PepperPlunge Posted December 9, 2011 Share Posted December 9, 2011 I have Skyrim running on my PC but the quality is a bit off. It runs in medium quality and for the most part runs smoothly. There are parts where things in the distance just pop up or it runs a bit slowly. Â I have an nVidia GeForce GT120 which has 1GB dedicated memory, 4GB RAM and an Intel quad core processor. I believe it's 2.33GHz. I'm on my phone so can't say for definite. What graphics card should I get if I want it to run fine in 'high' or 'ultra'? How much will it set me back? On CanYouRunIt.com, I think it said everything was fine except the graphics card and it was reading my RAM as 3.25GB. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paid Members SiMania Posted December 9, 2011 Paid Members Share Posted December 9, 2011 it was reading my RAM as 3.25GB. Â Are you running a 32 bit operating system? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PepperPlunge Posted December 9, 2011 Author Share Posted December 9, 2011 32 bit running on Vista. It has a 500GB hard drive too. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
King Pitcos Posted December 9, 2011 Share Posted December 9, 2011 32 bit OS won't read 4GB of RAM. I've got 4GB in this, but I'm still on XP so it only reads as 3. I've read that the Elder Scrolls games never use more than 2GB of RAM without a patch/modification though (although I recall the back of the Oblivion box wanting 3GB). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PepperPlunge Posted December 9, 2011 Author Share Posted December 9, 2011 That's odd. My Computer reads it as 4GB. How much am I looking at paying to get a new graphics card that will run Skyrim in the best quality? Would I have to buy fans and shit to support it? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Merzbow Posted December 10, 2011 Share Posted December 10, 2011 That graphics card is pretty much the problem, it's damn poor for gaming. You may get away with an old 8800 on the cheap for Skyrim but something like a GTX 550 Ti 1GB is the best bet for under a Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PepperPlunge Posted December 11, 2011 Author Share Posted December 11, 2011 Thank you mate, that sounds brilliant. Lots of good reviews for it. Would I need some kind of fan to support it? Someone said about the highest temperature they got whilst running it at full whack was 80 degrees celsius. Also, at the moment I put a HDMI cable into the back of my PC and plug it into my TV. I imagine I'd be able to do the same on this one? Â And one last thing; when I checked Amazon, there was an option for an over-clocked version. Is that a good idea? I don't know much about over-clocking. What are the side effects? I've seen places sell PCs with the processor already over-clocked. Does it suffer in reliability? Â Thanks again. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PepperPlunge Posted December 11, 2011 Author Share Posted December 11, 2011 Another question. Do I just install a 64-bit version of Windows to get my RAM up to 4GB? Some people are saying they wouldn't recommend going below 4GB. What's so good about these Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Merzbow Posted December 11, 2011 Share Posted December 11, 2011 I'd always invest in a good fan no matter what other hardware you're running but the problem you could run into would be the PSU not being powerful enough, the 550 needs at least a 400 watt power supply. It'll be HDMI supported so no worries about that, all recent cards are these days. Â You shouldn't have any problems with an OC'd card at all, it's pretty much the norm now to have other companies releasing them with either OC's, better fans or just a better look. Yep, just install a 64bit OS but Skyrim only uses 2gb of ram unless you mod it anyway. Â What's so good about these Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PepperPlunge Posted December 11, 2011 Author Share Posted December 11, 2011 How would I know if I need a new fan? How would I find out how many watts I'm pumping out? Â Is 'high' quality on games these days comparable to a 360 with 'ultra' surpassing it? As lovely as absolute top notch graphics would be, I'm fine with no lag as I haven't the money for high end. I assume this card can play games fine in full HD? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Merzbow Posted December 11, 2011 Share Posted December 11, 2011 How would I know if I need a new fan? How would I find out how many watts I'm pumping out? Is 'high' quality on games these days comparable to a 360 with 'ultra' surpassing it? As lovely as absolute top notch graphics would be, I'm fine with no lag as I haven't the money for high end. I assume this card can play games fine in full HD?  I'd say medium is more like the 360 these days, console hardware is old as hell. I mean, i'm running a crap 9600 GT and can get better looking games at times. It should play 1080p no problem, it's best to get a program like Fraps that can tell you the framerate anyway so you can tinker with the settings till it runs as good as possible.  You're gonna need to open the PC up and take a look at the PSU, it'll have a max output on the sticker somewhere or the model number might say. The only real way to know if you need a new fan is to just test the card really, it has it's own though so you should be fine. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PepperPlunge Posted December 11, 2011 Author Share Posted December 11, 2011 Cheers for the help, I was completely in the dark beforehand. I think I'll end up taking your recommendation even though I probably shouldn't with Christmas around the corner. Â I don't suppose there's any way of downloading Windows 7 64 bit and getting away with it? I don't think I'd like to risk it but just wondered. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Merzbow Posted December 11, 2011 Share Posted December 11, 2011 Cheers for the help, I was completely in the dark beforehand. I think I'll end up taking your recommendation even though I probably shouldn't with Christmas around the corner. I don't suppose there's any way of downloading Windows 7 64 bit and getting away with it? I don't think I'd like to risk it but just wondered.  It's suprisingly easy to get it free, all you need is a file called "WATremover" after a pirate copy has been installed. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PepperPlunge Posted December 11, 2011 Author Share Posted December 11, 2011 How about this graphics card? Â http://www.dabs.com/products/pny-geforce-g...tm_content=Q200 Â I've done some rooting around and I've been persuaded to part an extra Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Merzbow Posted December 11, 2011 Share Posted December 11, 2011 That is a better card and if you have the dosh then sure, go for a 560 but watch out as it uses a LOT more watts so i'd say make sure you have a 500 watt PSU just in case. Yeah an OC'd version will be faster and your motherboard should be fine, if it runs a GT120 that must mean it has a PCI 2 slot. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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