FFXIV Hardware Requirements

[Lucavi]

If you ran the benchmark and got horrible scores, chances are you'll run the game horribly as well. Upgrade your GPU.

[Kawfee]

What security holes are there? and if going Windows 7, which version would you suggest?

Just get the normal, "Home Premium" or w/e version of Windows 7. I was a big hater of it for a really long time (as mainly a carryover from Vista hate), but I've been using it now for months, and it is far superior to XP and Vista combined. Faster, more reliable, most things still work just fine in it via the compatibility options. Some stuff is irritating, like "Run as Administrator" (fuck you microsoft I am the adminsitrator goddamnit), but pretty minor.

The instant-search on the start menu or whatever its now called in 7 is amazingly awesome, as is the ability to "snap" windows to the left and right side of your screen. Such a small thing but soooo nice on a widescreen monitor.

[Doombard]

If you ran the benchmark and got horrible scores, chances are you'll run the game horribly as well. Upgrade your GPU.

Blarg I thought my card was pretty good.

[Fhuri]

I used to play 11 off and on for a couple years back in the day.

I do plan on returning to 14 but I don't want to wait until Spring '11 for the PS3 release, so I plan on getting the PC release on Sept 22. The thing is my comp is a little dated.

I have a Compaq Presario SR5510F Desktop

CLICK HERE to see the specs

quick specs are
Athlon 64 X2 (B) 5000+ 2.6 GHz (65W)

GeForce 6150SE nForce 430 (yes, it sucks)

500gb hard drive

running 32bit vista

I plan on upping the RAM to 4gb but I am clueless to what graphics card I should get. Something middle of the road would be good for me(I want it above the minimum requirements- I want to see the beauty of the game without spending a retarded amount of money).

Can anyone please help and recommend a couple graphics options(and other options) to make this PC work well for ffxiv. All help is greatly appreciated and thanks in advance

[Fanfon]

I plan on upping the RAM to 4gb but I am clueless to what graphics card I should get. Something middle of the road would be good for me(I want it above the minimum requirements- I want to see the beauty of the game without spending a retarded amount of money).

Can anyone please help and recommend a couple graphics options(and other options) to make this PC work well for ffxiv. All help is greatly appreciated and thanks in advance

I think you'll need a new motherboard, as well as 64-bit OS if you're going to get 4gb RAM. As for a middle of the road GPU, how about an ATI HD57XXX? Not sure about US $ but the UK price is okay.

Edit: If you can get the money, you might as well upgrade the CPU as well. Phenom II X2 is alright for a budget + you might be able to unlock the dormant cores.

[Fhuri]

Hmm, maybe i can update to 64 bit when I do the windows 7 upgrade.

But thanks for the heads up on the G card

[Biggz]

Another pc purchase question. Friend has a pc he built that he's willing to sell to me.Wanted to see what you guys think about it before purchasing. Still a noob when it comes to pcs.

ati radeon 4890 oc 900/975
6gb ddr3 1600 ram
700w power supply
amd 955 be oc'd to 3.7ghz stable for almost a year now...even in arizona heat
scythe mugen 2 cpu cooler
500gb wd black hdd

[Gethsemane]

Another pc purchase question. Friend has a pc he built that he's willing to sell to me.Wanted to see what you guys think about it before purchasing. Still a noob when it comes to pcs.

ati radeon 4890 oc 900/975
6gb ddr3 1600 ram
700w power supply
amd 955 be oc'd to 3.7ghz stable for almost a year now...even in arizona heat
scythe mugen 2 cpu cooler
500gb wd black hdd

Get a USB stick, unzip the FFXIV Benchmark onto it. Go to his house, copy over the Benchmark and see how it runs. If the cut scenes run with 0 lag, then game play should be fine. How much is he selling it to you for?

ATI Radeon 4890 - $189.99
6 GB DDR3 1600 - $180.00 at $30.00 for each stick
AMD 955 - $159.00
Couldn't find CPU Cooler - Inexpensive usually.
500gb WD Black $69.00

$598.00 worth of new stuff (@NewEgg Prices) minus the CPU Cooler so far.

[Dolmen]

I'm looking for a bit of input on buying a new PC, I've been away from the hardware side of IT for far too long...

Currently I'm running a dinosaur of a computer that I only use for web browsing, E-Mail, iTunes, etc..., simple stuff (P4 2.4GHz, geforce2 video card, 1.5GB RAM, etc... ). I've been looking at ibuypower.com's website and have figured out the following components that I'd like. My budget is ~$1300-$1500.

•Intel Core i7 930 (4x2.8GHz)
•6GB DDR3-1800 RAM
•Nvidia Geforce GTX 470 1.2GB or ATI Radeon HD 5870 1GB (extra $106 for the Radeon)
•1TB HDD 64MB Cache, 6GB/sec

For the motherboard I'm going to go with one that supports USB3.0 and S-ATA 3.0. Also, is a 700w PSU ok for this? My main question is what really is the difference between the ATI 5870 and the Nvidia GTX 470. I'm assuming this type of build shouldn't have any problems with FFXIV.

