Graphics Card Advice

[JillyBean]

Ah ok, i was gonna refer you to a different card if you were spending money but if its free then that's a different story.
Do you happen to know the rest of your PC specs? the GTX 560 is a pretty big upgrade from the GTS240 so just wondering if your other parts my bottleneck it. Also when you upgrade, make sure to completely remove your old GPU drivers before installing the new GPU; there are some good online guides outlining the steps.

Well the new card is in and the difference is quite remarkable. One complaint I also had, but didn't mention, is that my computer would bump up to a fan level that always made me think it was working too hard (including when running the benchmark, of course). Ran the benchmark on multiple combinations (now I know what the game is SUPPOSED to look like, haha!), and my max setting/max res score more than doubled. It was 1967 with the 240 card. Below are my results for the 560 test (also includes my specs - it's a 3+ year old Dell prebuilt) Also changed the power supply from 350 to 650, just to be safe ~

FINAL FANTASY XIV: A Realm Reborn Official Benchmark (Exploration)
Tested on:3/5/2013 3:24:41 PM
Score:4181
Average Framerate:33.948
Performance:High
-Easily capable of running the game. Should perform well, even at higher resolutions.

Screen Size: 1920x1080
Graphics Presets: Maximum
General
-Improve overall graphic quality. : Enabled
-Disable rendering of objects when not visible. (Occlusion Culling) : Disabled
-Use low-detail models on distant objects to increase performance. (LOD) : Disabled
-Cache LOD data only when necessary. (LOD Streaming) : Disabled
-Smooth edges. (Anti-aliasing) : Enabled
-Increase transparent lighting quality. : Enabled
-Grass Quality : High
Shadows
-Use low-detail models on shadows to increase performance. (LOD) : Disabled
-Display : All
-Shadow Resolution : High: 2048 pixels
-Shadow Cascading : High
-Shadow Softening : High
Texture Detail
-Texture Filtering : High
-Anisotropic Filtering : High
Effects
-Naturally darken the edges of the screen. (Limb Darkening) : Enabled
-Blur the graphics around an object in motion. (Radial Blur) : Enabled
-Effects While in Motion : Display All
-Screen Space Ambient Occlusion : High
-Glare : Normal
Cinematic Cutscenes
-Enable depth of field. : Enabled

System:
Windows 7 Home Premium 64-bit (6.1, Build 7601) Service Pack 1 (7601.win7sp1_gdr.130104-1431)
Intel(R) Core(TM) i7 CPU 860 @ 2.80GHz
8183.117MB
NVIDIA GeForce GTX 560 (VRAM 4050 MB) 9.18.0013.1407

Benchmark results do not provide any guarantee FINAL FANTASY XIV: A Realm Reborn will run on your system.

FINAL FANTASY XIV: A Realm Reborn Official Website http://na.finalfantasyxiv.com
(C) 2010-2013 SQUARE ENIX CO., LTD. All Rights Reserved.

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http://sqex.to/ffxiv_bench_na #FFXIV Score:4181 1920x1080 Maximum Intel(R) Core(TM) i7 CPU 860 @ 2.80GHz NVIDIA GeForce GTX 560

I'll be happy running the game at high settings, not worried about max. My current monitor's max res is 1600x900, but I've got this one on the way now^^ http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16824236079

[Shura]

Well the new card is in and the difference is quite remarkable. One complaint I also had, but didn't mention, is that my computer would bump up to a fan level that always made me think it was working too hard (including when running the benchmark, of course). Ran the benchmark on multiple combinations (now I know what the game is SUPPOSED to look like, haha!), and my max setting/max res score more than doubled. It was 1967 with the 240 card. Below are my results for the 560 test (also includes my specs - it's a 3+ year old Dell prebuilt) Also changed the power supply from 350 to 650, just to be safe ~

I'll be happy running the game at high settings, not worried about max. My current monitor's max res is 1600x900, but I've got this one on the way now^^ http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16824236079

Its good to hear that the Card is running without any issues; try installing some programs like Realtemp and GPU-Z and see what your temperature is at, Dell cases tend to be badly ventilated. Also try playing around with the game settings, some of those features are unnecessary or effects are vary minimal; turning some of them off should give you a nice boost in score.

[JillyBean]

Its good to hear that the Card is running without any issues; try installing some programs like Realtemp and GPU-Z and see what your temperature is at, Dell cases tend to be badly ventilated. Also try playing around with the game settings, some of those features are unnecessary or effects are vary minimal; turning some of them off should give you a nice boost in score.

Hi! So, I installed the little temp gauges as you suggested, and ran the benchmark (all I can run atm!) The card seemed to run at around 65(c) and the CPU 59-62 maybe. Does this seem ok? Also, I wonder if the benchmark is a good indicator, and if the temps continue to rise, or if they simply stabilize and remain the same as you play (all day)....

What would be temperatures of concern? My box is not enclosed in a shelf of any kind nor on the carpet. Neither the box, nor the air around it has ever felt warm (not during 1.0 with the 240 card, nor during ....I cannot say)

Thanks!

[Zenaku]

Hi! So, I installed the little temp gauges as you suggested, and ran the benchmark (all I can run atm!) The card seemed to run at around 65(c) and the CPU 59-62 maybe. Does this seem ok? Also, I wonder if the benchmark is a good indicator, and if the temps continue to rise, or if they simply stabilize and remain the same as you play (all day)....

What would be temperatures of concern? My box is not enclosed in a shelf of any kind nor on the carpet. It has never felt warm around it (not during 1.0 with the 240 card, nor during ....)

My CPU max out at 51-53C at full load and the 450gts like to stay at 65 sometimes 75c which is fine. Been seeing a lot of people saying your CPU goes up that high with box cooling noting you can do about it. If you worry to much i would get other type of cooling.

[Shura]

Hi! So, I installed the little temp gauges as you suggested, and ran the benchmark (all I can run atm!) The card seemed to run at around 65(c) and the CPU 59-62 maybe. Does this seem ok? Also, I wonder if the benchmark is a good indicator, and if the temps continue to rise, or if they simply stabilize and remain the same as you play (all day)....

What would be temperatures of concern? My box is not enclosed in a shelf of any kind nor on the carpet. Neither the box, nor the air around it has ever felt warm (not during 1.0 with the 240 card, nor during ....I cannot say)

Thanks!

If those are the temps while you were running the benchmark then it should be ok, the CPU seems a bit high but considering its a dell case, probably a cheap stock cooler and its 3 years old, its expected.

If you don't mind some extra work, there are a few more things you can do to retrieve some data.
First: If you have GPU-Z, try running the benchmark while keeping an eye on the gpu load, you can check the load on your gpu under the sensor tab; Also find out what your CPU temps are under load.
Second: turn your PC off for an hour or 2 to let it cool down then turn it on and turn off all background programs. Once all unnecessary programs are closed, run the sensor programs again and find out what your temps are when idle.

This will give a better idea on how hot its getting. Once we know more, we can figure out if there is an issue or not and if so, we can come up with a solution. In regards to your question about playing all day; if your PC has been on for a extended period of time and under full load, temps will increase. If the base temps are good to begin with, the increase should not be a problem.

With stock cooler, your CPU should idle around 40C and load should be in between 65-70C (lower the better), If its in the high 70s under full load, then a better cooler is recommend. If it jumps to 90C+ then we may have other issues. There is a program called Prime95 that will let you do a torture test; which technically forces your CPU to run at 100%; you can use this program to find out how hot it gets under full load. If you do use Prime95, make sure to keep an eye on the temps and turn off the test if it hits high 90Cs