The OFFICIAL FFXIV Benchmark & Beta Performance Thread

[Celeras]

Some people seem to be jumping the gun a bit...Tanaka has already said that the benchmark is a bit more dependent on the GPU then they would like, and would be adjusting it.

The game. Not the benchmark.

Unfortunately, I'm on vacation so I can't say for sure what my clocks are at. As for using the hacked drivers for SLI on my Crossfire board: how well do they work? And I don't really want to mess around with overclocking that much. My computers seem to break down with me not doing any tinkering with it and I'm not sure that I want to speed that up. I also checked newegg's return policy and I'm not allowed to return my GPU. gg newegg wp

You can do hacked drivers, but I prefer to patch the OS. It's a one time thing and would work for all future drivers.

[Loaf]

Some people might be interested in this...
I found a simple way to remove the annoying nvidia logo from the benchmark.

Go to the folder
C:\Users\NAME\Downloads\FFXIVBenchmark\FFXIVBenchm ark\data\data

or wherever you have your benchmark, and find the folder x0
simply rename this folder, and the logos are gone!
No clue if this impacts scores, but I doubt it would.
http://img526.imageshack.us/img526/3921/nologo.png

[Aurelius]

I think I read something here about folks trying the standard executable rename trick to get SLI/Crossfire to work with the XIV benchmark. Try renaming the benchmark executable to 3DMark06.exe.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=15Zw_FX0MDg

10k on high can't be wrong.

Edit for clarity: For those with SLI/Crossfire rigs who want to try this, the executable you want to rename is not the one in the main extract directory. It's in the \FFXIVBenchmark\Data directory called FFXivWinBenchmark.exe.

[Purrrfect]

So why does it switch from female elezen to male lalafell, to roegadyn...

Anywho, I didn't see it mentioned so maybe its a normal benchmark thing I didn't know but the graph tracks your fps, and its not a linear scale. Seems 50% is about 32 or so fps, 33% is about 23, 66% is approximately mid-upper 40s. 77fps looked somewhere between 75-80%.

[Aurelius]

So why does it switch from female elezen to male lalafell, to roegadyn...

Anywho, I didn't see it mentioned so maybe its a normal benchmark thing I didn't know but the graph tracks your fps, and its not a linear scale. Seems 50% is about 32 or so fps, 33% is about 23, 66% is approximately mid-upper 40s. 77fps looked somewhere between 75-80%.

When you run it from that executable (instead of the one in the main extract directory) you'll notice it bypasses the race/resolution selection screen. The benchmark defaults to high resolution, "random" race option which is why the race in the video changes from one scene to the next.

[Purrrfect]

Ah, interesting point.

After a bit of tweaking and lots of lockups I managed to eek out 2300 on my machine. I had it originally bumped up to 3.4ghz and stock 4870 timing which was averaging 2160 on high. Using catalyst 10.4 I moved the gpu up to 815 core and 1055 memory, and bumping the cpu up to 3.5ghz got me a 2302. Any more on the gpu resulted in temps hitting 90 and at that point it would lock up. Don't think I'd play it on that level unless I replaced the original fan.

Spoiler: show

http://i50.tinypic.com/qrlxlj.jpg

Also, because I'm nerd I went testing catalyst versions 10.4-10.6, even though at this stage in the drivers they aren't gonna change much for the 4800 series. True enough, it was a lackluster waste of time.

Average of 5 runs:
10.4    3220    2160
10.5    3156    2153
10.6    3142    2148

edit: Wanted to add, generally this ran 35fps+, which was great for me since I'm not picky about fps like people wanting 60+. I don't get annoyed until it gets in the lower 20s, and this run would be completely acceptable for me to run it. Though I imagine wherever the retainers/AH is will get ugly.

[Falcon]

Got no sound the entire time, and was chugging a little bit with slightly choppy graphics.
Anyone know why no sound?

On low:

http://imgur.com/fMby4.jpg

[Aurelius]

Ah, interesting point.

After a bit of tweaking and lots of lockups I managed to eek out 2300 on my machine. I had it originally bumped up to 3.4ghz and stock 4870 timing which was averaging 2160 on high. Using catalyst 10.4 I moved the gpu up to 815 core and 1055 memory, and bumping the cpu up to 3.5ghz got me a 2302. Any more on the gpu resulted in temps hitting 90 and at that point it would lock up. Don't think I'd play it on that level unless I replaced the original fan.

The CCC Overdrive utility is not horrible for overclocking with the stock fan, but something like MSI Afterburner gives you a bit more control and lets you push a little harder. 90C isn't horrible for an overclocked GPU but you're always best to shut it down at the point you're no longer comfortable with the temperature. E-peen isn't worth the anxiety.

Having said that, I decided to do a little messing around and renamed my executables not because I have a multi-GPU rig but just to see if any driver optimizations for other applications might give me a boost for the XIV bench, which they did not D:

And so now, I offer my final score for artificial e-peen extension and await my humiliation at the hands of you multi-GPU tyrants ;D

5746 hires; CPU @ 4.35ghz, single Radeon 5870 1.30v, 1070 core, 1290 vram

Spoiler: show

http://i4.photobucket.com/albums/y10...chhires3-1.jpg

[Aurelius]

Got no sound the entire time, and was chugging a little bit with slightly choppy graphics.
Anyone know why no sound?

When I first ran the benchmark I got some sound but no voice. I had to update my sound drivers (using onboard sound with this rig) and that took care of the issue.

[Falcon]

...I disabled Desktop Composition and Visual Themes on it.
I literally scored lower. 520 on Low, 42705 ms load time.

