So, what does it take to run the most anticipated RPG of the year? Not all that much actually, unless you want to run it on max settings. Bethesda recently unveiled what your rig needs to handle Skyrim for both low and high settings. Check after the break for the full details. My $400 desktop could probably run the game on medium settings.
Recommended
- Windows 7/Vista/XP PC (32 or 64 bit)
- Processor: Quad-core Intel or AMD CPU
- 4GB System RAM
- 6GB free HDD space
- DirectX 9 compatible NVIDIA or AMD ATI video card with 1GB of RAM (Nvidia GeForce GTX 260 or higher; ATI Radeon 4890 or higher).
- DirectX compatible sound card
- Internet access for Steam activation
Minimum
- Windows 7/Vista/XP PC (32 or 64 bit)
- Processor: Dual Core 2.0GHz or equivalent processor
- 2GB System RAM
- 6GB free HDD Space
- DirectX 9 compliant video card with 512 MB of RAM
- DirectX compatible sound card
- Internet access for Steam activation
The most surprising detail to me is the the very small hard drive space is required, 6GB is a third of what Arkham City and RAGE require and those are arguably smaller games. Skyrim is a near requirement for the PC purely for the modding communities.
Rian Quenlin
The size surprises me as well, especially considering the amount of spoken dialog in the game, textures, music, the sheer size of the area…
Well Bethesda has been making this series for a while, I’m sure they have around a hundred tricks up their sleeve for wringing something out of every last byte.