Low FPS most of the time

[PeaceWalker]

Details:
Ever since I installed FFXI on my laptop I've been experiencing low FPS, specially in situations that include many characters on screen. Such as Port Jeuno and Voidwatch. This makes the game really hard to play most of the time, but specially in voidwatch it's near impossible to do anything because of the slideshow effect caused by the low framerate.
I've already tried messing with all the graphical options possible, still no luck with getting an improved framerate.
Am I supposed to install specific drivers? Also I've been trying to improve my situation by changing some options on the nvidia control panel, it doesn't help either.

Steps:
1. Open FFXI
2. Experience low framerate

Date & Time: Mar. 19th, 2013 at around always
Frequency: Always
Platform: PC
PC Manufacturer & Model Number: Asus N76VZ
OS: Windows 7 Home Premium 64-bit
Graphics Card: NVIDIA GeForce GT 650M
ISP: Optimus Clix
Type of Internet Connection: Optic Fiber

[RAIST]

Details:
Ever since I installed FFXI on my laptop I've been experiencing low FPS, specially in situations that include many characters on screen. Such as Port Jeuno and Voidwatch. This makes the game really hard to play most of the time, but specially in voidwatch it's near impossible to do anything because of the slideshow effect caused by the low framerate.
I've already tried messing with all the graphical options possible, still no luck with getting an improved framerate.
Am I supposed to install specific drivers? Also I've been trying to improve my situation by changing some options on the nvidia control panel, it doesn't help either.

Steps:
1. Open FFXI
2. Experience low framerate

Date & Time: Mar. 19th, 2013 at around always
Frequency: Always
Platform: PC
PC Manufacturer & Model Number: Asus N76VZ
OS: Windows 7 Home Premium 64-bit
Graphics Card: NVIDIA GeForce GT 650M
ISP: Optimus Clix
Type of Internet Connection: Optic Fiber

Italicized text.....SE has not tested these cards., here is the currently supported list:
http://www.playonline.com/ff11us/env...tml?pageID=win

If toggling the graphics stabilization option doesn't help, then you will likely need to take this up with nVidia at their support site for a driver fix, unless one has already been posted. There have been several threads in the last few years about not only FFXI, but other DirectX 9 or older games on the newer cards (back as far as the 400 series). In some of them, nVidia was working towards a fix, but not sure how far they got with it. Try searching either on your 650M and FFXI, or FFXI and 600 Series and you may get some good hits.


Edit:
Also, if your laptop is running the Optimus setup (has both an Intel HD400 and an nVidia graphics chip)--need to make sure to set which one to use for FFXI. On some of those hybrid laptops, people found they had to use the Intel Graphics because nVidia drivers weren't working worth a flip for FFXI.

[PeaceWalker]

Italicized text.....SE has not tested these cards., here is the currently supported list:
http://www.playonline.com/ff11us/env...tml?pageID=win

If toggling the graphics stabilization option doesn't help, then you will likely need to take this up with nVidia at their support site for a driver fix, unless one has already been posted. There have been several threads in the last few years about not only FFXI, but other DirectX 9 or older games on the newer cards (back as far as the 400 series). In some of them, nVidia was working towards a fix, but not sure how far they got with it. Try searching either on your 650M and FFXI, or FFXI and 600 Series and you may get some good hits.


Edit:
Also, if your laptop is running the Optimus setup (has both an Intel HD400 and an nVidia graphics chip)--need to make sure to set which one to use for FFXI. On some of those hybrid laptops, people found they had to use the Intel Graphics because nVidia drivers weren't working worth a flip for FFXI.

Yeah, I already spent all day yesterday looking for 650M and FFXI on google but with no luck whatsoever. Besides that, I already tried everything on the nvidia control panel, I'm 100% certain that the game is running with the GeForce GT650M instead of the HD4000.

Anyway, thanks for the tips

[RAIST]

Yeah, I already spent all day yesterday looking for 650M and FFXI on google but with no luck whatsoever. Besides that, I already tried everything on the nvidia control panel, I'm 100% certain that the game is running with the GeForce GT650M instead of the HD4000.

Anyway, thanks for the tips

might be your problem. As mentioned earlier, this is an issue dating back as far as the 400 series. Note the emphasis on the word "series". Try searching for solutions within each family, not just the specific card number. The problems actually date back further than just the NV400 and ATI 5x00 series cards, as all three brands have gone through phases where certain families of cards and/or drivers mysteriously go bonkers with FFXI (ie the 169.xx drivers from nvidia, ATI's Catalyst 9.x series...issues keep returning to bite them in the butt).

