User:TechAngel85/Sandbox: Difference between revisions

Revision as of 07:14, December 17, 2012

Template:Notice by frihyland & S.T.E.P. Team

Updated: 7:14:49 17 December 2012 (UTC)

Welcome

This is a hardware guide to help you decide what will give you the greatest performance boost within a generic price range. However, it is more than that. You will gain knowledge and understanding of these system components, learn why they are important, and even general installation guidelines. It is not a guide of required hardware to run Skyrim; though, for reference each section will outline Skyrim's official system requirements in regards to that section. You will also find a general recommendation to be able to run STEP is all it's glory. This guide is written with the assumption that you have basic computer building skills and general knowledge of the system components.

When reading this guide please keep in mind the official minimum system requirements will only get you playing the game and nothing else. The official recommended system requirements will only get you playing the game on medium to high settings. To play Skyrim with a STEP installation, you will need the STEP recommended hardware or higher. The following the will be your guides which matches the STEP Guide:

Performance STEP:
Core mods only; performance options wherever possible. Your poor box needs all of the mercy that you can spare it, but you can't go without STEP! These recommendations will not be much more that the official recommended system requirements.

Baseline STEP:
Core and non-Core mods; performance/quality and balanced options wherever possible. Your box is nice but you hate FPS drops and stuttering! These recommendations will get up and running STEP with medium to high settings.

Extreme STEP:
Core and non-Core mods; highest-quality options wherever possible. you box is omnipotent! These recommendations will get you running STEP in all its glory!

Disclaimer

All price ranges are given in US currency($). We will do our best to keep this information accurate; however, depending on when our last review was, it is possible for some components to be inaccurately placed within price ranges. STEP and the community makes no guarantees on pricing. Furthermore, although all technical information is fact, all recommendations from this guide are strictly opinion written/edited by multiple individuals from personal experience or from generally accepted practices. Ultimately, it is the individual's responsibility to check specific pricing and use their best judgement when accepting or not accepting recommendations.

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Skyrim Official CPU Requirements

Minimum

Intel Dual Core 2.0GHz or equivalent processor (AMD Sempron @ 2.4 GHz)

Recommended

Quad-core Intel or AMD CPU processor

STEP CPU Recommendations

Performance STEP: Dual-core processor or higher with 2.5GHZ or higher

Baseline STEP: Quad-core processor or higher with 3GHz or higher

Extreme STEP: Quad-core processor or higher with 3.5GHz or higher

The Intel i-series processors are among the best in the business providing exceptional performance while remaining power efficient. They are the CPU of choice of the STEP community.
(more detailed and accurate information will follow as benchmark testing is completed)

CPU

Skyrim is incredibly dependent on a fast processor; to such an extent that even with a great mid-grade processor, such as an Intel i5, you may still very often find it to be the limiting performance factor in the game. This is because Skyrim offloads all DirectX calls for shadows to the CPU which the GPU would normally handle. For this reason, if you ever find your CPU being pushed to its limits while running the game try reducing the the shadow settings on the launcher and/or in the SkyrimPrefs.ini file until you achieve your optimal performance. Shadow draw distance can make a big performance impact on the CPU as well.

Since DirectX calls are offloaded to the CPU, multiple cores are a requirement! You must have at least a dual-core processor and a quad-core is recommended. Skyrim will often max out the first core with the remaining cores being utilized between 30% to 50%.

In order to accommodate a new processor, you often have to buy a new motherboard, unless your board was purchased within the last couple of years. The reason for this is because as new processors are released, they often come coupled with a new socket type; which may not match your motherboard. A new motherboard can severely effect any budget, especially when the prices of CPUs usually aren't cheap.

The minimum recommendations for upgrading when purchasing for AMD you'll want an FX-Series (Zambezi); however, Intel is highly recommended. Intel performs better in nearly all tests. For Intel, a Core i5 (Ivy Bridge) or higher is best, unless you already have a sandy bridge in which case just stick with it. The closer you can get to 4Ghz (higher is faster) the better. Keep in mind the higher the hertz, the higher the price goes.

Laptop users aren't out of luck here. Most laptops have upgradable CPUs; however, they are much more resisted in the variety of choices for upgrading and it is often not worth the cost. For both desktop and laptop users, check with your laptop/motherboard manufacturer for a list of supported processors before upgrading.

