FFXI and Vista = Help is needed.

[Sakazi]

So I have recently upgraded to a custom built PC, which, of course, I put Vista on, just because it was time to change.

I have gone through the trouble of downloading the POL Viewer for Vista and such and can get the game to load up just fine. However, I'm having an issue with some very annoying lag time in....well, everything.

Characters move in blocks, the menu isn't the smooth pop up that it should be. Even typing has an annoying lag to it. What setting is wrong that I'm missing?

[Devolver]

What setting is wrong that I'm missing?

Graphics card? I have a huge problem with vista + FF also, pretty much what you described. Im just thinking (and going by what has been stated in other posts.) thats its a graphics card + vista + FF compatibility issue.

[Sakazi]

GeForce 7950 GX2 is the card. I'll be upgrading after the holidays are over, but right now, I'm just frustrated to hell with this.

[Mafai]

nvidia card most likely, many posts in this section post recommendations.

check out this thread, i pulled a couple quotes for you.

http://www.bluegartr.com/forum/techn...s-vista-2.html

New betas surfaced in the middle of the Crysis driver spam going on at the moment that have some interesting release notes. I don't play FFXI anymore and I'm not re-installing it on one of my Vista partitions just to test drivers, but these recently popped up and might be worth a shot. They provide some decent performance increases in other apps, as well as fix some annoying 169.xx bugs, so they might actually address the FFXI + Vista + Nvidia horseshit. The links are to the international builds, so they're a little larger than the usual US / English packages, but those haven't been posted yet.

ForceWare 169.17 (Beta) International - Vista 32bit
ForceWare 169.17 (Beta) International - Vista 64bit
ForceWare 169.17 (Beta) International - WinXP 32bit

Release Highlights
• Beta driver for GeForce 6, 7, and 8 series GPUs and Final Fantasy XI.
• This driver is only a recommended update for customers playing Final Fantasy XI

Haven't had a chance to test them yet, but NVIDIA released yet another updated Beta driver today, supposed to have all of the fixes that the 169.17 drivers had, plus fix a few other issues some people were having with 8 series cards. I'll be testing out both drivers on my Vista/NVIDIA 8 series system tonight ~

Link to today's 169.21 Beta Drivers

English versions:

XP 32 Bit:
http://us.download.nvidia.com/Windows/1 ... h_beta.exe
XP 64 Bit:
http://us.download.nvidia.com/Windows/1 ... h_beta.exe

Vista 32 Bit:
http://us.download.nvidia.com/Windows/1 ... h_beta.exe
Vista 64 Bit:
http://us.download.nvidia.com/Windows/1 ... h_beta.exe

Int'l versions:

http://uk.download.nvidia.com/Windows/1 ... l_beta.exe
http://uk.download.nvidia.com/Windows/1 ... l_beta.exe
http://uk.download.nvidia.com/Windows/1 ... l_beta.exe
http://uk.download.nvidia.com/Windows/1 ... l_beta.exe

[Sakazi]

I appreciate the help and digging through for the drivers. I'll test these out and see what happens.

[Sakazi]

Got this message after installing the .21 Beta Driver.

"Windows has stopped this device because it has reported problems."

http://i3.photobucket.com/albums/y85...g?t=1227209813

[Mafai]

try the earlier driver first and see if that fixes the problem.

also, are you using a tool to completely remove the drivers from your system?

personally i use driver sweeper

Guru3D - Driver Sweeper

[drwaffles]

Am I basically doomed to a 20-25 FPS rate any time there's more than six characters on-screen with my GeForce 9800 GT on Vista? There is currently absolutely no way to remedy the problem? And is there any likelihood of a solution coming along in the forseeable future (e.g. drivers such as those quoted above specifically designed to combat the compatability issue for 6/7/8 series)?

I want to know if there's any hope at all before I get shot of Vista.

[Calina]

the 8 series and also 9 series since its basicly same card had problems with FFXI bfg 7950 gt oc ive been using for 2 years with vista and xp at different times and for the most part its an exelent card

with 1 major issue and thats shadows. in FFXI with high shadows it lags in both vista and XP and by lag i mean like 20-25 fps

and this isent just with FFXI i also have to turn shadows off in fear as well on both vista and xp

and the problems with the 8/9 series are kinda hit and miss not everyone gets them but alot do

as for a fix cant help you there i just turned shadows to off or whatever the middle setting was and that fixes it.As for a fix for high shadows get a new card and if its an 8 series hope your 1 of the lucky 1's

hopfully the 200 series will correct this

[Devolver]

Am I basically doomed to a 20-25 FPS rate any time there's more than six characters on-screen with my GeForce 9800 GT on Vista?

Consider that lucky, I bought this lappy a few months ago, it 32 bit Vista with a GeForce 7000M/nForce 610M and FF runs like atari. I hit close to 5 fps near the AH. makes me want to scream.

I think i would be better off running off an E-Machine