[Dev] Overtaxation of PC Hardware

This issue will be a deal breaker for me in the future.

My gaming laptop is losing it's lifespan by a wide margin from all the heat this game generates.

Please fix! Thanks for the follow up!

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Originally Posted by Elkwood

Verde come on man you cant honestly sit here and tell me 85C is Normal on a stock GPU. No other game has even gotten my GPU remotely close to that. Now how can you say it is not taxing the system over abundantly but yet not say it is the most taxing game on the market today because of all the processing it apparently has to do. You are just contradicting yourself here, which to me right now is making no sense.

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Key Word STOCK. Everyone knows referance cards have really bad coolers. It is creating so much heat because it is being used fully. What's not to understand?

I merely said it wasn't the most taxing game "In History". There are far less optimised games, like Crysis. >_>

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Originally Posted by Bayohne

Hey everyone,

What everyone's saying about FFXIV currently being a large burden on the PC is something we've been seeing on our end as well. We brought this up with the development team and hope to have a comment from them soon.

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Thank you for the response, this was all we asked for. Please keep us apprised it is much appreciated

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Originally Posted by MonsieurVerde

Key Word STOCK. Everyone knows referance cards, have really bad coolers.

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that's not the point, the point is it is still the game causing the burden as was admitted moments ago by SE

Maybe add an option to switch between the Alpha look and the Beta look

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dGkhFu9mXPY

I'm running a CPU AMD Athlon II X2 250 Processor and a Radeon HD 6850 GPU. Running the game above Standard settings and have not experienced any heating what-so-ever. I think giving the specs of your PCs would really help SE out in resolving this, its always good to know where the problems are.

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Originally Posted by Nuru

I'm running a CPU AMD Athlon II X2 250 Processor and a Radeon HD 6850 GPU. Running the game above Standard settings and have not experienced any heating what-so-ever. I think giving the specs of your PCs would really help SE out in resolving this, its always good to know where the problems are.

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Nuru I find that hard to believe, I recommend you check your CPU and GPU temps using MSI Afterburner and CPUz but I have no issues providing hardware specs

AMD Phenom 1090t with Zalman CPU Cooler
Asus M4a87 + Board
8GB DDR 2 Ram
EVGA GTX 470 Grphics Card with Zalman GPU cooler
Corsair 800D Case
Corsair 650w PSU

GPU with Stock cooler was running at 85C
GPU with Zalman is running at 50C

This game only seems to affect the GPU not really the CPU, I am anxiously awaiting SE results and statement as a Community Mod responded to the topic.

I am so happy to see some kind of response from someone @ SE.

Thank you for your comment!

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Originally Posted by AuctionGirl

I am so happy to see some kind of response from someone @ SE.

Thank you for your comment!

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Did i miss something here?

Edit: yes i did, i hope he brought up Limsas ugly ass cliffs with them too!

What I don't understand, at all, about this game....is this:

http://kotaku.com/#!5789112/how-powe...good/gallery/1

The Witcher 2 looks amazing, to be quite honest, and granted it IS a single player game rendering only a limited amount of things, etc etc etc.....but the system requirements, and even the recommended ones are....leaps and bounds better to what you HAVE to have to get XIV running even remotely well....the whole engine is just not optimized at all, and feels very raw....in addition to the taxation on the hardware, things need to be done with the engine itself.

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Originally Posted by Zkieve

This is certainly a big issue , i still have nightmares reading the issues with FFXIII destroying Ps3, and frozen screen at square enix logo.

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Whoa what is this about. My PS3 is fried right now, and FFXIII does freeze at that screen.

Problem is SE decided to use their own game engine instead of just purchasing a license for a more advanced, optimized engine.

Please see the Unreal 3 Engine: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0qXzJ3QRqko

Also, SE decided to go with super-high polygon models instead of lower polygon and better lighting. Woulda made a world of difference in the realism of this game.

Edit: The game should also be scalable for people with lower-end PCs. World of Warcraft runs on a netbook...

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Originally Posted by Trocien

The game should also be scalable for people with lower-end PCs. World of Warcraft runs on a netbook...

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And looks like it does too.

While the game could be much better optimized, catering for the ipad crowd is not the answer. These games need to last longer visually than your normal "over in a week" single player games. Good art direction can do a lot, but it's not an excuse for weaker technology.

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Originally Posted by Betelgeuzah

And looks like it does too.

