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

[File2ish]

That is a good score, should still be able to handle the game no problem. I'm not sure if you ran the benchmark at max settings, but that is a good score nonetheless. If you're happy with the settings you're running at, you're golden to play the game when Stormblood hits. Don't really need to worry about the performance.

That said:

If you're looking for better performance in the form of higher graphics settings, assuming you're using a desktop PC: the quickest and easiest upgrade for better performance would be to replace your video card. Though that will depend on if you're willing to spend money on one. If you're not willing to or are unsure if you want to spend money on an upgrade, don't worry about it. You can play the game just fine as is.

And to note: an Intel Core i7 3820 CPU is more than enough for the game, and 8GB of RAM is just fine (honestly you don't really need more unless you're looking into building a high end gaming computer or workstation). You wouldn't get a performance bottleneck from either for FFXIV.


As for choosing a video card, it would depend on your budget. I'm going to go ahead and assume you wouldn't want the top of the line $700+ card, so a ~$200 video card like Nvidia's GTX 1060 or AMD's RX480 (and RX580) will likely give you scores of *in Vegeta's voice* over 9000 at 1080p maximum settings, which should equate to a smooth frame rate that will rarely dip below 60 frames per second in FFXIV (and should be consistently at 60fps or above when not in highly populated zones).

There are cheaper cards sub $150 on the market as well, such as Nvidia GTX 1050ti and AMD RX460, but the performance would likely be only marginally better than your current video card, if not the same performance (honestly I haven't looked into the AMD HD card series in years so I don't remember any specs), and perhaps not worth the upgrade.

*EDIT* (Sorry, I know I have a habit of getting kind of technical with stuff, hope I didn't do it in this post despite it's length).

And on the topic of cleaning out the dust from your computer and heatsinks: It's also a good idea to replace the thermal compound between your CPU heatsink and the CPU every few years if you still run the same computer. It can do wonders for thermal performance, especially if replacing thermal paste that had gaps form between the contact of the components. If you can have that done at your dad's place when you go (as per your comment) you'll have a lower chance for the CPU to thermal throttle itself and/or cause the computer to freeze (if a CPU gets too hot, it will throttle itself down so it doesn't overheat).

And another upgrade for your computer would be to install a Solid State Drive (SSD) for the game to be installed on. SSD's are much faster than Hard Disk Drives (HDD) in pretty much every way. Many people install our operating systems (like Windows) on an SSD instead of an HDD because the boot up time is significantly faster. Games on an SSD will load very noticeably faster than it would installed on a hard drive.