Guide: Building a PC to play FFXIV

[Tsikuro]

Re: Guide: Building a PC to play FFXIV

I'm looking for a little advice, myself.
I'm currently running the following setup:

Windows XP Home
Intel Core 2 Quad CPU Q6600 @ 2.40GHz
GeForce 8600GT 256MB x2 (SLi)
2GB RAM

Benchmark scores are in the 900 range on low settings, which seems far too low considering I can still run most games flawlessly on high settings. As a sidenote, I play games with no anti aliasing or shadows, at my monitor's native resolution (1280x1024).

I've heard good things about the following video card: Newegg.com - GIGABYTE GV-N460OC-1GI GeForce GTX 460 (Fermi) 1GB 256-bit GDDR5 PCI Express 2.0 x16 HDCP Ready SLI Support Video Card
Would I be able to achieve significantly higher scores by getting rid of my 8600GTs and getting this sole upgrade?
Bear in mind, I don't plan on playing at a resolution higher than 1280x1024, and I don't care about anti-aliasing, as previously mentioned.

Edit: I don't care much for upgrading my OS or running DX10/11, just looking for good to great performance on my current base setup through one or two upgrades.

[TheGrandMom]

Re: Guide: Building a PC to play FFXIV

If thats what you are shooting for then this:

Newegg.ca - Palit NE5X460HF1102 GeForce GTX 460 (Fermi) Sonic Platinum Overclocking Edition 1GB 256-bit GDDR5 PCI Express 2.0 x16 HDCP Ready SLI Support Video Card

is the model you want. I've read a few reviews on it and its been rated fairly high. (Note that I linked to a website you can actually buy it from!)

[Malacite]

Re: Guide: Building a PC to play FFXIV

Some cards need their own power supply yes.

Speaking of which, what about that GTX 460 I posted the link to? I'm trying to minimize costs ><

[Durahansolo]

Re: Guide: Building a PC to play FFXIV

Thermaltake Power Express 450W

I have never seen a power supply add-on before. Man I am getting behind in tech.

[Cyprius]

Re: Guide: Building a PC to play FFXIV

Me too.. I'm just about done building mine.. Just need a PSU and a GPU, but I have them picked out already:

CPU - i5 750 OC'd to 3.5Ghz
RAM - 4GB Mushkin DDR3/1333
MB - GIGABYTE P55 USB3
Graphics - Sapphire 5850
PSU - Cooler Master eXtreme Power Plus 600W
HD - 500GB something or other
Case - Antec 200 V2
CPU Cooling - Cooler Master Hyper 212+
Case Cooling - 5 APEVIA 120mm Blue LED Fans

[Durahansolo]

Re: Guide: Building a PC to play FFXIV

Nevermind, i missread.

[CrimsonDeath]

Re: Guide: Building a PC to play FFXIV

CPU - i7 2.66ghz
RAM - 12GB DDR3/1600
MB - EVGA E758-A1
Graphics - GTX 480 (Fermi)
PSU - Corsair 850w
SSD: 80GB Intel X25
SoundCard: Can't decide yet
Case: Thinking CoolerMaster Cosmos, not sure yet (any suggestions?)
Cooling: Zalman 120mm Heatsink

[TheGrandMom]

Re: Guide: Building a PC to play FFXIV

Here this should run FFXIV...

CPU - TWO Xeon X5680
RAM - 24gb Corsair Dominator DDR3/1600
MB - EVGA Classified SR-2
Graphics - THREE EVGA GTX 480 Overclocked
PSU - Corsair AX1200 - Thermaltake Power Express 450W
HD (SSD) - Two OCZ Vertex 2 200gb
Optical - Plextor B940SA
Soundcard - Auzentech X-Fi Forte
Case - Mountain Mods U2-UFO
Cooling - Danger Den Custom Liquid Cooling

[Durahansolo]

Re: Guide: Building a PC to play FFXIV

Just get a 5850 and be happy.

I haven't had a ATI card since my X1650... Man those were the days.

[Cyprius]

Re: Guide: Building a PC to play FFXIV

Just get a 5850 and be happy.

[Durahansolo]

Re: Guide: Building a PC to play FFXIV

/CRY after looking at that benchmark, my 295GTX is old news. Maybe it is time for me to ante up and get new cards... (Probably wont happen until next year LOL)

[Malacite]

Re: Guide: Building a PC to play FFXIV

But I'm starting to get a good idea on what it takes to run this game comfortably and I'll see if I can write up a build that should be cheap and run the game with respectable results.

Would be nice. The GTX 460 will run me around $260 with the shipping & Tax from newegg.ca, which is still more than I'd like to spend but considering the alternative is the GTS 250 idk...

[Freelancer]

Re: Guide: Building a PC to play FFXIV

True all of that, but SLI capable cards give you the option to get more performance by adding a 2nd card instead of buying a better more expensive card so its pretty much comes to how much you want to pay.

2 GTX460 are 400$ around that price they beat the 5870 by a long shot and also the 470 and even 480. and the new 400 cards in general scale very well. so if you have 400$ and want to go SLI with its ups and down, go for it.

if not then a 470 or 5870 will suffice.

----

People building FFXIV PC either want something to hold them over until PS3 release or just don't have the budget shouldn't bother with SLI/CFX or anything fancy like that.

I'm currently testing beta on i7 + GTX470/i5 + GTX260/AMD athlon2 X3 + gts 250 /core2duo 8400 + 5770

The last set up I'll try on next beta but the other 3 ran the game with no real issues, the 470 been running it like a champ at full the i5/260 also had no issues at stock and the 250gts did ok but I'm not sure yet.

I have a GTX460 on the way that I'll test aswell (build for a friend) and we'll see how it'll fare.

But I'm starting to get a good idea on what it takes to run this game comfortably and I'll see if I can write up a build that should be cheap and run the game with respectable results.

[Bricklayer]

Re: Guide: Building a PC to play FFXIV

I ran 2 cards in a crossfire setup and I went back to one card. If you don't mind tweaking shit and putting up with conflicts, the cards running hot if there isn't decent air flow, psu issues if you didn't think of the power drain, etc. then its for you. (And believe me, the tech forums are loaded with people who've had all/some of these issues. I had a couple of them myself.) If you want to basically plug and play, then its not for you. If you don't mind all the hoo ha that comes with dual cards, then you might like it. Also its not as easy as 2+2=4 when it comes to 2 average cards >/= a higher end card. You only get a % of performance out of the 2nd card, mine ran at about 40%.

Oh absolutely. And, different applications will scale differently. If you look at the charts I linked to, Crysis didn't scale as well as Battleforge and BF:BC2. Who knows how well FFXIV will scale?

[TheGrandMom]

Re: Guide: Building a PC to play FFXIV

I ran 2 cards in a crossfire setup and I went back to one card. If you don't mind tweaking shit and putting up with conflicts, the cards running hot if there isn't decent air flow, psu issues if you didn't think of the power drain, etc. then its for you. (And believe me, the tech forums are loaded with people who've had all/some of these issues. I had a couple of them myself.) If you want to basically plug and play, then its not for you. If you don't mind all the hoo ha that comes with dual cards, then you might like it. Also its not as easy as 2+2=4 when it comes to 2 average cards >/= a higher end card. You only get a % of performance out of the 2nd card, mine ran at about 40%.