2.4ghz quad core, 2gb of ram, AMD 5770 - solid performance even in cities. Of course I tweaked my settings. I started off on Ultra and lowered things until it looked great and played smooth. I get some chop when I first load up a big city like Riften or Solitude, but once the texture data is loaded, I get totally smooth performance.

Overall I think they've done well with the Gamebryo engine. It is the Gamebryo engine, by the way, no matter what they're saying. The launcher is the same, the data folder is the same, the console is the same, and I'm sure everything is put together the same. They just outlasted the company that made Gamebryo and probably got the rights the source code at rock bottom prices, and can now just call it their own.

Nothing entirely wrong with that, at all either, so don't get me wrong. It's the same strategy Valve went with their Source engine. As shiny as that engine is these days, it's neat to know that its core was/is the original Quake engine.