While the game could be much better optimized, catering for the ipad crowd is not the answer. These games need to last longer visually than your normal "over in a week" single player games. Good art direction can do a lot, but it's not an excuse for weaker technology.

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Yea, that's true, but on the same token, when you're making a game that you require people to pay monthly for, and expect them to actually subscribe, you need to make the engine better optimized to run on anything lower than a NASA computer....I can run the game, on high again, but that still doesn't make me think that the game would be better received in certain areas if it could run on at least something other than that.

No one is asking it to run on an iPad, people just want the damn thing to run without spending a ton of money just to play it....and even if you spend a good amount of money, it's still not guaranteed to run smoothly. The engine is raw, and it needs to be gone over a couple of times to the point where it will run on high, well, on the recommended specs, and at least on standard on the required ones...without it chugging.

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Originally Posted by Kazahashi

Yea, that's true, but on the same token, when you're making a game that you require people to pay monthly for, and expect them to actually subscribe, you need to make the engine better optimized to run on anything lower than a NASA computer....I can run the game, on high again, but that still doesn't make me think that the game would be better received in certain areas if it could run on at least something other than that.

No one is asking it to run on an iPad, people just want the damn thing to run without spending a ton of money just to play it....and even if you spend a good amount of money, it's still not guaranteed to run smoothly. The engine is raw, and it needs to be gone over a couple of times to the point where it will run on high, well, on the recommended specs, and at least on standard on the required ones...without it chugging.

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There are no "Standard" specs, just Reccommended and those are for default graphics at 1280x720....which is not that demanding beecause of the resolution. Hence why it suggests a 768 MB 460.

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Originally Posted by MonsieurVerde

There are no "Standard" specs, just Reccommended and those are for default graphics at 1280x720....which is not that demanding beecause of the resolution.

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I'm well aware there's no "standard" specs....that's not the point.

The point is that the games' engine is about as optimized as a soda can. The engine runs like crap, period....when new games come out, like Crysis 2, and I can max everything in it, and then look at the Witcher 2, which also looks like I can max.....to not max a game from last year, and an MMO no less (which are supposed to be less hoggy than SP games, not the other way around), it doesn't make any sense, and it certainly doesn't make people that don't have 3 grande to spend want to play your game. Other MMO's that just launched (Rift for example) can run on a lot of things, and yea, you need some decent hardware to max it....but then too it has a decent engine that will likely last a long time. You don't need to create some engine that's way ahead of its time in order to remain current graphically.

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Originally Posted by Kazahashi

I'm well aware there's no "standard" specs....that's not the point.

The point is that the games' engine is about as optimized as a soda can. The engine runs like crap, period....when new games come out, like Crysis 2, and I can max everything in it, and then look at the Witcher 2, which also looks like I can max.....to not max a game from last year, and an MMO no less (which are supposed to be less hoggy than SP games, not the other way around), it doesn't make any sense, and it certainly doesn't make people that don't have 3 grande to spend want to play your game. Other MMO's that just launched (Rift for example) can run on a lot of things, and yea, you need some decent hardware to max it....but then too it has a decent engine that will likely last a long time. You don't need to create some engine that's way ahead of its time in order to remain current graphically.

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Crysis II is a CONSOLE PORT By default it is meant to run on the Xbox or PS3 both of which are four year old pieces of hardware, Of course you can max it out. -_- An MMO will ALWAYS be more demanding than a single player game as single player games have finite amounts of resources to load.

You do NOT need 3 grand to play this game. Hell, it would only take 500$ at this point to make a set-up at the reccomended settings not that you can't play it on less. Also, Rift uses the Gamebryo Engine...which is a rather ancient engine at this point so it wouldn't be too hard to max it.

Pretty much agreeing with the OP on everything... these have been serious issues since day 1. Hopefully they are serious about addressing them (since PC holds the vast majority of MMO customers, period). :)

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Originally Posted by MonsieurVerde

Crysis II is a CONSOLE PORT By default it is meant to run on the Xbox or PS3m both of which are four year old pieces of hardware, Of course you can max it out. -_- An MMO will ALWAYS be more demanding than a single player game as single player games have finite amounts of resources to load.

You do NOT need 3 grand to paly this game. Hell, it would only take 500$ at this point to make a set-up at the reccomended resolution not that you can't play it on less.

