FFXIV Hardware Requirements

[Kimkytaru]

Few things about upgrading :

If you put more than 3 GB of ram dont forget to use a x64 system or windows wont handle the extra ram.
Buy 10600-10666 ram it's far enough now, no need to spend money on 12600.
4 GB is the amount you want if you're playing, now if you're editing video and or making 3D, you'll need more.
Dont do SLI /CF (2 GC together), if you can, better have a GC with a powerfull GPU. I would recommend you something like a GTX460 and if you have money later to upgrade, buy another one.

The HD5670 is a horrible GC.

[Borgasm]

Ok, what if I went the i7 route? How does this stack up?

Socket 1366 Core i7 Desktop Processors:
INTEL, Core™ i7-930 Quad-Core 2.8GHz, LGA1366, 4.8 GT/s QPI, 8MB L3 Cache, 45nm, 130W, EM64T EIST VT XD, Retail

CPU Coolers:
COOLER MASTER, V8 CPU Cooler, Socket 1366/775/940/AM2, Aluminum

Socket 1366 Intel X58 Chipset Desktop Motherboards:
EVGA, X58 SLI (A1), LGA1366, Intel® X58, 6400 MT/s QPI, DDR3-1333 12GB /6, PCIe x16 SLI CF /3, SATA 3 Gb/s RAID 5 /8, HDA, GbLAN /2, FW /2, ATX, Retail

DDR3-1333 Non-ECC DIMM Memory:
CRUCIAL, 3GB (3 x 1GB) PC3-10600 DDR3 1333MHz CL9 1.5V SDRAM DIMM, Non-ECC

PCI Express x16 Video Cards:
EVGA, GeForce® GTX 465 (AR) 607MHz, 1024MB GDDR5 3206MHz, PCIe x16 SLI, DVI /2, mini-HDMI, Retail

SATA Hard Drives:
WESTERN DIGITAL, 640GB WD Caviar® Green™ (WD6400AARS), SATA 3 Gb/s, IntelliPower™, 64MB Cache

Power Supplies:
CORSAIR, CMPSU-1000HX HX Series Power Supply w/ Modular Cables, 1000W, 80 PLUS®, 24-pin ATX12V EPS12V, Multi-GPU Ready

Windows 7 Home Premium 64


Worth upgrading to 3.2 GHz, 6MB ram, and a gtx480 ?

Thanks~

[Adajer]

If you are only using 1 HD do not get a green or eco drive. Get something 7200RPM. Samsung 1TB HD103SJ is a good drive. Unless you are getting your CPU from microcenter, I would get the i7 950. Do not get the 465, 460 is better. 2x 460s would be better than a single 480. I would get 6gb of ram, some would argue that it won't make a difference. $/gb of RAM is better when buying 3x2gb over 3x1gb. Can't really tell which evga mobo that is, but there are some good $200 range boards. The asus sabertooth looks good. Also, you are going to need a case.

Edit: 1GB GTX 460 models only.

[Borgasm]

Well, the system I asked about is one of the Prebuilt PCs from avadirect. I have the option to upgrade to a INTEL, Core™ i7-960 Quad-Core, 3.2GHz, LGA1366, 4.8 GT/s QPI, 8MB L3 Cache, 45nm, 130W, EM64T EIST VT XD.

As far as video cards go, the choices are as follows:

PCI Express x16 Video Cards:
EVGA, GeForce® GTX 465 (AR) 607MHz, 1024MB GDDR5 3206MHz, PCIe x16 SLI, DVI /2, mini-HDMI, Retail
EVGA, GeForce® GTX 470 (AR) 607MHz, 1280MB GDDR5 3348MHz, PCIe x16 SLI, DVI /2, mini-HDMI, Retail
EVGA, GeForce® GTX 480 (AR) 700MHz, 1536MB GDDR5 3696MHz, PCIe x16 SLI, DVI /2, mini-HDMI, Retail
POWERCOLOR, AX5970 2GBD5-MD, Radeon™ HD 5970 725MHz, 2GB (2 x 1GB) GDDR5 4000MHz, PCIe x16 CrossFire, DVI /2, mini DP, Retail
SAPPHIRE, Radeon™ HD 5870 850MHz, 1GB GDDR5 4800MHz, PCIe x16 CrossFire, DVI /2, DP, HDMI, Retail
XFX, Radeon™ HD 5770 850MHz, 1GB GDDR5 4800MHz, PCIe x16 CrossFire, DVI /2, DP, HDMI, Retail
XFX, Radeon™ HD 5850 725MHz, 1GB GDDR5 4000MHz, PCIe x16 CrossFire, DVI /2, HDMI, DP, Retail

