Graphics halp :3

[Absentia]

Ok, I've posted my specs before, but here ye go.

i7 930 @ 2.8ghz
6gigs RAM
Nvidia GTX 470
Gigabyte GA-X58A-UD3R LGA X58 Motherboard
750w PSU

I didn't put everything at max, kept the buffer size to resolution, and still the game feels a bit choppy and seems to be barely running any better than my girlfriend's PC which is basically a:

AMD Athlon x64 dual core @ 2.4ghz
4gigs ram
ATI 4850
550w PSU

And her settings are set to the same as mine for FFXIV.

I'm not too knowledgeable with PC adjustments, so any suggestions?

[DakAttack]

Re: Graphics halp :3

OC that sucker.

I'm running the same CPU and MB, so I can give you a few pointers there. With a stock cooler, you should be able to kick the CPU up to 3.3GHz. The software that came with the MB should allow you keep track of its temperatures, so if it's a little too high for your tastes you can knock the frequency down. Reboot the computer and look for the start-up logo, and press whatever button will take you to the BIOS. Once inside, find the advanced settings, set the FSB frequency to manual, and kick it up from 133 to about 150, or perhaps 145 if you're not that venturous. Save and exit and you should have more processing power. Just make sure you keep an eye on the temperatures. I'm running at around 70C while playing, which I currently find acceptable, although I'm purchasing more cooling simply because I want to push it farther and keep the temperatures lower.

For the GPU, just download MSI's Afterburner. They make it so easy to OC, but you'll want to do a few Google searches to see how others are faring with OC'ing their 470s, and you want to consider what kind of cooler the GPUs have. Most of them come with built in coolers, which makes OC'ing a little safer, but if yours doesn't you probably shouldn't touch it unless you've got a good PCI-E cooler.

[Absentia]

Re: Graphics halp :3

I plan on it once I buy a better CPU cooler. But I feel like the game should be showing a noticeable difference from my PC to my girlfriend's, it just kinda doesn't.

I see. Thanks for the advice Dak!

[DakAttack]

Re: Graphics halp :3

The 4850 is equivicable to the 5850, but without the ability to run DX11. It's still a powerful card.

[Paradigm777]

Re: Graphics halp :3

The 4850 is equivicable to the 5850, but without the ability to run DX11. It's still a powerful card.

Actually the 5850 is A LOT better than the 4850 based on chipset architecture. I got about 2000 more points on the High FFXIV benchmark after swapping out my 4890 for a 5850. My cousin was running a 4850 and after putting in my 4890 it improved his score by a significant amount as well.

Your card should perform as well if not better than the 5850 meaning there's something wrong here. You should run the benchmarks on both PCs and see if there is a difference.

http://www.finalfantasyxiv.com/media.../na/index.html

It could be that your video card controller software is overriding the game's settings. I haven't seen the current control panel for nVidia but ATI cards can set Anti-Aliasing and Antisotropic Filtering to max levels in the control panel which will set it in game even if you used the FFXIV config to set it lower.

AA and AF make a huge difference in FPS in this game expecially in areas like Gridania and Limsa Lominsa where there are a lot of background textures being rendered (this is also a good time to mention that there are settings in game such as physics and draw distance as well and you should check to see if yours are set differently).

Consider dropping some of the extra options in FFXIV Config such as ambient occlusion and depth of field. This game still looks very good on the lower settings. Even with your setup, these options will drop performance a bit.

And of course, as always, keep up to date on drivers especially after the release of a new game.

[Aeni]

Re: Graphics halp :3

The 4850 is equivicable to the 5850, but without the ability to run DX11. It's still a powerful card.

I think it's the 4870 is equivalent to the GTX 460 (it's better than the 5830) and the 4890 is somewhere inbetween the 5850 and 5870 (so, maybe 5860 if ATI swung that way, I suspect maybe GTX 470 level?)

Crossfire 4870s however will destroy a 5870 both in terms of cost (< $200) and in performance.