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Crysis 2 is NOT a console port....I don't know where you get your information on games, but both the first Crysis and the second one were PC first (hence why the first one didn't come out on consoles). And even if it was, the PC versions of games usually always look better, have more graphics options, better textures, higher resolutions, etc etc, meaning it takes more than a four year old piece of hardware to max it out. Then you have to take into consideration Witcher 2, a PC only game that looks better than XIV does (duh, it's a SP game), but the requirements are less (makes NO sense whatsoever).

More taxing than a SP game yes, only because of the amount of resources that are loading, etc etc etc. Hence why most MMO games do not use overtly strenuous graphic engines....does that not make sense to you? When you're making a game that has to load a crap ton of things constantly you don't use something like the Cry-tek engine for it....you use something that provides graphics that will stand the test of time, but at the same time is widely usable by most people that have decent machines, because of the strain it puts on the GPU and CPU....and right now the engine seems to not be optimized correctly for either, hence this topic.

I don't understand why you're arguing with me about this when it's widely known that the engine isn't optimized at all....it's not like I'm sitting here making something up....any review will tell you nearly the same thing.

Crysis 2 is a console port. >_> There is no difference visually between the PC and console version nor are there options to take advantage of evolving hardware. It does not have higher res textures. You really need to go to a few gaming forums and listen to all the evidence.


Perception can be misleading.

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Originally Posted by MonsieurVerde

Crysis 2 is a console port. >_> There is no difference visually between the PC and console version nor are there options to take advantage of evolving hardware. It does not have higher res textures. You really need to go to a few gaming forums and listen to all the evidence.

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I'm not going to go in circles with you about some other game, please either address my OTHER points in my post (which there are a lot), or lets just drop the whole Crysis 2 thing. Thanks.

Figure I'll put this in here me as well as many other have been having problems with spells and abilitys on the action bar displaying incorrect recast times and then telling you it can't be used yet. I have noticed that the longer the game is left running the more noticeable and messed up they become.. For example I launch ff and my slow recast is at 1:05 after 4 days of not completely logging out(char select screen doesn't reset it) my slow recast was down to 0:52. While it was not the correct recast it would display that slow can be used and if you tried clicking on it anytime between when it was *ready* at :52 and when it was really ready at 1:05 it would not work. This also seems to work with the weather as it has taken 6 in game minuets longer for weather to change after 4 days of ff running. My best guess is this problem is related to some of the points outlined by the op. Also feel free to see if this is the case with you guys if your action bar timers start to get out of sync the longer the game is running.

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Originally Posted by BlackomegaKingofwaffles

Figure I'll put this in here me as well as many other have been having problems with spells and abilitys on the action bar displaying incorrect recast times and then telling you it can't be used yet. I have noticed that the longer the game is left running the more noticeable and messed up they become.. For example I launch ff and my slow recast is at 1:05 after 4 days of not completely logging out(char select screen doesn't reset it) my slow recast was down to 0:52. While it was not the correct recast it would display that slow can be used and if you tried clicking on it anytime between when it was *ready* at :52 and when it was really ready at 1:05 it would not work. This also seems to work with the weather as it has taken 6 in game minuets longer for weather to change after 4 days of ff running. My best guess is this problem is related to some of the points outlined by the op. Also feel free to see if this is the case with you guys if your action bar timers start to get out of sync the longer the game is running.

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This probably has more to do with you being out of sync with the server. That or...hmm...

it happens to me every now and than. reloging character helps. Just timer display is messed, the reall cooldown stays, but its shown as too shory usually, and the icon changes to ready, while it still have like 5-10 secs cooldown left. As I said, relog helps.

The game engine is poorly optimized. It doesn't run as well as it should considering how low-tech the graphic engine is. Also, the graphics need to be scalable for people with lower end machines. There should be waaay more graphical options to decrease for people with lousy computers. This is the way it *should be.

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Originally Posted by Bayohne

Hey everyone,

What everyone's saying about FFXIV currently being a large burden on the PC is something we've been seeing on our end as well. We brought this up with the development team and hope to have a comment from them soon.

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As long as it doesn't mean we'll see a reduction in graphic quality, it's ok. If it means reduction of graphics quality, no thanks. The beautiful graphics are one of the good points of FFXIV.

I just agreed so hard.

SO HARD.

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Originally Posted by Nakiamiie

As long as it doesn't mean we'll see a reduction in graphic quality, it's ok. If it means reduction of graphics quality, no thanks. The beautiful graphics are one of the good points of FFXIV.

