So I use to play Oblivion on PC and loved it had a good GPU well it burnt out or just plain stopped working I have taken it out and require a Graphics Card that will support Skyrim and reason being I have been looking at mods while still playing Skyrim on XBOX360 which is fun and all but I want it for PC and want the graphics to look close to these screens of some mods: http://skyrim.nexusmods.com/downloads/file.php?id=14715 , http://skyrim.nexusmods.com/downloads/file.php?id=13961 , http://skyrim.nexusmods.com/downloads/file.php?id=13366 maybe a direct link to a site with the graphics card or of a site you know has good prices as well as reliable would be nice thanks.

Look around on this forum. There are many other threads about it, even on the first pages.

Short answer:
i5-2500K cpu
Z68 or Z77 motherboard
8 GB of DDR3 RAM
gtx560ti videocard, or 6000 or 7000 AMD series videocard. If you wanna go crazy, get a gtx680 (or an AMD 7970).

That's the basis of your PC.
Price for these components would be around $600, or $900 if you go for the gtx680.
With the gtx560ti you can use a whole bunch of addons. And probably get the eyecandy you want. However, the gtx560ti has only 1 GB of video-ram. If you buy an AMD card, you might get slightly lower framerates for the same money, but you'll get more vram. And therefor you might be able to run with more addons with an AMD video-card.

Then you need stuff that has no impact on your framerate. If you have an old PC, you might be able to use components from that. Like the monitor, keyboard, mouse, case, maybe even the PSU or HDD.
Cost of a decent 1080p monitor: ~$150.
Case, HDD, PSU, DVD-burner, $150-$200.
Operating System: get Windows7 64-bit. No idea what that costs these days.

Total price without monitor, for a PC with a gtx560ti: $800.
Total price with monitor: $1000.
Total price with monitor and monster videocard: $1300

I don't live in the US. But it seems many americans like Newegg.com.

Uh, 8 GB of RAM is overkill unless one is doing stuff like development or video editing and stuff. For general use, 6 GB is a good number.

You also forgot a key piece: a good PSU.

Also, for general hardware questions, this is a good place to get help: http://www.gamesas.com/topic/1368710-the-community-tech-thread-no-114/

For hardware questions about how well stuff runs: http://www.gamesas.com/topic/1369386-unofficial-will-my-pc-run-skyrim-thread-59-w-hardware-guide/

I have a 1080P Monitor and a 1000w PSU, an Intel Core 2 Duo CPU @ 2.33GHz, 2.00 GB of RAM and Windows 7 Ultimate SP1 does this help?

You'll need a 64-bit OS to get the most out of things. You'll want more RAM as well. As I said, 6 GB is a nice balance. I like to consider it a magic number unless you are doing dev work or editing of videos and the like.

Your CPU is a bit on the weak side for current stuff, and it's a bit on the low end for Skyrim in particular. That'll be a bottleneck.

Though, your PSU should be good as long as it hasn't degraded too much.

Again, you may want to see the two threads I linked. The first one may be the most beneficial for you, however.

You want 2 sticks of RAM in your PC. Because that works best (you can't really use unequal number of sticks).
Most kits are sold as 2x1GB, 2x2GB, 2x4GB or 2x8GB.
Getting only 6GB is not really an option.

You could use 2x2GB + 2x1GB. But that would probably be just as expensive as getting 2x4GB.
And even worse, when using such a weird configuration, you will be using all 4 memory slots on your motherboard. If you decide to upgrade your RAM next year, or later, you won't have free slots, and you'll have to throw out your two 2x1GB sticks.

And the most important reason to not mess around: RAM is dirt cheap.
2x4GB costs around 45-50 euros or dollars. If you get 2 GB less, you are saving maybe 12 dollars/euros. That's not worth the hassle.

We live in 2012 now. If you build a new PC, especially a gaming PC, get 8GB.

Depends on the CPU architecture. Also, I use my 6 GB just fine.


Uh, that has nothing to do with it. 8 GB is not worth it at all unless one is doing stuff that uses it, such as development work.

Just because we are in 2012 does not mean that one needs something they are not going to use. It's like saying one should get a Ferrari if they have a billion dollars. If one isn't going to drive the car, then what's the point in owning it?

So I need 6-8 GB of RAM

PSU hasn't degraded or been used to much runs seemingly well so its good.

Can I buy a better CPU? Im trying to build on what I have or should I build my own which I will have to save for but for now I want to know if I can upgrade what I have already.

Also I can upgrade to the 64 bit OS I have 32 bit installed right now is that ok?

Thank you guys for being so helpful I would put this in those other forums locations but you guys seem to be helping just fine.

Yes, that helps a lot.
You don't need to buy a new monitor. And you don't need to buy a new PSU.
And probably not a new case either. It depends a bit, if the case and PSU are standard ones. I believe companies like Dell and HP sometimes use non-standard cases and PSUs and other components. But you are probably safe.
And you can reuse your Windows license. That more savings.

Now you could buy just a new videocard.
That depends if your PC is new enough to have a PCI-E slot, and not an AGP slot. (90% sure you must have PCI-E).
But like Deaths_soul says, your CPU is 5+ years old. And it will hold back Skyrim (and other games and applications).
In any case, you need more RAM. 2GB isn't enough to play vanilla Skyrim, let alone use mods.

