Don't buy from retail..it's always cheaper to build your own and it makes a far more powerful computer. If you can't do that then go to a smaller shop that builds their own!

I made one myself for half of the price of a retail gaming computer that is on par and even more superior in aspects. It cost ~ $1000.

Oh, and *test* your purchases if you're going to be taking a while to build!

Edit: and when picking a video card make sure to look at their benchmarks so you don't overpay! A lot of cheaper cards are on the same level as more expensive ones so don't drive yourself broke!

Wait till they release the real system specs and get one mid range then.
I built my own gaming rig 5 years ago I upgraded the HDD and graphics cards last year and it can run Skyrim with all the HD texture packs and mods at full spec without any slow down and still pull in 60FPS. I am now currently looking at building a new gaming rig for the next generation of games like Elite Dangerous and Star Citizen both of which will need more grunt power to run than TESO.

For ￡1000 you can get a very good gamer rig, and if you can wait a while longer they will come down in price as well. http://www.overclockers.co.uk/productlist.php?groupid=43&catid=2385&subid=1444 just to give you a rough idea of what you can get for your money.

Also if your in the UK look at sites like Scan.co.uk Overclockers.co.uk and Dabs.co.uk all very good retailers that I use to gather my pc parts and build my own rigs.

Rule of thumb? The longer you wait the cheaper you can get a PC that will easily max this and most other games that are released nowadays. Might be a good idea to wait till nearly the last minute. However if you are completely new to PC gaming it might also be a good idea to get used to it. It CAN be the same as consoles in terms of basic controls if you want it to be(hooked up to a tv, sitting on a couch, using a controller, but the MMO is not likely to have controller support[someone correct me if I am wrong here).

If you already have a low range PC though I would suggest playing a few older games/newer games with reduced graphics to familiarize yourself with the machine.Then wait till near release to get the most bang for your buck.

I'm hoping my current build will run ESO on full (or at least near full) but what does everyone else think?
What would be the weakest link if it couldn't run full?

Asus p5q pro turbo motherboard
Intel Core2 Quad Q8200 4M Cache, 2.33 GHz, 1333 MHz FSB
Nvidia Gforce GTX 460 1gig 256bit 3600MHz
8gigs of DDR2 Ram


I mean, I know nobody knows the system specs yet, but just based off of skyrim or other major MMOs.

that should definitely be able to run it. Core 2 duo was average for CPUs 5 years ago, so you're fine with a Core 2 Quad (although you'd do better to upgrade of course)
I run a GTX 460, and play most games just fine
8 gigs of ram is fine. Will need an upgrade if you upgrade your CPU though. Not the amount, but speed of it.

Probably not full. I play Guild Wars 2 on max at 1920x1080 and I get around 40-60 fps on average (30-40 in higher populated locations, like Lion's Arch), and I'm guessing TES:O will at least match the demands of GW2.

It'll definitely be able to run it, I'm just guessing not on full.

This is definitely not the 5 year old technology they said the game would run on.

Of course you'll always do better to upgrade, and you'll want to take into consideration that in large scale PvP battles, your PC's age will show itself, and probably badly. OP, I mean, not this one I quoted.

It will for sure run ESO however if you do decide you want to upgrade, then yes your CPU is the weakest link however depending on the CPU you want to buy you have a 90% chance of having to upgrade your motherboard. Now if you upgrade your motherboard you then have a 50% chance that you may have to buy different ram sticks that fit the configuration of the new motherboard. So be careful of when and what you want to upgrade.

Your system might meet the minimum specs, so you will probably have to play it on low. They said it will be playable on 5 year old computers, doesnt mean it will look good though. Really I would update the whole package if you want to play the game on higher quality settings.

If you have the money I would go with i5 3570, z77 motherboard, gtx 600 series gpu, 8 gigs of DDR3 ram. Will run any game on ultra with no worries.

How is your PSU? And grab a copy of windows 7 or 8

You're fine for this game, if you're CPU is a bottleneck (which it may be) then just OC it. No need to get a new rig for TESO.

Yeah, the pvp battles are what I'm concerned about.

Problem is, my mobo's socket type is LGA 775, which the best I could do is a quad core at 3.0Ghz but it'd cost me like $350+. May as well get a new mobo, 8 new gigs of ram (because I'd have to get DDR3, and I'm using DDR2 now) and a better processor. It'd be better in the long term.

Your CPU is pretty outdated but on top of that for video games I recommend at least 2g of VRAM on your video card. If you can afford it get a 4g vRAM card. Trust me, that 4g vRAM comes in REAAAAAAALLLLLLL handy. And before anyone says it, yes, there are games that will make use of that much. I've actually almost hit 4gigs of vRAM use on my Skyrim game. Now as to this MMo, 2 gigs of vRAM should do you fine but that 1gig card you got, it's gotta go. As to the CPU, come on man, cough up some dough and at least, I mean at the very least get an i7-2600k, they cost about 200 bucks and offer amazing performance at an economy price. Unfortunately if you do that you'll need a new mobo and ram sticks cause as far as I know the i7-2600k needs an LGA 1155 mount and they all use DDR3. It's definately an affordable route to take though for a fairly good gaming rig that would blow the current one you have out the water.

