Skyrim PC system requirements delivered via internet parchment

by Alexander Sliwinski on Oct 25th 2011 10:00PM

Will your PC be ready to render all those Skyrim dragons being torn asunder? Head on past the break for Bethesda's recommended (i.e. "real") PC requirements and minimum specs.

PC Specs:

Recommended Specs

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 Specs

Windows 7/Vista/XP PC (32 or 64 bit)
Processor: Dual Core 2.0GHz or equivalent processor
2GB System RAM
6GB free HDD Space
Direct X 9 compliant video card with 512 MB of RAM
DirectX compatible sound card
Internet access for Steam activation

Source: Bethesda

Tags: elder-scrolls-5, skyrim, the-elder-scrolls-v-skyrim

Reader Comments (112)

Steam activation is always a plus in my book.

Also, those requirements look pretty good all around

@BrianH
I'm a little wary of that Processor part. It just says, vaguely, a "Quad-Core Intel or AMD CPU". (with minimum at 2ghz)

BETHESDA, Y U NO POST CPU GHZ FO RECCOMENDED?

@BrianH
I wish every game used Steam, best platform ever, in my opinion.

@BrianH

Well this is good news for me, looks like my netbook exceeds the minimum spec by quite a bit, granted the game engine is probably mostly unchanged since Fallout NV which runs excellent on mid settings on this tiny 10" machine.

I never look at min or recommended specs for my desktop though, and I don't see why so many people seem surprised that their current gen performance DX11 machines with 4-8 cpu cores exceed spec, that should be obvious. It'll be at least 3-4 years before you need to look at min specs, if your PC's hardware is currently up to date.

Heck it looks like gaming computers built back in 2005 are safe to run this game!

@pluupy If you've got a quad core rig to play games on chances are it's probably powerful enough.

@aea0a095
Wasn't the xbox360 released in 2005? So yeah...

@Warlock234

In my opinion, Steam is the biggest pile of junk ever heaped on the gaming industry. I HATE Steam! There are a ton of reasons why, not the least of which is "Offline Mode" never works and it locks you into a system that may, or may not, be around in another 10 years. Yes, I still like playing my old games - but if Steam's not around in 10 years (or they change their system - which they obviously would) we'll be screwed.

@(Unverified)

I dunno if this helps, but Valve has repeatedly reassured cranky forum dwellers that they have a built in kill switch for Steam. If they ever ended Steam for some reason, they would simply remove all DRM from their games and give everyone else a chance to back up all their games before shuttering.

I don't find this argument holds a lot of water anyway. Valve's not exactly on the verge of closing down.

@aea0a095
Engine unchanged since Fallout NV? It's a completely NEW engine (Creation Engine as opposed to Gamebryo).
Also how is Steam activation a good thing? Wouldn't it be a good thing if you didn't need Steam for a pure single player game...? I might be out of touch here.

@(Unverified) Wow, you really are a clueless troll, aren't you? I'm sorry that you can't manage to get offline mode to work for you, it works just fine for the millions of other Steam users (hell, if Counter Strike: Source players can manage to make it work, that means bacteria can... [No offense to any bacteria who may be reading this]). 10 years down the line? What non-Blizzard game are you playing that's 10 years old now? Even so, as was mentioned earlier, if (...and that's a big 'if') Steam ever does shut down, all the titles will be freed from their DRM shackles. So, your entire mindless 'fight the system! reject the status quo!' rant has been invalidated. Have a nice day.

@sparkster
Oh man, I should've read into this before. So Creation is based off Gamebryo?... Sorry about this.

Wow i'm glad about that, was expecting them to be higher!

@hyamzy
Dragons don't require as much VRam as I thought. Still, I feel like I might need to SLI my GTX 460 in wake of Battlefield 3 and Batman Arkham City.

@Special Agent Steve

BF3 runs on high settings with a good level of AA on my one Radeon HD 6750, and i7 950. That game runs REALLY well!

@liquidsoap89
Oh, I agree; my real concern is Batman with physx turned up to max. I love my GTX 460- I just thought getting him a brother for Christmas would be a nice thank you.

