Ee-wot?

one word - weird!!!! lol umm now u got a new computer built, guess that means you will be moving on to other more modern games like http://eternity.obsidian.net/

I'm totes jelly. (gratz, btw )

The PC's good, I did well with it. However it doesn't achieve 'quite' the performance and quality I was hoping for with Skyrim.
Basically it's like this;
I bought a BEAST Processor and lots of RAM. So Room load up like BAM! Loads are damn near instant, it's wonderful.
However I believe the graphics card I'm using is a wee out of date. The game manages about the same quality as you would get on the Xbox360, which I suppose is pretty good. Especially since you have mods and such that can improve performance even more. With Skyrim, (At least for now) I don't mind ugly shadows n' wotnot, but I like to have beautiful textures.

So I think I overhyped it a little more, but I thought the Graphics card was a lot better than it is. I would overclock it, but I don't believe I have what's necessary to properly keep it cool. So it's either pay for that stuff, or just get a newer one and give this one back to my friend.
The Graphics Card is one of the few parts I had to borrow, so at least I'm not losing money on it. Plus he'll be glad to have it back..

Although as soon as I get a newer one, there will be another blog entry of me fangirling over Skyrim's new look on my PC. xD

Edit: Also the fact I'm playing it on a huge T.V, which puts a strain on the GPU. Yeah. That might be it.

I am not a super jelly, I am super silly. However just a question or two for you. Exactly what graphic card did your friend loan you? It might not be the Graphics card that is causing the problems. It could be the driver that you have installed. It could also be that you are playing it on a very large format display. Have you tried it on a normal monitor? Also what connection are you using to connect the video card to the television as that could also be the issue?

Congratulations to your new PC, I hope you can get the pending graphic matter solved - playing on a huge high-res TV may easily be a heavy load for many graphic cards.

By the way, I'm going to build a 'new' PC during summer holidays probably too, it will be a patch-work made of all the best (old) components laying around.
With Windows 7 or even XP - that should be sufficent for gaming purposes.

Getting a new rig is always a big event, maybe as much to us little folk as cars are to better off people.

Glad to see you're enjoying it with a decently beautiful game too.

I forget the exact name of it -- (I need to find the program that tells you, it's installed somewhere on this hard-drive but I should get cookies if I can manage to find it, Lmao.)
And it isn't quite 'Out of Date', and the Driver's are up to speed and recommended for the card.

I've narrowed it down to the fact that I'm playing on a huge T.V. rather than a monitor, and since this Graphics card only has an HDMI output (And another one, I forget what they're called, but it's not for a 'normal' desktop monitor cord.) and I have no regular-sized HDMI screens.

However since I am borrowing the GPU, I figure I might as well replace it with my own, much stronger, GPU anyway.
I've decided on the GeForce GTX 960, which is not the newest or the greatest but is easily within my budget. From what I read, it can handle Skyrim beautifully on Ultra, or at least High, Graphics settings. Which means if I have them a bit lower than that, I can play it on such an oversized screen without too much issue, until I invest in a monitor.

Skyrim doesn't lag too terribly, but it's enough to discourage me from playing intensively on it. So I've started moving over to Fallout, which I had never actually gotten in to before. And Fallout: New Vegas, which seems to have more mods for it than Fallout 3:, is what I've been playing the last few days. I couldn't get into it on the console, but on the PC, I'm definitely enjoying it. Plus it runs on High graphics rather easily on my T.V. I suppose it's high time for a change of pace anyway, right?

I already have half the cost of the GPU covered, and it will take me two or three weeks to gather up the rest, but it'll be oh-so worth it.
Also, more for giggles than anything, I tried playing DS2 on this rig and my gawd. You would think an older game like that, even at such high resolution, would look poo on a 40" HD, without the few graphical mods for it installed.
You would be wrong.
It wasn't gorgeous and color-filled and lifechanging, but it looked amazingly good, like... Well, I dunno, but it was nice.
Also there was no lag, but I suppose that goes without saying.

GeForce GTX 960 sounds like a good choice, especially with Skyrim it will make a difference, probably wont see much difference with DS2 being a 10 year plus old game, but can play on the highest setting thus improving the graphics. Graphic Card wise today, should look at the RAM on the card and the processor speed of the card. the more RAM the card has the less it uses the CPU.

As for the TV? theres nothing wrong with using a digital tv today most are equipped with the adapter for the computer, the thing is setting the resolution of the TV to match it on the computer, the manual for the tv should tell its resolution (1920 x 1080 is what my 22 inch uses) but anyways, you should benefit greatly with the GTX 960, Nvidia makes good stuff, it just depends on the brand manufacturer u get as some brands last longer than others and have less problems.

As for finding the name of your graphics card, u can use the system information tool found in system tools of Accessories on the Programs menu under Start.... or can download speccy https://www.piriform.com/speccy off the net as well, in fact just about every software on the speccy site should be on everyones computer - ccleaner, defraggler and recuva are all good software to have.

