FFXIV Hardware Requirements

[Dolmen]

I'm building myself an entire desktop, since I only have a laptop for now, for FFXIV. Here's the plan, let me know what you think. Everything's from ncix.com.

CPU: Intel Core i7 930 Quad Core Processor
Motherboard: Gigabyte X58A-UD3R
Video: XFX Radeon HD 5870

HDD: Western Digital WD1001FALS Caviar Black 1TB SATA2 7200RPM 4.2MS 32MB 3.5IN Dual Proc Hard Drive OEM
SSD: Intel X25-M 80GB 34NM Postville 2.5IN SSD SATA Solid State Disk Flash Drive
RAM: Patriot Extreme Viper PVT36G1600LLK 6GB DDR3 3X2GB DDR3-1600 CL 8-8-8-24 Triple Channel Memory Kit

DVD drive: Samsung SH-S223L/BEBS 22X SATA Black DVD Writer Lightscribe

PSU: Corsair Professional Series Gold AX750 CMPSU-750AX 750W ATX Fully Modular
Case: Lancool PC-K60WB Black ATX Advanced Mid Tower Case 5X5.25 4X3.5INT No PS USB Audio Window
Accesories: nGear SATA Serial ATA Hard Drive Data Cable 18 Inch 7 Pin

Monitor: Samsung P2570 24.6IN Widescreen LCD Monitor 1920X1080 2MS 16:9 70000:1DC HDMI DVI-I
Keyboard: Logitech Illuminated Keyboard
Mouse: Coolermaster Sentinel Advance Twin Laser Gaming Mouse 8 Buttons 5600DPI USB with Adjustable Lighting

Pretty much exactly what I got, but I got different RAM, DVD drive, etc... Also picked up the Cooler Master HAF 932 which is freaking awesome and has exceptional air flow. I also went with a Cooler Master N520 and it's keeping my CPU idle at a nice 31C.

[Vuitton]

I'm building myself an entire desktop, since I only have a laptop for now, for FFXIV. Here's the plan, let me know what you think. Everything's from ncix.com.

CPU: Intel Core i7 930 Quad Core Processor
Motherboard: Gigabyte X58A-UD3R
Video: XFX Radeon HD 5870

HDD: Western Digital WD1001FALS Caviar Black 1TB SATA2 7200RPM 4.2MS 32MB 3.5IN Dual Proc Hard Drive OEM
SSD: Intel X25-M 80GB 34NM Postville 2.5IN SSD SATA Solid State Disk Flash Drive
RAM: Patriot Extreme Viper PVT36G1600LLK 6GB DDR3 3X2GB DDR3-1600 CL 8-8-8-24 Triple Channel Memory Kit

DVD drive: Samsung SH-S223L/BEBS 22X SATA Black DVD Writer Lightscribe

PSU: Corsair Professional Series Gold AX750 CMPSU-750AX 750W ATX Fully Modular
Case: Lancool PC-K60WB Black ATX Advanced Mid Tower Case 5X5.25 4X3.5INT No PS USB Audio Window
Accesories: nGear SATA Serial ATA Hard Drive Data Cable 18 Inch 7 Pin

Monitor: Samsung P2570 24.6IN Widescreen LCD Monitor 1920X1080 2MS 16:9 70000:1DC HDMI DVI-I
Keyboard: Logitech Illuminated Keyboard
Mouse: Coolermaster Sentinel Advance Twin Laser Gaming Mouse 8 Buttons 5600DPI USB with Adjustable Lighting

Ah, I am building a very similar system right now. Except I opted for the 920, OCZ memory, 1000w version of the Corsair PSU, and the 64mb cache Caviar Black. Other than we have identical systems (well other the case and mouse). I think we even have the same monitor. We have the same keyboard.

Crazy!

[Nartosar]

Get the Corsair HX850 for overhead in case you want to CF your 5870.

By overhead, do you mean just to have extra W room if I want another card eventually?

And I kinda like the classy look of my present case. So unless you guys really suspect I'll run into airflow problems, I'll stick with it. It does have like 4 fans (two on top, one in front and of course one behind).

Ah, I am building a very similar system right now. Except I opted for the 920, OCZ memory, 1000w version of the Corsair PSU, and the 64mb cache Caviar Black. Other than we have identical systems (well other the case and mouse). I think we even have the same monitor. We have the same keyboard.

Crazy!

