New PC not strong enough for the game?

[Raist]

I use the same video output as with other games. My CPU usage in FFXIV is 60-85%, GPU power 5-20%, GPU load about the same. Other games force GPU power to 50-60% and load 60-80%

You are running Windows 7 and Windows 8.1, which means you are relying more heavily on an emulation layer for DirectX 9--so, at the OS level you are going to have a little extra CPU overhead in general because this is currently a DirectX 9 game. Couple that with SE's typical shoddy DirectX implementations (ever play FFXI?)--and it gets compounded further. As others have mentioned, this is a CPU intensive game by design, just from the graphics engine side of things. Couple this with all the extra work it has to do in the background because of the sheer volume of data this game is swapping back and forth, and it puts even more background load on the CPU and memory as well.

Even with all the answers I have got, the fact still remains that all games run better on this than my laptop with i7-3630Q and GTX 660M. ALL except final fantasy. Secret world even requires better rig than FFXIV and it wors fine on ultra graphics on this PC. Someone explain this to me. Secret world recommends and i5 proc with 3.00 GHz while FFXIV requires i5 with 2.66 GHz. THIS means that the problem isnt the processor. The problem is that FFXIV doesnt use the GPU at all.

Again, you have to compare how the games are designed. The graphics engines are designed very differently. TSW is simply coded to more effectively use DirectX, even at the DX9 level. Not to mention, it already has good DX11 support available--we are talking DX11 tessellation support for heavens sake. While there may also be issues with AA, it does manage AF better as well compared to XIV. This points back to more effective use of the DirectX API, and thus more effective use of your GPU.
http://www.notebookcheck.net/Benchma...d.78310.0.html

That article is about the benchmark they used to test some systems. It draws an interesting contrast across different CPU/GPU's. They found they could actually run the game fine on HD4000 graphics at 1024/768.

That game's engine is simply designed to more properly use the DirectX API, so is better equipped to more fully unlock the potential of your GPU. XIV is only unlocking a small portion of your GPU's power--the GPU components that impact it more at this point of it's development are the number of pipelines, bus width, and bus speeds since a lot of effects are still processed on the CPU. Hopefully a lot of that will change when they complete the move into DX11 support and <hopefully> start to offload more to the GPU.

Edit:
Oh, and I just googled the system req's for TSW... they aren't as high as you listed them. It can run just fine on 5 or 6 year old hardware--even lists that it supports XP, C2D at 2.6Ghz, 512MB NV 8800 or better, Internet connection of 512Kbps or better:
http://www.geforce.com/games-applica...m-requirements
http://forums.thesecretworld.com/showthread.php?t=25908

AMD A4-5300 specs:
- 2 cores;
- 3.4 GHz;
- 1 MB cache.
That's an office grade APU that can barely play movies, not speaking of playing games. But ofc it's SE fault.

well this "office" pc runs secret world on ultra graphics.

Apparently, there may be more truth to that statement than you realize. Notebookcheck ranks that A4 at 223, while your i7 is ranked 33:
http://www.notebookcheck.net/Mobile-...st.2436.0.html

Here's their individual pages and a few scores from each:
http://www.notebookcheck.net/AMD-A-S...r.91973.0.html
3DMark06: 2284, Cinebench(32bit): 2734 & 4345, Cinebench(64bit): 0.91 & 1.45
http://www.notebookcheck.net/Intel-C...r.80051.0.html
3dMark06:6392,Cinebench(32bit): 4654 & 18059, 1.41 & 6.41

And here's some Passmark scores as well:
http://www.cpubenchmark.net/cpu_look...00+APU&id=1447 Passmark: 2038
http://www.cpubenchmark.net/cpu_look....40GHz&id=1444 Passmark: 7734

And here's something else interesting from there as well:
http://www.cpubenchmark.net/cpu_look...3.00GHz&id=955 Passmark: 2164

That's the processor I was able to pull from 5300 to 6600 out of the benchmark with an old 4850 512MB card.Yeah, it's PC grade hardware vs. laptop hardware--but both the CPU and GPU dated back to 2008. The mobile version of that core ran at 2.26GHz and still scored a passmark score of 1464... and it was also released in 2008.
http://www.cpubenchmark.net/cpu.php?...2.26GHz&id=973

Basically, all this boils down to you having gone from a more gaming class laptop to more an HTPC level PC. That is more likely your problem in general.

Can you run it? Apparently so. Can you run it with all the eye candy turned on and ramped up? Likely not.

[Thanor]

I'm quite convinced of replacing the CPU now. So do you guys think this would run FFXIV good: AMD Athlon X4 760K 3.8GHz Quad-Core Processor

[Judge_Xero]

If you go to the Device Manager does it show the iGPU under Display Adapters? Does it show any other Yellow exclamation symbols? it could be a chipset driver issue. But still possible that CPU is too weak. It is a single bulldozer module with shared resources between the cores. So at 80% it's probably maxed on resources.

the FM2 Athlon with the 750ti would be a pretty good combination.

[Thanor]

If you go to the Device Manager does it show the iGPU under Display Adapters? Does it show any other Yellow exclamation symbols? it could be a chipset driver issue. But still possible that CPU is too weak. It is a single bulldozer module with shared resources between the cores. So at 80% it's probably maxed on resources.

the FM2 Athlon with the 750ti would be a pretty good combination.

No, the iGPU isnt shown at all, anywhere. DXdiag doesnt find it either and its not listed anywhere. I guess I will go with the athlon then, its not such a big change money-wise. Thanks!

[Judge_Xero]

No, the iGPU isnt shown at all, anywhere. DXdiag doesnt find it either and its not listed anywhere. I guess I will go with the athlon then, its not such a big change money-wise. Thanks!

Ok. I was just curious about that because the iGPU is recognized after the board chipset drivers are installed. Your system will do weird things without the chipset drivers. If you didn't install all drivers from your motherboard disc you could try that. But the Athlon will definitely run better. It's also overclockable.

[Thanor]

So you guys think the game would run fine on AMD Athlon X4 760K Quad Core(Description: Clockspeed: 3.8 GHz, Turbo Speed: 4.1 GHz) and EVGA GTX 750 OC, 1 GB?

[sodaboy581]

According to Passmark, AMD Athlon X4 760K rates @ 4556. (http://www.cpubenchmark.net/high_end_cpus.html) Your old processor rates @ 2038. (http://www.cpubenchmark.net/mid_range_cpus.html) So, it should have more than twice the speed improvement.

However, I don't agree with 1GB of VRAM at all. You need at least 2GB for decent performance at 1920x1080, IMHO.

[lxSch]

However, I don't agree with 1GB of VRAM at all. You need at least 2GB for decent performance at 1920x1080, IMHO.

FFXIV at 1920*1080 and high-max settings uses less than 500 MB of video memory, so 1 GB is a plenty for it, especially considering this level gpu cannot run 4xMSAA or 4K resolution.

[Thanor]

FFXIV at 1920*1080 and high-max settings uses less than 500 MB of video memory, so 1 GB is a plenty for it, especially considering this level gpu cannot run 4xMSAA or 4K resolution.

Yeah this is a budget PC that I bought for my gf, I want it just to be able to play newer games at medium-high graphics at full 1080p, that's all.