Opinion: What graphics card should I purchase?

[Attikus]

Hey everyone!

I'm looking to purchase a new video card for my PC to help improve the quality of FFXI. I currently use a Nvidia GeForce 6800. My FPS run very slow when im playing and overall makes the game look incredibly choppy and not pretty. This is partly to do that ive maxed all my visual settings, but I dont want to have to sacrifice quality for performance. So I'm doing the best thing I can, and I'm looking to get a card that can handle what I throw at it.

Here are the settings I run it at:

Background resolution 2048 x 2048
Foreground Resolution 1600 x 1200
Environmental Animation: Smooth
Texture Compression: Off
Map Compression: Off
Bump Mapping: Checked (On I guess)
MIP Mapping: Checked (Box in Mog Toolz says "3" next to it)
Max sounds: 32 (Im guessing this is Sound card, But I threw it in anyways)

In game I would like to run Shadows on High (this usually kills my FPS during exp parties and slaughters it during Gods/endgame)
The Rest of my ingame settings are pretty much maxed. I'm a graphics whore.

I'm thinking I'll get one of the many variations of the Nvidia 8800, but I don't know which to get. So my question is, with all that I'm asking of FFXI, what would be the best card for my money thatll let me run this game at these settings and still get constant 25+ FPS (I know this might not always be the case for things like whitegate, but Id at least like to see be able to do Gods around 25 FPS). I have been told tis game isnt too demanding, so I'd like to buy the least expensive card thatll give me the biggest bang, so to speak.

Thank you.

[Shadowhusky]

FFXI draws way more on the processor than your video card. Your video card is perfectly fine for FFXI. Try the newest beta drivers and see if that doesn't fix some of your problems.

viewtopic.php?f=2&t=27179

[Attikus]

I just installed those. I didnt see much of an improvement. Should I upgrade my processor instead?

[Shadowhusky]

I just installed those. I didnt see much of an improvement. Should I upgrade my processor instead?

List your full system specs.

[Cephius]

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.a ... 6814130303 is currently the best bang for your buck by far. However you shouldn't be having problem with your current GPU, you might have to upgrade your other components.

[Snowknight26]

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814130303 is currently the best bang for your buck by far.

That could be argued:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.a ... 6814102714
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.a ... 6814103050

[Shadowhusky]

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814130303 is currently the best bang for your buck by far. However you shouldn't be having problem with your current GPU, you might have to upgrade your other components.

Problem with that is, that's PCI-e 2.0. Last I checked a lot of people don't have mobo's that support it. And they tend to be a bit more expensive right now.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.a ... 6814130062 - A great PCI-e card at a great price. Yes it's not as fast as the 8 series, but it's cheap and still has a lot of bang.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.a ... 6814150210 - A great AGP card if you're running AGP.

[Cephius]

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814130303 is currently the best bang for your buck by far.

That could be argued:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.a ... 6814102714
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.a ... 6814103050

Matter of opinion of course. Both the cards you listed are fine as well - up to the OP to decide if he wishes to upgrade :]

Problem with that is, that's PCI-e 2.0. Last I checked a lot of people don't have mobo's that support it. And they tend to be a bit more expensive right now.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.a ... 6814130062 - A great PCI-e card at a great price. Yes it's not as fast as the 8 series, but it's cheap and still has a lot of bang.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.a ... 6814150210 - A great AGP card if you're running AGP.

Those cards are ok, though going to be inadequate for newer games. Also to my knowledge, express 2.0 cards will work with x16 slots. Price is always an issue, but he did ask for the best bang for your buck, and the 8800GT is a very powerful card for a budget price.

[Vyvian]

Being more processor intensive aside, at that resolution the card you are using is not adequate, you're playing way above standard specs on a low end card, and it does matter.

I'd go with the 8800 gt as well, I've had good experiences with the whole line, and that one is the best deal for performance/price.

[Attikus]

My system specs:

Nvidia GeForce 6800
Intel Pentium 4 CPU 3.20 ghZ (3192MHz)
Microsoft Windows XP
Direct X 9.0

I might be interested in upgrading both the graphics card and the processor. If I'm gonna invest a whole bunch of time into ffxi, i may as well invest a couple hundred bucks to make it look good and move smoothly (its so unforgivingly choppy right now >.>)

[Shadowhusky]

Those cards are ok, though going to be inadequate for newer games. Also to my knowledge, express 2.0 cards will work with x16 slots. Price is always an issue, but he did ask for the best bang for your buck, and the 8800GT is a very powerful card for a budget price.

I take back my statement then, I finally looked it up and you're right. PCI-E 2.0 works on older hardware. As for the cards being inadequate for newer games, the OP never stated anything besides FFXI. So if he/she wants to play other games, then yes a newer card than the ones I listed would do better.