That's pretty neat. What mouse will you use? I didn't really know how to choose mine.
Also, with a SSD for load times of most used programs and Windows, I think I'll be fine with my HDD. Higher cache would only be a small increase in performance, right?

[Adajer]

1920x1200 $289 $10 more, 1 inch larger, and higher res

[Nartosar]

1920x1200 $289 $10 more, 1 inch larger, and higher res

Hmm. I kinda like Samsung. I'll think about it. They're pretty much the same, but the fact that the ASUS is bigger but same price makes me wonder if it's the same quality.

EDIT: Nevermind, I'm taking the ASUS.

[shaddix]

Samsung is good if you like panel lotto!

[Questionable]

By overhead, do you mean just to have extra W room if I want another card eventually?

Yeah, you can never go too high of a PSU, other than your wallet. Since you're spending all of this anyways, a measly $40 or however much is nothing to future proof the power a bit for CF. Also the HX series are much better.

[Nartosar]

Yeah, you can never go too high of a PSU, other than your wallet. Since you're spending all of this anyways, a measly $40 or however much is nothing to future proof the power a bit for CF. Also the HX series are much better.

Thanks. I read up and made the switch. =)

[Vuitton]

That's pretty neat. What mouse will you use? I didn't really know how to choose mine.

Also, with a SSD for load times of most used programs and Windows, I think I'll be fine with my HDD. Higher cache would only be a small increase in performance, right?

I use one of those higher end wireless logitech mice. I am not at home so can't give you a model number.

I am using my SSD for the OS and MMOs as well. I have no idea what the cache does really, I was just pointing out the few differences in our system.

I am probably going to xfire my 5870 once the price gets knocked down eventually, so that is why I went with the 1000w corsair PSU. Thing is huge!

[Questionable]

Off topic sort of, does anyone know personally or have heard anymore of that FoxConn 1156 socket issue with extreme OC burning up the MB + CPU?

I already got my system ready to install but just hesitant on pushing more than 3.8G OC on the 860. It'll cost me too much time and some good amount of money to return/restocking fees to get a 1366 setup, plus I'd have to sell my ram privately.

[Ladymist]

So after much looking around at things i am down to 3 possible system and i was wondering if i could get some input on which one might be best. All are withing $100 of each other so comes down to preformance.

Here they are:

Intel Core™ i7 Processor 930 2.80GHz w/ 8MB Cache
Gigabyte GA-X58A-UD3R w/ TripleDDR3 2200, 7.1 Audio, Gigabit Lan, USB3.0, 1394, PCI-E 2.0, CrossFireX / SLI
Kingston ValueRAM 6GB PC3-10600 DDR3 Triple Channel Kit (3 x 2GB)
eVGA GeForce GTX 460 SuperClocked EE 1GB PCI-E w/ Dual DVI, HDMI, External Exhaust
Western Digital 1TB Caviar Black 7200rpm SATA III w/ 64MB Cache
ThermalTake TR2 RX 850W Modular Power Supply
Zalman CNPS9900 LED CPU Cooler for Socket 775 / 1366

OR

Intel Core™ i7 Processor 920 2.66GHz w/ 8MB Cache
Asus Rampage III Gene w/ Triple DDR3 1600, 7.1 Audio, Gigabit Lan, 1394, PCI-E, CrossFireX / SLI
Kingston ValueRAM 6GB PC3-10600 DDR3 Triple Channel Kit (3 x 2GB)
eVGA GeForce GTX 460 SuperClocked EE 1GB PCI-E w/ Dual DVI, HDMI, External Exhaust
Western Digital 1TB Caviar Black 7200rpm SATA III w/ 64MB Cache
ThermalTake TR2 RX 850W Modular Power Supply
Zalman CNPS9900 LED CPU Cooler for Socket 775 / 1366

OR

AMD Phenom™ II X6 1090T Black Edition 3.2GHz w/ 9MB Cache (Retail Box, Socket AM3)
Asus M4A89GTD PRO/USB3 w/ Radeon HD 4290, DualDDR3 1333, 7.1 Audio, Gigabit Lan, USB3.0, 1394, Hybrid CrossFireX, HDMI
Kingston ValueRAM 4GB PC3-10600 DDR3 Dual Channel Kit (2 x 2GB)
eVGA GeForce GTX 460 SuperClocked EE 1GB PCI-E w/ Dual DVI, HDMI, External Exhaust
Western Digital 1TB Caviar Black 7200rpm SATA III w/ 64MB Cache
ThermalTake TR2 RX 850W Modular Power Supply
Zalman CNPS9900 LED CPU Cooler for Socket 775 / 1366


I am leaning more towards the middle system honestly and i have no clue if the CPU Cooler is even a good one or not. I have the hard drive already as well as the DVD drive and case so each come in at approx $1200. Case is an Antec 900.

