The Skyrim upgrade

[nacho]

All I need is beefier graphics card... So, putting these out there for people who know more than I (or pretend to) to chime in and help me make my decision... The contenders:


http://www.amazon.com/MSI-OC-PCI-Express-N550GTX-TI-CYCLONE/dp/B004RJJDFS/

http://www.amazon.com/PCI-Express-ENGTX550-TI-DC-1GD5/dp/B004RJJN9Y

The no-reviews option:
http://www.amazon.com/MSI-PCI-Express-N550GTX-TI-M2D1GD5-OC/dp/B004TAFI68/

And:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814125367

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814127577

[nacho]

More research leads me to cheaper options:

http://www.amazon.com/XFX-Radeon-DisplayPort-PCI-Express-HD567XZNF3/dp/B0034JLTNG

Oh, and, here are the requirements:

http://www.bethblog.com/index.php/2011/10/25/skyrim-system-requirements-announced/

[Reginald McGraw]

How about...http://www.amazon.com/XFX-HD545XZQH2-Radeon-Low-Profile-PCI-Express/dp/B005IUW7YE

[Tatertots]

Do we have a separate thread for Skyrim itself? Because I bought an xBox. And Skyrim.

And holy shit is Skyrim good.

[nacho]

Do we have a separate thread for Skyrim itself? Because I bought an xBox. And Skyrim.

And holy shit is Skyrim good.

We do -- it took over the last few pages of the Oblivion thread.

http://www.greatsociety.org/forums/index.php/topic,1273.0.html

[nacho]

More research leads me to cheaper options:

http://www.amazon.com/XFX-Radeon-DisplayPort-PCI-Express-HD567XZNF3/dp/B0034JLTNG

Oh, and, here are the requirements:

http://www.bethblog.com/index.php/2011/10/25/skyrim-system-requirements-announced/

Oh, and, I decided on this one. Followed the reviews... When Bethesda says "AMD ATI" they're just plugging a brand, right? That shouldn't be a particular spec I look for, should it?

[Reginald McGraw]

You're fine with what you got.  AMD is the chip manufacturer. Even though your particular one fails you mention it, it does have the AMD chip, it's just manufactured by XFX.

So in the Skyrim spec parlance, you're getting:

AMD ATI Radeon 5670 with 1GB of RAM

which is better than the spec:
AMD ATI Radeon 4890 with 1GB of RAM

Of course my recommendation was $45 cheaper and is:
AMD ATI Radeon 5450 with 1GB of RAM

[nacho]

I just can't believe that your rec will do it because I'm American and I want to pay 50% more than I should.

But...you're saying that your cheapie option is really all I need?

[Reginald McGraw]

Yep, it more than meets the recommended spec.

The one you picked is a little nicer so it would stay relevant longer, but if we're purely talking Skyrim cheapie will do fine.

[nacho]

Yeah. Because, after I play Skyrim for a year, I'll just go back to Caesar IV and Vampire Masquerade and EU: Rome.

Well...shit. Thanks. I'll order it today!

[Tatertots]

Nacho's life is over.

[nacho]

Well, super saver shipping gives me eight more days.

[nacho]

Oh, good. Well...that blew up the computer. Though I blame the computer and not the card. Guess I'll have to go up the repair chain! If I have time before the UK.

[Reginald McGraw]

 

[nacho]

Oh no! Never!

This is my grandfather's computer. I'm not surprised opening it up and changing out a video card caused it to have an episode. It took me months just to clean up the hard drive and get it working right. So now I'll just go pay some guy from Ghana $100 to tell me that the PSU is broken and it'll  cost a million dollars to replace.