The best pre-built PCs you can buy to play Skyrim: Special Edition

Skyrim: Special Edition takes the original title from Bethesda and turns everything up to 11 with fancy new graphical effects, 64-bit support, and other handy features that make it an RPG that demands mods to be installed. To enjoy this massive adventure at a stable frame rate or to dive into the modding scene (with the best Skyrim: Special Edition mods for PC), you'll need a good PC to handle it. We've rounded up some of the best pre-built PCs for playing Skyrim: Special Edition.

Budget gaming PC

CyberPowerPC Gamer Master

This CyberPowerPC desktop is a little more affordable, equipped with an AMD Ryzen 3 3100 CPU, which is actually more than capable of running Skyrim: Special Edition and a few mods. In order to game away, the AMD Radeon RX 570 GPU is good enough for even more demanding games, and the 8GB of RAM is a good place to start that can be upgraded later. CyberPowerPC also includes a 240GB SSD and 1TB HDD for the OS and all your games.

From $650 at Best Buy

$690 at Walmart

Gaming laptop

Razer Blade 15 Base Edition

Don't want to be tethered to the desk? Go around with a gaming notebook that can play Skyrim: Special Edition! Our favorite gaming laptop is the excellent Razer Blade 15, which is the best of the best with powerful hardware and excellent display options. The model we selected has an 11th Gen Intel Core i7 CPU, NVIDIA RTX 3070 GPU, and 16GB of RAM. But you can improve the specifications if you have more funds to spare.

From $1,300 at Best Buy

From $1,700 at Razer

High-end gaming PC

HP OMEN 30L gaming PC

HP's OMEN 30L is a very capable gaming PC. The most affordable configuration has an Intel Core i7-10700K CPU, NVIDIA RTX 2060 SUPER GPU, and 16GB of RAM. You can configure it up to an Intel Core i9-10900K, NVIDIA RTX 2080 Ti, and 64GB of RAM, depending on how well you want the game to run. It's one of the best gaming desktop PC choices available today and more than capable for Skyrim: Special Edition.

From $950 at Best Buy

From $1,330 at HP

Build it your way

NZXT Starter PC Series

NZXT makes some killer cases and PC components, but did you know the company also runs a service called BLD that lets you pick and choose a system build and have everything put together for you? Just in case you didn't want to spend time learning how to build a PC, NZXT has some pretty good prices for pre-built offerings.

From $1,049 at NZXT

If we're to choose a PC for Skyrim

Skyrim as a vanilla experience isn't the most demanding game. All you need is an Intel Core i3 or AMD Ryzen CPU, NVIDIA GeForce GTX 260 or ATI Radeon 4890 GPU, and 4GB RAM. These PCs easily meet those requirements and will allow you to even mod the game a little with new companions and perhaps a texture pack. If you need a single recommendation, go with the CyberPowerPC Gamer Master.

Not only does it look like a solid gaming PC, but it's also got everything packed inside that you'll need, including at least an AMD Ryzen 3 3100 CPU and AMD RX 570 GPU. It's possible to even upgrade the PC at a later date with a more capable CPU and best graphics card if you want to play other, more demanding games or mod Skyrim with more impressive visuals.

Should you have plans to game on the go, the Razer Blade 15 Base Edition can be kitted out with impressive components. Our favorite model has an 11th Gen Intel Core i7 CPU, NVIDIA RTX 3070 GPU, and 16GB of RAM. Just be prepared to part with some serious cash for more powerful configurations.