PC Upgrade to fix Skyrim lagging?

METALHEADxxLEE

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Hey guys,

i recently downloaded Skyrim on steam and immediately when i started playing there was very bad lag which was very difficult to play. My PC meet all the requirements and the default setting was set to high, i did a quick search on Google to see if there was a quick fix and i found out about the mouse acceleration setting to 0 which is did. this did not help much. so im currently running on the low quality setting and its better but still some lag. so im thinking of maybe upgrading the cpu and/or graphics card, would this help?

My setup is:

Dell Precision T3400
Windows 7 64bit
8GB RAM
Intel Core 2 Duo E4600 2.40GHz
ATI Radeon HD5450

I wouldn't want to spend too much on this but i want something that will last for a good few years anyway.

Thanks.
 
you should be able to play the game better than i can

i run it with 4gb ram and a 1gb hd4560 although i have an i3 running at 4ghz which idk if that makes that much difference

i get a smooth 25-30 fps on medium and high settings

still playable though, well in my eyes
 
yeah i thought it was more likely to be my cpu as yours is near enough twice the GHz, i was looking at the AMD Phenon II X4 955 as an upgrade.
 
well that will be for smarter people than i to advise you, i do know that if your looking at an amd chip youll need a different motherboard too to accomodate it as intel and amd dont use the same interfaces
 
Check your motherboard specs and see if it can take a Q6600 Quad Core 3.0Ghz chip. That would be an awesome upgrade and perhaps a slightly newer graphics card and it should play Skyrim no problems.
 
check your motherboard specs and see if it can take a q6600 quad core 3.0ghz chip. That would be an awesome upgrade and perhaps a slightly newer graphics card and it should play skyrim no problems.

+1
 
Im not sure what this means but here are the results:

MotherboardSpecs.jpg
 
Well a couple of results on google seem to point that you can have the Q6600 with that.

Desktop Features
This is a Dell system with the Q6600 already and you can see it has the same mobo as you. Plus there are other results with the mobo and other CPUs.

I'd stick a Q6600 in it, you can get these for £50 or so now, then if you have the funds put a GTX560ti or ATI equivalent in.


Lmao... I was waiting for you to post that. :rotfl:

:)
 
Ideally, you should have a [2 core] server farm to run Skyrim; it's more CPU intensive than it is GPU intensive.

If you want better performance from Skyrim, buy the fastest CPU that will fit your mobo, then OC it until it goes on fire.. Skyrim uses 2 cores maximum though :(

On my rig and when playing Skyrim, my CPU is at 50%, almost constantly, and my GPU doesn't go above 50%.. :/
 
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there is this until the game is or if patched though TESV Acceleration Layer offers CPU optimization, massive possible performance increases, now in SKSE plugin format - Bethesda Softworks Forums

also while stripping the system take a look at the Psu as them Dell systems usually use Custom Psu's built just for that system, just post the info here.

*Looks at the developers discussing the code*

*Notices the x87 keyword*

Aaaaahhh... That's why Skyrim sucks..

For example, nVidia use x87 as their PhysX code-base.. And you can only run that effectively on a GPU!

I can't understand what the bloody Bethesda code monkeys were thinking when they left the "Optimisations" flag to 'OFF'.

Why didn't they put SSE into their latest AAA title?!
 
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also while stripping the system take a look at the Psu as them Dell systems usually use Custom Psu's built just for that system, just post the info here.


I have noticed this too, though all the T3400's I have stripped have come with a much better PSU with all the connectors, the T3500's however came with the absolute bare minimum to get the system up and running. It's at least easy to change the PSU though now that Dell have finally stopped mucking with the board power connectors.
 
*Looks at the developers discussing the code*

*Notices the x87 keyword*

Aaaaahhh... That's why Skyrim sucks..

For example, nVidia use x87 as their PhysX code-base.. And you can only run that effectively on a GPU!

I can't understand what the bloody Bethesda code monkeys were thinking when they left the "Optimisations" flag to 'OFF'.

Why didn't they put SSE into their latest AAA title?!

not sure,maybe lazy codeing or something Next time i see Bob the Builder i will ask him,

some more info on that plugin by the author,
How can Skyrim be so unoptimized? Modders do better job than Bethesda - Bethesda Softworks Forums - Page 4





I have noticed this too, though all the T3400's I have stripped have come with a much better PSU with all the connectors, the T3500's however came with the absolute bare minimum to get the system up and running. It's at least easy to change the PSU though now that Dell have finally stopped mucking with the board power connectors.

thats the problem with Dell ,i fixed a friends last year and the only thing i could upgrade in the system if needed was the mem:(
i did here a while back that they made the Cd/Dvd roms smaller so you could not get an after market on to fit there case once the drive failed, not sure if it is true or ever happened though.
 
