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Upgrading FFXI PerformanceFollow

#1 Aug 15 2006 at 12:59 AM Rating: Decent
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Hi there,

I have done some research into this, browsed through these forums, and even ran the FFXI Vana'diel Benchmark 3 (which I did not know existed until tonight!). I received a score of about 1800 (give or take 100) on high resolution.

I know that a lot of these questions are asked, but it is always nice to get a response tailored to fit specific system specs. I appreciate any and all help that is given before I continue.

Anyway, here are my system specs:

AMD Athlon XP 2200+ 1.8ghz
1 gig DDR (forgive me, I don't know the *exact* specs on the RAM; let me know if there is an easy way to find that information out)
~36 gig HD space
Radeon 9800 XT w/ 256 VDRAM
Motherboard: MSI MS-6590

Let me know if there are any other specs that would be helpful to include. Knowing what my motherboard is, it's capable of upgrading to a ~2.7ghz processor, and able to support up to 3 gig of RAM.

With those specs, I would have believed my machine was capable of a score higher than 1800 on high resolution. Obviously that was not the case.

I believe that I am fine when it comes to the video card. The memory SEEMS to be fine at 1 gig, from what I have read. I believe the glaring weakness is at the processor speed. Am I correct to assume that?

If I am to assume correctly, will upgrading the processor to the motherboard's max capacity make a big difference? If I do that, would then upgrading the RAM also make a big difference?

I'm trying to make big steps here, and figure out how I can upgrade the supposedly abysmal score of 1800 for the benchmark. Again, any help is much appreciated.

Thank you very much.
#2 Aug 18 2006 at 8:22 PM Rating: Decent
22 posts
Just tacking on a bit more, my score with low resolution was about 1980. Should there be a big difference, or is there usually how it is?

I apologize, I just want to maximize my FFXI experience, especially when Dynamis comes around. :)
#3 Aug 21 2006 at 1:24 PM Rating: Excellent
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That is about average for your hardware setup. Your hardware is all pretty much 2 generations out of date at this point. 1800 isn't a bad score really, but it's no where near the top.

FFXI is very video card dependant, and hard drive speed dependant. After that, Ram and Processor come into play

You list a 36gb hard drive. Would I be correct in assuming that is one of the Western Digital 10,000 RPM SATA drives? if so, one easy way to significantly increase performance would be to get a second 36gb drive and run them both in raid 0 array mode, giving you effectvly a single drive with a little less than 20,000 rpm drive speed.

The 9800 XT is also quite out of date The Raedeon X series of cards has supplanted it. The curent performance leader being the X1900, which you would need a pCI express motherboard for. You can get the X1600 Pro in AGP format however. At around $200, that would also give you a huge performance boost.
http://ati.pricegrabber.com/search_getprod.php/vcode=ATI/partnum=100437510/

Those two things right there should at least double your score. More ram would also help, but only during peak load situations. Ram is also cheap these days too.

Beyond that, a motherboard and processor upgrade would be in order. if you are considering that, I would hold off on the video card and get a PCI express card instead.

Upgradeing just the processor to it's maximum for that board will help short term, but really, the cost of the processor would be about the same general area for upgradeing to a newer processor anyways. the motherboard would be an additonal cost, but at that point you have much more expansion room.
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#4 Aug 24 2006 at 9:17 PM Rating: Decent
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That's awesome, thanks for the link to that video card. It seems I can sell the one I have now, and just about break even for getting the new one. I don't really have the funds I'd like to get a new motherboard and chip, though I would love to do something. For now, I will settle for the video card and perhaps the hard drive.

Regarding the hard drive, could I go higher in speed? What is the breaking for RPM? I do have a Western Digital hard drive, but I'm not entirely sure what the RPM is.

Thanks again for your assistance.
#5 Aug 25 2006 at 9:47 PM Rating: Excellent
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10,000 RPM is about the fastest you can get a PC drive in currently. There are some 15,000 RPM Server SCSI drives out there, but they cost thousands per drive.

I'm almost certain you have one of the 36 GB Western Digital Raptor drives then. They did not make any other WD 36 GB drives. I'd verify before you buy another one, but if that truly is the case, it would be definitly worth the effort and cost effective to pick up a second one.
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