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This honestly shouldn't be a problem....the problem with the game, and running like crap across the board, isn't that the games' engine is just far too advanced for computers to handle, it's just an optimization problem as others and myself have stated....they really just need to rework it and fine tune it, and frankly they should be able to do those things without a loss in graphical depictions.

By the way FFXIV performs, you'd think it'd be using SSAO with fully dynamic shadows, multiple lightpoints, insane draw distance without LOD and even tessellation.

But wait, it isn't. It's just a console port made by a developer who has never developed a real PC game. ;)

Did I mention Ambient Occlusion is still bugged?


It's using a badly coded file architecture system (147,000+ files, disrupts NTFS filesystem, causes 300MB+ storage space waste, can cause massive hitching/stuttering even if defragmented and also very long load times. What's the way to resolve this.. oh, I dunno, waste money on an SSD or, you know, use a bunch of large pack files like any other reputable game company does with their games)

It's optimized for consoles, meaning CPU power means as much as GPU power, if not more. Most things are CPU oriented. If I disable 2 cores of my Phenom 940, the game's audio starts acting up badly and my framerate drops by nearly 50%. If I disable just 1 core, the game performs almost as good as it can, no real audio problems and FPS is down at most 15%.

If I upgrade to say, Sandy Bridge, I suddenly have absolutely no problems and get 60 FPS at all times unless I'm around 20 other people. Can't say I've seen my FPS drop below 45 with nearly maxed out settings (1920x1200, 4xAA, No AO/DOF, everything else maxed except general drawing (8))

Glad I upgraded; but it wasn't worth it.

By comparison; Crysis 2 ran at 60FPS completely maxed out on my Phenom 940. I'm sure with SB the original will act the same way too.

2x GTX 460's for reference.

I'd link to my forum thread where I detailed every flaw I saw with FFXIV, but my webhost doesn't like me anymore.


Edit: Finally, my website is back up. Here's the extremely outdated forum thread: http://daow.net/forum/viewtopic.php?f=5&t=23

I agree. I have a 5970. There is no reason why I should have to lower my resolution, take off AA, OOC and DoF to have it run smoothly.

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Originally Posted by DAOWAce

What he said

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Probably the best post in this thread.

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Originally Posted by DAOWAce

By the way FFXIV performs, you'd think it'd be using SSAO with fully dynamic shadows, multiple lightpoints, insane draw distance without LOD and even tessellation.

But wait, it isn't. It's just a console port made by a developer who has never developed a real PC game. ;)

Did I mention Ambient Occlusion is still bugged?


It's using a badly coded file architecture system (147,000+ files, disrupts NTFS filesystem, causes 300MB+ storage space waste, can cause massive hitching/stuttering even if defragmented and also very long load times. What's the way to resolve this.. oh, I dunno, waste money on an SSD or, you know, use a bunch of large pack files like any other reputable game company does with their games)

It's optimized for consoles, meaning CPU power means as much as GPU power, if not more. Most things are CPU oriented. If I disable 2 cores of my Phenom 940, the game's audio starts acting up badly and my framerate drops by nearly 50%. If I disable just 1 core, the game performs almost as good as it can, no real audio problems and FPS is down at most 15%.

If I upgrade to say, Sandy Bridge, I suddenly have absolutely no problems and get 60 FPS at all times unless I'm around 20 other people. Can't say I've seen my FPS drop below 45 with nearly maxed out settings (1920x1200, 4xAA, No AO/DOF, everything else maxed except general drawing (8))

Glad I upgraded; but it wasn't worth it.

By comparison; Crysis 2 ran at 60FPS completely maxed out on my Phenom 940. I'm sure with SB the original will act the same way too.

2x GTX 460's for reference.

I'd link to my forum thread where I detailed every flaw I saw with FFXIV, but my webhost doesn't like me anymore.

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Right on all counts, and that's the point I've been trying to make. :) The game is a console MMO, was built to BE a console MMO first and foremost, and yet I can't run it as good as other console ports on a PC....which again, makes not a damn bit of sense, whatsoever. With the way it runs, you'd think that the PS3 is leaps and bounds ahead of PC's....which I think we all know just isn't the case.

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Originally Posted by Bayohne

Hey everyone,

What everyone's saying about FFXIV currently being a large burden on the PC is something we've been seeing on our end as well. We brought this up with the development team and hope to have a comment from them soon.

