Performance Analysis System Specs
- Intel Core i7-6700K
- Gigabyte Z170X Gaming 7
- 32GB Corsair Dominator Platinum DDR4 2666
- 512GB Samsung 950 Pro
- SanDisk Extreme Pro 960GB
- Enermax Platimax 1350
- Windows 10 64-bit
- NVIDIA Drivers: 376.33
- AMD Drivers 16.12.1
- OCAT
The options available are just as wide and deep as they were with the original. You can control nearly all aspects of the graphics and can thus tune your experience based on your specific setup. Shadows tend to have the largest impact, as does the level of AA. For this test we’re merely walking around the forest after we’ve chase the dragon away during the initial level. Of course, you have to completely disable V-Sync within the appropriate .ini files to go above 60FPS. After that, you’ll see the results below.
1080P
1440P
2160P
Conclusion
Skyrim Special Edition does add a few good under-the-hood changes. The use of higher resolution everything ends up being a bit more demanding than the original, but in the end it feels and looks like a proportional difference. The tradeoff in performance isn’t so high that the visual improvements, no matter how seemingly small, is not worth it. The wonderful thing about this upgraded version is that if you already have the original Skyrim and all the DLC on PC, you’ll be able to play this for free. Bethesda has a fairly well optimized game with valuable improvements. This will be even more softer console gamers.
For 1080P we recommend at least an AMD RX 4470, though in reality an R9 380X would do just nicely. Max settings are playable on nearly anything.
For 1440P we recommend using at least an NVIDIA GTX 970 or an AMD RX 480 to enjoy the best experience at the maximum settings.
For 2160P We recommend using at least an NVIDIA GTX 1070 if you want all the options turned on maximum. An AMD R9 Fury X is also acceptable, though Fiji cards are increasingly rare to find these days.