I'm really not having any problems playing Skyrim with the 1.4 patch. No mods, vanilla game with no ini changes etc. But my machine sounds like a 747 ready for flight.
I have a factory Dell XPS studio 8100.
Here are my specs:
intel core i7 CPU 860 @ 280 GHz 280 GHz, 8192 MB ram, Windows 7 Home premium, ATI Radeon 5700
with 12.1 driver.

The PSU in this machine is 350 watts. That scares me.

I play Skyrim on medium settings with AA off. Still looks good to me and I'm not concerned that much about it as long as I can play.
I have never had crashes. Just micro stutter before this last patch and the Borderless window fixed that. But, I no longer need that now though and the game runs fine so far.
I just really need advice on a new PSU I think. Could one of you nice Dragon souls advise me on this? I don't understand 12v rails etc..but if you could lead me in the right direction
I can take these suggestions to someone that can install it for me. I love this game but I'm worried I might be hurting something.



Thanks so much in advance.

http://extreme.outervision.com/psucalculatorlite.jsp

Upgrade it to 500 or 550 watts, will give you room for a gpu upgrade one day.

Thank you Doombuggie for your kind reply and calculator page. Do you have any personal thoughts on modular vs non modular? I'm sorry for my ignorance on all this. I just want to make sure.

If you are looking for the ultimate efficiency, then don't go modular. Me, I would give up the cable clutter.

The biggest issue with PSU's these days is to get one that is Single Rail.

If your abit of a rookie, I wouldn't fuss over a modular PSU.
Modular basically means the cables from the PSU are detachable and you can kinda customise what is connected to it.

I'm sure if you google "Quiet psu" I'm sure you can end up finding yourself a suitable one in the 500w Range.
Quiet PSU tend to be a very specific niche thing, so the parts are usually pretty good. Usually hear good things about, Kingwin and Nexus.
If your uncertain just give us the links and the community here will certainly give their opinion.

Thanks ever so much for replies. Yes I'm quite a noob at any of this. I love gaming on pc and bought most of my games that I had on xbox , for my pc and never looked back lol. I love playing on pc too much! But that means better upgrades etc etc ..so thank you all for info. I can't live without this site and great learnings from all of you here. Thanks once again!

I have a modular 850 SeaSonic Gold Series X, works great, when shopping for PSUs look for good brands... best not to skimp out as your entire PC may fall victim, make sure you read the review... Personally I use newegg.

My Specs,

Antec 902 v3
Intel i7 2600k @ 4.2ghz
AMD 6950 (unlocked to be a 6970) 2gb
Asus P8Z68 Pro GEN3
Corsair 128gb ssd
1.5TB western digital
Pci-e x1 card (wifi)
Asus Disk Drive
Some extra fans
CoolerMaster hyper 212 EVO
850 SeaSonic Gold Series X
24 inch backlit 1080p asus moniter
Azio Levetron
Mionix Naos 500

My psu powers all of that fine at 850 watts, usually doesn't even go full load when gaming Skyrim. Lucky for you xbox and other consoles use 2006 tech lol.

Thank you , yes I plan on not skimping on this. I do understand that much that you get what you pay for in things like this. I love Newegg and used them quite often on an older gateway I had. Very reliable and dependable. I just have to make sure I get something that fits in this case now lol. Thanks once more. (Next pc for me will be built) haha...

Dell PSU's r under rated. I have a Dell 4600 I used for Morrowind. It had a 400 watt psu. Best computer I had ever owend. Had 4gig of ram, sound card and a BFG 7800GS OC. Best to check with the Dell forums to see what your options are. Dell units can sometimes. Be very specific as to what parts you can use.