Component Upgrades for FF14

Xion

Xion

Xion

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Joined
4 Dec 2007
Posts
322
Hi all,

Well its been a while since you guys last helped me pick parts for the rig I have at the moment. I haven't had any problems with it, but to be honest I have hardly been gaming much on the PC now and much more on the PS3. For gaming purposes I normally would play MMOs/FPS on the PC, but lately there have not been any decent ones I have gotten into.

Anyway, being a Final Fantasy fan, I think I'll end up getting into FF14, and decided I might upgrade a few parts ready to run the game at a decent setting. Now we have 2 rigs in the house, and both usually online to play, and in the FF14 benchmark, my one got just in the 3k mark on low res, the other around 2.7k ish mark on low res.

Here are the specs for both the rigs currently:

Rig 1 (my rig)

Case: Lian Li Armorsuit PC-P60B Aluminium Midi-Tower Case
Mobo: Asus Maximus Formula Intel X38 (Socket 775) PCI-Express DDR2
CPU: Intel(R) Core(TM)2 Quad CPU Q6600 @ 2.40GHz (not overclocked...I know don't hit me...I've never OCed before and never got round to it)
CPU Cooler: Zalman CNPS9900-LED cooler (I think its this model, looks pretty similar)
RAM - OCZ 4GB PC2-6400
Graphics: Nvidia BFG GeForce 8800 GTX OC2(Was an Overclockers Overclocked model)
OS: Vista Home 64-bit

Rig 2 (dads rig)

Now this rig was an Ultima Quad 8800 Overclocked system from here, and thanks again Overclockers, I've had this rig for a long time and zero problems with it, so good job on the pre-built OC system service.

Case: Antec P183 (I think its this one...)
Mobo: Abit IP35 Pro
CPU: Q8800 overclocked to 3GHz
Cooler: Thermalright Ultra-120
RAM: 4GB (unsure which model but OS restricts full 4GB)
Graphics: Nvidia GeForce 8800 GTX
OS: Vista Home 32-bit

Both rigs use a Syncmaster 226Bw at 1680 x 1050.

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Now, here is the part I need help with. So firstly for the 2nd rig, I think I might keep the CPU/Mobo/Cooler that's in it because its overclocked nicely and working, but upgrade the graphics card and switch to a 64-bit OS for better usage of the RAM.

For my rig, I think I will do a bit more. Obviously now all the new i series CPUs are in and thought it would be worth going for those, but I don't think my mobo will support those?

I am thinking then to just upgrade the mobo, cpu, cooler, RAM and graphics card for my rig. For this I was looking around the site and saw the Overclocked Bundles, and thought it might be a better idea to grab one of these (as they include CPU, RAM, cooler) then buy a card:

http://www.overclockers.co.uk/productlist.php?groupid=43&catid=339

In terms of budget, I tend to pay a little more so the parts last me a decent amount of time so I'm looking at not going too insane but not too less, so maybe around 1200-1500ish? That depends what I want to do on the 2nd rig as well (and why I was thinking of just a card/OS on 2nd rig).

So, sorry for the lengthy post, but there are a lot of experienced guys here so the feedback has always been great each time I've been on here. I was wondering what you guys think I should do...I kept quite up to date with the hardware side of things, but lately I haven't been so need a bit of help.

Thanks in advance!
 
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Really you guys think its the Graphics card out of the lot which would be worth upgrading the most? Are the quard core Q6600's still okay then?

The reason I bought that Q6600 at the time was because it was very popular to OC, but just never got round to it. Any idea which graphics cards I should look at then, I've lost touch with what ones are really good right now.
 
Xion said:
Really you guys think its the Graphics card out of the lot which would be worth upgrading the most? Are the quard core Q6600's still okay then?

The reason I bought that Q6600 at the time was because it was very popular to OC, but just never got round to it. Any idea which graphics cards I should look at then, I've lost touch with what ones are really good right now.
Click to expand...

yep, the q6600 is still good, you got 4gb of ram, you got aftermarket cooling, just crank the speed upto 3ghz.

as for graphics cards,

£130- http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=GX-219-AS&groupid=701&catid=56&subcat=1515

£160- http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=GX-168-XF&groupid=701&catid=56&subcat=1711

you can get those two 8800gtx onto the members market, and get around £40 each for them, maybe more
 
ohh never gone with ATi before ;) Always been with nVidia, interesting.