Is this better for a HD?
SEAGATE, 750GB Barracuda® 7200.12, SATA 3 Gb/s, 7200 RPM, 32MB cache

Thank you~

[Adajer]

Yes, that is a better HD. Video card is dependent on what resolution you are going to play at and screen size. In price 5970 > 480 > 5870 > 470. I personally wouldn't go below a 460/5850. If you want to spend the extra dough on the 470/480 or 5970 option, 5870 is kinda pricey too, and you have the money for it, get what you want. I would keep in mind that sometime in october there should be new AMD 6XXX series cards and GTX 475s/485s (not so sure if both but one of them should be at least in the talks by then.) which should outclass all those cards you just dropped so much money for, except the 5970...maybe). You could always buy a new one and sell your old though. The 5970 is the best out of that bunch though (it is a single card with 2 GPUs,2 5850s I think). If you want nvidia, don't get the 465 and expect higher temps and power draw.

Edit: Probably should stick to the i7 930, you are probably going to pay double for a 960.

[Adajer]

I just went to the avadirect website. I just can't go along with buying a pre-built PC anymore. They overcharge so much. If you are too scared to build your own PC, buy the parts and get someone to do it for you. IDK if those geek squad folks will do that, but if they do they would probably charge around $100-$200 for the service. You'd still probably be saving money and getting better quality and selection than prebuilt manufacturers.

[Adajer]

This Alienware @ BB isn't that bad of a deal.

[Borgasm]

Thank you Kingeric. After looking thru Newegg, I came up up with this list for DIY:

Tower:
COOLER MASTER HAF 932 RC-932-KKN1-GP Black Steel ATX Full Tower Computer Case

HD:
Seagate Barracuda 7200.12 ST3500418AS 500GB 7200 RPM SATA 3.0Gb/s 3.5" Internal Hard Drive -Bare Drive

Video Card:
EVGA 015-P3-1482-AR GeForce GTX 480 (Fermi) SuperClocked FTW 1536MB 384-bit GDDR5 PCI Express 2.0 x16 HDCP Ready SLI Support

Power supply:
CORSAIR CMPSU-750TX 750W ATX12V / EPS12V SLI Ready CrossFire Ready 80 PLUS Certified Active PFC

RAM:
CORSAIR DOMINATOR 6GB (3 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1600 (PC3 12800) Desktop Memory Model CMP6GX3M3A1600C7

MOBO:
ASUS Sabertooth X58 LGA 1366 Intel X58 SATA 6Gb/s USB 3.0 ATX Intel Motherboard

CPU:
Intel Core i7-960 Bloomfield 3.2GHz LGA 1366 130W Quad-Core Desktop Processor BX80601960

Microsoft Windows 7 Home Premium 64-bit 1-Pack for System Builders - OEM
ASUS DRW-24B1ST/BLK/B/AS Black SATA 24X DVD Burner - Bulk - OEM

Hows does this look? Anything I am overlooking? Thank you for all your help!
If it looks OK< should I go with 2x gtx480?

[Jojimbo]

Go with a i7 930 or 930 and OC it, need a CPU cooler though (Corsair H50 or Noctua NH-D14 (I think it's this one?)).

That PSU probably won't be able to cope with SLI 480s (especially if you do any OCing). 1000+W is recommended when OCing, no less than 850W though if not.

[Adajer]

Yeah, that looks OK with a few minor probs.
i7 960 is 0.2ghz faster than the i7 950 but costs $270 more. Unless you got the money and don't care, Get the 950.

If you are going to be playing at 1080p a single 480 will work just fine. I don't know if the game is supporting SLI yet but you should not need to SLI 480s on a single monitor at 1080p. If you do get a single 480, I would go with the Zotac AMP edition, faster and way cooler than reference 480s, but it takes 3 PCI slots so you if you wanted to SLI them later down the line you would have to run them at x16 and x4 on that MB. Or you could SLI, if the game recognizes SLI yet, 2 1GB 460s for the same price as a 480 and get around 40% more performance and cooler temps. I'd recommend either the MSI 460 HAWK, Asus ENGTX460 TOP, or Palit Super OC.

You will need a better PSU unless you are only running a single video card, IMO you might as well get a 1k W supply for any 2 card SLI. I would only buy 80+ Gold rated power supplies. The Coolermaster silent pro gold 1k W and nzxt hale90 1k W are good ones.

I would get at least a 1TB 7200 RPM HD, better value than a 500gb. The samsung F3 HD103SJ is a very good model.

Idk if you plan to overclock, but I would also get a new heatsink either way, stock heatsinks run you CPU way too hot.

