Skyrim - system requirements TES V: Skyrim Guide

Last update: 11 December 2019

This page of our guide to The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim has information about the minimum and recommended system requirements. We have prepared separate lists for the original release of the game and for the Special Edition.

• Original version of Skyrim
• Special Edition

Original version of Skyrim

The following requirements apply to the first release of Skyrim, that is, the one that debuted on November 11, 2011. The requirements aren't affect by Hearthstone, Dawnguard and Dragonborn expansions.

Minimum PC system requirements

1. Operating system: Windows 7/Vista/XP PC (32 or 64 bit)
2. Processor: Dual Core 2.0 GHz or equivalent AMD processor
3. RAM: 2 GB
4. Disk space: 6 GB
5. Video card: DirectX 9.0c compatible with 512MB of RAM
6. DirectX: 9.0c or newer
7. Sound card: DirectX compatible

Recommended PC system requirements

1. Operating system: Windows 7/Vista/XP PC (32 or 64 bit)
2. Processor: Quad-core Intel or AMD
3. RAM: 4 GB
4. Disk space: 6 GB
5. Video card: DirectX 9.0c compatible - NVIDIA or AMD ATI card with 1GB of RAM (Nvidia GeForce GTX 260 or better; ATI Radeon 4890 or better)
6. DirectX: 9.0c or newer
7. Sound card: DirectX compatible

Special Edition

The following requirements apply to Skyrim Special Edition, which had its debut on October 28, 2016. It offers many improvements in graphics quality and texture resolution. This, unfortunately, comes with a significant increase in requirements when compared to the original version from 2011.

Skyrim Special Edition minimum PC system requirements

1. Operating system: Windows 7/8. 1/10 (64-bit only)
2. Processor: Intel i5-750 / AMD Phenom II X4-945
3. RAM: 8GB
4. Disk space: 12 GB
5. Video card: NVIDIA GTX 470 1GB / AMD HD 7870 2GB

Skyrim Special Edition recommended PC system requirements

1. Operating system: Windows 7/8. 1/10 (64-bit only)
2. Processor: Intel i5-2400 / AMD FX-8320
3. RAM: 8GB
4. Disk space: 12 GB
5. Video card: NVIDIA GTX 780 3 GB / AMD R9 290 4GB