I need opinions.

[slice0flife]

I'm trying to find what I should upgrade to play Final Fantasy XIV on decent settings, with no choppyness or skipping when I rotate the camera or When new models load up. It's annoying.... Here is a list of what I have on my PC I would like some opinions on what I could do or upgrade. I'm debating on upgrading my GPU to a top tier GPU but not sure cause EVERYONE is saying get this card, get that card. No one seems to be giving any of the same responses. Mostly just who they're loyal to. I'm lost, anyone with some insight with some reasoning behind it other than I like it cause ATI has bad support or Vice versa~


Intel I5-750 2.66Ghz
ASUS P7P55D-Pro
XFX ATI Radeon 5770 x2 Crossfire-X
Windows7-64Bit
Dell 2405FPW Monitor - 1920x1200 Resolution 60-mhz (I use DVI output)
X-FI Xtreme Gamer Sound
Corsair XMS3 8GB DDR3 SDRAM
500gb Hitachi 7200 rpm S-ATA HD and 1TB Hitachi 7200 rpm S-ATA HD
ThermalTake Frio Heat sink
Coolermaster 750 Watt PSU
My case is a Coolermaster HAF932 with TONS of fans and wire controlling for proper airflow!


I'm lost, I am debating on upgrading my Video card, but I wanna know the PC gurus opinions first before I waste anymore money, I'm tired of spending money on *** I might not even need.

Thanks guys!!!

 

[slice0flife]

My Motherboard is an ASUS P7P55D Pro - I forgot to post that one up there! Sorry!

 

[JDFan]

Upgrading the video card probably will not do much 2x5770's are still pretty good performers so I doubt that is your slow point !! -- More likely the cause is the 500gb Hitachi 7200 rpm S-ATA HD and 1TB Hitachi 7200 rpm S-ATA HD and getting the info from it to RAM. Instead of a new video card setup I'd be inclined to try an SSD drive to speed up the loading and see if that fixed things.

 

[geofelt]

Your rig has good parts, SHOULD perform very well.

Are all your drivers updated to currency, particularly the graphics drivers?

Some games do not scale well with multiple cards. Is this possible with the games you play?
Some games do better with Nvidia vs. ATI You might find that you can sell the two 5770's which are very good cards, for enough to pay for most a single gpu card like a 5850/5870 or GTX470/GTX480

When you complain of new models loading, I presume that the loads are from your hard drive. A good SSD will load things faster, and make everything feel much snappier.
Consider a 80gb Intel gen2 SSD for your OS, apps, and games $170 after rebate:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820167023

Your sound card might be an issue. Check for driver issues and game compatibility.
Try onboard sound only, and see if it makes any difference.


Have you overclocked your 750? It is easy, and safe if you don't go crazy with it.

 

[jerreece]

A Crossfire ATI 5770 setup (that's what you show you have) shouldn't be too bad. That's like having a single ATI 5850 (maybe a little faster). Though I honestly don't know how well Crossfire scales with Final Fantasy. 1920x1200 is a fairly good/high end resolution. You could certainly try reducing graphic settings to see if that helps.

Your other option would be to OverClock your i5-750. I think I've heard suggested that Final Fantasy is somewhat CPU intensive, and the stock 2.66Ghz isn't super fast. The GOOD news is, the i5-750 OverClocks VERY WELL traditionally, and the Asus boards are usually no slouch at OC'ing. Just get a good CPU cooler.

Try reducing your resolution setting, and other graphic settings and see if you GAIN any FPS. If you do not gain more FPS, then you may have a CPU related limitation. OC'ing is basically free, so I'd start there before spending money on an SSD (which in my opinion shouldn't be needed).

You could also look at things like viewing distance. I have never played FFXIV, so I have no first hand experience. But having a further viewing distance will decrease performance over all, but could allow you to load models into the graphics RAM all at once, instead of a couple at a time as you approach things.

Also keep in mind, with FFXIV being an online game, internet latency has a factor on over all performance (just like in WoW). If you're playing with a poor connection, poor latency, or using WiFi, this can affect performance.

 

[Frizzo]

that game is like a lot of mmos, just doesnt run well overall. i doubt its taking advantage of your sli setup, you would more than likely be much better off with one stronger card. a gtx 460 ftw evga, or a 5850-5870. i cant personally recommend this but you might want to try one of those 2100 killer nic cards, i've been wanting to try one myself for online games, but havent had a chance yet. that game is also available on the ps3 isnt it? would probably be a good laugh seeing it run 5x better on the ps3, since none of these mmos are utilizing the modern computer technology. (utilizing atleast anywhere near max potential)

 

[slice0flife]

I'm intrigued to try over clocking and the new hard drive trick before I go bananas and sell the video cards. Also I want to oc. I have the cooling, I just don't know how to OC and I can't find any beginners guides anywhere. Maybe someone can recommend me a website?? That would helpful. I'm gonna try the others as well if these don't work. Also I've sen how to OC to 4ghz but I don't wanna risk frying my pc. Maybe a smaller jump would be nice to see how good my coolin really is!


Thank for the advice more would be appreciated. If there's anything someone missed.

 

[Frizzo]

have fun, but keep your expectations low heh. hard drives and +400 mhz really arent going to make much of a visible difference except in how fast the game loads.

 

[jyjjy]

From what I'm reading that game cannot use crossfire at the moment. This may change in the future but using one card for now will actually help performance.

 

[geofelt]

I'm intrigued to try over clocking and the new hard drive trick before I go bananas and sell the video cards. Also I want to oc. I have the cooling, I just don't know how to OC and I can't find any beginners guides anywhere. Maybe someone can recommend me a website?? That would helpful. I'm gonna try the others as well if these don't work. Also I've sen how to OC to 4ghz but I don't wanna risk frying my pc. Maybe a smaller jump would be nice to see how good my coolin really is!


Thank for the advice more would be appreciated. If there's anything someone missed.

In the bios, there is a setting for BCLK(base clock). The default is 133. Gradually raise this up to perhaps 160. I think that gives you 3.3. That is a 20% overclock which should be safe. You should not have to fiddle with voltages, just let everything else default. Do not worry about ram setting and speeds, any default that works will give you 98% of your potential FPS. 4.0+ is pushing it, don't get greedy.
Run prime95 with rounding checking to stress the cpu. Let it run long enough to get to the maximum temperature. You should get NO errors. If you get errors, back off a bit. If you can't boot, reset the bios and start again.

If a mild overclock improves your performance, then you can conclude that you have been limited by the cpu.

If overclocking does not help, then look to the graphics cards. Reduce your resolution and eye candy and see if things improve. If they do, then look to upgrading the graphics configuration.