Terminology

32-bit/64-bit Architecture: This refers to the architecture of the CPU, datapath widths, integer size, and memory addresses. 32-bit and 64-bit hardware are not interchangeable. 32-bit must be used with 32-bit. In most things, 64-bit is backwards compatible with 32-bit; however, you will benefit most by keeping 64-bit with 64-bit; not mixing the two.

Core: A core is the actual central processing unit. It receives and executes instructions.

DMI: The Direct Media Interface (DMI) is the connection between the northbidge and the southbridge on the motherboard. It is measured in gigabits per second (Gb/s) or gigatransfers per second (GT/s). This is for Intel CPUs only.

Frequency: Frequency (sometimes referred to as Operating Frequency) is the speed at which the CPU operates. This is measured in gigahertz (GHz). The higher the GHZ the faster the CPU operates.

Hyper-threading: Hyper-threading uses processor resources more efficiently, enabling multiple threads to run on each core. As a performance feature, hyper-threading also increases processor throughput, improving overall performance on threaded software. (Intel only)

Mulit-core: A CPU which houses multiple cores is referred to as multi-core. A multi-core CPU can run multiple instructions at the same time, increasing overall speed. Multi-core CPUs come in 2-core, 3-core, 4-core, 6-core, and 8-core varieties.

L1, L2, L3 Cache: CPU utilize multi-level caches to reduce the average time to access memory. These caches are a smaller, but faster memory similar to RAM which stores copies of the data from the most frequently used system RAM locations.

Socket: The CPU socket type is the type of connection the CPU uses to connect to the motherboard. The CPU and motherboard socket types must match in order to use a specific CPU with a specific motherboard.

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Skyrim Official Disk Space Requirements

Minimum

6GB of free disk space (SSD not required)*

Recommended

6GB of free disk space (SSD not required)*

*This is for a base install only! Patches will require up to 500MB of additional space. DLC will require up to an additional 6GB.

STEP General Disk and Disk Space Recommendation

STEP recommends having up to at least 15GB of free disk space for all installs, depending on the content you install. A SSD is also recommended for best performance. (more detailed and accurate information will follow as benchmark testing is completed)

SSD

Skyrim requires 6 GB of hard drive space un-modded, and you can easily triple that with heavy modding. Skyrim has a great many loading screens, and you can greatly diminish the time spent on these screens by installing Skyrim on an SSD (solid-state drive), as well as increasing overall stability and performance of the game. If you do not have an SSD the next best thing would be to install an extremely fast traditional drive or a RAID0 array (Caution: RAID0 can be unstable longterm, see here for details). When Purchasing an SSD, SATA 6 GB/s is what your looking for (at $1/GB) and make sure your motherboard supports it natively through AHCI (set it up to use AHCI in BIOS as it is never the default, and must be done before OS detection), otherwise you will find your uber-SSD running in emulated IDE mode.

Terminology

Access Time: The time it takes to access data on the drive.

Cache: Technically called the Disk Buffer, it is the embedded memory in a hard drive acting as a buffer between the rest of the computer and the disk platters that are used for storage. It is used for read-aheads, write acceleration, and speed matching among other things.

Capacity: Capacity is the amount of data the hard drive can store. It is measured in gigabytes (GB) or terabytes (TB).

Form Factor: This refers to the physical size of the drive.

Interface: The interface is the type of connection the disk uses to connect to the motherboard. The most commonly used is Serial ATA (SATA). SATA is available in 1.5Gbit/s, 3Gbit/s, and 6Gbit/s transfer rates. 3Gbit drives can run on 6Gbit motherboards but not visa-versa. Integrated Drive Electronics (IDE) interface is now obsolete.

RPM: Revolutions Per Minute (RPM) is the speed at which the disk platters spin. 5400, 7200, and 10,000 RPMs are the standard speeds.

Seek Time: A measure of how long it takes the head assembly to travel to the track of the disk that contains data.

