Benchmark Results - Need Guidance - New To FFXIV

[Burningtofu]

I have a similar Desktop which was from 2009 using a HD7790 Graphics card on an AMD Athlon X2 5600+ CPU. The game was unplayable which was sitting at 11FPS on average with Low~Med settings 720p res. During the operation, the CPU would report 100% as well as the GPU itself. I swapped the HD7790 into my newer build AMD FX8350 8 core processor @ 4.6Ghz and the game runs phenomenal running the game on Max settings on 1080 with averaging about 40~60FPS. The CPU reports using no more than 30% and GPU at 100%. I think I wouldn't be far off to say that this game is CPU intensive as it is for most MMORPG. Getting a newer GPU would probably help you but with that CPU, I don't think it'll help much unfortunately.

And also about 4GB on RAM... It's true that 32bit games would not allocate beyond its limit but wouldn't the OS allocate floating point in RAM if it's a 64bit? I remember having 32bit OS at post startup (clean install) would reserve no more than 500mb and I noticed the 64bit OS would reserve twice as much. Can anyone clarify this?

[Faewyn]

I'll disagree. Games continue to be designed around a single-core.
http://www.cpubenchmark.net/singleThread.html Shows the CPU has having a passmark rating of 947
If you check the requirements page, It simply says "Intel Core 2 Duo", without defining which model (Laptop models will be around 1.5Ghz and certainly insufficient, but the single thread of the x220 is 'better' than the first Core 2 Quad Core Intel chip) So it may be sufficient, history has proven that "minimum" requirements are meaningless, and only means that it will run, not run well.

The Video card on the other hand is substantially below minimum requirements.
http://www.videocardbenchmark.net/mi...ange_gpus.html
Radeon 3000 has a score of 106
The minimum requirements of a HD 4770 (which is a mid-range card of that family) which has a passmark rating of 1,068 ( http://www.videocardbenchmark.net/high_end_gpus.html )
So you need something that is as capable or better.
I can tell you right now that the current mid-range card, the 7770 (which is twice as fast as the 4770), can run the game at maximum settings and get around 24fps.

If I didn't know better I'd say that it sounds like your PC is a frankenbox that someone slapped old parts into.

LOL! Frankenbox! Love it! I'm a bit irritated as I actually purchased beginning of 2012 brand new, from Best Buy. 2 good things- it is an ASUS -it can be upgraded. I have a HIS Radeon HD 6750 (1gddr5, 1080p full hd, hdmi 1.4) waiting to go in, just need to purchase new PSU for it.

[Kittra]

Core Speed 803.6 MHz
Multiplier x Bus Speed 4.0 x 200.9 MHz
HT Link speed 2009.0 MHz
Stock frequency 2800 MHz

Well... I already discovered something holding you back, lol...

At the time that you ran CPU-Z, your CPU was running at it's minimum clock speed which is 800mhz... This is EXTREMELY slow for any modern CPU. The reason it's doing this is to conserve power, but it also effects performance. It will also do this while you are playing FFXIV (as I discovered with a new PC).

Basicly, the CPU cores run at a stock of 200.9 MHz and it has a multiplier (that 4.0x) to boost it's speed.

However, 4.0 x 200.9mhz = 803.6mhz (Your stock speed is 2.8ghz, which is 3.5 times faster than that.)

This is due to your power settings in Windows which tells your CPU to conserve power in low states of operation. I have found this setting to be flawed while playing FFXIV though... even with a video card.

To fix this go to your Start button >> Control Panel >> Hardware & Sound >> Power Options >> Select Balanced (recommended) >> next to it click the blue words "Change plan settings" >> on this page click the blue words "Change advanced power settings" >> scroll down to Processor Power Management and expand the + >> Change "Minimum Processor State" to 100% >> Change "System Cooling Policy" to Active >> and make sure "Maximum Processor State" is set to 100% >> be sure to click apply before you exit this window.

That should make it so your CPU runs at a constant 2.8ghz, you might notice a significant boost in speed to just about everything. However... you will still need that video card to manage FFXIV.

