The OFFICIAL FFXIV Benchmark & Beta Performance Thread

[Amele]

What is wrong is that it is a dual GPU card and the benchmark only uses one of your GPUs. I wouldn't worry about it, your system will be able to run the game just fine.

with the 258 WHQL drivers multiple gpu AFR2 is absolutely working on the benchmark. (this is not SLI-AFR as it doesn't use the SLI bus to transfer the frames, the south bridge has to handle it.) this means that people with dual gpu cards are taking a slight performance hit vs. someone with two 280GTs for instance, since one PCI-e x16 lane is taking all the up and down traffic, instead of being split across two lanes, but it is going to be better than half performance.

I also saw significant performance boost from running the application with the AFR2 flags for source set (another dx9c game) although I couldn't say if those are the best set of flags to pick for FFXIV.

(for reference, on the 197 drivers from last may and with no flags set, and stock clocks, high mark was at 1700. - with 258 I saw an immediate jump to 2000, with overclocking and the right compatibility flags I moved up to ~2550, and putting in a 30% oc on the gpu put me at 3200, which is the last set of screens I took. I guarantee that AFR2 multi-gpu mode is working with the 258 WHQL drivers.)

[Drakath]

I've spent about the last hour experimenting with the graphic adjustments in the Beta. I'm wondering how well adjusting pretty much anything beyond the default effects people's performance. I tried all of these one at a time to see how each affected my FPS. Sadly, I'm very disappointed when I see how much of an increase they enhance the graphics, but how terribly they hinder my performance. All tests were outside Limsa in the field area. Ambient Occlusion dropped my FPS to about 16, so did the depth option. I tried adjusting the Buffer size to double (and the improvement is gorgeous), but my FPS is sitting at 20. As I said, I've tested these all individually. When I tried them together the lag was too much to handle (FPS was at a dismal 10). With default settings my FPS remains at a perfect 30... Is this normal? Is this what we can expect at release? I was so sure my computer could handle all of this better (I just posted my specs a few posts up) and now I'm feeling pretty let down.

[Vuitton]

Can we stop quoting those huge images please?

[Questionable]

Good info everyone, also yes please stop quoting those images. No need?

I already purchased the i7 860, going to probably OC it to 3.4 or so. Still waiting on MB prices to drop to get the Asus one I want. Not sure if really needed for USB 3 + SATA 6gb.

Finalizing on second system, need recommendations. As people pointed out that quad core helps more, so I will get one of these, now to choose which: Q8400, Q9400?

Only difference seems the L2 cache has 2MB on the 9400, but costs $40 more.

Worth it for FF14?

[alecrast]

Good info everyone, also yes please stop quoting those images. No need?

I already purchased the i7 860, going to probably OC it to 3.4 or so. Still waiting on MB prices to drop to get the Asus one I want. Not sure if really needed for USB 3 + SATA 6gb.

Finalizing on second system, need recommendations. As people pointed out that quad core helps more, so I will get one of these, now to choose which: Q8400, Q9400?

Only difference seems the L2 cache has 2MB on the 9400, but costs $40 more.

Worth it for FF14?

The benchmark, for what it's worth, seems to really like larger cache sizes. 980X score compared to equivalently clocked i7s is noticeably inflated with all other components being equal.

You can get a Q9550 with 12MB L2 from Microcenter new for $179 if you have a store near you. The Q9550 crushes the Q9400.

[Questionable]

Yeah I don't know if there's Microcenters in Canada. The best prices seem to be Canadacomputers

They don't even carry 9550, only 9560 and 9400 8400 and lower ones.

[Jianfre]

Alecrast, you are mistaken. Use an Intel or Amd processor. Personally I am going X6 1055T for $200 and waiting until Bulldozer ( X8 ) comes out later this year. Then again, AMD and Intel don't fit in the same Mobo so you have to plan accordingly.

Check it yourself on Passmark.