Also, I will be purchasing Win7 with my student discount, so I'm assuming I should go with the 64-bit edition? Also, is there any huge difference between the Premium and the Ultimate edition? They're both $99, but I wasn't sure if Ultimate had bloatware in it.

[Gethsemane]

CPU/GPU/HD Benchmarks

Use this site for all of your questions regarding which is better running from stock with no overclocking, optimization, etc.

Radeon HD 5870 2,622 GPU Score
GeForce GTX 470 2,945 GPU Score

470 is better. Now let's compare prices.

GeForce GTX 470 $320.00
Radeon HD 5870 $360.00 (Weekend deal now at Newegg, normally $400.00)

470 is also cheaper. You would have to get down to each one's specs to really see which one is the better deal. Sorry I don't have a spreadsheet setup to compare the best values for these two cards. But the Benchmark pretty much shows which one is the best from stock. GTX 470 wins in both categories. I am cost efficient so I would number crunch stream processors, memory speed, etc to see which one is more friendlier to my wallet. I settled for the ATI 5770 because my old Dimension 9100 only has one 6-pin connector. Not willing to build a complete new system just yet until the game is released.

Also you have to realize every game that utilizes these cards, nVidia/ATI work with the game publisher to tweak/enhance performance through drivers for every game. It's just a matter of each company getting it done. Square Enix is sponsored by nVidia so I would assume nVidia works more closely with SE to get things streamlined. I am sure ATI is offering their advice on the side as well.

[Mist]

I'm about to have a new PC built for FFXIV. Wondering if anyone can give me any opinions on how well it's likely to run the game (preferably on 1080p)?

Processor (CPU)
AMD PHENOM II X4 955 (3.20GHz/8MB CACHE/AM3) - BLACK EDITION

Motherboard
ASUSR M4A79XTD EVO: DUAL DDR3, S-ATA II, 2 x PCIe x16, 2 x PCIe x1, 2 x PCI

Memory (RAM)
4GB SAMSUNG DDR3 DUAL-DDR3 1333MHz (2 X 2GB)

Graphics Card
1GB ATI RADEON HD 5770 PCI EXPRESS - DirectX 11

Memory - Hard Disk
1TB SERIAL ATA 3-Gb/s HARD DRIVE WITH 16MB CACHE (7,200rpm)

Power Supply & Case Cooling
450W Quiet 80 PLUS Dual Rail PSU + 120mm Case Fan

Processor Cooling
SUPER QUIET 22dBA TRIPLE COPPER HEATPIPE CPU COOLER

Sound Card
ONBOARD 8 CHANNEL (7.1) HIGH DEF AUDIO (AS STANDARD)

Operating System
Windows 7 Home Premium 64 Bit

I'd rather not shell out only to find out the game runs like crap (I don't mind running it on 720p, but I would much rather 1080p)

[Dolmen]

Thanks, Gethsemane! I no longer do anything in terms of overclocking, etc..., to my machines. I just want something that's going to give me good value for the cash and not fry out like some cards I had a few years back.

[Gethsemane]

Mist, how much money are you willing to spend?

Best CPUs:

All 6 Cores.
AMD Phenom II x6 1090T 3.2GHz - $295.99
AMD Phenom II x6 1050T 2.8GHz - $199.99

All 6 Cores.
Intel i7-980X Extreme 3.33GHz - $964.99

All 4 Cores.
Intel i7-975 Extreme 3.33GHz - $979.99
Intel i7-960 3.2GHz - $569.99

Best GPU:

GTX 480 - $459.99 (40.00 instant rebate)
GTX 470 - $319.99 (30.00 instant rebate/20.00 mail-in rebate)
ATI 5970 - $699.99
ATI 5870 - $399.99

From the prices, ATI is using Intel tactics for the GPUs and starting to charge higher price. I would go with a 470/480 cause of the price. For a CPU, AMD obviously has the advantage here.

These are going to be your more expensive items. Definitely want a cutting edge motherboard, maybe not the most expensive. Also 6.0GB/s SATA 3.0... no HD can reach that potential as to this date. I don't even think 2.0 has been broken. I believe SSDs can break the SATA 2.0 standard, not sure about the SATA 3.0. USB 3.0 is nice and yeah you probably want 2 PCI-E 2.0 x16 slots for Crossfire/SLI even if you don't buy two cards yet. I am biased against SLI/Xfire though, if I am not getting double the speed with two cards, not worth my money.

[Metafox]

My main question is what really is the difference between the ATI 5870 and the Nvidia GTX 470. I'm assuming this type of build shouldn't have any problems with FFXIV.

I had a similar question, and this is the answer that I got:

5870 runs most things better at stock, 470 runs most things better once OC'd. It's not really worth going crazy analyzing the differences, they're both solid and will run it great.

[Purrrfect]

CPU/GPU/HD Benchmarks

Use this site for all of your questions regarding which is better running from stock with no overclocking, optimization, etc.