@hyamzy it's a console port. they barely upped the visuals

Man, I was really hoping for it to be strictly on Origin.

@Umustfollowme

You're the only one, dude.

@EliminatorZigma

I could be wrong, but I believe that was sarcasm.

@Umustfollowme

Not sure if troll...

@Alex0022
In any case, they still deserve to be slapped.

Will I be able to run it on a nvidia geforce 9800 gt.

@Th3commoncold

I have a 9600GT, and it meets the minimum requirements, so most likely yes.

@Th3commoncold

This website will show you which games you can play based on your comp. Works through Java.

@Ricmorn Gunnmitten

I assume you're link got eaten, but I'm 99% sure the website you mean is http://www.systemrequirementslab.com/cyri/

I am really surprised that the game is only 6 GB. I was expecting something like 15 or 16 GB.

6 gigs.

@Raiden9191
I was kinda shocked by this too. Especially considering FO3 and Oblivion were like 8GB installs before any mods, and look like crap compared to the new engine.

@Jennacide
Oblivion is only 4.3GB.

@Raiden9191

Oblivion was only about 4.5 Gb of HDD space, and from what we've seen, Skyrim seems to be using an "updated" version of Oblivion's engine (despite what Bethesda keeps saying...). So combined with the compression that they use this seems pretty normal.

Although it definitely does come as a surprise (even with Oblivion) for an RPG to be so small.

@Jennacide FO3 GotY was 8gb with all the addons.

Wait...what? The game is only 6GB? Jeez.

@Korbie Bethesda has been working on leveling up their Optimization skills.

@Jetleo1

still... 6 gigs?

overhype inc...

@FippyX

dont get me wrong, i preordered and cant wait for this damn game to come out.. but 6 gigs???.....

@Korbie

Likely because another version has to fit on a single Xbox 360 disc.

@FippyX
Wtf is with everyone being so uppity over a smaller install size? Do you LIKE wasting 25GB to install games like Rage? I sure don't. We've seen the game in action, we know how it looks, and we've seen evidence it's going to be long as Bethesda's speed run tournament was the longest one to date. Yes, it was just over 2 hours, but considering Morrowind took 20 minutes, and FO3 can take 30, that is a GOOD SIGN on many levels.

@Jennacide

To clarify: Not speaking for everyone, but my reaction was one of surprise, not outrage.

@Korbie
RECOMMENDED FREE SPACE DOES NOT EQUAL FILE SIZE.
Companies will purposely add a few gigabytes for the sake of the HDDs.

@Jennacide
Isn't it obvious? Smaller game size implies smaller game, and this game is one of the very few where size matters. The ES series has always been about ridiculously large, sprawling worlds with endless amounts of content. A 6 GB install means either the game is not nearly as ambitious as Bethesda claims or they did some hardcore file optimization.

@PointlessPuppies

Rage was 25 Gigs and lasts about 10 hours. Oblivion is 4.5 Gigs and can last hundreds of hours (probably at least 30-40 on a "normal playthrough"). Titan Quest is about 5 Gigs and I've put 15 hours in to the first 2 acts.

File size is not related to the size of the game, it is related more to what's IN the actual game (textures mostly). I think it's a safer assumption to make that Skyrim with have lots of dungeon textures and stuff reused often.

Thanks to the BF3 driver update from NVIDIA, I now have no doubt my Laptop is ready. Bring on the big releases, lets go PWNING!

Recommended video card is DX9?.....aww man i was ready for it to look do good it needed DX11. Guess we have to wait til 2015.

@OGC

If you want my advice, don't start. We've known about the fact it uses DX9 for nearly a year, and I still have the scorch marks on my desk from the ensuing 500+ comment console vs PC flame war.

@OGC

It uses DX11 for superior optimization.

Nothing Else.

@Colin

but.....but...they're holding everything back!

@OGC

No, you fool! They'll tear you apart!

@Colin

*Readies the Dragon Shout* Let them come, I will not be defeated!

