Game running incredibly slow...

[Katalin]

I have just installed Final Fantasy XI onto a new computer. Now this new computer is meant to have higher specs than the previous computer that the game was running on. The problem is that the game is running incredibly slow. It's kinda like lag...but all the time, none stop...even in places where there are no other players around.

I ran the Final Fantasy XI benchmark program and it said that the PC is IT, with the score being over 6000.

Here is the specs of the PC:

AuthenticAMD Processor+ 2409 MHz
Graphics Card = 256MB ATI Radeon X1300PRO
Version of DirectX = DirectX 9.0
Windows XP

The only other difference on this new computer, compared to the old computer, is that it's on a broadband connection.

In the in-game options I turned off some of the things such as Shadows, Weather Effects and Footstep Effects. I also lowered the Character Models Displayed. The Animation Frame Rate is set to Max.

I have tried changing some of the things in the Final Fantasy XI Config, but nothing has stopped the game from running so slow.

Here is what some of the things are set to in the Config:

MIP mapping - Not ticked.
Overlay Graphics Resolution - 800x600.
Background Resolution - 1024x1024.
Texture Compression - Uncompressed.
On-Screen Maps - Uncompressed.
Bump mapping - Ticked.
Environmental Animation - Normal.

Can anyone help me with this please? Thank you.

[Sabaron]

1. Make sure your BIOS settings are kosher with respect to the preferred settings of your Video Card (see your card manual, they'll usually tell you what to set/unset).

2. If you have any weird background programs running, especially security-related ones, turn them off and try running FFXI.

3. Make sure you've got the right/best drivers from the manufacturer's website (esp. Video Card).

4. Make sure no one is using your computer to route network packets and that no devices are constantly polling/talking on your Parallel port as these two things will cause a very noticable lag even on very fast computers.

5. With your machine, you probably want to turn MIP Mapping on... The game will look a lot more crisp.

Your internet connection should not affect performance unless you're getting bad pings. This should be noticable as very low S/R numbers (I think) or a % value that is not 100% on the connection doodad in the upper right hand corner of your screen while doing activities where they are normally high (such as running through Lower Jeuno/Whitegate AH).

[Sabaron]

Another thing about network packet routing. If you have multiple computers attached via a router, have your broadband appliance attached to your computer, and have all of the satellite computers "sharing" your Internet connection, then your computer is a network packet router. The rate of lag will be proportional to the amount of network activity from the satellite computers. If your computer is a satellite, your network connection will lag based on the current work being done by the routing computer. If you have your broadband appliance connected directly to a computer (and are serving multiple computers) then I suggest attaching it to your router. You can do this successfully only if your router can be configured to manage a WAN connection. While you can connect the modem directly to a LAN-only router, the router will still need to use one of its computer nodes to process the WAN-routing unless your service provider has (graciously) allowed you to have multiple IP addresses.