It's possible this MAY not fix your CPU down-clocking itself due to bios settings... I wouldn't recommend messing with those however, and I can't remember what settings you need to change to make it work. Still, give the power management changes a try, I hope it helps.

[Kittra]

I'll disagree. Games continue to be designed around a single-core.
http://www.cpubenchmark.net/singleThread.html Shows the CPU has having a passmark rating of 947
If you check the requirements page, It simply says "Intel Core 2 Duo", without defining which model (Laptop models will be around 1.5Ghz and certainly insufficient, but the single thread of the x220 is 'better' than the first Core 2 Quad Core Intel chip) So it may be sufficient, history has proven that "minimum" requirements are meaningless, and only means that it will run, not run well.

The Video card on the other hand is substantially below minimum requirements.
http://www.videocardbenchmark.net/mi...ange_gpus.html
Radeon 3000 has a score of 106
The minimum requirements of a HD 4770 (which is a mid-range card of that family) which has a passmark rating of 1,068 ( http://www.videocardbenchmark.net/high_end_gpus.html )
So you need something that is as capable or better.
I can tell you right now that the current mid-range card, the 7770 (which is twice as fast as the 4770), can run the game at maximum settings and get around 24fps.

If I didn't know better I'd say that it sounds like your PC is a frankenbox that someone slapped different parts into. When I check 3DMark's benchmarks, there is in fact a combination matching your configuration.

True, while companies continue to program around a single-core your PC can still pass the workload off to multiple cores. It's instruction set ultimately determines how effective it is at this.

I run FFXIV on a i7 3770k machine which reports all 4 cores and all 8 threads being utilized at 20-35%. So there is some merit to having more cores, but really it depends the type of CPU whether or not it can actually utilize them all for a single application.

[KisaiTenshi]

Well... I already discovered something holding you back, lol...

At the time that you ran CPU-Z, your CPU was running at it's minimum clock speed which is 800mhz... This is EXTREMELY slow for any modern CPU. The reason it's doing this is to conserve power, but it also effects performance.

I know someone who had the same problem in another game (and it was also an AMD part, but it was a laptop)

re:frankenbox, is the term used when parts from one machine are salvaged from another (usually dead) one. Hence the point about the CPU mismatch. Maybe there's a configuration that was sold to bestbuy that is not the standard configuration.

Anyway. The CPU speed issue is certainly something that you need to fix. It may involve going into the bios and flipping settings like 'high performance mode' to off and setting Windows power management, and AMD's cool n quiet features to never throttle the CPU.

The Radeon HD 6750 itself is sufficient.

[Faewyn]

Well... I already discovered something holding you back, lol...

At the time that you ran CPU-Z, your CPU was running at it's minimum clock speed which is 800mhz... This is EXTREMELY slow for any modern CPU. The reason it's doing this is to conserve power, but it also effects performance. It will also do this while you are playing FFXIV (as I discovered with a new PC).

Basicly, the CPU cores run at a stock of 200.9 MHz and it has a multiplier (that 4.0x) to boost it's speed.

However, 4.0 x 200.9mhz = 803.6mhz (Your stock speed is 2.8ghz, which is 3.5 times faster than that.)

This is due to your power settings in Windows which tells your CPU to conserve power in low states of operation. I have found this setting to be flawed while playing FFXIV though... even with a video card.

To fix this go to your Start button >> Control Panel >> Hardware & Sound >> Power Options >> Select Balanced (recommended) >> next to it click the blue words "Change plan settings" >> on this page click the blue words "Change advanced power settings" >> scroll down to Processor Power Management and expand the + >> Change "Minimum Processor State" to 100% >> Change "System Cooling Policy" to Active >> and make sure "Maximum Processor State" is set to 100% >> be sure to click apply before you exit this window.

That should make it so your CPU runs at a constant 2.8ghz, you might notice a significant boost in speed to just about everything. However... you will still need that video card to manage FFXIV.

It's possible this MAY not fix your CPU down-clocking itself due to bios settings... I wouldn't recommend messing with those however, and I can't remember what settings you need to change to make it work. Still, give the power management changes a try, I hope it helps.

Thanks so much!