Also jumping up to a 1000w PSU is well over $120 so that is out for me price wise. If anyone has better suggestions i am open to it.

Thank you BG for any help.
Lady

[shaddix]

If you're getting it mainly for ffxiv, I would get a 1055T or 955 BE and swap the vga for a 5850/5870 since ati does so much better in the benchmark.(5830s are beating gtx 460s).
I am personally going with evga gtx 460 so I'll have access to their step-up option if the 460 ends up not being enough.(And i'm hoping the benchmark favoring ATI so much is just a fluke/will be different in the actual game(and I just like nvidia X_X; I also need cuda for coreavc :D ))

People should be able to give you better advice after beta 3 starts.

[Elites]

Don't get the 1055T, it's known to perform worst than 955 or 965BE x4's in gaming. Go with the 965BE you will get marginally the same performance in gaming as you would with an i7. The gigabyte gtx460 1gb is a nice model to go with, it definitely beats the 5830 by 30% in performance according to alot of benchmarking.

[shaddix]

it definitely beats the 5830 by 30% in performance according to alot of benchmarking.

except the 14 benchmark! Where for some shitass reason the 5830 is better.

[mintyice]

except the 14 benchmark! Where for some shitass reason the 5830 is better.

because the benchmark is a great indicator of a game that isn't out yet

[Crazyd]

As for videocard, the consensus seems to be that the EVGA gtx460 1gb is pretty much the best performance value at the moment. This thing would best through FFXIV no problem, right? (cheaper than gtx470, and pretty much the same right?)

Agreed SLI 460's are better than a 470 by like 75% performance, but you should do it rather soon if that's the route your going to go. Video cards should be same model.

Still haven't figured out mobo yet. SLI kind of interests me. Let's say down the road I want to boost this rig a bit, I could just put in another gtx460 and be golden.

I really would go with a SLI board if your going 460, else wise get a 470, they have ~19% boost when it comes to the FFXIV Benchmark. The Asus, Gigabyte, and MSI are the most reliable motherboard vendors...

If your going i7 then get 6gig as preaviously mentioned i7 Chipset are Tripple channel vs double channel. So definately go 6 or 9 gig... Looks like your well on your way. I agree with you going Intel, only reason I suggested AMD was you were concerned with price... price / performance they do fairly well, but Intel is definately where the real Performance is...

Let us know how it turns out... ^^

[alecrast]

So after much looking around at things i am down to 3 possible system and i was wondering if i could get some input on which one might be best. All are withing $100 of each other so comes down to preformance.

Here they are:

Intel Core™ i7 Processor 930 2.80GHz w/ 8MB Cache
Gigabyte GA-X58A-UD3R w/ TripleDDR3 2200, 7.1 Audio, Gigabit Lan, USB3.0, 1394, PCI-E 2.0, CrossFireX / SLI
Kingston ValueRAM 6GB PC3-10600 DDR3 Triple Channel Kit (3 x 2GB)
eVGA GeForce GTX 460 SuperClocked EE 1GB PCI-E w/ Dual DVI, HDMI, External Exhaust
Western Digital 1TB Caviar Black 7200rpm SATA III w/ 64MB Cache
ThermalTake TR2 RX 850W Modular Power Supply
Zalman CNPS9900 LED CPU Cooler for Socket 775 / 1366

OR

Intel Core™ i7 Processor 920 2.66GHz w/ 8MB Cache
Asus Rampage III Gene w/ Triple DDR3 1600, 7.1 Audio, Gigabit Lan, 1394, PCI-E, CrossFireX / SLI
Kingston ValueRAM 6GB PC3-10600 DDR3 Triple Channel Kit (3 x 2GB)
eVGA GeForce GTX 460 SuperClocked EE 1GB PCI-E w/ Dual DVI, HDMI, External Exhaust
Western Digital 1TB Caviar Black 7200rpm SATA III w/ 64MB Cache
ThermalTake TR2 RX 850W Modular Power Supply
Zalman CNPS9900 LED CPU Cooler for Socket 775 / 1366

