Best FFXI videocard? Please post screenshots

[Akun]

Since this is here, I might as well ask. Recently got my girlfriend into playing XI with me. She used to play WoW, and her PC would run it well (not wtfawesome). So I'm not sure why her xi looks like this:
[spoiler:2dvwqesy]http://i56.photobucket.com/albums/g1...dqualityxi.jpg[/spoiler:2dvwqesy]

Not a very big image, but you can still see how jagged everything looks. I set her PC to teh same settings mine does but they look so totally different:
[spoiler:2dvwqesy]http://i56.photobucket.com/albums/g1...625_155014.png[/spoiler:2dvwqesy]

Wrote down what I could find of her specs

AMD Athlon xp 1800+
1.54GHz 512 ram
sapphire radeon 9200 atlantis

So is it just her PC's hardware keeping it looking like that? Or am I missing something else. I don't know too much about PC's, so any help trying to improve her graphics would be greatly appreciated

[cdgreg]

i may be way off on this, but are you windowed and she's full screen?

[SephYuyX]

It's the hardware. Having the newest drivers may help her out a bit though.

[SamanosukeShiva]

I got nvidia 8500 GT, plays FFXI just fine

[spoiler:248y30q6]http://i199.photobucket.com/albums/a...625_161135.png[/spoiler:248y30q6]

[Izzy]

E8400 3.0GHz, 4GB, Radeon HD 3870 512MB 256-bit GDDR4 PCI Express 2.0 x16
Running FFXI on max settings on res of 1440x900 w/ BG res of 2560x2560
Runs at 30fps np, down to 25 in crowded areas (23 in this shot), and around 20 in dyna, and that with the BG res @2560, if I lowered it, it could stay closer to 30fps with ease.

I have no idea if this looks good or not compared to other standards, but I came from playing on crap, so it looks good to me.
[spoiler:drx07itp]http://img505.imageshack.us/img505/1...5143409ex1.jpg[/spoiler:drx07itp]

Khrno, can you go more indepth in what you changed? I have Vid and FFXI settings all on max for visuals rathar than performance, and I still think theres something better that can be done.

You have almost the EXACT same setup as me, except I play at 1680x1050 and have an extra Radeon HD 3870 using CrossfireX. 30FPS EVERYWHERE! No joke, I seriously mean everywhere.

[Reality]

Core2____ + ATI HD48__/HD38___ + Windows______ = Awesome FFXI Framerates

HD4850 is ~$199 right now, HD4870 is ~$299 (This is newegg prices btw)

You can get awesome framerates with older ATI cards but I'm not going to recommend 2 year old graphics cards in this post

I cannot justify recommending any nvidia card right now. the HD4850 smokes the 8800GT/GTS, and more often than not the 8800/9800 GTX/GTX+ cards, and the 4870 beats everything on the market except the 9800GX2 & GTX280 which are both well over $400 (GX2 can be had for ~$430 after rebates, GTX280 is ~$640)

[spoiler:2t40pdt5]http://img210.imageshack.us/img210/7185/17134zg4.png[/spoiler:2t40pdt5]
[spoiler:2t40pdt5]http://img210.imageshack.us/img210/8148/17130tt9.png[/spoiler:2t40pdt5]

[Epical]

@Akun: the first screenshot of your girlfriend's character is a PS2 screenshot, not PC. Also, her computer hardware is quite old.

@Izzy: haha, finally switched off those GeForce 8800s after all that trialing and tribulation in the driver thread?

[Akun]

@Akun: the first screenshot of your girlfriend's character is a PS2 screenshot, not PC. Also, her computer hardware is quite old.

I wish, then I would have known why it looked like that. I'm just getting up to date with cpu parts and what models are recent and good ect ect. So I wasn't sure if that was what's holding it back. But I'm upgrading to a new PC myself soon, and just going to give her this one. Thanks for the answers

@cdgreguh: We're both windowed- Shes using windowerlite, i'm on 3.4

[Ezrael]

To OP:

A couple of questions first:

1. Budget?
2. Are you upgrading this PC just for FFXI?
3. When you upgrade: XP or Vista?
4. What is your current PC setup?

The Radeon X1650 is an excellent card for running FFXI and I have one in my PC repair kit. As most people have said that FFXI more of a processor intensive game than video intensive. Also, please note that FFXI does NOT support SLI or Crossfire and having it doesn't help at all. FFXI also doesn't benefit from Dual Core or Quad Core processing.

My advice is if you are solely playing FFXI on this PC and nothing else to save your money and just keep playing. Mayyyyyyybe look into upgrading to a new Dual Core processor (E8500/E8400) and semi-cheap video card. The Radeon 4850 just came out and the early word is they are currently the best bang for your buck and are relatively cheap.

[ringthree]

I'm sorry for posting in the wrong forum. As for the card, is the ATI Radeon x1650 a good card? I mean I feel like my graphics look fine, but I do see some screenshots ppl post that I feel look better than mine. I'm going to be upgrading to some sort of dual-core processor. Currently I'm on a PentIV 3.0Ghz processor on this computer. A friend of mine is helping me find the right motherboard/processor configuration, and said that he's having some trouble finding an AGP motherboard that works with the dual-core processors. He said I'd either have to rebuy all of my RAM, or a new video card... and I guess it's looking like the video card at this point.

I just wanted to get the best card while having to rebuy one anyway.

