FFXI Vana'diel Bench 3 Challenge!

[shinoniken]

Kind of odd that SLI didn't affect your benchmarks at all. Crossfire added 1200 points to mine.

Agreed, the SLI usually adds a pretty large number to my benchmarks, but barely even touched this one. Someone else in this thread produced similar results, I believe. It seems FFXI and SLI don't get along too well, I'd like to see someone crossfire some high end ati cards and see if it scales poorly as well.

I'm very interested in this thread. I need to build a new PC soon as my current one is very old hat now. (Athlon XP3200, Radeon 9800 Pro).

All those benchmark figures are cool... but do people still get 30fps at Whitegate AH, Dynamis, Besieged or a crowded DA? That's what I'm interested in. I'm sick of getting shitty sub 20 fps in certain areas and it's even worse in the new expansion zones for Campaign (dunno why though).

PS. will update my post later with my figures, if only so I can watch those Tar00s™ dancing again.

I don't remember the last time I've dropped below 29FPS besides when dual boxing in crowded areas.

[Ezrael]

Agreed, the SLI usually adds a pretty large number to my benchmarks, but barely even touched this one. Someone else in this thread produced similar results, I believe. It seems FFXI and SLI don't get along too well, I'd like to see someone crossfire some high end ati cards and see if it scales poorly as well.

SLI doesn't work for FFXI.. Neither does Xfire.. Which will explain why your SLI rig post similar numbers to someone w/ 1 video card.

[Kurgan]

Desktop machine:

CPU: Intel Core 2 Duo E6850 3.0GHz
Graphics Card: nVidia GeForce 8800GTX
RAM: 4GB
OS: Windows XP Professional SP3 (32-bit)

9469-H
11318-L

My Dell Inspiron XPS M1530 laptop:

CPU: Intel Core 2 Duo T7700 2.4ghz
Graphics Card: nVidia GeForce 8600M GT
RAM: 3GB
OS: Windows XP Professional SP3

6601-H
8665-L

[Raineh]

2GB (2x1GB) Corsair TwinX XMS2, DDR2 PC2-6400 800mhz
AMD AM2 Athlon 64 X2 6000+ Windsor Core
M2N32 SLI-Deluxe
Gainward 8800GTS 512 (G92)
320GB Samsung Spinpoint T166 SATA 300 16MB Cache
Prolite e2403WS @ 1920x1200
Win XP Home
Score:
8880 high

FYI At first I ran this test with my vista partition, and got an awfull score, so I tryed with XP and got an equaly crappy score!
So I updated my BIOS for my mobo and it gave me 3000 more! It also gave me a 100% increse under XP (testing using lightmark2007)

So if you have the M2N32 go grab a bios update, it will be worth it!

[Izzy]

SLI doesn't work for FFXI.. Neither does Xfire.. Which will explain why your SLI rig post similar numbers to someone w/ 1 video card.

CPU: Intel Core 2 Duo 3.0ghz
Graphics Card: Two ATI Radeon HD 3870
RAM: 4gig DDR2 1066mhz
OS: Windows XP Professional SP3
Motherboard: ASUS P5E

Score 1 (1st video card): 8761-H
Score 2 (2nd video card slightly overclocked): 8787-H
Score 3 (Both video cards connected with CrossfireX): 9721-H

I beg to differ.

[Aldaris]

Laptop
CPU: Intel® Core™ 2 Duo T9300 (2.5GHz/800Mhz FSB/6MB cache)
MB Brand : Dell XPS 1730
MB Model : D30R6G1
Video: NVIDIA SLI Dual GeForce8700MGT with 512MB2 GDDR3 Memory
RAM : 4GB3 Shared Dual Channel DDR2 SDRAM at 667MHz

Low-9542
High-7194

**

PC
CPU : Intel Core26600 @ 2.40GHz
MB Brand : Asus 680i SLI
Video: Nvidia GeForce 8800 GTS
Ram : 4GB Cor Ram

Low-10657
High-8564

[Purrrfect]

Intel Core2Duo E6300 @ 1.96GHz
Don't recall the mobo atm ;;
Asus Nvidia 8600GT 512MB 175.16 drivers I think
2GB Corsair cheaper ram

Reformatted and installed XP w/ SP3 and nvidia drivers. Got just shy of 7900 on high, which I was pretty happy with being only 1.9ghz, but I still drop pretty bad in AH areas, especially when dual boxed (948x711 [so I can fit 2 full windows on 1920 wide screen], mip=4, uncompressed, no bump mapping). All of the driver settings are whatever factory is.