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Skyrim Official Video Card Requirements

Minimum

Direct X 9.0c compliant video card with 512 MB of RAM

Recommended

DirectX 9.0c compatible NVIDIA or AMD ATI video card with 1GB of RAM: Nvidia GeForce GTX 260 or higher; ATI Radeon HD 4890 or higher

STEP General Video Card Recommendation

Performance STEP: DirectX 9.0c compatible NVIDIA or AMD ATI video card with 1GB of VRAM or higher

Baseline STEP: DirectX 9.0c compatible NVIDIA or AMD ATI video card with 1GB of VRAM or higher

Extreme STEP: DirectX 9.0c compatible NVIDIA or AMD ATI video card with 1.5GB of VRAM or higher
Most cards are now DirectX 11. (more detailed and accurate information will follow as benchmark testing is completed)

Video

Template:Notice The following chart lists cards by GPU power and sorts them into tiers along with a range of appropriate VRAM amounts required to get the best performance/price value.

First check your own video cards model and specs, if your card is on the table already you don't need to upgrade unless you have less than 1GB VRAM. If not peruse for an upgrade in your price range. Note that if you upgrade from one model on this list to another, jumping at least 3 tiers is recommended in order to actually be able to 'feel' the upgrade, anything less is fairly trivial.

Not all models will be available with recommended VRAM as that is entirely up to manufacturers, it's up to you to find one with the appropriate VRAM specs. Also be aware that these are seriously oversimplified recommendations, all types of different configurations are available for each model, I am just suggesting a rather idealized upgrade path, don't hesitate to buy a card (if you feel its a good price) just because its slightly below the ideal.

Dual Chip boards are not listed, if you have one you should be fine as long as you have at least 2GB (1GB for each chip), if you are buying one, make sure to get 4GB (2GB for each chip).

Price listings are just what I was able to find with a quick online search and are meant as examples not definitive in any way (if the VRAM is less than recommended I provide the available amount).

**GeForce and Radeon Graphics Card Performance Hierarchy Chart**
US$ Value/Performance	Nvidia Models and Available Pricing	ATI Models and Available Pricing
High End GPU's, look for models with 3GB VRAM and up
340	GTX 680 2GB $499, GTX 680 4GB $590	HD 7970 3GB $540
310	GTX 670 2GB $400, GTX 670 4GB, GTX 580 $480	HD 7870 2GB $360, HD 7950 3GB $430
Mid Range GPU's, look for models with 2GB to 3GB VRAM
250	GTX 480 1.5GB $250, GTX 570 2.5GB $350	HD 6970 $360, HD 7850 $250
220	GTX 470, GTX 560 Ti $250, GTX 560 Ti 448 Core	HD 5870, HD 6950 $250
Low End GPU's look for models with 1.5GB to 2GB VRAM
190	GTX 560 $230, 580M	HD 5850, HD 6870 $200, 6990M
160	GTX 285, GTX 460 $215, GTX 465	HD 6850 $180, HD 7770, 6900M
130	GTX 260, GTX 275, GTX 280, GTX 460 SE, GTX 550 Ti $140, 570M	HD 4870, HD 5770, HD 4890, HD 5830, HD 6770, HD 6790, HD 5870, 6800M

My personal conclusion at this point is that for ballsout graphics without sending you to the poorhouse (and future-proof for 4 years) a GTX 670 4GB (of Samsung DDR5) priced at $400 is the way to go, it may be several months before we see this but I am a patient man. The 670 is only 4% slower than the 680 and has much less cooling issues, the Samsung DDR5 is proving to be much faster and more reliable than other vendors and 4GB should be sufficient to guarantee 4 years of usefulness. Go to Toms Hardware if your looking for a comprehensive chart, it was used as a primary information source.

GPU

The video card is easily the most expensive part of a gaming computer and thus although it is quite critical, when formulating a performance/price scale it move quite dramatically.

Video cards need DirectX 9 support with a minimum of 1GB of VRAM to run Skyrim, although 2-4GB is highly preferable. Here the GPU although still critical, is much less important than the total VRAM, and SLI/Crossfire can be helpful for an fps boost particularly if using Ultra settings and Post Processors (but certainly not enough to warrant buying another card, unless you have at least 2-4GB on each card and want to run in 3D or Multiple Monitor Mode).