Last, but certainly not least. Check for combos you can get with the items you are purchasing, you could save like $10-30 per combo maybe even more. For example, Case + a better PSU, $50 savings & Mobo + OS. Combos can be found by going to an item's overview table, at the bottom of the tab you should see a box titled "Buy together and save" displaying a combo. At the bottom right corner there is a link to browse more combos. W/e cpu you get, you should combo it and the cpu heatsink cooler. Any heatsink under $40 is probably not worth getting, most ones over $50 are very good.

[Kimkytaru]

We were talking about sli 460 I think never of 480, first because it will overheat nearly all system, and 2nd you'll pay 20 dollars more per month of electricity. But as someone said, if you can't afford the 480 yet, just get 1 x 460 then upgrade later when you got the money wiht another 460 that will beat anything not crossfired/slied (even the HD5970).
For the processor, just get a 950, it's just went down in price but I guess since it's prebuild pc they are trying to finish there old processor stock first.

4-6 giga of ram like some people said is the best, I would go for 4 personaly 2 x 2 giga is ok if you're only playing and watching vids. Try to avoid 3x1 or 4x1 giga try to get either 2 x 2gb or 3x2gb.

What I would do with the prebuild pc you show is : Downgrade to a HD5870 Saphirre Vapor-X graphic card, keep the same HD but put inside a Crucial C300 SSD HD 128giga for FF14 and your operating system.

That's my config atm.

i7-950, MSI X58A-UD2R MB, HD5870 GC, 4 giga of ram corsair HX750 alim, crucial c300 for my operating system and FF and the game I play atm (Mass Effect 2) 3 x 1.5 To HD "Green" 1 x 1.5 To HD at 7200rpm.

[Jojimbo]

You would want 6 GB RAM on that, X58 uses triple channel memory (so either 3*1 or 3*2)

[Cooleko]

I stopped frequenting this part of the forums when the amateurs rolled in, take anything you read with a grain of salt because most of it is pretty stupid. FYI
http://hardforum.com/showpost.php?p=...75&postcount=6
Basically, if you ran your 480 at max load for 22 hours a week it wouldn't amount to much over $20 a year. And if you spent $500 on a card your not really worried about $20 per year.

[shaddix]

power savings is always the worst reason to make any decision about pc parts

[Borgasm]

Hi guys, after reading and browsing the differant forums, I think I came up with a nice build, mostly offered up by a poster on Newegg. The only thing I changed was switching out the gtx480s x2 with a Radeon 5970. Was told that XIV doesnt support SLi very well, and the Fermi cards aren't working well b/c of the drivers.

Also added the soundblaster card and speakers.

LITE-ON DVD Writer - Bulk - Black SATA Model iHAS224-06 LightScribe Support - OEM Item #: N82E16827106333

SAMSUNG P2770H Rose Black 27" 2ms(GTG) HDMI Widescreen LCD Monitor Item #:N82E16824001379

VisionTek 900305 Radeon HD 5970 2GB 512 (256 x 2)-bit GDDR5 PCI Express 2.0 x16 HDCP Ready CrossFireX Support Video Card ... Item #: N82E16814129159

Creative 70SB088000004 7.1 Channels PCI Express 1x Interface PCI Express Sound Blaster X-Fi Titanium Item #: N82E16829102024

SILVERSTONE OP1000-E 1000W ATX 12V 2.2 & EPS 12V SLI Ready CrossFire Ready Active PFC Compatible with Core i7 Power Supply Item #: N82E16817256043

Logitech Z506 75 watts RMS 5.1 Surround Sound Speakers Item #: N82E16836121044

CORSAIR XMS3 6GB (3 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1600 (PC3 12800) Desktop Memory Model CMX6GX3M3C1600C7 Item #: N82E16820145286

COOLER MASTER R4-L2R-20CR-GP 120mm Red LED Case Fan Item #: N82E16835103063

Prolimatech Megahalems Rev.B CPU Cooler Item #: N82E16835242001

ASUS Sabertooth X58 LGA 1366 Intel X58 SATA 6Gb/s USB 3.0 ATX Intel Motherboard Item #: N82E16813131665

Western Digital Caviar Black WD1002FAEX 1TB 7200 RPM SATA 6.0Gb/s 3.5" Internal Hard Drive -Bare Drive Item #: N82E16822136533

COOLER MASTER HAF 932 Black RC-932-KWN3 Black Steel ATX Full Tower Computer Case with Side window Item #: N82E16811119230

Microsoft Windows 7 Home Premium 64-bit 1-Pack for System Builders - OEM Item #: N82E16832116754

Intel Core i7-950 Bloomfield 3.06GHz LGA 1366 130W Quad-Core Processor BX80601950 Item #: N82E16819115211

