Advice on Graphics Cards

[SkyeWindbinder]

I'm going to upgrade my graphics card before FFXIV: ARR officially comes out. (Hopefully it won't come out before I get my income tax check) I was just wondering if anyone had any advice on an affordable graphics card for a struggling semi-poor gamer that will help to display the game in decent quality. Any suggestions are welcome. Thanks in advance!

[rina_inverse]

posting your current spec might help

[SkyeWindbinder]

posting your current spec might help

How do you do that?

(Me no understand 'puters. Me not too 'puter smart. lol)

[rina_inverse]

run => type dxdiag

[SinisterJoint]

is it a prebuilt system?

Dell? Acer? Etc.. if so just post what model it is and ill do the rest.

If not, see the above post.

once its done, click save all info

Open the text document it saved and copy whats in the system info section only, thats all we need

[SkyeWindbinder]

Operating System: Windows 7 Home Premium 64-bit (6.1, Build 7601) Service Pack 1 (7601.win7sp1_gdr.130104-1431)
Language: English (Regional Setting: English)
System Manufacturer: Compaq-Presario
System Model: AY138AA-ABA CQ5320Y
BIOS: BIOS Date: 01/07/10 11:37:11 Ver: 5.17
Processor: AMD Athlon(tm) II X2 240 Processor (2 CPUs), ~2.8GHz
Memory: 3072MB RAM
Available OS Memory: 3072MB RAM
Page File: 1885MB used, 4254MB available
Windows Dir: C:\Windows
DirectX Version: DirectX 11

Card name: ATI Radeon HD 5450
Manufacturer: ATI Technologies Inc.
Chip type: ATI display adapter (0x68F9)
DAC type: Internal DAC(400MHz)
Display Memory: 1784 MB
Dedicated Memory: 504 MB
Shared Memory: 1279 MB
Current Mode: 1024 x 768 (32 bit) (60Hz)
Monitor Name: Generic PnP Monitor
Monitor Model: DELL E153FP

Yep, pretty bad, I know. And this is after I bought the initial version and upgraded it. lol

[Quesse]

Did you run the benchmark -- what was your score?

FFXIV is pretty CPU intensive so you probably won't see alot of performance increase by just upgrading your video card since you have an older dual core cpu.

So I would just recommend getting something that is a good boost but nothing that you'll be throwing money away with. Like:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16814102988

A 6670 for ~$50 should give you a good boost but your CPU will be the bottleneck at that point so anything more powerful is just a waste.

[rina_inverse]

honestly your system (not just the graphic card) look pretty old
only changing the GPU will probably cause a bottleneck

[Pseudopsia]

If you have a PS3 I would suggest playing on that if you want to save money.

[Athaya]

If you have a PS3 I would suggest playing on that if you want to save money.

Yep great suggestion!