...

What?

[SilverBreeze]

Finally got around to doing this...

Low...

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v6...ntitled-12.jpg

High...

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v693/Milaea/1212.jpg

Looks like I have some work to do on my computer before December, I'm not happy with my scores at all. And yes leave my Vista Business alone, it saved me a lot of money when I built this computer a couple years back cause it was free from my friend >_>

Any advice is definitely welcome, I stopped tinkering with shit on my own when I tried to get more juice out of a video card a few years ago and ended up torching it.

[Purrrfect]

I'd assume thats a 4870 since it's almsot the same scores I got. Which means you prolly won't get a lot more out of it on high unless they make an optimization break through. You can probably turn the cpu up a bit though.

[SilverBreeze]

Yep, 4870 HD, forgot to mention that :/

[Grizwold]

You can do hacked drivers, but I prefer to patch the OS. It's a one time thing and would work for all future drivers.

wat? Patch the OS? Please elaborate. ;o

[Aurelius]

Any advice is definitely welcome, I stopped tinkering with shit on my own when I tried to get more juice out of a video card a few years ago and ended up torching it.

Short of upgrading (the quick and expensive option) there's room to overclock your CPU and GPU, but it's a question of what you're aiming for. If you're okay with lower resolution, overclocking your processor will probably get you farther than overclocking your graphics card. If you're not comfortable with that option, and especially if you prefer the idea of running high resolution, your best bet might be to look into upgrading your graphics card. For the price of a PS3 you can get a reasonable higher end GPU that will help your high res scores and if you shop carefully, it's something you could carry forward the next time you do a full upgrade of your system.

Unfortunately, XIV is shaping up so that if you aren't running it on a rig that would cost $1500-2000 by today's standards, performance is going to be adequate and not much more than adequate. Selective upgrades or a savvy rebuild will get you to a certain point, but it's almost not worth upgrading at this point if you can run at base settings. My guess is that a careful CPU and GPU overclock will get you to 2500-2700 high res without too much difficulty and that will get you started. After that, it's going to cost money to get better results.

[SilverBreeze]

Yeah, that's what I figured, thanks for taking the time to break it to me Aurelius.

I'm not against overclocking at all. Unfortunately, while I know how to put computers together, its sad to admit that I don't know much about overclocking, so someone would have to hold my hand for that. The cooling in my current tower is pretty amazing, so I probably won't have the same problems I had last time (overclocking the dual graphics cards in my laptop, bad idea when the thing was constantly sitting at 80C in the first place).

I thought about upgrading my graphics cards but like you said, unless you're running a really nice computer, I probably won't be getting into those high numbers. For me it's shaping up to probably keep my computer as is, and try and get as much graphical deliciousness as possible, and in the future when the prices of the items that people are building these super rigs come down, consider a full upgrade of everything.

Thanks baby.

[Aurelius]

Yeah, that's what I figured, thanks for taking the time to break it to me Aurelius.

I'm not against overclocking at all. Unfortunately, while I know how to put computers together, its sad to admit that I don't know much about overclocking, so someone would have to hold my hand for that. The cooling in my current tower is pretty amazing, so I probably won't have the same problems I had last time (overclocking the dual graphics cards in my laptop, bad idea when the thing was constantly sitting at 80C in the first place).

I thought about upgrading my graphics cards but like you said, unless you're running a really nice computer, I probably won't be getting into those high numbers. For me it's shaping up to probably keep my computer as is, and try and get as much graphical deliciousness as possible, and in the future when the prices of the items that people are building these super rigs come down, consider a full upgrade of everything.

Thanks baby.

I hadn't really done much overclocking before I put my current PC together a few months ago. I found that if you google individual components (ie. "radeon 4870 overclock" or "E8400 overclock") and just kind of work your way through the information you find, eventually you'll come across something that makes sense and you can start to put a plan together. I just did a quick google for 4870 overclocks and the first few pages that came up were shit, so it helps to know going in that sometimes you have to poke around a bit before you'll find something you can use. Personally, I would say that if you could find a guide to overclocking a 4870 using MSI Afterburner, you'd be squared away. You're aiming for a 25-30% performance boost overall to get you into the default settings sweet spot which should be easily attainable without melting your rig ;D

[Deadgye]

Dear god those character models and textures and etc were amazing. Didn't have any stuttering at all. Only overclocking I've done was take the 920 up to 3.6Ghz. GPU is a 5850, drivers are whatever came with it when I bought it in feb. Glad I built this PC. <3

Spoiler: show

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v4...dgye/bench.jpg

6720 on low, don't feel like uploading a picture though.

Does anybody else find the lalafel saying "Land ho!" extremely cute?

[Kaylia]

I thought about upgrading my graphics cards but like you said, unless you're running a really nice computer, I probably won't be getting into those high numbers. For me it's shaping up to probably keep my computer as is, and try and get as much graphical deliciousness as possible, and in the future when the prices of the items that people are building these super rigs come down, consider a full upgrade of everything.

Thanks baby.

The alpha look great with a score of 2600 (low) on my pc, and while the frame rate is choppy, it will probably run fine with slightly downgraded graphic (especially if they optimize video setting). Before tweaking your hardware or upgrading your pc, I would at least wait for the retails version to see how well the game run, because I'm sure it's still going to be impressive visually with what you have (huge draw distance, very detailled mapping and texture).

If the game end up looking much better than the alpha..then yeah, it might be worthwhile to upgrade now, but you can probably get away with what you have without losing the most important visual effect.

[Kirisu]

What was your low score?

About 600 more points (4674). Weird I know...