[Cephius]

My system specs:

Nvidia GeForce 6800
Intel Pentium 4 CPU 3.20 ghZ (3192MHz)
Microsoft Windows XP
Direct X 9.0

I might be interested in upgrading both the graphics card and the processor. If I'm gonna invest a whole bunch of time into ffxi, i may as well invest a couple hundred bucks to make it look good and move smoothly (its so unforgivingly choppy right now >.>)

You don't need to upgrade your processor, it's a huge pain anyway and you can easily damage your system or your new processor if you don't install it and the heatsink correctly. A P4 is a tad dated, but is more than enough to run FFXI. If your only concern is FFXI, a 7800 Nvidia card or ATI equivalent will do just fine. I actually ran a 6800 card for a couple years and didn't have many framerate problems. Just keep in mind the specs for FFXI won't cut it for newer games.

[Attikus]

I only have interest in playing FFXI on my PC. Now days a lot of stuff is out on consoles and for the most part, id rather play most games on my HDTV (I dont play ffxi on my xbox because you cant "up" the resolution in background or forground. It looks like crap.)

I'm not worried about configuring my computer for other games, I only need a rig thatll run FFXI at the settings I have it at.

As for the processor, I can always get professional help to install that. Could my dated processor be slowing FFXI down to this extent? cause I can't take these FPSs much longer. 2.7 FPS in campaign? It's not even worth it. I don't even have to be fighting. just walking near a party of campaign NPCs drops it to that frame rate.

I'd be willing to purchase the 8800 GT. Will this fix my problem, or do i need to update my processor (considering I will have professional help for this)?

[Shuemue]

Considering you're running a P4 3.2, to upgrade the chip you'd have to buy a new board, which in turn would open up the opportunity for new, faster RAM, and you're getting into the realms of building a new PC.

[Cephius]

I only have interest in playing FFXI on my PC. Now days a lot of stuff is out on consoles and for the most part, id rather play most games on my HDTV (I dont play ffxi on my xbox because you cant "up" the resolution in background or forground. It looks like crap.)

I'm not worried about configuring my computer for other games, I only need a rig thatll run FFXI at the settings I have it at.

As for the processor, I can always get professional help to install that. Could my dated processor be slowing FFXI down to this extent? cause I can't take these FPSs much longer. 2.7 FPS in campaign? It's not even worth it. I don't even have to be fighting. just walking near a party of campaign NPCs drops it to that frame rate.

I'd be willing to purchase the 8800 GT. Will this fix my problem, or do i need to update my processor (considering I will have professional help for this)?

The thing is I've played FFXI with the same video card, with a worse processor, and the game was fine. Sure I lagged in dynamis and everything, but the game was playable. Have you scanned your PC for viruses and spyware that might be bogging it down? Check the task manager for running processes that are hogging your performance? I just don't wanna encourage you to buy a $300 video card when it may not be your problem.

Another note about upgrading your processor, even if you buy a dual or quad core, I don't believe FFXI makes use of more than one core anyway (and you would likely have to buy a new mobo to install said chip). So in all likelyhood you'd be wasting your money. It sure sounds like there is some issue with your computer, but I don't think it's because of outdated hardware.

[Avanarius]

I love how ffxi is for some reason defined as the epiphany of hardware intensive gaming when it was designed for a p4 and the 5*00 series graphics cards.

Way back in the day my game run perfectly fine, with zero lag on a 2.4ghz p4 and a fx5600, so I blame the "modern day requirements" on new drivers being off set by the power of core duo 2's. No seriously, play with your drivers and try reformatting your computer if all you play is ffxi with that set up.

[Attikus]

I scan my computer regularly with norton antivirus, and remove the occassional spyware, but other then that, nothing major. I'll check again today when I get home, but I doubt this is necessarily it. As for processes, I usually dont run anything else besides a browser when im playing ffxi. Unless something is running at start up, I don't know if this is necessarily the case. I'll also check this when I get home later today.

No seriously, play with your drivers and try reformatting your computer if all you play is ffxi with that set up.

How do I do this? does it requiring getting new hardware, or just messing with my settings? Do I need an outside program? Please elaborate.

[Avanarius]

How do I do this? does it requiring getting new hardware, or just messing with my settings? Do I need an outside program? Please elaborate.

Best thing I can recommend without going through every different version of graphics drivers is to first try the ones on that cd that came with the graphics card, or something close to it, and see if it helps with any performance issues.

And I WOULD reformat your computer if norton antivirus has been anywhere near it.

[Attikus]

Won't the drivers on that be outdated though, seeing as how Nvidia just released new drivers?

[Avanarius]

Won't the drivers on that be outdated though, seeing as how Nvidia just released new drivers?

new drivers are for new games, old ones work for old games.

If all your playing is ffxi old drivers should theoretically work better. And either way it doesn't matter, you can try old then go back to new if it causes compatibility issues.

And honestly, right now all I can see is norton antivirus raping your cpu as we speak being the ultimate verdict of this problem.