For my comp being a dinosaur, it runs Skyrim fine on Medium settings (30-35fps) unless it's snowing in town then there is some fps loss though it's still playable. Game looks better than most of my PS3 Titles. For those that feel a beast of a machine must be needed to run skyrim I assure you that it's not the case. Beast comps have issues cause they're usually are over tweaked than needed and the game itself doesnt use all the bells and whisles the beast computer provides. Results in conficts usually. So here are my specs.
OS: MS Windows 7 64-bit SP1
CPU: AMD Athlon 64 3000+
Cores 1
Threads 1
Name AMD Athlon 64 3000+
Code Name Winchester
Package Socket 939
Technology 90nm
Specification AMD Athlon 64 Processor 3000+
Family F
Extended Family F
Model F
Extended Model 1F
Stepping 0
Revision DH8-D0
Instructions MMX (+), 3DNow! (+), SSE, SSE2, AMD 64
Virtualization Unsupported
Hyperthreading Not supported
MB: ASUSTeK Computer Inc.
Model A8V Deluxe (Socket 939)
Version To Be Filled By O.E.M.
Chipset Vendor VIA
Chipset Model K8T800 Pro
Chipset Revision 00
Southbridge Vendor VIA
Southbridge Model VT8237
Southbridge Revision 00
RAMM: Type DDR
Size 2048 MBytes "Yup that's right only 2gigs

"
Channels # Dual
DRAM Frequency 163.9 MHz
CAS# Latency (CL) 3 clocks
RAS# to CAS# Delay (tRCD) 3 clocks
RAS# Precharge (tRP) 3 clocks
Cycle Time (tRAS) 8 clocks
Bank Cycle Time (tRC) 11 clocks
Command Rate (CR) 2T
GPU+Monitor : Name VA1930wm on ATI Radeon HD 4600 Series
Current Resolution 1440x900 pixels
Work Resolution 1440x870 pixels
State enabled, primary, output devices support
Monitor Width 1440
Monitor Height 900
Monitor BPP 32 bits per pixel
Monitor Frequency 60 Hz
Device \\.\DISPLAY1\Monitor0
ATI Radeon HD 4600 Series (4650) AGP
GPU RV730
Device ID 1002-9495
Subvendor XFX Pine Group (1682)
Current Performance Level Level 1
Voltage 1.150 V
Die Size 55 nm2
Release Date May 18, 2009
DirectX Support 10.1
OpenGL Support 4.1
Bios Core Clock 600.00
Bios Mem Clock 400.00
As you can see it's a dinosaur as they don't even make the cpu anymore. I've been looking at prices on parts for a new rig. For around $400 USD you can get a good CPU/Mobo/Case/850+ PS/HDD/DDR3 Ram 8gigs. Where the price goes up is Videocards. So that $400 can turn into $800 + easily. Bottom line is your want your videocard to take most of the load instead of the CPU. Load times usually come from HDD being fragmented or having a low cache. The issues I see people having amazes me cause they aren't looking at the full picture and are quick to blame the game. Instead of seeing if the Vcard config settings are config right or if their HDD is old and needs replacing etc etc. The only common game issues were like patch 1.2 flying backwards dragons and some remapped keybinds not working like they should. Some bugs but nothing game breaking. Random CTD's due to sound config.. though updating my sound driver fixed that. So bottom line is people can boast about their rigs being monsters but if you want to play Skyrim and still enjoy the game experience. You can with a dinosaur computer. Though I recommend that your computer be better than mine. Thank You Bethesda for maken an awesome game

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