Intel P4 3.2GHz w/ HT
Asus P5B
Nvidia 6600GT (MSI I think)
1GB generic ram

Clean install of Vista business + nvidia drivers + pol = 3250ish. With 3.2Ghz I kind of expected better, but lolVista and maybe 2 generations of video card changes makes a difference.

[Cjskater]

CPU: Athlon64 X2 4000+ @2.2ghz
Graphics Card: EVGA Geforce 7800GT Severely underclocked (artifacts) 375/902
RAM: 1GB DDR2 800
OS: Windows XP Professional SP2
Motherboard: ECS K8M890-M (V1.0A)
Drivers: 163.75

Score: 6310-H
8373-L

I'll run another test when I get my 9600GSO I just ordered.

6837-H
8642-L

Haven't optimized or anything really yet, so I might be able to squeeze out a few hundred more. Probably wont though, cause idc.

[Oulanbator]

8164 High

Cpu: E7200 2,53 Ghz
Ram: 2Gb DDRII 1066
Graphic card: GT8600 512Mo
Os: Xp Sp2

New Pc ( made it yesterday).
Not too expensive config (€450) and quite good results, I'm happy.
I can probably push it a bit higher by overclocking and fixing the ram timings, but I'm too lazy do to it atm ( and I don't see a reason to do it either xD)

[EagleCeres]

Desktop
H - 5702
L - 8494

CPU: AMD Athlon 64X2 Dual Core 5200
RAM: 4GB Corsair DDR2 @ 800mhz
Video: XFX 8500 GT 512 MB (NVidia GeForce 8500 GT)
Mobo: ASUS M3A
OS: Win XP Pro SP3


Laptop
H - 5648
L - 7809 again

Gateway NX860X
CPU: Intel Core 2 Duo T5300 @1.73Ghz
RAM: 2Gb DDR2 @ 667mhz
Video: NVidia GeForce Go 7600 128 MB
MOBO: 31PA6MB0051 - Gateway NX860X
OS: Win XP Media SP3

[shinoniken]

I beg to differ.

I think it's more that it just scales terribly on high end cards.

[Izzy]

I think it's more that it just scales terribly on high end cards.

Yea, but to say it has ZERO effect is completely ignorant.

[Sepuku]

Yea, but to say it has ZERO effect is completely ignorant.

True.
One thing i have recognized is that you use dual graphic cards, but the majority of games doesnt support dual graphics cards, which is why you can reach better results with single graphics cards on non overclocked systems.
Just configure your hard/software properly and you ll see more improvement than with the dual card. Most processes of your PC can be turned off and removed from autostart.

If you dont believe it, i did it on my PC.

http://www.bluegartr.com/forum/showp...8&postcount=21

[spooky]

Over 8500H with my new system! :D Pisses all over my shitty old laptop lol

I ordered my new PC with 4 gig of ram, but it's actually come with 8 lulz. I ain't gonna complain, here's spec from POL Sys info thingy:

CPU = Intel(R) Pentium(R) ? Processor with MMX
CPU Speed = 2612 MHz
No. of CPUs = 2
OS = Service Pack 2 Ver 5.02.3790
Version of DirectX = DirectX9.0c
Main Memory = Capacity:4095MB : Free Space:4095MB
Drive [C:\] = Local Disk Free Space:584.31 GB(Capacity:596.16 GB)
PlayOnline Viewer Install Path = C:\Program Files (x86)\PlayOnline\SquareEnix\PlayOnlineViewer\
FINAL FANTASY XI Install Path = C:\Program Files (x86)\PlayOnline\SquareEnix\FINAL FANTASY XI\
TETRA MASTER Install Path = C:\Program Files (x86)\PlayOnline\SquareEnix\TetraMaster\
Graphics Card = NVIDIA GeForce 8800 GTS 512
Type of Chip = UnKnown Video Chip
Video Driver = nv4_disp.dll
Version = 6.14.11.7516
Updated =
VendorId = 0x10DE
DeviceId = 0x0600
SubSysId = 0x71919F1
Revision = 162
VRAM = 512.0MB
AvailableVidMem = 503.0MB
AvailableTextureMem = 724.0MB
Sound Card = Realtek HD Audio output
Sound Driver = RTKHDA64.SYS
Version =
Updated =
Motherboard =
Manufacturer =
Version =
Serial Number =