I don't think those charts are very valuable. They tell you nothing about the system. Exhibit A, "Radeon HD 4870"=1743, "Radeon HD4870 X2"=1641, "Radeon HD 4870 X2"=1536.

[Gethsemane]

I don't think those charts are very valuable. They tell you nothing about the system. Exhibit A, "Radeon HD 4870"=1743, "Radeon HD4870 X2"=1641, "Radeon HD 4870 X2"=1536.

True that site uses stuff people submitted so stock wise maybe it can't be taken into context, I normally use Tom's Hardware to compare stuff. The 4870x2 sounds odd and also the score pretty much shows they might have had two PCI-E x16 slots but they were clocked down while running Xfire/SLI to x8; hard to know really. It's just a general idea.

Can't dispute the fact that when it comes to price though that nVidia is eating ATI alive now. And ATI is depending on word of mouth, the 58xx series stability to drive their selling point. I still would buy a AMD over Intel chip any day due to cost. I am kind of mad at the GPU situation though.. may have to use nVidia for my new system.

[Biggz]

Get a USB stick, unzip the FFXIV Benchmark onto it. Go to his house, copy over the Benchmark and see how it runs. If the cut scenes run with 0 lag, then game play should be fine. How much is he selling it to you for?

ATI Radeon 4890 - $189.99
6 GB DDR3 1600 - $180.00 at $30.00 for each stick
AMD 955 - $159.00
Couldn't find CPU Cooler - Inexpensive usually.
500gb WD Black $69.00

$598.00 worth of new stuff (@NewEgg Prices) minus the CPU Cooler so far.

He said $800 for it. Also has a custom case that he modded and added fans to. Said it has 8 fans so that it overclocks with no issues.Going to have him run benchmark on it. He tried before but got the dll errors everyone else was getting i think.

[Gethsemane]

Before downloading the file below, make sure you have the latest graphics drivers installed.

Microsoft DirectX Updater Run-time

I've heard of people still having problems after they do the above 2 steps, has to be something much deeper like an OS problem if this occurs. Sounds pretty reasonable for that system then. But in the end it is still all used parts. Could build one for about the same price with new parts. Up to you in the end. Buying from him means instant gaming, other way means waiting for all them parts to ship and build it yourself could take a week. Good luck

[Mist]

@Gethsemane

Thanks for the advice. I've been looking at the Phenom II X6 1055T and the GTX470. Both are currently out of my budget, but I'm thinking of waiting until early September to have the PC built - are we likely to see any price drops by then?

Also, I'll admit to knowing next to nothing about overclocking but from what I've heard, FFXIV is optimised for two cores? Would my performance suffer from the lower 2.8Ghz speed since I'd rather not tamper too much with anything and the 1090T is well beyond what I can afford to spend.

In terms of Motherboard and GPU, when switching to the GTX470, I'm told I'll have to switch to the Asus M4N98TD Evo (for some reason, the guys building it don't give any other option for NVidia based systems with potential for SLI expansion). How does this motherboard perform in the grand scheme of things?

Honestly though, unless we see price drops in the next two months, or I stumble across a pot of gold at the end of a rainbow, I might have to go with the cheaper setup - curious to see if anyone knows how it performs in beta?

[Vimes]

Gethse why are you recommending that overpriced stuff? I thought you were the guy trying to get max potential out of "older" hardware. That's a noble goal I'd advise to anyone, but I fail to understand why you recommend those CPU's to Mist, while they're clearly out of his budget (and mine).

Mist, don't spend your hard earned $ on the newest CPU's. Try to get the best price/performance ratio within your budget, spend the rest on a better GPU. Your initial setup isn't bad, X4 955 BE is great and overclocks a little (and very easily, on stock voltages). Make sure you get the 125W version.

For even less you could also get an Intel i3 530 (OC's easily to 4Ghz), or an i3 540 (same as 530 really, but supposed to get a price drop mid-july so keep an eye out for that). Yea, it's dual core, but it offers great performance for the money (read article below).

With the $ you just saved on the CPU, you get a better GPU. For 1080p I'd get something better than the 5770 though. 5830 or 5850 according to budget (or 5870 if you have the money). Or nVidia, whatever. Do some research first on what's good price/performance wise.

Oh and don't spend too much $ on the motherboard (personal preference though), there's some decent ones in the 90-100$ range (I like Gigabyte's, read some reviews though). The one in the setup you posted is probably decent as well.

Anyway, don't take my word for it:

Best Gaming CPUs For The Money: June 2010 (they do this every month)
h ttp://tomshardware.com/reviews/gaming-phenom-ii-corei-i5,2647.html

Is Intel's Core i3-530 Fast Enough For Performance Gaming?
h ttp://tomshardware.co.uk/core-i3-gaming,review-31852.html

System Builder Marathon, June 2010: System Value Compared
h ttp://tomshardware.co.uk/overclock-cpu-gpu,review-31924.html

etc...

PS: This is handy:
Calculate power supply needs
h ttp://support.asus.com/PowerSupplyCalculator/PSCalculator.aspx?SLanguage=en-us