/CD Writer (£11.96 @ CCL Computers)
Operating System: Microsoft Windows 7 Home Premium SP1 (OEM) (64-bit) (£75.98 @ Novatech)
Total: £631.78
(Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available.)
(Generated by PCPartPicker 2014-01-22 19:30 GMT+0000)

 

[Tomarama24]

Do I not need a CPU cooler and case fan then?
Also would if work if I used my current 500GB hard drive and Windows 7 installed on that as well as using my current case and optical drive? My windows 7 came installed on this PC.
I'm sorry how inexperienced I sound right now but until now I've owned two PCs both store bought.

 

[sora]

Do I not need a CPU cooler and case fan then?
Also would if work if I used my current 500GB hard drive and Windows 7 installed on that as well as using my current case and optical drive? My windows 7 came installed on this PC.
I'm sorry how inexperienced I sound right now but until now I've owned two PCs both store bought.

A CPU cooler & case fan is optional, if you want one to help the computer run @ lower temps go get a CM212 EVO as a CPU cooler.

 

[Scremin34Egl]

Do I not need a CPU cooler and case fan then?
Also would if work if I used my current 500GB hard drive and Windows 7 installed on that as well as using my current case and optical drive? My windows 7 came installed on this PC.
I'm sorry how inexperienced I sound right now but until now I've owned two PCs both store bought.

The cpu cooler is really only needed for overclocking and maybe if you are going for an AMD build, but the stock would do fine on an intel build with no overclocking

You can use your current hard drive but you might/might not have to fresh install windows. Worst case is it wont boot with the new motherboard, but its definitely worth a try. If it does boot make sure to remove the old drivers completely before installing the new one's and you will need to re activate windows

The case and optical drive can be re-used, though make sure your case has proper ventilation