Some of the more common tweaks that have worked for some were diabling shadows, Catalyst AI and such, but in most cases the vendors had to release drivers with specific tweaks to fix issues. I recall there were specific threads in the 400 series section at that nVidia site addressing issues with FFXI/FFXIV that resulted in nVidia working with players to come up with a series of beta drivers trying to fix it, just dont' recall if they ever nailed it down though. Considering how laptop GPU's often modified versions of older desktop chipsets (some ATI's actually take bits and pieces from multiple designs, so the number doesn't actually align with the desktop numbers)--there is a strong possibility an older driver will contain the fix you need.

Alternatively, you could do as many others did with the Optimus design....run FFXI on the Intel HD Graphics. But again, some of those on-die GPU's need a specific WDM release to run it properly. This was also covered at the Intel community forums as well. I posted a link to a thread on the Intel issue a few weeks back.

At work ATM, so can't really dig much...if I get a chance later to dig up the links for NV400 series and the HD4000 threads and edit them in later.

[RAIST]

http://communities.intel.com/thread/32826
Link to the Intel Thread. Post on 01/19/13 is about drivers that work for Intel Graphics. It also says something about setting the nVidia GPU to run the game also. I posted the link in a thread about 2 weeks ago where someone else was having issues...if you see this thread come back to the top, it might have something new for you to look into also:
http://forum.square-enix.com/ffxi/th...ith-this-issue..

Still digging for something on the nVidia 600 cards...all the threads I found here were about the 400 and 500 series, unfortunately the drivers recommended there do not list the 600's as being supported. Will provide a link to the driver page for those who may be needing help with the 400/500 series:
http://www.nvidia.com/object/win7-wi...ql-driver.html
**note that in the release notes, it specifically states fixes for FFXI

•Improves performance in Final Fantasy XI on GeForce 400 Series and 500 Series GPUs.

Will keep poking around to see if I find something for the 600's.

Here's a guide from the EVGA forums with how-to's for changing nVidia drivers out and such:
http://www.evga.com/forums/tm.aspx?h...page=1#1776353

[RAIST]

meh.. looks like not enough fuss about the 600 series yet...might need to start a thread over at the nVidia support portal for it. They actually do monitor the forums and will take action...just need to get the ball rolling somehow. The forums went down while I was trying to search there, hope it's just for maintenance and not an outage like they had a while back when the 500's hit the market and left people hanging.

There is a thread going at FFXIAH where they've posted links to drivers and test results regarding issues with FFXI and the 600's. For some, they were able to get stability by using certain drivers and disabling weather and shadows. May be about all you've got to work with for now:
http://www.ffxiah.com/forum/topic/22...rashing-wtf/2/

[PeaceWalker]

meh.. looks like not enough fuss about the 600 series yet...might need to start a thread over at the nVidia support portal for it. They actually do monitor the forums and will take action...just need to get the ball rolling somehow. The forums went down while I was trying to search there, hope it's just for maintenance and not an outage like they had a while back when the 500's hit the market and left people hanging.

There is a thread going at FFXIAH where they've posted links to drivers and test results regarding issues with FFXI and the 600's. For some, they were able to get stability by using certain drivers and disabling weather and shadows. May be about all you've got to work with for now:
http://www.ffxiah.com/forum/topic/22...rashing-wtf/2/

Hey thank you so much for the help! I didn't have a chance to try out the things you've said because I was travelling and only got home yesterday.
I'm incredibly grateful for the help, only wish I could send you a private message, since it's more visible than a thread reply (I think).

I'll try out the things you said and hopefully something will work

[PeaceWalker]

I would still appreciate an official response...

[SE_Chris]

Thank you for all the help with the low FPS PeaceWalker has been experiencing. it sounds like you may be running NVIDIA Optimus which controls whether your system utilizes the base Intel display hardware or the NVIDIA Device to conserve battery power. It is our assumption that when this issue you are describing occurs the Optimus feature is disabling the NVIDIA card and initializing the Intel card which does not meet the requirements of this title. Please try disabling NVIDIA Optimus and see if the issue persists. For instructions on how to force the NVIDIA device to be enabled and/or to disable Optimus please contact your graphics card manufacturer. You would also want to make sure that there aren't any extra monitors or outputs set up for your system as this often causes latency like you are describing.