I'll start with my System Specs.
Windows 7 64-bit
AMD FX(tm)-4100 Quad-Core Processor
Nvidia GeForce GTX 460(VRAM 4050 MB) 9.18.0013.2049
16 GB RAM
My Performance on the Benchmark Program Was 7853, scoring on the highest performance threshold, claiming to be able to run FFXIV:ARR on max settings with little trouble. Every site I went to that checked compatibility with the game and certain graphics cards said mine met the minimum requirements.
Apparently, they lied.
So when I finally log on at launch (2.00 AM PST Aug.24), I am forced to watched a series of cutscenes before I can actually play my character. During these cutscenes, everything runs fantastic. 60 FPS the entire time, not a single graphical problem or quirk to speak of. When I finally get hold of my character, this is what I see:
There are white artifacts flickering on and off the screen at an annoyingly fast rate. However, the main problem is the complete lack of text. All text bubbles are blank. All UI windows are Blank. The quest log on the right is blank. The hotbar is Blank (Though you can see the icons). The chat box is blank. The HP, MP, and TP information is blank. There is literally no way to determine what is happening besides visual queues.
When I attempted to mess around with the settings and set the resolution to full screen, this happened:
A few seconds later, my game crashed, probably due to RAM overload.
I spent the entire night troubleshooting and trying desperate attempts to fix the issue so I could play the game with my friends.
I tried setting all the game settings to as low as possible, lowest resolution, and all effects turned off. Nothing changed.
I tried updating my driver with a clean installation. Nothing changed.
I tried clearing my registry with CCleaner. Nothing Changed.
I tried cleaning my drivers with Driver Sweeper. Nothing Changed (although performance increased noticeably).
I tried uninstalling and re-downloading and reinstalling FFXIV:ARR to see if it just installed wrong the first time. Nothing changed.
I'm at the end of my rope. I'm all out of tricks. I don't know what to do here.
I did not play in the beta, so this is my first time playing the game. If I had played during the beta, perhaps this would have happened as well and I could have fixed it for today.
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So here is my question. Despite what the Benchmark says, despite what other sites say, is the Nvidia GeForce GTX 460 just not powerful enough to support this game? As I said, the game runs very smoothly with high FPS and no animation problems, the problem is solely with the artifacting and the UI disappearance. Is there something I can do that I haven't tried already? Have other people had this problem? I would really like some confirmation on this before I run into town and spend $400 on a graphics card that will actually play this game.
Thanks.
- Ciao