Purchasing Advice

[xerodok]

So we're getting close to FFXIV launch; it still doesn't run very well graphically on my PC.

Q6600 Quad
Raddeon 5770
4GB RAM

Currently I play the game in 1920x1200, it runs but on low settings it's still choppy and laggy graphically.

My question is:

Should I buy a single newer graphics card, or would I see a huge/noticeable improvement if I cross-fired another 5770? I would perfer to get another 5770 because it would be mad cheaper than shelling out $200+ for a new card. I'm open to any opinions though.

[Jojimbo]

Would be best to wait until after it goes live now, CF wasn't working fully for any of the beta (including open), excluding times where it would randomly work for a couple of min before going back to the performance of a single card.

Not the best alternative, but you could run the game windowed in a lower res, with a single 5770 I can run 1440x900 perfectly with AAx4 and other settings on default, but 1920x1080 was a huge drop (although this could change).

That or you could ebay/bg your 5770 and buy a 5870/460/whatever, on .co.uk they sell for £70~100 used (cost £125~150 new).

[Isla]

That would net you a good increase in FPS theoretically as I believe 2x 5770's are around 5870 speeds. Crossfire in the game doesn't currently work well, if at all (I have a 5970). Keep in mind that this game is CPU reliant heavily so your Q6600 might be aging just a bit. I would wait till retail.

DEFINITELY turn off ambient occlusion and depth of field in your config.

[JRice]

you said you lowered your settings but have you lowered your actual resolution as well?

the 5770 will not handle that resolution very well not to mention if you have not overclocked that processor you are pretty much bottlenecking as well.

[cococola]

I'm playing at 1920x1200 (Apple Cinema Display 24") with a 5970 and there is no way I can turn Ambient Occlusion and Depth of Field if I want the game to run smoothly. I overclocked both my 5970 GPUs at 5870's speeds and meh. The game is very demanding.

[Exiled]

I just got that same graphics card and I can tell you that FFXIV RUNS AMAZING on it. Perfectly fluent to with very little lag