OR

AMD Phenom™ II X6 1090T Black Edition 3.2GHz w/ 9MB Cache (Retail Box, Socket AM3)
Asus M4A89GTD PRO/USB3 w/ Radeon HD 4290, DualDDR3 1333, 7.1 Audio, Gigabit Lan, USB3.0, 1394, Hybrid CrossFireX, HDMI
Kingston ValueRAM 4GB PC3-10600 DDR3 Dual Channel Kit (2 x 2GB)
eVGA GeForce GTX 460 SuperClocked EE 1GB PCI-E w/ Dual DVI, HDMI, External Exhaust
Western Digital 1TB Caviar Black 7200rpm SATA III w/ 64MB Cache
ThermalTake TR2 RX 850W Modular Power Supply
Zalman CNPS9900 LED CPU Cooler for Socket 775 / 1366


I am leaning more towards the middle system honestly and i have no clue if the CPU Cooler is even a good one or not. I have the hard drive already as well as the DVD drive and case so each come in at approx $1200. Case is an Antec 900.

Also jumping up to a 1000w PSU is well over $120 so that is out for me price wise. If anyone has better suggestions i am open to it.

Thank you BG for any help.
Lady

Get the first system or the last system. There is no reason to buy a 920 unless you're getting a steep discount on it that makes it much more appealing than the 930. I have a very difficult time recommending the 1090T over the i7 930, so much so that I just wouldn't do it unless you're looking to upgrade your CPU next year. AMD is going to make their Bulldozer-based processor fit into an AM3 socket, according to their roadmaps. That is the only way I could recommend the 1090T over the i7 930 at today's pricing given their relative performance.

The motherboard in the second system is a micro-ATX. There's nothing wrong with that but it is a slightly smaller board.

[shaddix]

I didn't know the 1055t and the i7 930 were the same price. For games the 1055t is overkill anyway. An i7 is way overkill. If you'll notice Ladymist's post makes mention of price range, he/she will save a hunk of $$ going with an amd quad and amd mobo won't he/she? And won't be necessary to get 6 gigs of ram either.


mintyice: Some information is better than none, as I said in my post before, when the beta 3 starts people will be able to give better information. But from all the information I have(feel free to point me to some better info) the graphics engine in ff14 favors ati cards over nvidia ones. I'll be the first to tell you that the benchmark is shit, but it's still better than nothing isn't it?

[mintyice]

Agreed SLI 460's are better than a 470 by like 75% performance, but you should do it rather soon if that's the route your going to go. Video cards should be same model.



I really would go with a SLI board if your going 460, else wise get a 470, they have ~19% boost when it comes to the FFXIV Benchmark. The Asus, Gigabyte, and MSI are the most reliable motherboard vendors...

If your going i7 then get 6gig as preaviously mentioned i7 Chipset are Tripple channel vs double channel. So definately go 6 or 9 gig... Looks like your well on your way. I agree with you going Intel, only reason I suggested AMD was you were concerned with price... price / performance they do fairly well, but Intel is definately where the real Performance is...

Let us know how it turns out... ^^

Actually, new cheaper and just as good rig I'm looking at is as follows:

CPU: Phenom II 955 BE 3.2ghz.

Mobo: MSI 870A-G54.

GPU: GTX 460.

RAM: 4gb DDR3 1600 ripjaws.

HDD: F3 500gb.

PSU: Corsair 650TX

DVD RW

Case: CM Centurion. Maybe not this exact case.

Cost; ~$780, versus ~$1000 if I went with an i7 build.

[Crazyd]

Actually, new cheaper and just as good rig I'm looking at is as follows:

CPU: Phenom II 955 BE 3.2ghz.
Mobo: MSI 870A-G54.
GPU: GTX 460.
RAM: 4gb DDR3 1600 ripjaws.
HDD: F3 500gb.
PSU: Corsair 650TX
Cost; ~$780, versus ~$1000 if I went with an i7 build.

Yes price savings with AMD are fairly nice. I like the Mobo and 4gb memory will do just fine. Don't know about the F3 hard drive... seems pretty decent.

I would also say get 2x2gb chips so you can upgrade later without loss of older chips. I don't know how the 1600 memory is priced, but I don't think the price difference is too high.