Best Pre-Built PC for FF14 for ~$1000

[Cephius]

Video card does all of the heavy lifting. I have an i7 and 12GB of RAM, but people with worse processors but using a 5870 (I have a 4890) were getting double my bench score on the HQ benchmark. If you want best performance for your buck, you can go average on CPU and RAM, but don't skimp on the vidcard.

Fucking....asdf

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WrjwaqZfjIY

Don't goddamn listen to this shit. Just because people got higher scores on a benchmark with better graphics cards (duh?) doesn't mean that the engine is GPU-reliant. In fact, it's probably the opposite. In order to run the game well, you still need to have a good base. If you get a screaming-fast GPU but skimp on the processor, you may still suffer because the processor will be bottlenecking your performance. It's best, as always, to build a well-balanced system to eliminate a bottleneck that will prevent you from getting the most out of your components.

[Stromgarde]

Fucking....asdf

Don't goddamn listen to this shit. Just because people got higher scores on a benchmark with better graphics cards (duh?) doesn't mean that the engine is GPU-reliant. In fact, it's probably the opposite. In order to run the game well, you still need to have a good base. If you get a screaming-fast GPU but skimp on the processor, you may still suffer because the processor will be bottlenecking your performance. It's best, as always, to build a well-balanced system to eliminate a bottleneck that will prevent you from getting the most out of your components.

Fair enough, you're probably right when it comes to the game itself. But if the benchmark doesn't accurately reflect what components will benefit you the most, then what's the point? Should we just wait until late beta to get a better feel for how the final engine will perform before choosing how we should upgrade?

[Cephius]

Did the FFXI benchmark reflect the performance of the actual game? Of course not. You could tweak your hardware to get higher scores, but when you actually logged into the game there really wasn't much of a difference. Benchmarks are just used to showoff the game and see who can get the highest numbers, and to give you a rough idea how different hardware performs.

And yes, like I said in a different thread, the beta will give the most accurate depiction of how the game engine performs and what type of hardware will be required to play the game.

Also, sorry for jumping on you a bit. I've seen that type of misinformation at least 400 times in the benchmark thread and it irritates me.

[Katlan]

Fair enough, you're probably right when it comes to the game itself. But if the benchmark doesn't accurately reflect what components will benefit you the most, then what's the point? Should we just wait until late beta to get a better feel for how the final engine will perform before choosing how we should upgrade?

keep in mind the benchmark is for an unoptimized beta, to where the developers even said certain GPU's are bottlenecking performing and they are looking into it. So take the benchmark for what its worth. I mean if you scored a 1/2k score you prolly want to look into upgrading. but if your getting 3/4k+ id wait until closer to retail before you start going crazy since 3/4k+ prolly will be in nearly all situations (maybe even all) aside like a besieged type environment

[Stromgarde]

np ceph, bad information needs to be jumped on, even if it is out of ignorance. I'm well aware how unoptimized the current benchmark is; It's an alpha engine, and SLI/Crossfire aren't even supported yet from what I read in the other thread. From the information I had access to, best performance gains for your dollar were hands down spent on getting a $300 GPU and $200 CPU instead of a $200 GPU and $300 GPU. I think you're absolutely right though; Speculation is largely pointless at this point in time, and we won't know how to best spend our money until it gets closer to September.

[Buttons]

I have a dell xps studio 8000 and I just got that 8100 for my mom, both are almost identical and both from the outlet. My 8000 runs fine I dont see lag or anything, almost nothing to worry about other then the normal issues with any pc. I would recommend to anyone to at least check it out if they are looking for a decent setup that is pre-build. I have not looked into upgrading the machine yet as it works great. Only issue I ran into that most would NOT is the wireless card did not work well/at all under Linux so i am stuck using windows 7.

