Hardware

[Bealdwine]

We often discuss issues with running a fully modded Skyrim that are dependant or atleast heavily influenced by our hardware configuration (GPU & VRAM, CPU load, RAM, SSD &etc). I thought a place to discuss these might be handy.

** PLEASE DO NOT TURN THIS INTO A "VIEW MY AWESOME UBER KIT AND DESPAIR!" THREAD ** :P

 

Just as a starter - I am very limited in ways I can upgrade my PC atm until I can afford a full mobo-up rebuild. I have the option to either SLI my current card nVIDIA GeForce 8800 GT 1Gb (just lost an ebay auction to try this :@ ) or there is a good offer on an nVIDIA GeForce GT 440 2Gb card I'm tempted to test and then SLI if it works out. We have talked a lot about VRAM influence on texture modding so has anyone experience of the latter card at all? The 520 is a dud and this is about my price limit if I plan a 2 card SLI eventually. (A GT 560Ti 2Gb would be nicer :) but is beyond my current budget).

[z929669]

 

@Bealdwine

 

I would seriously consider waiting 3+ months and buying one of the now-more-expensive 2Gb cards... by then, the price should be drastically reduced, and this will give you the biggest bang for the buck. As long as you have at least 2Gb system RAM, you should be good to go with your CPU pared with a good 2Gb card. I think SLI would be overkill on your system. MAYBE a slight FPS gain, but that would be too expensive (with a better card combo) for the slight boost. Save your money for a new home-built system ;)

 

That's exactly the advice I would a) always offer to someone else & b) usually keep to myself...

 

Sorry, didn't mean to sound callous :(

 

I have been divorced as well, and they definitely cost....

 

Aside from everything, your rig is not all that bad really (IMHO). I think Monty's point about the 2Gb ATI 6850 is a worthy one. That would clearly be the biggest bang for the buck and would bump you significantly up. You could Xfire that one as well (assuming your board supports Xfire). Probably a bit expensive at the moment but should go down a lot since they released the 7000 series.

[MontyMM]

Z

 

I AM a hopeless romantic, but I try to keep it off the forums.

 

If I read it correctly, I don't think you've upset Bealdwine - I'm pretty sure when he says "keep to himself" that's in the sense of "adhere to himself". I might be wrong, and we'll both get a speaking to, but I think that's just the old "Two nations divided by a common language".

[Bealdwine]

Z

 

I AM a hopeless romantic, but I try to keep it off the forums.

 

If I read it correctly, I don't think you've upset Bealdwine - I'm pretty sure when he says "keep to himself" that's in the sense of "adhere to himself". I might be wrong, and we'll both get a speaking to, but I think that's just the old "Two nations divided by a common language".

 

 

Lol, exactly that ^ Sorry zMan I didn't mean it as a scold :)

Thanks to all for the sound advice I did a closer look at the 440 and agree it's poor - I already failed to eBay another 8800 GT but will attempt again. The 8800 was one of those cards that had a later release as a 1Gb VRAM card, the original being 512Mb, but is too old now to be stocked by retailers.

I will check out the ATI 6850 2gb - I used to prefer the ATI cards as I found them 'softer' in picture quality than nVidia which I liked. However nVid seem to be better atm in game support through the drivers, when using ATI I tended to use 3rd party drivers but have no idea if these still exist now. Research in coming.

[z929669]

OK, good!

 

Monty, I will now always see you in the image of Gene Wilder... you had better post a pick if that is undesirable :happy:

[MontyMM]

Excellent! A Gene Wilder pic, in keeping with the monster theme!

[z929669]

Excellent! A Gene Wilder pic, in keeping with the monster theme!

 

 

Very nice! Great complement!

[stoppingby4now]

Haha...love the avatar Monty!