Ok so I'm bad at computer stuff and....

[Bacent]

I was wondering if any could provide some tips for me getting my computer to run a bit better for Stormblood. I got about 8300 for my score when I did the benchmark, and I'm wondering about these things possibly helping my comp run better. I literally know nothing about computer stuff, so I'm wondering if people have feedback on the following, since I'm looking for my comp to run better without me having to pay with money I don't have to get performance increases.

Closing skype/Using only one mic chat program during the game.

Defragmenting - I think my comp says 2% fragmented, and I'm wondering if this has much to do with my score

Clearing cookies

Cleaning the dust out of my comp tower - Probably should do this, since I don't think I have in the 4-ish years I've had this (Got it 2 months before A Realm Reborn)

Possibly keeping the temp in my room a bit colder - Since I know comps can get hot, even with good cooling systems, and I'm wondering if the temp being lower in my room helps.

Also I don't know how to check the specs of my comp to actually say what I'm using, so help on that would be greatly appreciated. All I can say it that it's an alienware gaming comp I got as a birthday gift.

[Jeycht]

A score of 8300 is great.
You don't have to worry about 4.0. The max score is 7k+, you have way more than the max. (don't worry about scores in the benchmark topic if it's because of it)

[Tachyon]

Could you provide some more information on what your computer specs are?

Areas like towns and other instances with a lot of characters tend to be pretty cpu-heavy, where as graphical enhancements are usually gpu heavy...

What settings are you currently using? Adjusting your settings (HBAO, real time reflections and LOD etc) help too.

But in no way is 8300 a bad score (Though I definitely would recommend dusting it out, lol)

[savageink]

Bug spray...it gets the bugs out.

[Aethaeryn]

snip.

All of that will give you minimal to no increase in performance, but also certainly can't hurt. Lower ambient temperature and cleaning off dust would only make a significant difference if high heat is throttling performance of your gpu or cpu. However, if your computer was all highish end parts from right before ARR launched, then 8300 is about what you should expect on max settings at 1920x1080. If you find yourself having a lot of frame rate issues at max in Stormblood, just drop your settings down to High (Desktop) preset or something and you should be fine, but a score of 8300 means you likely won't notice any major drops outside of busy areas.

If you wanna provide specs, run dxdiag and tell us what it says your processor and memory are under the system tab, then go to the display tab for the name of your video card. (If you don't know how to 'run' something, you can just windows key + R or right click on the start button for windows 8/10, or just Start > Run if something older)

[Ziehn]

If your looking to up your performance, there is no way without spending the $$$ for upgrades.

[lyndwyrm]

Closing skype/Using only one mic chat program during the game.

As others have said, a score at 8300 is plenty high. High enough that not many programs you would leave open in the background would slow you down.

Defragmenting - I think my comp says 2% fragmented, and I'm wondering if this has much to do with my score

Defragmenting would only really affect load times, and is only relevant if you're running off of a HDD. IIRC, Windows 7-10 schedules defrags automatically, so this probably isn't even a problem then. If you're running an SSD there's no benefit to defragmenting and Windows 7-10 would have this default to off.

Clearing cookies

Cookies are just browser data, so this really shouldn't have an effect.

Cleaning the dust out of my comp tower - Probably should do this, since I don't think I have in the 4-ish years I've had this (Got it 2 months before A Realm Reborn)

Possibly keeping the temp in my room a bit colder - Since I know comps can get hot, even with good cooling systems, and I'm wondering if the temp being lower in my room helps.

Cleaning dust out would be a good idea, just use a can of compressed air and focus on tight areas of heat sinks. This will probably be on top of the CPU and likely also the Graphics card. If you're not confident doing that, try and find someone that is confident and will show you. It is simple, but having a demonstration never hurt.

Cooling your room however, will probably just be a waste of money for the A/C.

Also I don't know how to check the specs of my comp to actually say what I'm using, so help on that would be greatly appreciated. All I can say it that it's an alienware gaming comp I got as a birthday gift.

When you're running the benchmark, your main specs are the 4 lines of text beneath the "Visit the Official Website" button. Like:

Windows 10 Pro 64-bit (6.2, Build 9200) (14393.rs1_release_sec.170327-1835)
Intel(R) Core(TM) i7-6700K CPU @ 4.00GHz
NVIDIA GeForce GTX 980 Ti (VRAM 6103 MB) 
1920x1080 Maximum Borderless Windowed

The middle two lines are your CPU and Graphics card.

[Bacent]

Snippy snip

Ok I 'think' these are the things you mentioned?

OS: Windows 7
System Model: Aurora-R 4
Processor: Intel(R) core(TM) i7-3820 CPS @ 3.60 GHz (8 CPUs), ~3.6GHz
Memory: 8192MB RAM

And as for the stuff from the display tab

Chip Type: AMD Radeon Graphics Processor (0x68180
DAC Type: Internal DAC(400MHz)

[Aethaeryn]

Ok I 'think' these are the things you mentioned?

OS: Windows 7
System Model: Aurora-R 4
Processor: Intel(R) core(TM) i7-3820 CPS @ 3.60 GHz (8 CPUs), ~3.6GHz
Memory: 8192MB RAM

And as for the stuff from the display tab

Chip Type: AMD Radeon Graphics Processor (0x68180
DAC Type: Internal DAC(400MHz)

It should say the name of the GPU on the display tab above the Chip Type, but if not for whatever reason you can do what lyndwyrm suggested and check the benchmark. (or I forgot the game launcher also has a "System Information" button in the config)

[Lukha]

You should definitely be cleaning the dust out of your tower at least every six months. It won't significantly raise your performance, but it will lower the risk of freezing and long load times due to things running hotter than they should. It's just general good computer hygiene.

If you've never used compressed air before, it's important to make sure you NEVER turn the can upside down, or hold it sideways while blowing; only right-side up, even if that means you have to move the computer around in order to get to certain areas. Tilting the can may cause the contents to come out in liquid form rather than gas, and the liquid will freeze on contact. For the same reason, blow in short bursts, not continuously, and in sweeping motions, not directed at one spot for a long time, because otherwise you may cause freezing. be careful not to get any dust in your eyes from the blowback, either; goggles or at least a pair of glasses/sunglasses while you blow wouldn't be a terrible idea.