PC Turns Off @ Character Selection Screen

[Kadaji]

This is weird the game loaded and allowed me to play for at least 10 mins when I teleported to Uldah pc turned off. And game graphics werent laggy. Game was running smooth.

[origamikitsune]

Strange. Run a GTX460 and have no problems with it, but the problems you are describing are consistent with not enough power and/or over heating. I will say that FF14 will push a 460 to the extreme edges of its temperature range if you let it, so just to rule that out, here are the settings that I use (on an i5 / GTX460)

General Draw Quality: 8 - Extremely Important! Don't set it above this! (Can provide technical reason if you like)
Ambient Occlusion: Off
All other settings on/max (AA set to 2x for best performance)
nVidia Control Panel: Force Vertical Sync for FF14

Keep in mind, this gets me about 40 FPS, so its not optimal. This runs my GPU at about 68degrees. Lower AA to 2x and turn off depth of field for better performance. In the mean time, I would suggest HW Monitor or another program that can log your peak GPU temperature. Grab a can of compressed air and clean out your system. It is possible that there is a problem with the PSU itself, but these are easy things to test / fix before replacing the PSU.

Also, hit up nVidia.com and see about getting the newest drivers that came out about three days ago, see if that helps. Finally, make sure that you aren't running any other GPU intensive programs in the background. Photoshop, Windows Aero Overlays, etc., etc.

[Fensfield]

General Draw Quality: 8 - Extremely Important! Don't set it above this! (Can provide technical reason if you like)
...
This runs my GPU at about 68degrees.

Would you mind horribly? I'm running a GTX 480 and kinda curious. I mean, I know the long and short of it is above 8, and you're getting better graphics than the other options can provide alone by all but doubling GPU load every step (I figured that was pretty much just future-proofing), but I'd have thought that'd cripple framerates before that hurt your hardware.

And.. is that centigrade or fahrenheit? I guess the former but.. eh, 'figured I'd ask.

EDIT: *blinks at character name*
Wait, hang-on, that's Pooka?! Yeesh, scared me o.o

[origamikitsune]

Basically when you run at GDQ 8, your GPU renders the screen at resolution. Lets say, 1920x1080. When you run at GDQ 9, you are rendering at 1.5x that, and GDQ10 is 2x that. So even though you are running at 1920x1080 your GPU is doing calculations as if you were running at 2280x1620 and 3840x2160 respectively. The higher you increase your GDQ, the more load you put on your GPU exponentially because you are essentially increasing your resolution. Plus, on top of it, the GPU then has to re-size the image to your resolution, increasing the load further.

The important thing to note is that the increase in load is exponential.

And yes, centigrade.

[Fensfield]

<Above>

Hm.. thanks o.o

Can't help wondering what sort of setup could run that, of course - and once or twice I've enabled it for brief moments to take super-high res character portraits (at about -3 FPS) before quitting again immediately >.> But.. hm.

[origamikitsune]

I believe the answer is as you said; future proofing. 11 looked great when it came out. Look at it now, compared to 14. The real question is whether or not they will keep 14 stuck in DirectX 9, or upgrade to DX11. Currently, they have no plans to upgrade because they feel not enough people support DX11 (which is silly considering most of the graphics cards that actually run this game support DX 11)

[Fensfield]

The real question is whether or not they will keep 14 stuck in DirectX 9, or upgrade to DX11.

... Okay, at risk of derailing, so I'll make this the last question, but since I've nabbed someone knows stuff XD

What'd be the advantage of the engine getting a DirectX upgrade? All I know at this point is using DX9 has something to do with the alt-tab from fullscreen problem, DX10 did something to the way sound is handled, and somewhere along the way a prettier lighting system came in, which I assume, would need even more changes to the engine to be usable that they may or may not bother with. Would it actually improve performance, too?

[origamikitsune]

Mostly that some features that were previously handled by software are included features of the DirectX 11 GPUs. Soon as the hardware picks up the processes from the software, you get overall performance increase (since hardware is always going to be faster than software). Also, new ways to do old things more efficiently. I guess its a lot like comparing a 1980s Honda Civic to a 2011 Honda Civic. Its essentially the same car, but you have increased gas millage (more so if you have a Hybrid!), better airbags and different materials for safety, etc., etc. If you want specific features that have been updated or new features that have been added, Google is happy to educate.

[Fensfield]

<Above>

Ah o.o

Thanks Pooka, I'll read up on it in the morning or so!

[Kadaji]

Ok ty all for your help, tner problem esa tner power supply.