Building new PC, I need some tips

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Binh007

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Hello everyone,

I am thinking to build a new PC for this game (FFXI online), but I am not sure if it would make difference in terms of graphics and animation (smoother..), and other issues like smooth viewing....

2.4ghz vs 3.4ghz (same video card for both)

Is it going to be any difference for this game?


Should I buy AMD or Intel?

Thanks alot for the tips.
 
You can't really compare the ghz rating if you're comparing two different types of processors. A 3.6ghz Pentium 4 is going to be much slower than a 2.8ghz Core2Duo... but both would be plenty fast enough for FFXI.

Intel is currently the fastest with their quad core Core 2 Duo chips. They're about to release new 45nm chips early next year (probably around April) which will cause current chip prices to drop a lot.

AMD still has some very fast processor offerings, and will run FFXI just as well as an Intel chip will (mostly because the game is so old). I'm currently running a X2 4400+ and I'm able to play the latest and greatest games (also because I have a decent video card, as well).

Either way, if you want a good processor with a decent motherboard that will last you a while, any Core2Duo (dual or quad core) or an AMD 6000+ (which will run around $170) will last you a long time. Just make sure you get a decent motherboard.

I personally don't like going the cheap route with CPU's and motherboards anymore, so my suggestions might be mroe than what you're wanting to spend, as you might also have to invest in a better power supply and DDR2 memory if you're still sporting DDR1 (like me!).

You can usually save a litlte money by going with AMD, for the moment. So here are a couple suggestions.
AMD Athlon 64 X2 6000+ Retail ($159)
ASUS M2N32-SLI Deluxe Wireless Edition ($169)


If you are looking for a video card, you've got a few options, as well. The Geforce 8800 GT video cards just came out and are going for around $250 to $300, depending on how overclcoked it is from the factory. They're the most popular video card right now because they aren't super expensive and they will get you almost the same performance as an 8800 GTX which costs several hundred dollars more. If you don't want to spend that much on a video card, try to find a Geforce 7900 GT or GTX. Since the 8800 GT was released, these have been falling in price quite a bit. You might have to buy a used online, but I've seen them for less than $100 a few times.

It's always good to check hardware forums, and people will usually sell their older stuff they don't need anymore for pretty cheap. I'd recommend HardOCP's forums. Check the CPU/motherboard, gaming, hot deals, and for sale/trade sections.

http://www.hardforum.com/
 
Euphacent said:
You can't really compare the ghz rating if you're comparing two different types of processors. A 3.6ghz Pentium 4 is going to be much slower than a 2.8ghz Core2Duo... but both would be plenty fast enough for FFXI.

Intel is currently the fastest with their quad core Core 2 Duo chips. They're about to release new 45nm chips early next year (probably around April) which will cause current chip prices to drop a lot.

AMD still has some very fast processor offerings, and will run FFXI just as well as an Intel chip will (mostly because the game is so old). I'm currently running a X2 4400+ and I'm able to play the latest and greatest games (also because I have a decent video card, as well).

Either way, if you want a good processor with a decent motherboard that will last you a while, any Core2Duo (dual or quad core) or an AMD 6000+ (which will run around $170) will last you a long time. Just make sure you get a decent motherboard.

I personally don't like going the cheap route with CPU's and motherboards anymore, so my suggestions might be mroe than what you're wanting to spend, as you might also have to invest in a better power supply and DDR2 memory if you're still sporting DDR1 (like me!).

You can usually save a litlte money by going with AMD, for the moment. So here are a couple suggestions.
AMD Athlon 64 X2 6000+ Retail ($159)
ASUS M2N32-SLI Deluxe Wireless Edition ($169)


If you are looking for a video card, you've got a few options, as well. The Geforce 8800 GT video cards just came out and are going for around $250 to $300, depending on how overclcoked it is from the factory. They're the most popular video card right now because they aren't super expensive and they will get you almost the same performance as an 8800 GTX which costs several hundred dollars more. If you don't want to spend that much on a video card, try to find a Geforce 7900 GT or GTX. Since the 8800 GT was released, these have been falling in price quite a bit. You might have to buy a used online, but I've seen them for less than $100 a few times.

It's always good to check hardware forums, and people will usually sell their older stuff they don't need anymore for pretty cheap. I'd recommend HardOCP's forums. Check the CPU/motherboard, gaming, hot deals, and for sale/trade sections.

http://www.hardforum.com/
Click to expand...

First of all, thanks again for the information. What video card and mother board do you have and is FFXI running perfectly with max settings?
 
My motherboard is an A8N-SLI Deluxe with an Athlon 64 X2 4400+. They don't make my motherboard or processor anymore (it's socket 939, now they've switched to socket AM2, which is what those parts are that I linked to you). I did have a Geforce 6800 GS video card, but recently upgraded to an 8800 GT so I can play Crysis.

I built my system in November 2005 and have always played FFXI at a resolution of 1600x900 (I play in windowed mode so I can switch programs and windows easily, otherwise I'd be at 1680x1050) with all settings on max. The thing with FFXI, though, is no matter how fast your processor and video card are, the graphics and framerates really aren't going to get that much better due to the bottlenecks and built in limiations of the FFXI engine. Having a good processor and video card will help you out in things like Dynamis, but Besieged is always going to run like crap due to lag.

You can usually find my motherboard used for around $80-90. It's old, but it's still a popular motherboard. The hard part is finding a socket 939 X2 processor, but you can typically find a X2 4000+ 939 processor for around $70-80 online, I guess. Just make sure that if you buy a new video card, you need to make sure that your power supply has enough wattage to run it correctly. If you get an 8800 GT, I'd recommend getting a 500w PSU, but some people say they run fine on 400 watts.

You can spend a lot less than what I'm recommending and still run FFXI really well at high resolutions and settings. Core2Duo is going to be your best bet right now, but you can always get a cheaper motherboard and an X2 5000+ or something like that for much cheaper and run FFXI just as the Core2Duo would run it.

If you can't find a 7800 or 7900 video card for a good price, you can also go with an X1950 which is by ATI. I'm an nVidia fanboy right now, but the X1950 is a pretty good card for the price (around $125-150).
 
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FFXI will run maxed on my moms $250 HP base model, so you wont have any problems even going a "cheap" route. Shoot I could build you a comp for $300 that will run FFXi full out, but practically nothing else will run on medium. FFXIs graphics requirements are very, very, very low. Shoot i remember playing a dos game back in the day with harsher requirements than this game.
 
Not to go against you, but...

It runs pretty crappy on my $800 laptop with a Turion X2 processor and x200 mobility video chipset. I have to turn all the details down and run at a low resolution for it to be bearable. I wouldn't even think about doing Dynamis on it.

I highly recommend NOT going the extremely cheap route. You will not be happy at all.

While a low end laptop with a Celeron M will provide plenty of processing power for FFXI (Celeron M's are the same as Pentium M's, minus the power saving/voltage features), the video card you will get with a laptop that cheap isn't enough to run the game very well.
 
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