Going to try a slight overclock to about 3.1 Ghz and see how I get on, after this 5hr update has fnished. Q_Q

[Valin]

Late post because I just received my new computer last night

10,623-L
10,246-H

OS: Windows XP Professional SP3
Mobo: Asus P5N E-SLI
CPU: E8400 Wolfdale Duo Core 3.0GHz
RAM: Corsair DDR2 4GB @ 800MHz (XP only supports 2.8GB I think)
GPU: Diamond: ATI Radeon HD4870 (GTX260 equivalent approximately)
lolsoundcard: HT Omega Claro Plus 7.1

I wish I had bought a crossfire board, but the ATI card came out after I already ordered it, oh well. I'm pretty happy with the results though!

[Izzy]

Late post because I just received my new computer last night

10,623-L
10,246-H

OS: Windows XP Professional SP3
Mobo: Asus P5N E-SLI
CPU: E8400 Wolfdale Duo Core 3.0GHz
RAM: Corsair DDR2 4GB @ 800MHz (XP only supports 2.8GB I think)
GPU: Diamond: ATI Radeon HD4870 (GTX260 equivalent approximately)
lolsoundcard: HT Omega Claro Plus 7.1

I wish I had bought a crossfire board, but the ATI card came out after I already ordered it, oh well. I'm pretty happy with the results though!

That's still a fucking awesome score. I think you're reaching the peak FFXI performance as when you switch to low quality, you barley increase your benchmark. I see you got the P5N which is the SLI model of the P5E which I have that supports CrossfireX. You should be happy with the board though.

[sirdude]

Is it bad that my work laptop got like a 1,050?

[Valin]

Yea, I didn't think I would be buying a ATI card, but when they announced the 4870, it was too good of a deal to pass up. $299.99 for a card that runs on par with nvidia's GTX260, which costed 400 at the time. (They lowered it in response to the 4870)

Still, I'm happy with my purchase, and if needed I'll just switch out the mobo later on


Also:
Nothing to do with the benchmarking, but I'd just like to point out that now's a really good time to get a new GPU if anyone was thinking about getting one, since Nvidia and AMD/ATI are at it again. My friend found a brand new 9800GTX for $139 on newegg, which I think is pretty awesome.

[Sonomaa]

Dell Vostro 1700
T5870 2ghz Core2Duo
2g ram
XP SP2
GeForce 8600M GT 256

L: 8134
H: 5621


my laptop, main and second pc to come later

[Wrish]

Core 2 x6800 at 3745MHz (fsb 340)
DDRII-800 at 681MHz (CL 3-3-3-4, 1:1)
Asus P5W DH dlx (HyperPath off)
Radeon x1900xtx 640/775 (mild o/c)
Bench3: 10018(high) 11878(low)

Assembled that almost 2 years ago. CPUs have barely improved in that time. More cores don't help here! Neither has a new generation of GPUs, only because FFXI is DirectX 7 or 8, and this generation of GPUs is mostly faster than the last in DirectX 9/10.


Athlon64 x2 4400+ at 2244MHz
DDR-400 at 412MHz (CL 2-3-2-5)
Asus A8N32-SLI
Radeon x800GTO2 525/589
Bench3: 6686(high)

This one plays it just fine - doesn't lag noticeably in dynamis or anything - but slows a bit when lots of bard songs are going on at once, understandably because the GPU is only mid-range.

A few years back I concluded that FFXI isn't after raw CPU or GPU power but memory bandwidth, something the Core 2's are notoriously efficient at because of their caching system. And when you overclock a Core 2, you overclock the cache along with it, but since cache isn't everything, the bench scores improve but don't scale proportionally.