FFXIV... what do I upgrade?

[boorassa]

Hello Folks,

I'm new here, so thanks in advance for any advice you might have, and if I'm in the wrong place, please just point me in the right direction.

So, I was considering giving FFXIV a try, but after testing the official benchmark, it seems my computer would currently run it at about a frame per week. My computer's a little old, and it's never run MMOs and other online games as well as single player stuff, so I need to upgrade all the more. I'm looking to spend $300-500, and any advice would be very welcome. Here's my information:

Windows 7 64b
AMD Phenom 9750 quad-core 2.4ghz
2 EVGA 9600GT 512mb video cards SLI
ASUS M2N-SLI AM2 NVIDIA nForce 560 SLI MCP ATX AMD Motherboard
6gb ram
no sound card

Thanks!

 

[namelessonez]

What monitor do you have? And what resolution are you usually playing at?

 

[boorassa]

I generally use a Dell ST2310 23".

I usually play at max resolution, but obviously I haven't tried FFXIV yet. I tested the benchmark on 'high', but even if I did it on low, it wouldn't be much better.

 

[toolinthemist]

I'm not that familiar with the performance of AMD's older processors, but it seems like your processor and ram are both good. from the looks of your current setup, it seems like any mmo should play relatively well, at least if the settings are relatively mild.

As for an upgrade though, I would say drop it all in video card (this is just the easiest and simplest upgrade). $300 - $500 is a pretty big range and just $300 will get you a really good graphics card. I don't think the processor should be a bottleneck, but that might be considered for an upgrade.

a good graphics card would be an ati 5850 or 5870, although, if you want also upgrade the cpu, then i would say get the 5850 (around $290) and an amd phenom II x4 945 (around $140 and assuming it will work with your MB)

 

[boorassa]

Thanks for the input. For the record, I have a NZXT PP-800