Ah thanks, good to know. I am considering picking up a new PC once I get back from my Japan trip in October. So will weigh my options to decide whether I will order a custom built one or get a Dell for roughly the same price. From the bit of research I've done the reliable german online stores are not really cheaper than the Dell XPS 8100 with roughly the same config.
Was not really planning on getting a new Desktop until next year since I still have my trusty XPS M1530 laptop for FFXI and all my computer needs and my Asus 1005HA netbook for university. I don't really play games on my PC as I am more of a console game collector and only play FFXI atm.
But waiting 6 months for FFXIV PS3 would prolly drive me insane so I'm starting to look around for a nice desktop. :D

[Celeras]

Fucking....asdf

Don't goddamn listen to this shit. Just because people got higher scores on a benchmark with better graphics cards (duh?) doesn't mean that the engine is GPU-reliant. In fact, it's probably the opposite. In order to run the game well, you still need to have a good base. If you get a screaming-fast GPU but skimp on the processor, you may still suffer because the processor will be bottlenecking your performance. It's best, as always, to build a well-balanced system to eliminate a bottleneck that will prevent you from getting the most out of your components.

Uhh.. he's pretty much right, not sure why you're freaking out or have such animosity in all towards the benchmark. It's fucking computing 101, certainly not restricted to this one bench. You can get by with an underpowered CPU at 1080p resolution because odds are your GPU is going to be the bottleneck regardless. You can't get by with a weak GPU.

Of course balanced systems are best. But if you're sitting on a C2Q/8800 system from 5 years ago, you'd be better served to upgrade the GPU and leave the CPU alone than the other way around. And if you're on a budget, skimping on the CPU is a much better idea than skimping on the GPU.

[Cephius]

Uhh.. he's pretty much right, not sure why you're freaking out or have such animosity in all towards the benchmark. It's fucking computing 101, certainly not restricted to this one bench. You can get by with an underpowered CPU at 1080p resolution because odds are your GPU is going to be the bottleneck regardless. You can't get by with a weak GPU.

Of course balanced systems are best. But if you're sitting on a C2Q/8800 system from 5 years ago, you'd be better served to upgrade the GPU and leave the CPU alone than the other way around. And if you're on a budget, skimping on the CPU is a much better idea than skimping on the GPU.

Saying "you can skimp on a CPU but not a GPU" is batshit retarded, a bottleneck is a bottleneck. Of course a CPU is harder to upgrade simply because most require a new motherboard, but the benchmark is likely more GPU-weighted than the actual game will be. Much like with FF11.

And I have animosity for the benchmark because a) it's just a rough guide, not gospel on what kind of hardware is needed to run the game b) there's a shitton of misinformation in that thread, mostly by you

[Celeras]

If you would kindly point out any misinformation I have given, I would be happy to correct it. Or more likely, explain why you're wrong.

In this case nobody is endorsing skimping on any aspect of hardware. But if you do.. out of necessity or budget, the CPU will give you the least performance hit if you're at least on a core2quad. And as such, upgrading a GPU will give you the greatest performance boost.. again if you're on something from the core2quad era. This is true for ANY PC game at 1080p resolutions. Why you think people are trying to make assumptions off a specific benchmark is beyond me, this is computing 101. If you don't think a Q6600+480 will achieve better results (on anything) than an i7+8800GT... I don't know what to tell ya.

[bluefan]

Saying "you can skimp on a CPU but not a GPU" is batshit retarded, a bottleneck is a bottleneck. Of course a CPU is harder to upgrade simply because most require a new motherboard, but the benchmark is likely more GPU-weighted than the actual game will be. Much like with FF11.

And I have animosity for the benchmark because a) it's just a rough guide, not gospel on what kind of hardware is needed to run the game b) there's a shitton of misinformation in that thread, mostly by you

Agreeing with this.

We're definitely going to see some changes, as SE said they weren't too thrilled that the benchmark was so heavily GPU dependent. Maybe not enough to drastically change the playing field, but maybe enough for people to spend a bit more on the CPU then GPU. Not saying the bench is completely worthless, but it's best to take it with a grain of salt at the moment.

[Celeras]

Always with benches, no need to get carried away with the scores. They're guidelines, not a golden ticket. To be honest anything above 2000 will probably end up being able to play just fine on their respective settings.. without too many bells/whistles enabled granted.

[Villian]

Just a random question but how well is an XtremeGear PSU? I keep on hearing people say go corsair and thermal.