[Kittra]

I know someone who had the same problem in another game (and it was also an AMD part, but it was a laptop)

re:frankenbox, is the term used when parts from one machine are salvaged from another (usually dead) one. Hence the point about the CPU mismatch. Maybe there's a configuration that was sold to bestbuy that is not the standard configuration.

Anyway. The CPU speed issue is certainly something that you need to fix. It may involve going into the bios and flipping settings like 'high performance mode' to off and setting Windows power management, and AMD's cool n quiet features to never throttle the CPU.

The Radeon HD 6750 itself is sufficient.

What KisaiTenshi said pretty much. In the bios it's the Cool 'n Quiet option that throttles your CPU for better cooling/sound management. If you can manage to fix the throttling issue in Window's power settings though, I wouldn't touch the bios, since if you screw something up in there without knowing what it is, it could damage your components.

[K1W1GuY]

What KisaiTenshi said pretty much. In the bios it's the Cool 'n Quiet option that throttles your CPU for better cooling/sound management. If you can manage to fix the throttling issue in Window's power settings though, I wouldn't touch the bios, since if you screw something up in there without knowing what it is, it could damage your components.

^^
The setting in windows should, and in most cases will work fine. Once you install your AMD 6750 you should also be able to adjust CPU/GPU core speed via AMD Catalyst Control Center and you'll notice a significant bump in performance for most games. If you ultimately want to get the game running stutter free though, you should look at upgrading your cpu(which will probably also mean upgrading your motherboard, maybe another time perhaps), and in the end your video card as well -if you intend on gaming more frequently/on a heavier basis. 6450 will get you by for most games, but it may or may not be very pretty, depending on the game.

Regardless of what games are "being developed for", Quad core is the way to go(minimum) if you're planning on upgrading a cpu for gaming-you're saving money in the long term, remember next gen is just around the corner for consoles and ports generally tend to put more strain on our systems when they come to pc.

[KisaiTenshi]

I run FFXIV on a i7 3770k machine which reports all 4 cores and all 8 threads being utilized at 20-35%. So there is some merit to having more cores, but really it depends the type of CPU whether or not it can actually utilize them all for a single application.

I don't want to say you're wrong, but that's not how HT works. When a single-threaded (or poorly threaded game, which is most games) is scheduled to run, it's sent to the cores that are not busy. So you'll see all the cores in use at a 100% division of the number of cores. So 4 cores, 25%, 8 cores 12.5%, etc. But HT is not a real CPU core, it splits the CPU in half, so you have either 2 logical cores with half the ALU's or 1 physical core with all it's ALU's. Generally you don't want HT while playing games.

I wrote more here, but I think I'm preaching at the choir. Basically, untick some cores until at least one core is at 100% while running FFXIV and that will tell you how many cores it's designed to use.

[Kittra]

I don't want to say you're wrong, but that's not how HT works. When a single-threaded (or poorly threaded game, which is most games) is scheduled to run, it's sent to the cores that are not busy. So you'll see all the cores in use at a 100% division of the number of cores. So 4 cores, 25%, 8 cores 12.5%, etc. But HT is not a real CPU core, it splits the CPU in half, so you have either 2 logical cores with half the ALU's or 1 physical core with all it's ALU's. Generally you don't want HT while playing games.

I wrote more here, but I think I'm preaching at the choir. Basically, untick some cores until at least one core is at 100% while running FFXIV and that will tell you how many cores it's designed to use.

Servers are back up!

Ok so I decided to test this in a highly populated area to maximize the strain on my CPU and slowly dropped the core affinity in task manager.

At 8 HT cores (not sure what else to call it) CPU usage was about 30-34% across all 8. At an affinity of 7 (one HT turned off) usage went to 40~% across 7.

At this point I just dropped it to an affinity of 4 so that only the actual "physical" cores of my i7 were processing FFXIV and CPU usage rocketed all the way up to 100% solid.

I added one HT core (for a total affinity of 5) and usage was 95%~ across the 5 cores.


So either the i7 is extremely efficient in passing around the workload, or SE programmed their client with multiple cores in mind.
Another discovery I made is that at below 4 cores FFXIV starts experiencing frame drops.