OCZ Agility 2 OCZSSD2-2AGTE90G 2.5" 90GB SATA II MLC Internal Solid State Drive (SSD) Item #: N82E16820227608


I'm thinking with the switch in video cards, I can go with less cooling additions?
Thoughts?
Thank you~

[schlomo]

Operating System:


Windows 2.6.1.7600


CPU Type:


AMD Athlon(tm) II X2 245 Processor


CPU Speed (GHz):


2.92


System Memory (GB):


4


Video Card Model:


ATI Radeon HD 4350


Video Card Driver:


atiumdag.dll


Desktop Resolution:


1360x768


Hard Disk Size (GB):


465.66


Hard Disk Free Space (GB):


62.86






this is what im running atm, just off of speculation will 14 run or is there something i got thats real outdated, not a huge PC person so any help and links appreciated thanks.

[Karinastar]

Need to replace the video card, that one is absolutely horrible. Toss in a Radeon 5770 and you should be good to go at moderate settings.

[Cooleko]

Hi guys, after reading and browsing the differant forums, I think I came up with a nice build, mostly offered up by a poster on Newegg. The only thing I changed was switching out the gtx480s x2 with a Radeon 5970. Was told that XIV doesnt support SLi very well, and the Fermi cards aren't working well b/c of the drivers.

VisionTek 900305 Radeon HD 5970 2GB 512 (256 x 2)-bit GDDR5 PCI Express 2.0 x16 HDCP Ready CrossFireX Support Video Card ... Item #: N82E16814129159

Creative 70SB088000004 7.1 Channels PCI Express 1x Interface PCI Express Sound Blaster X-Fi Titanium Item #: N82E16829102024

SILVERSTONE OP1000-E 1000W ATX 12V 2.2 & EPS 12V SLI Ready CrossFire Ready Active PFC Compatible with Core i7 Power Supply Item #: N82E16817256043

Prolimatech Megahalems Rev.B CPU Cooler Item #: N82E16835242001


I'm thinking with the switch in video cards, I can go with less cooling additions?
Thoughts?
Thank you~

I deleted everything from your list that seemed fine.

SLI 480 handle ffxiv on max settings (non AO of course) you were told wrong. The ati card seems like it is top of the line but you need to find out if visiontech is a good company. Do not buy a top end card from a mediocre company.

You have a decent motherboard so you dont need a sound card (perhaps you were listening to the fellow that said you cant use SLI)

You should really get a better cooler, it is a complete waste to spend that much money on something inferior. the forums are littered with better examples. I would recommend H70 corsiar, but you can make your own choice.

Why get a 1000w PSU if you arent going to SLI? if it is for upgrade-ability fine, if not reduce it to 700 and save the 150.

CPU Type:
AMD Athlon(tm) II X2 245 Processor
CPU Speed (GHz):
2.92
System Memory (GB):
4
Video Card Model:
ATI Radeon HD 4350

http://www.bluegartr.com/threads/947...ormance-Thread

Your GPU is terribly old. You might need a new one. If your pc is a prebuilt the PSU might not be good enough to handle a newer GPU.
Back in the day I had windows 3.1 so if you are running 2.6 you are really outdated but on a more serious note, we dont care which revision of windows you have, we want to know xp/vista/7.

[Melchoir]

So... I'm a bit confused.

When I ran the benchmark I got a score of 1380 on low-res and according to the site anything under 1500 means you can't run the game. I got curious so I went over to Can You Run It? and got this:
http://d1ylr6sba64qi3.cloudfront.net...hs/mp_rf_3.gif

So I pass for the minimum but I fail the recommended,

Spoiler: show

CPU
Recommended: Intel Core i7 (2.66 GHz) or faster
You Have: Intel(R) Core(TM)2 Duo CPU P7350 @ 2.00GHz
Upgrade Suggested: Unfortunately, your CPU does not meet this requirement. Click here to see some recommendations.

RAM
Recommended: 4 GB
You Have: 4.0 GB
PASS

OS
Recommended: Windows 7 32-bit/64-bit
You Have: Microsoft Windows Vista Home Premium Edition Service Pack 2 (build 6002), 64-bit
Upgrade Suggested: Unfortunately, your OS does not meet this requirement. Click here to see some recommendations.

Video Card
Recommended: NVIDIA GeForce GTX 460 with 768 MB VRAM or equivalent
You Have: GeForce 9700M GTS
Upgrade Suggested: Unfortunately, your Video Card does not meet this requirement. Click here to see some recommendations.

so that means I can't play the game? o.o

[Cooleko]

If your laptop was capable of playing the benchmark it will run the game, it is just going to be on the lowest settings and possibly choppy even then.