I did some checking on recommended video cards for running a 30 inch Monitor/TV
A single GeForce GTX TITAN X Graphics Card will drive upto 3 30 inch monitors at a resolution of 2560x1600 while playing Skyrim at an fps of 97. However the cost of over 1000 dollars is just a bit to rich for my blood.
A single NVIDIA GeForce GTX 960 2GB on one 30 inch monitor at a resolution of 2560x1600 while playing Skyrim at an fps of 89. There are several versions of the GTX 960 so you want to make sure you pick the 2GB version. Average price is around 350 dollars.

For lower price range cards NVIDIA GeForce GTX 680 fps 64, NVIDIA GeForce GTX 670 fps 61, and even the card I run NVIDIA GeForce GTX 560 Ti has a fps of 32 on a 30 inch monitor with a resolution of 2560x1600. However because it has much less memory I run at a resolution of 1920x1080

I would suggest either a single GTX 680 if you can find one because of the cost.

The other important thing is the connection to the computer. PCI Express comes in several versions so not all cards will fit. Also not all motherboards are SLI compatable (running 2 video cards.
Just as a point of interest what is the motherboard in your system so I can look it up.

I've learned some more about Graphics Cards, now that I've been putting so much time into deciding on them. I've learned that a classification such as "GeForce GTX 960" doesn't seem to be a title inherent to one and only one GPU. I'm starting to think.. what.. is that some kind of type? A 'Breed' if you will? Like if you add a new dog to the mix of dogs out there but that dog also comes in different colors and levels of laziness?

Anyway.

I think I've decided on a card - and is this the same one you were looking at, bare_elf?
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814487091&cm_re=GeForce_GTX_960-_-14-487-091-_-Product
It's about $230 rather than $350, which to me is a significant plus. I was seriously contemplating if I could toss in an additional $100 into this rig and in the end I think I could, but I didn't want to have to wait for so long. Now -- I still do, but I mean, it's a lot better. Reading the reviews they seem almost universally positive and some of the benchmarks are set quite high so I don't believe I'll need to worry about any gaming needs not being met with this thing. Apparently a drawback is that it is a very LARGE Graphics Card, which I don't think bothers me too much since I have a pretty decent sized case right now.

As for the Motherboard, since you were interested, it is a GIGABYTE|GA-970A-UD3P and AM3+. Humble, but solid. It'll probably be the next thing I upgrade once I get everything to a suitable stage.

Been running New Vegas recently and I noticed I can play it at high settings, but if I try to upgrade the textures in the game to anything much higher my framerate throws up blood on a kitten. So to speak. So I ended up getting a texture overhaul that wasn't much bigger in size, but still provided a fresh look. Then I found a few mods to make the ARMOR's HD. Which to me is fine, when I have to settle on graphics settings I prefer to settle on beautiful characters and 'eh' environments. Finally starting to get into this game..

The nVidia GPU numbers do mean something, but it takes a bit of work to track it down. I was temporarily confused between the 960 and 690 and almost warned you off.

When I bought my system, I went for two 680's (state of the art at the time) to do surround on three monitors, and the 690 was an alternative to that, except that it wouldn't be as fast. The x9x numbers are effectively twin cards, with SLI built-in, and use only a single PCIe slot. The x6x, x7x, x8x are single-GPU and can be used in SLI only if the motherboard has twin slots and supports it. Two slots allows twice the transfer rate to the cards, so the result can be faster framerates, where that's the limiting factor.

nVidia produce the GPU (chip) and multiple manufacturers put them onto video cards, so there can be quite a bit of difference between them. The amount of VRAM, and the quality of the cooling can make the price vary a lot. A cheap card may not last long, if they skimped on the cooling. The one you picked looks good in that respect, as a single card. I'm not sure how well a pair for SLI would work, as one card might block the fans on the other. Mine share the liquid cooling for the whole rig, so it's not an issue. If you don't intend adding a second card, that's not a problem for you, either.

Raymus because your Gigabyte Mother board has 2 PCI Express slots. You might think that you might be able to run two video Cards in CrossFire or SLI configurations but you can not because one slot is PCI Express x16 slot (PCIEX16) and one slot is PCI Express x16 slot, running at x4 (PCIEX4) even though the cards will fit in both slots and there is no problem with cooling because of the spacing. The difference between PCIEX16 and PCIEX4 will not allow dual video cards.
Both slots would have to be PCIEX16 based on all that I have read. If at some point you decide to upgrade the Motherboard, and use the same video card that you have just purchased and add a second card of the same type. Look for a mother board that has the same PCIEX spacing as your current mother board but make sure both are PCIEX16. You will also need to get the SLI wide connector from Nvidia check their web site.

the 2gb for 199 is pretty nice, the 4gb at 239 is nicer but... the 2gb card is pretty big it will take up 2 slots for sure...also the length of the card may be a problem if it longer than case... but wont know that till get card, bet it will be a tight fit...EVGA makes good cards though... but make sure after installing the software that comes with the card, to goto NVidia site as EVGA site uses older version of drivers. anyways very nice card regardless.