Yeah the upgrade is pretty much to run FF14 at a decent setting, it would be a shame to play a game with really nice quality and not being able to experience it if your playing the game all the time if you know what I mean.

Cheers for letting me know about the members market too.
 
Get that Q6600 clocked as well. I had a Asus P5E X38 which was basically a stripped down Maximus Formula and that got my old Q6600 to 3.8Ghz.
 
Also the game is not out until September 22nd, so I can always wait another month for any price drops. I just wanted a good idea of what I should upgrade with the specs I currently have...want to run the game in a decent setting.

stulid - cheers for the heads up on the post count. RAM would be 768 on that

I will defiantly look at overclocking the 6600 to 3GHz as well.
 
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pastymuncher said:
Get that Q6600 clocked as well. I had a Asus P5E X38 which was basically a stripped down Maximus Formula and that got my old Q6600 to 3.8Ghz.
Click to expand...

wow that's pretty impressive nice one. I'll save money and stick with that CPU for now then ;) Just need to Overclock it, maybe once I get a new graphics card. I don't mind spending a little more than the £160 on a card if I can get a better one for £200-250 or so instead if I'm just upgrading one part.
 
you will need to list what psu make and model number is in each pc, so we know you either have enough power and connectors
 
Ok 1st off the benchmark really doesn't reflect the game very well. It doesn't bench as if you were in the game, only really like you are rendering a cut-scene.

You also aren't that low really, I only get about 4k points in it. So not far behind newer tech.

The bench is hard on the graphics card and not on the CPU as much, while in game (alpha at least) it is the opposite. That might change in the beta I couldn't play tonight as I was busy during the testing window.

They might have a release date but they are also still coding the game so stuff will still be changing.

I'd try to wait as long as you can before buying unless you find a really good deal.
 
For my rig (rig 1) I have the following PSU:

Corsair HX 620W ATX Modular SLI Compliant Power Supply

Will have to check the other rig though.

Crowort - That's some good advice there yeah. The benchmark isn't the best reflection but its a good start to base an idea on if I should upgrade or not. I think I will wait a little longer before I upgrade, maybe mid next month I will see how things are.

Cheers!

Oh I wonder if an 5870 would be overkill :P
 
Oh just another thing, currently without Overclocking, RealTemp shows my CPU temp at around:

47 47 46 46

(Not running any game just with web browsers open, it is fairly warm this time of year too..)
 
Xion said:
Oh just another thing, currently without Overclocking, RealTemp shows my CPU temp at around:

47 47 46 46

(Not running any game just with web browsers open, it is fairly warm this time of year too..)
Click to expand...

maybe try redoing the thermal compound, if its been there for a while?
 
Yeah I think it was always like that since I put it in, i think it is worth re applying the compound...It was such a **** to put that cooler on too, to be honest, i might upgrade to a better CPU cooler too.

I tried to find the PSU model and W of rig 2 but couldn't see it written on it hmm..i'm sure Overclockers would put a decent one in but still would like to check what it is. So i guess..

1) 2 new graphics cards preferably 5830 or 5850.
2) Windows 7 64-bit upgrade on both boxes.
3) Overclock rig 1's Q6600 to 3GHz
4) Upgrade CPU cooler on rig 1 while I'm at it and re-apply compound.
 
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For an overclocked Q6600, should I go with one of these types coolers then for a decent quality in air cooling:

Thermalright TRUE Copper CPU Cooler
http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=HS-070-TR&groupid=701&catid=57&subcat=1395

Or one of these Zalman types which is like what I have currently:

Zalman CNPS9900-NT CPU Cooler
http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=HS-043-ZA&groupid=701&catid=57&subcat=1395

Need to decide on the 2 cards now too :) The 5830 you pointed out stulid seems good, but don't mind paying for the 5850 (as I'm upgrading would it be worth going for a 2048MB card?).

Thanks again guys, helpful and knowledgeable as always.
 
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