My Specs
i7 [email protected]
GTX 470 OC @ 800core/1600shader/1800memory
6GB DDR3 Tri Channel
Corsair HX750
Intel X25-M 160gb SSD

Did some testing, was measuring usage through afterburner and task manager.

Now standing by a busy aetherite is usually where the biggest fps hit is, im normally sitting between 30-34fps so decided to check usage there. My i7 920 was reporting 25-30% usage and my GTX 470 was reporting 50-57% usage, this says to me that FFXIV was programmed to only use the full power of 1 CPU core split across as many threads as you have in my case all 8 was showing some usage but only to the full extent of 25%.

Now also I saw no difference in FPS with my 470 at stock or when overclocked now this means that maybe when in a heavy area FPS is capped at the 34 range since I never felt any choppy performance which could normally be the case when dipping well below 60fps but if SE capped the fps and optimised it would make sense why theres no real choppiness.

I ask anyone that has the chance to look at there usage through said programs while near a busy aetherite, see what kind of usage there seeing. Need to state processor and graphics card along with fps, some will range different. A dual core I would imagine see usage of around 50% quads 25% and anyone using a single core processor would more or less see full load. Also if your using SLI/Xfire please state that also along with load on both GPU's.

When I get the chance I will also look at usage when running in an open area where I 9 times out of 10 have 60fps.