It would not be ages but eventually I would like a gaming pc to play skyrim on its highest settings.

Tell me, is it worth the expense? How much better is it to the xbox version? and can you play it like you would on an xbox with the joypad?

How good are the mods, would a gaming pc be worth it just for skyrim and how much would it cost to have on that could run it on its highest settings?

Thanks!

On Ultra, you'd need something that would be pretty costly (600 gen NVidia). But, the 500-series (even low range) can run on high with problems (as long as you're not running it in 3D Vision with the glasses). Is it worth it? For me it was worth every penny to get my new Alienware laptop to run on Ultra AND to be able to run any new game at laughably quick FPS (Skyrim runs over 60fps on Ultra). The biggest difference you'll see is the high-res WITHOUT FXAA. "Smoothing" is both more intensive and kills the "pop" of the models. With higher res, you don't need it, and SKyrim then really comes to life (plus the extended draw distance, which is also killer on Ultra). For a Skyrim-only machine, though? No, probably not worth it unless you can pick up a used system for a few hundred bucks. Even still, you're not likely to get anything really GOOD. Yes, you can play with whatever UI you want, you just have to buy the controller. IMO, PC keyboard/mouse is far superior to any "controller". Give yourself a chance to grow accustomed to it and you'll probably, as most do, agree. Mods, I can't answer, I don't use them. Too often it's too easy to break your game (completely) when using mods. Highest settings being Ultra, you'd need something along the lines of 8MB, mid/low-end current generation vid card to be minimally playable (solid 20some fps). For a laptop, you're probably looking at $2-3k. For a desktop, $1-2k. Or, if you're so inclined, you can pick up something low-end, or high end last gen and run Skyrim on High instead of Ultra and get MOST of the eye-candy.

of course it is NOT worth it to get a gaming pc just for skyrim.

getting skyrim on pc is worth it. buying a gaming pc for skyrim is not worth it.

Yes, but only if you plan on getting other high-end games also.

I've got a five year old Dell XPS 710 and bought an nvidia gtx -560 (1GB) card and can play Skyrim on ultra without any problems (on a 22" monitor at 1650x1080) - Not too shabby!

Gaming pcs are worth it mate

this, to me, is a rhetorical question.

but nevertheless...yes. case in point: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XDyW1_RRutA

You don't need a 600 gen Nvidia to play on ultra, I have an Nvidia GTX 560 TI and play Skyrim on ultra with texture mods smoothly. Like others have said, get a gaming PC if you you plan on playing other games on it. I personally would never choose to play Skyrim on a console but that's because I prefer the mouse and keyboard and I love having mods, so if you really want to use mods then the PC version is for you.

You don't need an expensive machine and I'm sure you've heard this a lot but custom build is the way to go.

on another note: why are you so interested in playing Skyrim at it's highest settings? even on a mid to high-end setting, your results would be substantially better than anything you'd discover on consoles. especially regarding the discrepancy of texture quality on said platforms.

edit: and a lot of your performance will be dependent upon how much time you're willing to dedicate to optimizing your experience through ini tweaks and draw distance management (rather than just your GPU+CPU combination). this holds true with a great wealth of Bethesda games.