Minimum recommended GPU models are the Nvidia GTX 550TI or ATI HD 6850 each with 2GB VRAM (these are last seasons mid-range models with a boosted VRAM and available fairly cheap at ~$150, 1GB versions run only $35 less and you will hate yourself if you skimp here). PCIe 3.0 x16 support would be nice here but certainly not necessary (unless you are spending $500 or more), but a PCIe 2.0 with a full x16 dedicated bandwidth is a really good idea, check your motherboard for this support.

Terminology

Core Clock: Core Clock is the speed at which the GPU operates. It is measured in megahertz (MHz).

DirectX: This is the version of DirectX the card is compatible with. DirectX is backwards compatible with previous versions.

GPU: The Graphics Processing Unit is the CPU for video cards. It handles all executions for the card.

HDCP: High-bandwidth Digital Content Protection (HDCP) is a form of protection for audio and video content originating from the card. It helps to ensure the content originating from the card isn't played on unauthorized devices. This normally works seamlessly in the background.

Interface: The interface is the type of connection the card uses to connect to the motherboard. PCI Express (PCI-E) is the most common of these.

Max Resolution: This will be the maximum screen resolution the card is capable of producing.

Memory Clock: This is the speed at which the the VRAM operates. It is measured in megahertz (MHz).

Memory Interface: This is the architecture of the VRAM. Measured in bits; most common are 128-bit and 256-bit.

Memory Size: Memory Size is the amount of dedicated VRAM the card has. It is measured in megabytes (MB) or gigabytes (GB).

OpenGL: This is the version of OpenGL the card is compatible with.

Ports: Listed will the be available out ports for the card. These are most often: D-sub (display port/analog), DVI (digital/preferred), HDMI (digital/perferred).

SLI/CrossFireX: Scalable Link Interface (SLI) allows you to connect two or more video cards together; providing improved performance. A "SLI Ready" card support SLI linking. CrossFireX is AMD's version of SLI and it works pretty much the same way.

VRAM: Video RAM (VRAM) is the dedicated memory which only the video card uses. It is usually significantly faster than system RAM.

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Skyrim Official RAM Requirements

Minimum

2GB of system RAM

Recommended

4GB of system RAM

STEP General System RAM Recommendation

Performance STEP: 4GB of system RAM

Baseline STEP: 4GB of system RAM or higher

Extreme STEP: 6GB of system RAM or higher
(more detailed and accurate information will follow as benchmark testing is completed)

System RAM

As for system memory 4GB is the required minimum for all STEP installations, and though the Extreme install recommends up to 6GB your system may never need more than 4GB to run a stable Skyrim when heavily modded. If your system runs out of VRAM it resorts to using your system memory which is slower and the main cause of stuttering. If you plan on using mods with high texture resolutions make sure you have at least 6GB to be safe and at least 1.5GB of VRAM to keep the game-play smooth.

If you have less than 4GB of system RAM move it to the top of your upgrade list. System RAM is inexpensive so it won't break your budget. If you plan on upgrading it is recommended you buy a dual-channel kit, which is simply a package with two identical memory modules, if your motherboard supports it. Dual-channel is faster and more efficient than running single modules. Consult your motherboards list of supported models before purchase, which can often limit your choices. If you motherboard doesn't support at least DDR2 modules, you might consider upgrading your board to support the newer, faster architectures like DDR3.

For laptop users, all the information above applies to you as well. The only difference is, you can't upgrade your motherboard to support faster RAM architectures. Also, the cost of being mobile isn't cheap as you should, unfortunately, expect to pay 40% to 60% more for laptop memory.

Please note that a 64 bit OS is required to make us of more than 4GB of system RAM.

Terminology

Capacity: Capacity is the size of the RAM measured in gigabytes (GB).

CAS Latency: Column Address Strobe (CAS) latency, is the delay time between the moment a memory controller tells the a module to access a particular memory column on a RAM module, and the moment the data from the given array location is available on the module's output pins. The lower the CAS latency, the better.

Dual-Channel: Dual-channel requires a dual-channel-capable motherboard and two or more memory modules. Dual-channel uses two channels which allow the memory controller access to each memory module simultaneously, increasing throughput bandwidth.

Speed: This is the speed at which the RAM operates. There are far too many speeds to discuss here. An example would be, DDR3 1333 (PC3 10600).

Timing: Timing measures the performance of RAM using four parameters; they are commonly written as four numbers separated with dashes (7-8-8-24). These parameters specify the latencies that affect speed. Lower numbers usually mean faster performance.

