low FPS while running FFXI

[Snprphnx]

l am looking for a way to speed up my FPS while playing FFXI on my laptop. If I run it with decent looking graphics, the game runs ~10 fps, even lower in higher congested areas, like WG or dynamis.

I can get 25+ fps if i use FFXICalculator, and drop my settings to the bare minimum:
Display: 640 x 480
Background: 512 x 512
Texture Compression: High
Map Compression: High
Enviromental Animations: Off
MIP Mapping: Off

The game looks like ass when running it this way though.

Here is my current system data for reference~
HP Pavillion dv2120us
Processor: AMD Turion 64 x2, 803 Mhz, 960 MB RAM
HDD: 99GB, 49% free and defragged
Video Card: NVIDIA GeForce Go 6150
OS: Windows XP SP2

Can I do anything to my system, either free, or cheap, to increase my FPS with a higher graphics setting?

FYI - I have tried cleaning it up, running AdvancedSystemCares Game Booster program, and just running FFXI with nothing else on, and it doesn't have any effect.

Thanks in advance

[Senoska]

HP Pavillion dv2120us
Processor: AMD Turion 64 x2, 803 Mhz, 960 MB RAM
HDD: 99GB, 49% free and defragged
Video Card: NVIDIA GeForce Go 6150
OS: Windows XP SP2

I found your problem

[SubzeroDiabolos]

There are no miracle fix to a shitty rig.

[hagun]

Yup. That laptop was designed soley for email. Get a new laptop, brah.

[Pikarya]

Not going anywhere with that setup besides maybe torchlight on netbook mode, or some really old-gen game.

[Snprphnx]

Well. Thanks for the input. Lol. Got it for my wife 3 years ago, decided to install ffxi on since, since it is A.) our only PC, and B.) my PS3 runs horrible in some dynas and einherjars (when a lot of buffs go off, I drop to 1 frame per 5 secs, even with buff effect filters on)

oh well, thinks anyway. Time for shorty graphics till this one dies

[Olo401]

I'll try to be a bit more constructive.. first your systems specs were incorrect (no machine built since the Pentium 3 era has had a CPU speed under 1gHz) so I looked them up. Bolded text are the corrections:

HP Pavillion dv2120us
Processor: AMD Turion 64 x2 TL-52, 1.6 gHz, 1GB DDR2 Memory
HDD: 120GB (99GB formatted), 49% free and defragged
Video Card: NVIDIA GeForce Go 6150
OS: Windows XP SP2

You have two serious bottlenecks here.. the first is your CPU age/speed. Upgrading to a faster processor will help especially with FFXI, but the upgrade process itself will be a pain in the butt since it's a laptop. If you do upgrade your CPU, I recommend looking for model TL-68. It's the fastest & most optimized CPU in the same class as what you currently have. Only caveat is that it might cost you more than a new laptop.

The second is your GPU. Most laptop video processors are not designed for gaming - they're designed for low power consumption and minimal heat output. There are gaming GPUs available for laptops, but they are very rare, very expensive, very power-hungry and because they put out so much heat they can easily melt themselves or your laptop quickly. And then you have to make sure your LCD screen can keep up with the graphics. Not a pretty picture.

Adding another gig of system memory might help a little bit running under XP.. I'm not sure how much though. I'd imagine making the move to SP3 would also help.