Hiya, I bought a new computer a couple months back and I can play Skyrim on PC! Yay! I've upgraded the video card and it's even better, Yay!

I figured this may be good to ask the question about CPU. I have a quad core 2.1ghz amd. After looking at specs on my motherboard I can upgrade the CPU to a 2.9ghz quad core. My question is would this provide a $109 worth of difference(the cost of the 2.9ghz cpu)? For Skyrim and general computer usage. I apologize if this isn't an appropriate question to ask here but I saw others posting about computer specs. So I figured people here may have some good answers. My knowledge in such things is fairly low.

Currently it plays really good. But I guess the Tim the Toolman Taylor in me wants for more.


Thanks for any input.

I wouldn't. But if you have the excess funds then sure. It would help out, especially if you start using texture mods. What type of gpu do you have?

msi r7700 1 gb ddr5 probably an odd pairing for the cpu and motherboard I have.

Skyrim is pretty CPU demanding but if you can run it as is and are enjoying it save the money buy a new mb and processor together a bit later on down the road when needed for something.

This is kind of what I'm thinking. I'd like to eventually put together a much better setup in stages (to avoid wallet shock). I was actually doing some research online when I found what cpu upgrades were allowable.
For $109 it seemed not too bad... but if it's not going to make a remarkable difference I don't need to spend it.

Thanks for all the input, I appreciate it.

No problemo...my guess is you wouldn't see a major improvement jumping to 2.9 from 2.1....I can OC my CPU to 4.5 easily but haven't even found the need it runs like butter at stock speed turbo on or off. You could check your BIOS on your MB see if it has a turbo setting or a performance mode etc....check the manual if you have it. My old dustbox dell had a turbo switch even.

Also you can try an addon called simple borderless window mod on skyrim nexus which allows you to run the game fullscreen windowed mode which grants better performance on some systems....even mine.

If it plays good don't.

Save your next CPU upgrade for the next architecture / socket, or switch to Intel down the line (which is worth it). $109 I would definitely save or put towards a 120GB SSD (which have been coming below $100 lately).

That said, if you're getting good frames give ENB mods a try, there's one in my sig and they make a pretty big visual difference for a little cost (assuming you don't use SSAO).

Well I won't start an Intel/Amd war here. I once went with Intel and seemed to have problems.(8yrs ago) I switched to AMD and things seemed better. But lately it seems more go with Intel... perhaps it's better now.

As for ENB mods, I did try one out but I definitely noticed a reduction in performance. That and I didn't like it a whole lot. It's funny, I love screenshots with ENB settings, but I don't think I like playing with it, visually speaking not just performance. Perhaps I just need to try a different ENB when I eventually get a better computer.