GeForce GT 430 good enough for Skyrim?

Bob Sawyer

Posts: 10   +0
Hi there

I'm looking to try and get my old Dell Dimension 5000 up to minimum spec to run Skyrim. I don't want to spend too much so I've done some googling and the EVGA Geforce GT 430 looks like a good bet for £45 on dabs.

I can't post a link to it, but it's the 'EVGA GeForce GT 430 700MHz 1GB PCI-Express HDMI'

According to systemrequirementslab.com it's only the graphics card I need - ram etc is OK, so my query is will this card be suitable for my PC?

I believe I have a PCI-Express slot (currently running a Ge Force 6800) and the power supply is 305W (minimum recommended for the card is 300W).

Is there anything else I should be thinking about? - I'm worried the PC is a bit long in the tooth and I may have overlooked something.

Feel free to recommend a different card if you think I ought to be looking at something else!

Cheers

Bob

PS. Whoops - just read the sticky. CPU-Z says I have:
Intel Pentium 4 530
Core speed: around 2992 mhz
Mainboard - Del 0W5363
Ram - 2gb
PCI-Express x16

Does this help?
 
Expect to play on lowest details with low fps, around 20ish fps in heavy areas.

What resolution will you be playing at?
 
Hi

Thanks for quick reply. I played Oblivion at 1024 x 768. Will it be able to do that?

I realise I won't be seeing the game at it's best, but I'm worried if I get too good a video card it will be held back by the rest of the system anyway - I really need to get a complete new rig - this is just to let me play Skyrim in the short term really.

By the way - does it matter that the card has DDR3 ram and my system has DDR2?

Cheers
 
Your system ram and gpu ram difference wont hinder the system. The VGA you've chose wont give you any increase performance

Do you have a 6800, 6800gs or gt?

The 430 is a weak-mild increase in performance. And "Mild" is pushing it!
 
An ati 6670 would do you nicely, around 70ish on dabs. That should do you well until you're ready for a complete upgrade.
 
It will run perfect on 1024x768. Believe me PERFECT. I have a GT 420M (not the "M") at 1366x768 (higher than yours) on MAX settings with HIGH POST AA , BUT the shadows are on LOW (I always put low on shadows, cause I don't care about shadows + they lag the game a lot)
I get 30 fps. So yours is not GT 420M, it is GT 430 which is
a) Desktop (generally better)
b) Higher model than mine (420 VS 430)
c) you can easily overclock it

The 305W is a bit low, I recommend you buy a 430W "to be sure" they are cheap
Hope I helped ;-)
 
Thanks to both of you - I'll have a think about how much I want to spend and go for one of these options.

Cheers!

Bob
 
YES GT 420 runs skyrim very well take settings to medium and let it go :D go to advanced close fxaa its give you 1 - 2 fps its not important and u can install enb too but install ENB with ENBoost and Skyrim performance fx ;D then u can ru the game with 30 - 40 fps ;) now I have Crossfire GTX 980 İ can run the with ultra ENB gt 420 is my old graphic card I used it years ago ;) EDİT : Set the res to 1366 768 ;)
 
Ran it fine at 720p, your bottleneck will be the cpu. Your system is capped at pentium 4s as well. You can get the highest end model of the p4 (670) for around 12£ on ebay. But even that might not be enough.
 
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