[alecrast]

Alecrast, you are mistaken. Use an Intel or Amd processor. Personally I am going X6 1055T for $200 and waiting until Bulldozer ( X8 ) comes out later this year. Then again, AMD and Intel don't fit in the same Mobo so you have to plan accordingly.

Check it yourself on Passmark.

What am I mistaken about?

The only statements I recall making recently are:

Intel Q9550 > Intel Q9400 > Intel Q8400
AMD 1055T > AMD 965BE
AMD 1055T in general overclocks better than AMD 965 BE (obviously overclocks vary by sample)
AMD 965 BE is conceptually easier to overclock than 1055T due to having an unlocked multiplier
FFXIV (and applications in general) benefit from a larger L2 cache; this is demonstrated by inflated scores on the 980X versus 975 where clocks speeds are equal and the only difference is 12MB L2 versus 8MB L2 for applications utilizing 4 threads or less.

All of the above are true. So if I am mistaken, please help me out and point me in the right direction. I appreciate it.

[Dakin]

Need some advice! Purchasing the parts for my new comp within the next week, picking up the case, psu, HDD, DVD drive, and cooling on Thursday.

I can either purchase an X6 1055T for $175 at the same place, or stick with my original plan and purchase an i5 750 off of amazon for $195.

I'm also ordering the motherboard, GPU, and RAM from newegg. I was also planning to get a GTX 460. If I go with the X6, that means I have to find a new motherboard, and I heard it was difficult to find a reasonably priced AMD board that supports SLI. If I do go with the X6, I will probably get a 5770 to save some cash, and to xfire later.

So now that you know my life story, here is my main question:

Performance wise, which will be better and by how much?

X6 1055T + 5770
i5 750 + GTX 460

P.S. I plan on OCing

[Xerlic]

I'm also looking for build advice. I've come up with the following and was looking for feedback from experts. I really have no idea what to look for in a mobo, so a friend recommended that one to me based on cost and what I'm looking for:

https://secure.newegg.com/WishList/M...px?ID=18284747

The case + PW combo are these components:

Case: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...-058-_-Product
PSU: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...thwatts%20650W

Thanks.

[Jojimbo]

i5 750 + GTX 460 will probably be better, i5 can be compared to an i7 920 for most games (920 will be better for other multithreaded apps though).

GTX 460 is better than 5770 by a fairly large margin (a 460 is between 5830 and 5850)

[Dakin]

i5 750 + GTX 460 will probably be better, i5 can be compared to an i7 920 for most games (920 will be better for other multithreaded apps though).

GTX 460 is better than 5770 by a fairly large margin (a 460 is between 5830 and 5850)

If you were on a budget and could either get:

i5 750 + 5770 (future xfire)
or
X6 1055T + GTX 460

Which would you get?

[Khalil]

Yeah I don't know if there's Microcenters in Canada. The best prices seem to be Canadacomputers

They don't even carry 9550, only 9560 and 9400 8400 and lower ones.

I would honestly visit Infonec.com as their prices are almost always lower than those @ Canadacomputers.com .

[Celeras]

If you were on a budget and could either get:

i5 750 + 5770 (future xfire)
or
X6 1055T + GTX 460

Which would you get?

X6/460.

[BlackheartX]

Has anyone tried the ATI/physx thing with FFXIV?

[alecrast]

Has anyone tried the ATI/physx thing with FFXIV?

FFXIV doesn't make use of PhysX, unless I am mistaken. For a game to benefit from PhysX, it has to explicitly make use of it. Just having PhysX installed and usable isn't enough.

[Celeras]

It doesn't, so if someone does have a PhysX card set up on an ATI system, they would see no performance increase in FFXIV.

[BlackheartX]

Next question has anyone gotten 30fps with AO and DOF on? (no wild dips constant)

[Celeras]

I am only capable of ~25 with AO on, and didn't notice any performance hit at all from DoF(capped either way).

[BlackheartX]

Cool that's livable with a lol 30fps cap so far.