Everyone, gather round, and sing with me...

SKYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYRIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIMMM!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

@Shadowbender

M?

| 1 | 2 | 3 | Most Recent | Next 50 Comments

The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim

Skyrim PC system requirements delivered via internet parchment

Reader Comments (112)

Posted: Oct 25th 2011 10:05PM BrianH said

Posted: Oct 25th 2011 11:25PM pluupy said

Posted: Oct 25th 2011 11:33PM Warlock234 said

Posted: Oct 26th 2011 2:43AM aea0a095 said

Posted: Oct 26th 2011 3:30AM Faceless Troll said

Posted: Oct 26th 2011 8:18AM CaptainCuriosity said

Posted: Oct 26th 2011 8:51AM (Unverified) said

Posted: Oct 26th 2011 9:59AM Colin said

Posted: Oct 26th 2011 10:02AM sparkster said

Posted: Oct 26th 2011 10:07AM Wulf said

Posted: Oct 26th 2011 10:17AM sparkster said

Posted: Oct 25th 2011 10:06PM hyamzy said

Posted: Oct 25th 2011 10:50PM Special Agent Steve said

Posted: Oct 25th 2011 11:32PM liquidsoap89 said

Posted: Oct 25th 2011 11:57PM Special Agent Steve said

Posted: Oct 26th 2011 12:15AM Kougeru said

Posted: Oct 25th 2011 10:11PM Umustfollowme said

Posted: Oct 25th 2011 10:40PM EliminatorZigma said

Posted: Oct 25th 2011 10:49PM Alex0022 said

Posted: Oct 25th 2011 10:49PM DasMadHatter said

Posted: Oct 26th 2011 12:19AM Misguided Terran said

Posted: Oct 25th 2011 10:11PM Th3commoncold said

Posted: Oct 25th 2011 10:29PM Colin said

Posted: Oct 25th 2011 10:34PM Ricmorn Gunnmitten said

Posted: Oct 25th 2011 10:48PM Colin said

Posted: Oct 25th 2011 10:16PM Raiden9191 said

Posted: Oct 25th 2011 10:33PM Shadowbender said

Posted: Oct 25th 2011 10:34PM Jennacide said

Posted: Oct 25th 2011 11:17PM pluupy said

Posted: Oct 25th 2011 11:31PM liquidsoap89 said

Posted: Oct 26th 2011 3:37AM Faceless Troll said

Posted: Oct 25th 2011 10:17PM Korbie said

Posted: Oct 25th 2011 10:18PM Jetleo1 said

Posted: Oct 25th 2011 10:20PM FippyX said

Posted: Oct 25th 2011 10:21PM FippyX said

Posted: Oct 25th 2011 10:28PM Alpo said

Posted: Oct 25th 2011 10:41PM Jennacide said

Posted: Oct 25th 2011 10:47PM Korbie said

Posted: Oct 25th 2011 11:19PM pluupy said

Posted: Oct 25th 2011 11:32PM PointlessPuppies said

Posted: Oct 25th 2011 11:40PM liquidsoap89 said

Posted: Oct 25th 2011 10:18PM Jetleo1 said

Posted: Oct 25th 2011 10:28PM OGC said

Posted: Oct 25th 2011 10:36PM Colin said

Posted: Oct 25th 2011 10:44PM xiLeShadow said

Posted: Oct 25th 2011 10:51PM OGC said

Posted: Oct 25th 2011 11:07PM Colin said

Posted: Oct 25th 2011 11:11PM OGC said

Posted: Oct 25th 2011 10:35PM Shadowbender said

Posted: Oct 25th 2011 11:46PM chispito said

The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim Info

Description

MSRP

Release Date

Genre

Developer

Publisher

Rating

Breaking News

WB conjures up Harry Potter for Kinect this fall

Featured Stories

Weekly Webcomic Wrapup is a stranger in a strange land

Silver Lining: I Am Alive's unfeeling world

Game Of Thrones and the paradoxes of adaptation

Engadget

TUAW

Massively

WoW