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Yes, Client optimization please! especially for dual core cpu since the game is poorly optimized on those... (if you have 4 cores you won't see it that much as of 2 cores)... this game overally CAN have more than 50% (i would even said 80%) of lower system requirements if it was properly optimized... (it's based on little -> big reaserch I've done)

btw. with current state of FFXIV optimization i call it one big Play Station 3 Emulator ^.^

PS: Also from the annyoing things I've noticed (there are large number of them on optimization side) but the one that almost everyone can noticed, is that when your on empty area without players, the game is smooth like baby arse... but when you turn the camera into the direction of camp (even if players are far) it starts to drop down... and when you come in contact with other players... - they will slow you down... also the servers as a whole can slow down how the game runs on your PC and manage to drop FPS...

PS2: That was as a quick note, I'm to tired to write all the essey about my reaserch on client, and what causes the slowdowns etc.
PS3: post might have mistakes in words -> I'm sleepy.

Here is what I got to offer. http://i949.photobucket.com/albums/a...nks/ff14-2.jpg

Gpu temp around 70c (stock temp is around 40-50 I think) with Gpu speed around 60% (stock 40%)
Core temps all around 40-50c Never saw them reach mid 60's, not even sure if they hit 60 before.

My Basic info
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i7930 quad core 2.8ghz
6gb
gtx 260
750 watt supply

Before I updated the drivers for my video card I was getting those gpu temps with my gpu fan on 70%.

Edit: Oh yeah all those programs you see on the start menu is what I have open. (I don't always have this many things open, but close to that)

Oh yeah forgot to add.
I'm running the game with everything on standard settings. Except for one option which I have been messing with just as of late. Its the Anti Alis setting, I think its called that. >_< Its at 4x right now.

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Originally Posted by Feldt

PS: Also from the annyoing things I've noticed (there are large number of them on optimization side) but the one that almost everyone can noticed, is that when your on empty area without players, the game is smooth like baby arse... but when you turn the camera into the direction of camp (even if players are far) it starts to drop down... and when you come in contact with other players... - they will slow you down... also the servers as a whole can slow down how the game runs on your PC and manage to drop FPS...
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This is because the game has to load everything up. Lowering General Drawing, Shadows, Ambient Occlusion and AA can help as can increasing your Memory Speed or getting an SSD/Faster HDD.

The majority of games that load as you play also do this.

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Originally Posted by DAOWAce

(insert what he said here too)

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He's got many points.

And I'm finally home to test the OP's concern. It is definitely valid in regards to two of my configurations, both involving a 285 GTX.

Lowered all settings including resolution and in-game settings except Physics (but in Windowed mode). From 44 degrees C, in-game I'm at 70 degrees C in 10 min.

Slid the General Drawing Settings alone to readable text, reached 84 degrees C in 10 min. Fan crept up 3%.

It's fairly cold outside, but as it get's warmer, I worry what will happen to this poor little beast.

But yes, now that I think about it, SE doesn't develop for the PC, they port console titles to the PC.

NVidia sandwiches running hot.

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Originally Posted by Fiosha_Maureiba

He's got many points.

And I'm finally home to test the OP's concern. It is definitely valid in regards to two of my configurations, both involving a 285 GTX.

Lowered all settings including resolution and in-game settings except Physics (but in Windowed mode). From 44 degrees C, in-game I'm at 70 degrees C in 10 min.

Slid the General Drawing Settings alone to readable text, reached 84 degrees C in 10 min. Fan crept up 3%.

It's fairly cold outside, but as it get's warmer, I worry what will happen to this poor little beast.

But yes, now that I think about it, SE doesn't develop for the PC, they port console titles to the PC.

NVidia sandwiches running hot.

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Ever think about investing in a better cooler? >_>

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Originally Posted by MonsieurVerde

Ever think about investing in a better cooler? >_>

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The problem is that should not be the solution, stop advising ppl to drop 70 USD into a cooler for every piece of hardware, ESPECIALLY after SE admitted the game is the issue

clean up the graphics, even scale some of the detail down. FFXI still looks great so i dont see the insane need to make everything look so much more detailed

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Originally Posted by MonsieurVerde

Ever think about investing in a better cooler? >_>

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Coolers aren't the miracle fix you keep claiming them to be, the problem is the engine not our coolers.