Maximum FFXI Performance.

[Zanz L. Barre The 3rd]

I'm aiming for 25+ FPS in Dynamis zones, currently running at 3-8 FPS (Nvidia + FFXI + Intel + Vista is pretty lol I hear).

Processor?
Video Card?
RAM?
OS?

Thanks, feel free to throw in any other suggestions

[Grandcross]

Switch to XP.
Or you can switch to a different non-8XXX Nvidia or an ATI card.

[levish]

Nvidia will be fine with XP/FFXI if its something reasonable, a 6800gt or better will do ok unless you run high res where you may want to look at the current price/performance champ the 8800GT or the "money ain't a thang" 8800Ultra, the middle of the road 8800GTS is supposedly outclassed by the 8800GT so stick with that one if that's what you are thinking.

The only thing that will make the biggest difference in high lag zones like dynamis is all about processor power and since FFXI won't really take advantage of multiple cores getting a high end dual like the e6850 would be your best bet pair it up with great overclocking DDR2 memory (1GBx2 Sticks for 2GB ram is sufficient, for 4GB you'd need a 64bit OS which opens up a can of worms) and a great motherboard based on the p35 chipset (Gigabyte DS3 p35 board is great afaik) and you should have a "as good as it gets" situation.

About all you need at 1680x1050 res with stuff like above to do for Dynamis to be more or less normal is to turn off shadows and weather effects.

My personal suggestion is to hold off on computer purchases as the non-extreme versions of the Intel Penryn processor are due out in Jan/Feb at reasonable price points and about 10% improvement in performance overall. If you would like to future proof look at a quad core since games are coming down the proverbial pipe that will benefit from multiple cores at some point (a few nice ones due out shortly actually).

[Avanarius]

The cpu seems to be most impact full on the games performance.

The e6850 would probably give you the best performance for FFXI specifically but in the long run wouldn't be as good as the new Penryn cpus coming out.

[Shadowhusky]

The cpu seems to be most impact full on the games performance.

The e6850 would probably give you the best performance for FFXI specifically but in the long run wouldn't be as good as the new Penryn cpus that are out.

Fixed. Also, if you're an AMD fan, any of the dual core (Or upcoming quad core) CPU's are more than enough.

[Vyvian]

The cpu seems to be most impact full on the games performance.

People say this, but..

I had a radeon x700 pro, 128mb. CPU ran at 100% in laggate. Swapped it for an 8800 gts, and CPU never passes 45%, all other hardware remained the same.

[Shadowhusky]

The cpu seems to be most impact full on the games performance.

People say this, but..

I had a radeon x700 pro, 128mb. CPU ran at 100% in laggate. Swapped it for an 8800 gts, and CPU never passes 45%, all other hardware remained the same.

Because the x700 sucks period? Seriously, look at the box. It suggests a higher CPU and a lower end graphics card. The game draws a lot from the CPU. Not saying the GPU plays a part as well, just not as big as the CPU.

[Chicomagiko]

Ive scored over 9000 on the FFXI benchmark program using an E6850, 4 gigs of 800mhz ram and an 8600GT. Looks effing gorgeous .

[Charismatic]

Ive scored over 9000 on the FFXI benchmark program using an E6850, 4 gigs of 800mhz ram and an 8600GT. Looks effing gorgeous .

Was that on purpose?

[Khalil]

I got an AMD Athlon 64 X 5400, OC'd to 3.2 GHZ and a nVidia 8600 GTS. In Whitegate, I never go below 26 FPS w/ normal shadows. In Dynamis, w/ normal shadows, I go down to about 18-20. Then again, my resolution comes into effect and others programs. I heard something that FFXi Windower adds lag, dunno if this is true or not.

[Chicomagiko]

Ive scored over 9000 on the FFXI benchmark program using an E6850, 4 gigs of 800mhz ram and an 8600GT. Looks effing gorgeous .

Was that on purpose?

:D

lol i just noticed it