Type: Type most often refers to the pins and architecture of the RAM. Such as 240-pin DDR3 SDRAM.

Voltage: Voltage refers to the voltage the RAM uses. This can be different depending on the type and manufacturer.

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Motherboard

Most of the recommended upgrades require certain specs on your mother board. Besides those specific specs, the chipsets are the defining factors here: for AMD you want 900 series chipsets, on the Intel side Z77.

Terminology

Audio: The majority of motherboard have embedded audio. In most cases, there is no need for a sound card as most embedded audios support up to 7.1 surround sound and are of high quality.

CPU Type: Here will be listed the types of CPUs the motherboard is compatible with. AMD and Intel boards are not interchangeable.

Expansion Slots: Expansion slots "expand" the capabilities of the motherboard. These slots are where you install your video and sound cards, modems, network cards, etc. It is also where you'll find the information needed to choose compatible cards listed.

Form Factor: The most that is needed to know about Form Factor is it directly relates to the physical size of the motherboard. ATX is the most common standard followed my micro-ATX which is smaller (mirco-ATX is quickly becoming the new standard).

I/O Connectors: Input/Output (I/O) connectors are connector that on internal on the motherboard. These provide places to connect your system fans, power switch, case ports, etc.

Memory: Here will be listed the information needed to choose compatible memory. Some items listed include: number of slots, pin type, standard supported (DDR2/DDR3/etc), channels supported, and maximum amount supported.

Northbridge: The northbridge is one part of the chipset which handles communications among the CPU, sometimes RAM, PCI Express video cards, and the southbridge. More modern CPUs have many of the northbridge's functions built-in.

Onboard LAN: This refers to the embedded local area network (LAN) connections on the motherboard. In most cases, no additional NIC card is needed as the onboard LAN is more than efficient. 10/100/1000Mbps is the most common.

Rear Panel Ports: The rear panel of the motherboard is where all your external connections are connected to the motherboard such as mouse, keyboard, LAN, etc.

SATA: Serial ATA (SATA) is used for your storage devices. (most motherboard no longer have IDE)

Socket Type: This refers to the socket type the CPU uses to connect to the motherboard. The CPU and motherboard socket types must match.

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Skyrim Official OS Requirements

Minimum

Windows 8/7/Vista/XP (32 or 64-bit)

Recommended

Windows 8/7/Vista/XP (32 or 64-bit)

STEP General OS Recommendation

Windows 7 or Windows 8 64-bit is the recommended operating system for all STEP installations.

OS

A word on Windows 64-bit: while not necessary, x64 will allow you to add more than 4GB of system RAM and that will increase stability in your games. I would not recommend 64-bit XP and especially Vista as they are fairly buggy in regards to hardware and games, neglecting the benefits of the RAM increase.

Terminology

Architecture: The architecture is either 32-bit or 64-bit.

Upgrade: An upgrade is a version of the operating system meant typically for those who already own the previous operating system.

Version: This refers to the version of the operating system. Common versions are Home Premium, Professional, and Ultimate.

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Resources

The below resources were not written by STEP; thus we can not make any guarantees for any of them. They are provided strictly for additional informational resources.

Pricewatch

New Egg

Logical Increments PC Buying Guide

@@ Line 51: / Line 51: @@
 The minimum recommendations for upgrading when purchasing for AMD you'll want an FX-Series (Zambezi); however, Intel is highly recommended. Intel performs better in nearly all tests. For Intel, a Core i5 (Ivy Bridge) or higher is best, unless you already have a sandy bridge in which case just stick with it. The closer you can get to 4Ghz (higher is faster) the better. Keep in mind the higher the hertz, the higher the price goes.
-Laptop users aren't out of luck here. Most laptops have upgradable CPUs; however, they are much more resisted in the variety of choices. For both desktop and laptop users, check with your laptop/motherboard manufacturer for a list of supported processors before upgrading.
+Laptop users aren't out of luck here. Most laptops have upgradable CPUs; however, they are much more resisted in the variety of choices for upgrading and it is often not worth the cost. For both desktop and laptop users, check with your laptop/motherboard manufacturer for a list of supported processors before upgrading.
 == Terminology ==