How to improve FPS on Final Fantasy XIV?

November 7, 2013 7:06 AM

I just bought Final Fantasy XIV, and I can't get over 8-10 FPS, even on the title screen. My computer runs Windows 7 64-bit, has 6 gigs of RAM, has an ATI Radeon 5450 HD graphics card, has 180 gigs of hard drive space available, and is defragged once a week. I have tried running the game directly after a restart and with no background programs on. I found something online about Razer Game Booster, so I downloaded that and gave it a shot. Nothing changes the 8-10 frames per second I'm seeing. How can I fix this?
posted by srrh to Computers & Internet (18 answers total)

If you haven't done this yet: go into the game's video settings and turn everything down to minimal quality. If this makes a difference in your framerate, try turning up individual settings one by one until you find a good balance between visual fidelity and performance.
posted by trunk muffins at 7:14 AM on November 7, 2013

Response by poster: Ah yes, I forgot to mention that in my question. Every graphical setting in-game is at the bare minimum.
posted by srrh at 7:15 AM on November 7, 2013

Best answer: It's your video card that is the problem. I don't think it meets the minimum system requirements (ATI 4770) which is about 13 tiers up from your current card.

A $30 video card isn't going to cut it on a game like that, sorry!
posted by Grither at 7:19 AM on November 7, 2013 [2 favorites]

Does it make a difference if you run in fullscreen mode instead of windowed mode? (Stab in the dark)
posted by trunk muffins at 7:19 AM on November 7, 2013

Response by poster: Grither, that's really helpful! I consider myself moderately computer literate, but do not know anything about graphic cards. Do you have a recommendation for one I could purchase that would be less than $100, or is that too inexpensive also? I know in your comment you mentioned the ATI 4770, and I'm looking at it on ATI's website compared to my current card, and do not understand what I am looking for as far as how to tell which one is better (and therefore don't know what I'm looking for to compare other cards either!). I really appreciate the advice. :)
posted by srrh at 7:28 AM on November 7, 2013

Hmmm, I was looking through Newegg, and wasn't having any luck finding ones that are at just the minimum... but it looks like this card (which is 3 tiers up from the minimum) might be a good deal, and comes to just under $100 after rebate:
HD 7770

That'll definitely work for the game, but I'm sure there are other folks who might come up with something a bit cheaper given the time!
posted by Grither at 7:34 AM on November 7, 2013 [1 favorite]

More expensive ones are better. Any card you can buy for $150 is better than one for $100 is better than one for $50. This won't make you a graphics card expert, but it's a good enough sorting technique to get your game to work. Buy whatever $100 video card has decent reviews.
posted by tylerkaraszewski at 7:35 AM on November 7, 2013

More expensive ones are better.

Yeah, this is generally true, though at some point you reach a point of diminishing marginal returns, where an additional dollar spent on GPU horsepower does not give you appreciably better performance.

However. Are you trying to run this game on a desktop? It is easier to replace a GPU on a desktop than a laptop.
posted by dfriedman at 7:55 AM on November 7, 2013

Response by poster: Yes, my computer is a desktop and has had the graphics card replaced once before. I'm not worried about the physical act of replacing the graphics card, just finding a good one that will work and not break the bank, especially since I just shelled out $50 for the collector's edition of the game, oy! The things we do for entertainment. :)
posted by srrh at 7:58 AM on November 7, 2013

Here

All recent video cards, with performance and price listed, you can sort by bang for the buck and see what you bucks can bang, works great.
posted by Cosine at 8:08 AM on November 7, 2013 [1 favorite]

Also, what is your CPU? Many new-ish games are getting CPU throttled instead of GPU throttled thanks to terrible optimization and lack-of (or bad, if such a thing has quality as so many gamer types insist that it does) multi-threading.
posted by Slackermagee at 8:34 AM on November 7, 2013

Not to get off-topic, because the main answer to your question is definitely "As powerful a video card as you can afford," but you really don't need to defrag a hard drive once a week, especially if you've never filled your drive up to near-max capacity.
posted by Tomorrowful at 8:35 AM on November 7, 2013 [2 favorites]

You need to make sure your mother board has the right kind of slot for the graphics board you buy. There are a bewildering array of different incompatible slots at this point.
posted by Chocolate Pickle at 8:38 AM on November 7, 2013

Response by poster: My CPU is a dual core and the speed is 2.60 GHz. I'll go after work tonight to see about updating my graphics card. I don't need crystal clarity and to see the shadow cast by every strand of hair, but it would be nice to play without it looking like a flip book! Wish me luck!
posted by srrh at 9:36 AM on November 7, 2013

Like everyone said, a better video card is the answer, but one thing I'd ask. When you turn down all the settings in the game are you turning the screen resolution down? Higher resolutions will really put a strain on your video card.
posted by meta87 at 10:47 AM on November 7, 2013

I was about to ask how much ram you had, but then i reread your first post. 6gb is fine, and any dual core CPU(that isn't from like 2004) should pretty much be fine.

I was going to suggest checking out not the passmark GPU rankings(which, like their CPU rankings, can often be a bit fraught with mischaracterizations) but this site which is a vetted list of parts based purely on price/performance. That gpu benchmark list gives you that info as well, but this is just that. The 7770 sits in a sweet spot on there right at "goes in a system capable of playing most games at medium settings if your monitor isn't 1080p". The CPU they recommend with it is a simple dual core pentium that's actually based on something a few years old, so should be very comparable to your system. If you have a core2duo you're actually doing totally fine, honestly.

I will note the toms hardware chart is way better than that videocardbenchmarks chart.

Personally, i think you should buy a 650ti boost. it's noticeably faster than the 7770 and only $35 more. I also think it's pushing the limits of what it would actually be worth to put in that system compared to the performance of the other components.

Make sure your power supply isn't a hunk of crap before you order any new card though. What brand is it? what wattage? how many amps on the 12v rail(or per rails, if it has multiple). All that info will be on a label on the side. unscrew it and pull it out if you have to. If it's a 300w sparkle power or some random generic junky thing like that you need to factor in another $50 or so to get a proper, noncrappy power supply. Use that logicalincrements site to find the proper one for a system like that, the ones they recommend for a 7770 or 650 ti system will be plenty, and are often the cheapest non-garbage ones you can buy.
posted by emptythought at 11:36 AM on November 7, 2013 [1 favorite]

Video card nomenclature is just arcane as shit. But right now there are loads of cards that are both powerful and comparatively cheap, so it's a good time to buy. A 560Ti is a good choice, as is a Radeon 7770.

FF14 is notoriously demanding, but you should be able to get it looking fine with a sweet spot card.

However power draw is a significant issue - make sure your power supply is up to it before you drop any dollars (recent cards that are a bit more powerful than my GTX 460 draw around half the power, so you might be able to get away with a newer card if your power supply is so so).


See also this recent AskMefi.
posted by Sebmojo at 12:19 PM on November 7, 2013 [1 favorite]

Response by poster: Thanks for your help everyone! I upgraded the card and now run 30-60 FPS depending on how much is going on the screen!
posted by srrh at 5:59 AM on November 8, 2013 [1 favorite]