The card you have is perfectly fine for running FFXI. The reason everyone else's screenshots look much better is because they've tweaked their registry to higher settings.

http://ffxi.allakhazam.com/forum.html?f ... 2834&num=3

That is an awesome guide, check it out and jerk with your settings until you find what's best for you.

Izzy is dead on. You need to mess with your registry first, then worry about your video card.

[Francisco II]

GeForce 7300 GT, the game looks decent - but certain armor/flags/textures tweak out.

Dust storm / high intense weather still lags me to hell too.

[Aryea]

My desktop is just a work in progress, so it has older parts. It is a 3.0GHz Pentium IV processor with 4 Gigs of DDR Ram. I upgraded to Windows Vista right after I got the PC.

My friend who is incredible with computers is helping me to find a new motherboard and processor. The reason I am getting a new video card is b/c my current Radeon x1650 is an AGP card, so even if I rebuy the same card, I still will have to buy a different one, as the MB is not going to support AGP.

So this is why I wanted to see what everyone else's experiences were, because no matter what, I will be buying/rebuying another card.

[BIGSTIC]

Pictures are big.

What I am running Vista + 8800GT + windower + AMD Phenom 9600. See pic for more info like registry settings for my 24" display.

[spoiler:1fmcg0ql]http://i18.photobucket.com/albums/b125/bigstic/ffxi.jpg[/spoiler:1fmcg0ql]

And a SS of my mule hanging in front of the WG AH waiting to get pictured in gimp/confused.

[spoiler:1fmcg0ql]http://i18.photobucket.com/albums/b125/bigstic/lol.jpg[/spoiler:1fmcg0ql]

[Khrno]

Khrno, that videocard is available only in the PCI express x16 interface, correct? My friend told me to just look for PCI express cards, but I really really like your setup. Those are beautiful screenshots.

Yes, It is PCI-E 2.0, actually the PC has 2 years now, I just upgraded graphic card and RAM last year, but for xmas I'll get a new mobo and processor, and probably another 3870 (or 2 new ones if cheap) to have them in xfire. FFXI plays very well, but other high end games such as well lol Crysis, don't.

Khrno, can you go more indepth in what you changed? I have Vid and FFXI settings all on max for visuals rathar than performance, and I still think theres something better that can be done.

Since my system doesn't allow me to play the game at higher settings, and since claiming in Aerys by manual means require you to have be at more than 20fps with 70+ ppl in there, I prefer high performance settings.

From FFXI Config, I tweaked the registry for a bg res of 2048x2048, Textures are Low, On-screen Maps Uncompressed, Enviromental Animation Off, Bumb Mapping On, MIP mapping is On too.

From Catalyst system tray menu, this is all I change:

http://i47.photobucket.com/albums/f1...4/catalyst.jpg

[Ezrael]

I upgraded to Windows Vista right after I got the PC.

Please get rid of this OS..... Until atleast a few more Service Packs come out.



Advice for a very good PC is to try and get your hands on a E8500/E8400 + an 8800GT 512MB. With the release of the new Nvidia cards and ATI cards the 8800 GT 512MB should be dropping in price.

[Reality]

I upgraded to Windows Vista right after I got the PC.

Please get rid of this OS..... Until atleast a few more Service Packs come out.

believe it or not, there are some of us that have a PC that can actually run Vista without any problems, and have our systems configured properly

vista is bloated, no question, but so is XP to a point. i had more software apps crash with illegal ops and had more blue screens in XP than any other windows OS I've ever used. so far, my favorites have been Win2K & Vista x64

[Izzy]

@Akun: the first screenshot of your girlfriend's character is a PS2 screenshot, not PC. Also, her computer hardware is quite old.

@Izzy: haha, finally switched off those GeForce 8800s after all that trialing and tribulation in the driver thread?

The 8600M was in my laptop, I didn't have a choice Q_Q. I was always an ATI fan, I just didn't have the option when buying a laptop.

[Zumi]

I have a Core 2 Duo 2.4 ghz and Geforce 7900 GS x2

There is West Sarutabaruta at night
[spoiler:15uay3uu]http://img528.imageshack.us/img528/2965/esarubq2.jpg[/spoiler:15uay3uu]

Me in front of the flag same zone
[spoiler:15uay3uu]http://img299.imageshack.us/img299/6228/esaru2kr6.jpg[/spoiler:15uay3uu]

This is running at 1680 x 1050, i recently bought a wide screen moniter. Some reason FFXI now crashs my PC when a lot of stuff is happing on screen like dynamis for example. Not sure if its my video card or what. This is a somewhat recent card it should be able to handle FFXI no problem. My screenshots look similar to most people with anything recent.

[Kimkytaru]

I have an Asus Maximus formula wiht 2 gb of ram, 1 Asus GEforce 8800 GTS and it's running really good, I can dual box in 1650x1080 (16/9) and watch a TV episode on my Full HD from my dual screen comp in full HD rez and i dont have any slowdown.

Really awesome. I still need to change my fonts and some other stuff but it looks really good and I'm very happy with my setup :D


Edited : Got also a dual core Intel not sure the power.

[Purrrfect]

Slightly off-topic yet related: When doing a reformat, would it be better to install the nvidia drivers before XP service packs/updates, or should the windows things be done first (when installing from an XP w/o any of the service packs included)?