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

[Aylis]

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.

Obsessive Nvidia fan here o7 I wouldn't go with the 1050 TI at all. Its more or less Nvidia's new first time video card. It's a great budget card if you're upgrading from onboard graphics to a video card. Performance wise though it's about on par with the GTX 670 as I recall. The OP probably wouldn't see any real performance increase at all. It's better to sock the money away and spring for a 1070 at least for the best performance boost on a budget if they wanna go the Nvidia route.


To the OP, the score you got as many have said is a good score and I wouldn't worry at all. Deffo do like what was suggested and have all the dust blown out of the case and all fan blades wiped clean and the heatsink as well.

[BunnyChain]

I found this quite useful for picking a graphics card.

It would be really nice to have some use from submitting those benchmark results. Like make a database accessible via lodestone where you can see it all and sort by fps/score/hardware.

[Masekase_Hurricane]

I'm sorry but you're f***ed, had you got a score of 8301 you would've been fine :P I suggest you go out and buy the most expensive rig possible and then you will be perfect for SB (j/k).

[Kathryn]

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)

Sorry don't know much about computers myself but I just had to do "Titus Andromeda" <3

[Maliki_Ozari]

snip

I understand you're trying to make a point (in a poor way). The OP said he didn't know anything about computers. That is why he asked the community. I mean, he even said he isn't good with computers. Why would you post this? Does it make you feel better about yourself somehow? My score blows 8301 out of the water. Does it make me cool? No. Does it really matter? Maybe a little. Is it hard for you to ignore a post rather than be ignorant. It shouldn't be.

I just came back to the game after a long break, and the 'decent' community was a big part of it. I understand all games will have bad apples like yourself, but it's a shame you feel the need to be mean to someone asking for help.

I imagine if we had a real conversation about something more deep than a benchmark score or your hate for alienware that can be found in a google search, you likely don't know anything about computers. Your reply screams "I don't know what I'm talking about, but I need the attention".

[Masekase_Hurricane]

I understand you're trying to make a point (in a poor way). The OP said he didn't know anything about computers. That is why he asked the community. I mean, he even said he isn't good with computers. Why would you post this? Does it make you feel better about yourself somehow? My score blows 8301 out of the water. Does it make me cool? No. Does it really matter? Maybe a little. Is it hard for you to ignore a post rather than be ignorant. It shouldn't be.

I'm sorry you couldn't get sarcasm and no the OP didn't need to know anything about computers, as the score at the end was self-explanatory 7000+ = extremely high. So why would the OP have any worries? As for the rest of your post, you come across as a complete fool next time I will write in Italics so you can understand sarcasm :S

[Aylis]

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)

So....I went and looked and found all your system specs here https://www.cnet.com/products/alienw...gb-2-tb/specs/ I'm assuming its all a in box stock build. The only thing I can think of hardware wise other then the already mentioned SSD is...what monitor type are you using? If you're using a basic monitor then upgrading to one that has Free Sync on it "might" give you a little more oomph due to your graphics card no longer being slowed down by your monitor while V-Sync is being used. Have a lookie at this video. It's the explanation of what Free Sync and G-Sync are and what they do.. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5Ey-KObDABI

[KisaiTenshi]

It's better to sock the money away and spring for a 1070 at least for the best performance boost on a budget if they wanna go the Nvidia route.

When you upgrade a GPU, you always pick the option that minimally doubles the previous performance just to stay afloat. The 1050 is basically equal to "Intel's onboard GPU is a joke, has always, been a joke, why do they even bother?" alternative. It's better because it's a nVidia Geforce part, but that's about it. If the part in the system is equal to the 1050, then the next part needs to be the 1060 or better.


nVidia's cards scale rather linearly. Each next card is roughly double the performance of the previous. They also tend to be double the price.

so 1050 = 99, 1060=199, 1070=399, 1080=799 or so. The best value card is always going to be the one below the top. So the 1070 is currently the best value, but probably not justified unless you have a 120fps monitor, run the desktop at 4K, or play VR. Like you can run the desktop at 4K on the weakest parts, but you don't realize how bad it is until you put a better card in.

[Mycow8me]

Overclocking and heat management are the only real ways for significant performance gains beyond upgrading. Learning how to overclock can save you a significant amount of money and allow you to get the most bang for your buck. Imagine buying a i7 3820 and getting better performance than a stock i7 4770 by overclocking it. Most intel processors are not overclocking friendly though. The ones that are have a "k" on the end of the name to let people know the multiplier is unlocked which is the "easiest" way to overclock without any real trouble. Your processor is not a K variant so you would have to overclock using the FSB (frontside bus). The problem with overclocking the FSB is that it affects your ram and motherboard bridge speeds (the link between your video cards, audio cards, network cards, or even onboard stuff). in most cases large FSB overclocks require multiple voltage increases and also memory timings changes while a multiplier overclock is as simple as increasing the multiplier and voltage to the CPU usually. There are some programs that do it for you out there but these are never a good idea for cpu overclocking, it should be done through the bios manually.

Video card overclocking is also available assuming your card supports it. Some video cards are manufacture locked just like processors though. Make sure you check into it before you buy. Usually video cards come with programs that allow for overclocking much easier.

The I7 3820 is a non k variant so you would have to overclock the FSB. I looked online and it says it has 8 cores and a turbo of 3.8ghz. 8 cores is a waste really and you are not going to see a performance drop with alot of background processes or programs running with 8 cores. FFXIV will see more gains from a higher single core speed than from 8 cores. If I were to overclock your CPU, i'd literally disable 4 of the cores and get a higher/stabler FSB that way. 4 cores is more than enough for FFXIV and a few background applications. I looked online and it looks like 4.5ghz is very achievable on this processor but I wouldn't do that without a liquid cooler.

Honestly I wouldn't want to walk anyone through a FSB overclock due to damage risks. If you don't know what your doing, I don't recommend this but if you decide to try, remember to start small and ease upwards. Do not go instantly putting in large changes. You have to run a program like prime95 to check for stability, simply booting windows is not enough. Sometimes you can increase it by 1-3 without having to change anything if you were lucky and got one of the best chips on the line. Remember the FSB affects alot of things and you may have to change more than one voltage. RAM is manufactured to run at certain speeds @ certain voltages so you will have to check your rams specs.

Video card overclocking is much more easier... Heat management is as easy as drilling some holes in the side of your case and installing a push pull airflow with 2 fans bottom and top if the side panel on the case does not have fans. Still need to use a program to monitor temps though.

[Aylis]

So the 1070 is currently the best value

Yep! The 1070 offers the best value and best performance for its price out of all the current top dog Nvidia cards. Even then with everything out right now and whats coming in years from now pertaining to games. The 1070 will handle it. Even if its a bit overkill. I have a 1080TI and while I love it even I'll admit its overkill and that's with a G-Sync monitor. Also yes Nvidia's cards do scale kinda linear. It only gets kinda wonky when the TI models come into play. Like, from most of what I read if you're running a 980TI the only viable upgrade is the 1080TI. While if you're running anything but the 980TI. The choice is yours on how much you wanna spend. 1070,1080 or 1080TI