So the choice is: a) only a new videocard, that would set you back 200-300 dollars.
Or new CPU, motherboard, ram and videocard.
Option will have you covered for another 3-4 years at least.
But it will cost you the $600 I mentioned earlier.

New HDD is $50-$100. Might be worth it if the old one is slow or small. Personally I don't mind buying a new HDD every few years. Less risk of failure and losing data. If you don't have a DVD-player, you might need one for easy installation of software or games. Only $20.

Check the web for "buyer's guides". There are many of those.
Here is an example: http://www.anandtech.com/show/5184/holiday-midrange-system-buyers-guide/3
But remember: Intel i5-2500k cpu, z68 or z77 motherboard, 8GB of ram. And a videocard in at least the $200-$300 range for good gaming.

You can, but the best you can do is a Core 2 Quad (you need a CPU for the LGA 775 socket), and those are becoming extremely hard to find now. I just got the money to upgrade one of my computers 3 months ago, and the one I had been eyeing vanished from the site I was going to order it from 1 month before then. Made me a sad panda. ;_;


Nope. A clean install is all you can do.

Unfortunately CPU, motherboard and RAM are tight together. If you buy a new CPU, you probably have to buy a new motherboard and ram too.

No idea about upgrading or prices.
But the rule of thumb is this:
if you have a 32-bit OS, you can use only 4GB ram at most.
if you want to use more ram in your machine, you need a 64-bit OS.

For the last 4 years, we've been at the edge of going from 4GB to 8GB. For gamers, that is. Because the game developers keep releasing their games as 32-bit applications. There is some benefit of having more than 4GB in your machine, even if the apps/games are 32-bit. (That's why Deaths_soul recommend just a bit more than 4GB). But I think in the next few years, we'll see that 4GB will not be enough anymore, and gamers will be excepted to have 8GB in their machines. The cost of the extra RAM is nothing (like I said, $45-$50 for 8GB of ram). The license for a 64-bit OS might be more than that.

He's using W7U, which comes with both 32-bit and 64-bit install discs.


When that time comes, RAM will be even cheaper. Best to not get what one doesn't need at this time, to be honest. It'll be even cheaper in a few years, if the trend continues that has been going on for quite a while now.

My HDD(Brand New) is 500 GB

and my previous GPU was a 9800 GX2 and used my PCI-E slot

and is this RAM ok? http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820104173 or http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820231314 and finally http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820231311 ?

I believe your system uses DDR2 RAM, so that won't work for you.

And with that, I'm hitting the proverbial and literal hay. >_>

Also here is another CPU like mentioned by deaths_soul CPU Core 2 Quad LGA775 can I buy this and swap it out? http://www.google.com/search?q=Core+2+Quad+LGA+775&ie=utf-8&oe=utf-8&aq=t&rls=org.mozilla:en-US:official&client=firefox-beta#hl=en&client=firefox-beta&hs=qa2&rls=org.mozilla:en-US:official&tbm=shop&sa=X&ei=C_-dT87vLoviggfGu6jxBA&ved=0CHUQBSgA&q=Core+2+Quad+LGA775&spell=1&bav=on.2,or.r_gc.r_pw.,cf.osb&fp=2b42608e821f8e96&biw=1680&bih=853

Night and thanks for the help can I still purchase suitable DDR2 Ram

This is as good as I am going to get on the RAM part I think, http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820231122 , http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820231166 , http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820145184

Hmm: http://www.google.com/search?q=DDR2+RAM+2X4&ie=utf-8&oe=utf-8&aq=t&rls=org.mozilla:en-US:official&client=firefox-beta#q=DDR2+RAM+8GB+2X4GB&hl=en&client=firefox-beta&hs=Kk2&sa=X&rls=org.mozilla:en-US:official&tbs=p_ord:p&tbm=shop&ei=VwGeT6uwHsvrggeSoJX2Dg&ved=0CIMCELsNKAE&bav=on.2,or.r_gc.r_pw.,cf.osb&fp=2b42608e821f8e96&biw=1680&bih=853

I'm going to build my own thread ended lol, thanks everyone though.

Good decision to build your own ! You can save some considerable money compared to buying pre-assembled. And building it isn't that hard anymore. Anyone with common sense can put a motherboard in a case, a CPU in a socket, and plug in a number of cords.

You could upgrade your CPU and RAM. That would save you $80-$100 on buying a new motherboard. Problem is twofold: a) you will be limited at the best CPU and ram you can get. You will lack performance very soon again (if not immediately). And prices on older Intel CPUs don't really drop. And older RAM (ddr2) might actually become more expensive than newer (DDR3) ram. If you are not really tight on money, I suggest buying a whole new "core" of your PC: CPU, motherboard, ram and videocard.

You have a proper monitor, case, HDD, PSU and windows version. That helps a lot.

Last remark. I mentioned Newegg.com. That is a very populair webshop for buying online. But I should also mention MicroCenter. They have "cpu+mobo" combos that are really cheap. Both for SandyBridge (i5-2500K) and IvyBridge (i5-3570K). But they don't sell those combos via the web. You have to get in their store. It's to try and lure you in and buy more. Those combos can save you $50 or more on cpu+mobo. Worth to look at. But you have to have a Microcenter near by, I guess.

Good luck. Have fun.

Yep. It's still relatively common and easy to find even if the processors aren't easy to find.


Sounds good. Just wish I had the money to get more than a CPU. And a CPU that isn't hard to find, for that matter. XD

Anyways, good luck. And remember: make sure you have adequate cooling for all components.