Bottom Line:

Avoid DELL at all costs.
 
you cant say that some people payed dam good money for the Dells. tight :censored: :laugh:
 

I think you have stumbled upon something great...

It should get stickied somewhere, until Bethesda release their own 'optimisation' patches.

I've posted your findings in the official Skyrim thread, giving you the kudos for the find namuk :)
 
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Bottom Line:

Avoid DELL at all costs.

Sorry, cant disagree with this more. For people who dont know how to do things computery, Dell PC's are an excellent choice. Obviously their cheaper models might be prone to problems, in exactly the same way that any other companies cheaper models are prone to problems. And unless you happen to speak in an incredibly heavy regional accent of some kind, Dell customer service is not that difficult to get on with. The tech guys run through the right kinds of checks most times and will be very helpful providing you dont shout at them because they are in india. Most UK based tech call centres are simply full of asian employees anyhow! (and I work for a company that has one, so am speaking from experience).

Dells midrange, laptop and higher end PC's are always very well made, granted exceptions occur, however it is often traced to a bad batch of parts from a third party, rather than Dells build quality.

Yes, you can get gaming rigs cheaper elsewhere, but thats because Dell dont specialise in them, they specialise in home PC's covering a variety of abilities, and work PC's for offices mainly. And yes, you can build your own a lot cheaper quite often, but as I mentioned, for people who dont know how to or are not compentent enough, its hard to beat a Dell.

I've had 2 laptops from them, one over 3 years old, still going strong (in use by mum on a daily basis), the one im on now which is going very nicely after a year and still playing new games nicely. 2 netbooks, one a Mini9 from Vodafone package, was in perfect working order until I sold it after 2.5 years to a mate...amazingly it died quite quickly, but given he gave it to his 5 year old son to use, I suspect it wasnt the laptops fault. A Dell Duo which I bought myself, fantastic device, yes, battery life isnt amazing, but then its pretty nippy and capable of doing a fair bit more than my Mini9 could, and as I leave it in the dock at work it doesnt matter. Well built, and a year in has had no issues.

Desktop, 4. First one got struck my lightening and the hard drive was still working properly after so I could retrieve data (thankfully insurance company was very very helpful and sent me back the HDD), second one only died because I overloaded the PSU rather massively, third and fourth ones, Dell Dimension 8300 and 8400 (both 3ghz P4, but 8400 was PCI-E) are still working strong after god knows how many years abuse, mostly to do video encoding and crunching stuff.

So thats 8 Dell PC's over around 14 years, only three no longer in operation, one from a lightening strike! The other from me adding more RAM, another disk drive, another two hard drives, a much more powerful graphics card, a soundcard and a TV Tuner without realising what might happen. Otherwise, all good. The third a mystery, but I suspect child abuse as my friend didnt let me see it to see if it could be fixed...lol

If you've had a bad experience with a company personally, then fair enough, I can appreciate why you might be reluctant to use or recommend them, but you have to take it in context. With a company of Dells size, of course there will be a large amount of complaints online to read.....they sell fantastically huge numbers of PC's compared to the smaller, gamer rig specialising companies.

If you are just jumping on a 'hate Dell' bandwagon because of their success....then please, save it for clan forums where people like to bitch and moan with no good reason and slate everything because its cool and not consider the implications.
 
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ps. In case someone decides to point out where I say they dont specialise, but then whats Alienware. Well, thats a loss leader operation for Dell. It tends not to make them any money due to the after sales care involved and the higher cost to them when things do go wrong. They have the product to make sure their name is still in the minds of people who only really use a PC for gaming, so that when they require a PC not for gaming, they might still go for a Dell. It's kind of like an Asda £10 DVD player launch. They lose money on it (or gain virtually nothing), so why do they do it? Simple, firstly, you remember the Asda more, secondly, when you go in to buy it, you buy a couple of DVD's perhaps because the players so cheap. Oh, maybe I'll get a ready meal to eat while I watch.....oohhh need some dessert for after....mebbe just a 4 pack of beer to wash it all down....ohh I need some bin bags while im here, oohhh whats that offer on......etc....

pps. I do build my own gaming rigs now for the purpose of learning more about how they operate, and also to overclock the pants off them. Thankfully, I appear to have Dells knack for choosing components and putting them together, as neither of my PC's have had a problem, one is currently being used by a mate while he awaits getting a new rig himself, the other as per my sig is a lovely beast, happily oc's to 4.1 on the conventional intel air cooler using the genie button, havnt had the chance yet to pop a little something stronger on it to see what else I can get, but then it runs very nicely and plays most games without any issues, so dont see the point in stressing it until I can afford to replace parts in the event of a problem.
 
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