Hi guys I'm new to the forums.
Just had a question about my PC setup.
I'm trying to set up a perfect machine just for FFXI, basically FFXI Box.
P4 ~3.0Ghz HT
1.5 GB DDR2
ATI HD 3650 (AGP) 512MB [Driver: 8.732.0.0]
120 GB Hard Drive
19" Sony LCD (1280 x 1024)
I have Windows 7 Ultimate on it.
Before I wanted to install the game I did the Bench Mark 3
test. I was expecting high scores, but to my disappointment I got 3100 on High, and 4250 on Low. I don't know if its the driver from the ATI that makes this ridiculous results. The video card is brand new, I purchased it recently and replaced my ATI 9200 128 MB which was getting similar results on Windows XP Benchmark. I also downloaded Devil May Cry 4 Benchmark, and I got [B Grade] (standard settings which means that my card is working fine. I tried rolling back/updating drivers nothing really changed.
I have a feeling the problem is in Windows 7's compatibility with ffxi and the benchmark.
But before I format my PC and put XP on, I would like to hear opinions from experienced people.
All I want is to be able run the game on full resolution [1280 x 1024] with high settings and don't get lag/ low frame rate. My 9200 was playing the game nicely on XP with 1024 x 768, and I only had 512mb physical ram. Now with 1.5gb ram and HD3650 I expect more which is not working out so far.
Thanks in advance!
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FFXI is not even remotely a challenging game to run anymore. Any system with parts from the last four years should be just fine, yours included. Your RAM is a touch low for Windows 7, but nothing too bad. Where did you get these parts from? If they're brand new, you could've done much better at not much more cost.
2 posts
Thanks for the reply.
I had an old sony vaio (6yrs old). I got the ram for free and spent about 70$ for the video card from new egg. I can get the ram 2 gig no problem in that, just thinking to switching back to windows xp to make everything run optimum.
Just not happy with the benchmark results. I have seen weaker machines scoring higher.
Edited, Jun 29th 2010 3:24am by alexkolwitz
I had an old sony vaio (6yrs old). I got the ram for free and spent about 70$ for the video card from new egg. I can get the ram 2 gig no problem in that, just thinking to switching back to windows xp to make everything run optimum.
Just not happy with the benchmark results. I have seen weaker machines scoring higher.
Edited, Jun 29th 2010 3:24am by alexkolwitz
A benchmark can only tell you so much. Why haven't you tried it on FFXI? Do you not have an active subscription?
I don't know much about any compatibility issues between 7 and FFXI, to be honest. I'm sure an XP install would be more stable; make sure to get Service Pack 3 if you go that route. However, I much prefer 7 in general to XP, so if you intend to do much else with the machine, it's a toss-up. Your HD3650 should be leaps and bounds ahead of the old 9200, and honestly, I have no doubt at all that you'll run FFXI at 30 fps at default settings. If you start editing the registry and doing all sorts of graphical tweaks, you should still definitely be fine for a while, though I don't know if you can max it out (that's not doubt in your card, I just don't know how far up the tweaks go).
I don't know much about any compatibility issues between 7 and FFXI, to be honest. I'm sure an XP install would be more stable; make sure to get Service Pack 3 if you go that route. However, I much prefer 7 in general to XP, so if you intend to do much else with the machine, it's a toss-up. Your HD3650 should be leaps and bounds ahead of the old 9200, and honestly, I have no doubt at all that you'll run FFXI at 30 fps at default settings. If you start editing the registry and doing all sorts of graphical tweaks, you should still definitely be fine for a while, though I don't know if you can max it out (that's not doubt in your card, I just don't know how far up the tweaks go).
RAM is low for windows 7. Recommended is 2 GB I think.
Also, I do believe FFXI is not dependent on the video card as much as other games. BSPhil put up an article about FFXI being rendered more by CPU than GPU so improving your video card won't do much.
Also, I do believe FFXI is not dependent on the video card as much as other games. BSPhil put up an article about FFXI being rendered more by CPU than GPU so improving your video card won't do much.
Have you tried other driver revisions for your card? I know it'll run it better, as I was running an HD3450 in my living room PC, and that ran FFXI at 1920x1080 just fine (in Vista at least). The hardware is more than capable, it's a software issue.
Neither would entirely be the case. FFXI for PC is simply not optimized. It's a port, and shares traits with some other PS2 or XBox ports. Video card does matter, though only to a point. You don't need the latest whiz-bang DX11 card because FFXI is only a DX7 game (if I recall), and even then doesn't make full use of it. You'll definitely see a difference between integrated graphics and a decent discrete card though. CPU does help, but again, you're talking about an eight year old game. It doesn't take that much. Frankly, half of the issues people have with FFXI are connection based, and that's not going to change unless SE uncaps the data throughput, which AFAIK is tuned to work with a 56k modem on the PS2.
Quote:
Also, I do believe FFXI is not dependent on the video card as much as other games. BSPhil put up an article about FFXI being rendered more by CPU than GPU so improving your video card won't do much.
Neither would entirely be the case. FFXI for PC is simply not optimized. It's a port, and shares traits with some other PS2 or XBox ports. Video card does matter, though only to a point. You don't need the latest whiz-bang DX11 card because FFXI is only a DX7 game (if I recall), and even then doesn't make full use of it. You'll definitely see a difference between integrated graphics and a decent discrete card though. CPU does help, but again, you're talking about an eight year old game. It doesn't take that much. Frankly, half of the issues people have with FFXI are connection based, and that's not going to change unless SE uncaps the data throughput, which AFAIK is tuned to work with a 56k modem on the PS2.
Your CPU is the bottlekneck there. an older Pentium 4 CPU is quite a bit slower than a dual core pentium D, which is itself quite a bit slower than a core 2, which is slower than the Core 7 line. Basically you are talking a processor that is 3 generations older than your video card. Upgrading would mean a new board, processor, likely ram and power supply. But you are right in the area you should be at with your present benchmark scores and the hardware you have, which will be fine to run the game.
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The game runs fine at 1280x1024 on a P4 2Ghz with 512MB of RAM. Dunno what the benchmark scores would be, but that's what I started playing on back in the day.
IMO though, if you're using the machine just for FFXI, then there's really not much point in using Windows 7. XP would likely be better.
IMO though, if you're using the machine just for FFXI, then there's really not much point in using Windows 7. XP would likely be better.
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