Five. Year. Old. Tech.
If the OP's not looking to drop quite a bit of money for a new CPU, Mobo, RAM and GPU (read: an entirely new PC), then what they have should suffice for low settings.

Again..... Core i7 is not 5 year old tech.

Nvidia....
Gross

Hold on a sec Osarion, the game may have been in development for several years but they will be requiring current standards as they moved over from the original engine. They leased an engine and have since built a more up to date one that the game is actually going to use. The leased engine was used to build the game. He's gonna need something a little more up to date then what he has. Unless he plans on looking at... ugh, I can't even imagine it, let us not speak of running a game on the lowest settings.

Just so you know! vRAM is ONLY used on on-board graphics cards... So what you have said does not help at all. Desktop graphics cards have their very own dedicated ram. The only way you could get 4 Gbs of dedicated ram on gpu's is to at least have two of them.. If you buy an AMD 7970 which is AMD's top model it only has at the very most 3 Gbs and it will run everything on ultra..

I wouldnt go with sandy bridge, ivy bridge is faster and only 10 dollars more. I wouldnt worry about 4g ram gpu unless your running more than one monitor in game.

You seem to have missed an announcement or interview

Nah. They've definitely confirmed --well after the whole Hero Engine debacle-- that a 5 year old PC will suffice for ESO.

*edit*

I do agree though that you want to avoid the bottom-of-the-barrel system requirements. But, if that's what you got...

SOOOOOOOOOOOO many likes its not even funny

This is also my opinion of Intel..

@Tristrem - That's not correct at all. vRAM is used on every video card. It is the part of the video card that handles the transport to rendering textures, models, and any other fx that appear on your screen. With out vRAM your video card would not work at all. Furthermore, vRAM is not cumulative. Therefor if you have two video cards with 2 gigs of vRAM, then you still have 2 gigs of vRAM. I use an nVidia Galaxy GTX 680 with 4 Gigs of vRAM and its lightning fast and, not to get into the age old debate on which company is better, it will slaughter any AMD card on the market. Research that. If you are hardcoe into gaming you want a buttload of vRAM. Don't take my word for it, go to a website like Toms Hardware and ask them, they'll confirm everything I just stated. vRAM is one of the most understated features on gaming rigs and is the leading cause of most bottlenecks.

Also something I forgot to mention on my other post about your vRAM post.. I have no idea whether or not you've fully modded the [censored] out of Skyrim but my 1GB DDR5 XFX 5750 runs Skyrim on Ultra just fine...

Also! For the OP

If you want a good computer do not listen to people trying encourage you to buy the latest Tech.. do not do it.. first of all tech goes out of date faster then anything..

Also look into other companies besides Intel or Nvidia for products.. Hell I just made myself a new gaming rig which has a 3.8Ghz six core processor from AMD for $139.99... now yes I will admit that Intel AND Nvidia have better TOP of the line products however for price over performance AMD can not be beat.. hell an intel i7-2600K which mind you is a wonderful CPU is just as good if not a very tiny bit better then my CPU but you'll spend about $100.00 more when compared with a GPU you'll get maybe an extra 5 frames per second MAX out of that 2600K over my CPU..

Do some research and look around find products in-store that you can find a price point at and which has the hardware you want or close to it and build your own. Building your own is much cheaper and will in the long run, stay to date longer then buying a pre-build PC. Mind you if you pick a price point in-store you'll either spend less with the same hardware or spend the same with better hardware so be careful what you choose and DO NOT go top of the line, it just isn't worth spending hundreds of dollars more for 10 frames extra or even 20 frames extra.

I've always just assumed intel and nvidia were the better of the two, but I may look into getting a mobo and processor from AMD over intel. Where did you get the processor at? $140 for a 3.8ghz six core sounds crazy cheap.

@Lurgarl - For your own sake, go to Tom's Hardware or a similiar site and ask the same question you just asked here. I'm afraid you might take the wrong advice. The guys that post over on Toms Hardware know their stuff and they have credentials that prove it listed right on the forums.

You get what you pay for.

Operating System: Windows 7 Home Premium 64-bit (6.1, Build 7601)
System Manufacturer: Alienware
System Model: M17xR4
BIOS: InsydeH2O Version 03.72.07A05
Processor: Intel® Core™ i7-3610QM CPU @ 2.30GHz (8 CPUs), ~2.3GHz
Memory: 12288MB RAM
Available OS Memory: 12190MB RAM

Will this requirement be fine for The Elder Scrolls Online?