graphics card/processor help!

[syntaxlies]

hello all,


I don't know if this is the right forums to put this question in but I have like a graphic card inquiry.

I have a AMD Phenom II X4 3.2 GHz processor, 8 gigs of ram and a GT 440 graphic card,550 Watt plug. I can play FFXIV all on standard with 30-35 FPS. I was wondering with what i got should I get a better graphic card? what would you guys suggest?

I want to play this game on max, so (help me out)

i have the same cpu and i overclock it at 3.8. if its black box edition you can overclock it easy.

youll need a nice heatsink/fan if your gonna overclock though.

[Thanos]

Also you dont need more than 30fps, your eyes can only see max 30fps anyways

You can google this

[Zorlin]

Although your cpu is still a pretty decent CPU and able to max most games with a decent card you wont be able to max FF14 with that CPU and get constant 60FPS not because the CPU is weak but because the engine sucks and cant share load evenly between all cores among other issues caused by bad engine code.
Ive got an i7 2600k and dual 6950s and here are afew tests ive done:
Test 1: i7 2600k(stock speed) only using one card(window mode) in city 48FPS~
Test 2: i7 2600k(stock speed) and 2 cards in crossfire(fullscreen) end up with exacly same FPS this means cpu bottleneck
Test 3: i7 2600k @ 4.5Ghz only using 1 card = 60FPS

So yea you can see how bad the engine is when it needs a 2600k that is an high end cpu to be overclocked about 1.1Ghz to get 60FPS @ 1080p where in any other recent game with max settings i get 150fps+

To all that say you dont need more then 30FPS thats true you dont but does it make a diference? YES HUGE the whole game feels alot smoother, ppl that say they cant tell the diference lie or have a problem with their eyes.

My advice OC yr CPU abit although wont be able to cap FPS in some areas and get a 6950/560ti for a decent bump in performance since that 440 is kinda low end.
Btw the new ATI 7xxx will be released in january.

[nasomi]

I have played on above medium settings on a core2duo. Quad core should be fine with any gpu in it, as it's mostly gpu based. If your cpu gets taxed set physics to the video card instead of cpu. I started this game on an 8800GTS 320mb, then GTX280, ATI 6870, GTX580, now GTX580 x2. I have 2 other machines with core2duo's and gtx285's that play on medium settings. Don't cheap out on a psu, but you don't need to go with 1kw psu either. I have a GOOD psu(brand wise), pc power & cooling, only a "mere" 750w, that powers my entire system that has dual gtx580's, 2 ssd's, one regular hdd, cd-rom. Those PSU's run about $80 from their website.

Here's my breakdown of GPU quality for nVidia:

x40 Series - budget
x60 Series - budget
x70 Series - budget
x80 Series - Great
x85 Series - better
x90 Series - Overpriced

I would not even consider a gt440 video card, or gtx470, it's x80 or nothing for me. But each person has their preference.

BTW the game looks super sweet on ultra high settings at 5760x1200 resolution...
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zByk4YbR51M

[nasomi]

Although your cpu is still a pretty decent CPU and able to max most games with a decent card you wont be able to max FF14 with that CPU and get constant 60FPS not because the CPU is weak but because the engine sucks and cant share load evenly between all cores among other issues caused by bad engine code.
Ive got an i7 2600k and dual 6950s and here are afew tests ive done:
Test 1: i7 2600k(stock speed) only using one card(window mode) in city 48FPS~
Test 2: i7 2600k(stock speed) and 2 cards in crossfire(fullscreen) end up with exacly same FPS this means cpu bottleneck
Test 3: i7 2600k @ 4.5Ghz only using 1 card = 60FPS

So yea you can see how bad the engine is when it needs a 2600k that is an high end cpu to be overclocked about 1.1Ghz to get 60FPS @ 1080p where in any other recent game with max settings i get 150fps+

To all that say you dont need more then 30FPS thats true you dont but does it make a diference? YES HUGE the whole game feels alot smoother, ppl that say they cant tell the diference lie or have a problem with their eyes.

My advice OC yr CPU abit although wont be able to cap FPS in some areas and get a 6950/560ti for a decent bump in performance since that 440 is kinda low end.
Btw the new ATI 7xxx will be released in january.

I'd find it super hard to believe that the i7 2600k is a bottleneck of ANY sort, being that I have an i7 950 and have maxed everything, including DoF and AO, with dual gtx580's, and ran 60fps solid. Check your cpu usage while playing, guarantee it's not 100%, unless you're doing something horribly wrong. I even have physics set to CPU and have never seen the game go over 20% cpu usage regardless of the situation.

[nasomi]

I'd find it super hard to believe that the i7 2600k is a bottleneck of ANY sort, being that I have an i7 950 and have maxed everything, including DoF and AO, with dual gtx580's, and ran 60fps solid. Check your cpu usage while playing, guarantee it's not 100%, unless you're doing something horribly wrong. I even have physics set to CPU and have never seen the game go over 20% cpu usage regardless of the situation.

I've also never overclocked my CPU because it has never once gone over 50% usage with any game I've played, or anything I've done.

[Zorlin]

I'd find it super hard to believe that the i7 2600k is a bottleneck of ANY sort, being that I have an i7 950 and have maxed everything, including DoF and AO, with dual gtx580's, and ran 60fps solid. Check your cpu usage while playing, guarantee it's not 100%, unless you're doing something horribly wrong. I even have physics set to CPU and have never seen the game go over 20% cpu usage regardless of the situation.

The game taxes one of the cores yet overall cpu load is 20% nothing you can do about that the engine sucks and cant pass the load to other cores so you get a bottleneck. And i really doubt you have 60FPS solid with everything maxed in uldah for example or a 40ppl raid in natalan.

Look at each core usage graph not at the overall load also you can see which thread taxing that core in this case it was ff14 related.

[Coldfire]

I have a Phenom II with 6 cores @4.0Ghz, 2x HD5870 and set the fps limit to 30 anyway since this laggy piece of failcodegame doesn't need 60fps at all. Do your hardware a favor, set it to 30fps and don't set general drawing higher than 8 (instead use SSAA or MLAA if you really want a smooth image).

[nasomi]

I always look at individual cores, and it's generally balanced relatively well among the first 4, none of which exceeding 50%. Maybe the sticker said i7 2600k, but the processor in side is not, if you are getting capped cpu, which you never mentioned, merely saying that it must be the cpu if your framerate doesn't chagne. Have you looked at the cpu when comparing single vs crossfire? Perhaps you don't have a multi-gpu profile loaded? Are both cards being loaded when you play in crossfire? do you have gpu monitoring that tells you how heavily they're being used?

[Zephir]

GT440 is the "problem"

grab a 460/560 or a 5770/5850 and you can achieve what you want...

Your processor is fine

BTW 2600k can't be a bottleneck

ATM I have a @4700 mhz 2600k becouse on this PC i usually try benchmark and other..but with stock 2600 k i don't have problem of bottlenecking (on a 590) or on other setup