Bethesda has consistently been blind to hardware technology, constantly publishing game requirements that have no valid application in the real world. Skyrim was no different. The amount of VRAM attached to a GPU is meaningless compared to the speed of that VRAM and the speed of the GPU core, but their minimum ignored that fact:
Corrected Skyrim Minimum Requirements
* Windows 7/Vista/XP PC (32 or 64 bit)
* Processor: Dual Core 2.3 GHz C2D or equivalent CPU
* 3GB System RAM
* 6GB free HDD Space
* Direct X 9 compliant video card with 512 MB of RAM (and
sufficient performance to actually put that VRAM to use)
* DirectX compatible sound card
* Internet access for Steam activation
I think that they ignored the differences between a C2D and a P4 dual core, as well, but my parenthetic phrase was an attempt to bring their erroneous GPU specs into reality. It also seems that they may have ignored differences between Dx9a, Dx9b, and Dx9c (shaders).
I do recall that Intel HD 3000s weren't at all adequate for decent play.
