Computer building for FFXIV

[DuskServent]

So, I had bought the collector's edition of FFXIV the day it came out and was pleased...then I tried to play it and found my computer couldn't support it...days later we went back and forth to microcenter trying to upgrade, at first it was the graphics card, then the motherboard, then the power supply, basically, we rebuilt my computer spending maybe around...250$? I bought the power supply and my dad bought a deal on a motherboard and cpu for around 100$ and also got a TB harddrive and I have no clue how much RAM we got, I'll check it later...

After doing all that, I found that it was not good enough, I could barely run FFXIV on the lowest settings, so I gave up on it. I checked and I still have my 30 free trial still active ^^

And now, I decided I want to continue where I left off on upgrading my desktop.

Here are the important parts of the computer that I wrote down:

AMD Athlon(tm) II X4 640 Processor
3.00 GHz, 768 MB of RAM (I thought there was more)
ATI Radeon HD 4200
Biostar TA785G3

Googling gave me a small list that game me the recommended system requirements: http://www.ffxivinfo.com/systemreqs.php

But here is a list for both minimum and recommended:

Minimum
Operating System: Windows XP/Vista/7.
Processor: Intel Core 2 Duo 2GHz or AMD Athlon X2 2GHz.
Graphics: NVIDIA GeForce 9600 512MB or ATI Radeon HD 2900 512MB and DirectX 9.
Memory: 2GB of RAM.
Disk Space: 15GB.

Recommend
Operating System: Windows 7 32-bit/64-bit.
Processor: Intel Core i7 2.66GHz or higher. *
Graphics: NVIDIA GeForce GTX 460 or better with VRAM 768MB or more and DirectX 9. **
Memory: 4GB of RAM.
Disk Space: 15GB.

* We'd like to add that the AMD equivalent is a Phenom II X6 1055T
** We'd like to add that the ATI equivalent is a Radeon HD 5830 card with 1GB VRAM

We also have a Windows XP cd we use whenever we need to reboot a computer. And the power supply gives 500 watts http://www.coolermaster-usa.com/product.php?product_id=2757

So, soon I am gonna make a trip to microcenter and look around for the parts that would be better, but I do have kind of a problem. Looking around I see higher number graphic cards that are priced around more then 50$, but I don't know if I should get those.

I checked the Biostar site and it says my motherboard can only support up to Athlon and Phenom up to X4. http://www.biostar.com.tw/app/en/mb/introduction.php?S_ID=436
More or less I need computer advice on what to buy.

 

[Jzcaesar]

I'm a little confused by the details that you've given, but from what I can tell, you already have some computer parts? Namely a cpu (Athlon II X4 640), a motherboard (Biostar TA785G3), and a Power Supply (the coolermaster 500w). I'm going to proceed assuming you have the rest of the computer parts necessary (RAM, a hard drive, and case). Although you're saying you only have 768 mb of RAM, I think you have more than that. You might want to double check how many RAM sticks you have installed on the motherboard.

The CPU you have is more than enough for gaming purposes; no need to get something more expensive. However, what's stopping you right now is the lack of a dedicated graphics card. That being said, how much are you willing to spend on one? Are you just looking to spend the bare minimum to run the game?

I'm guessing from your post that your budget is $50. I did some quick and dirty newegg.com (good website for computer hardware) searching and came up with this: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814102934

The radeon 6570 should be able to play the game. The only link I could find to prove that is http://pro-clockers.com/videocards/1909-sapphire-radeon-hd-6570.html?start=4

It manages to score above 2000 on the benchmark, which indicates the game is playable.

Hope that helps. If I've misunderstood anything, or if you have more questions, feel free to reply back.

 

[DuskServent]

Actually I already got the help I needed, but thanks for trying to assist me, I asked on Gamefaqs and ended up going to Microcenter, I already know which things I need:

My Biostar motherboard isn't good enough to take the Phenom II X6 cpu (which is $165 on it's own) so I found a different one for $100, I'm still thinking of getting either the GTX 550 or 560 ($100 difference), to replace the power supply would be $80 for a 750 watt, and I have one lil stick of RAM in the computer.

All in all, I came to a conclusion of around $575 to $600, but I could try and start small, maybe get the motherboard and processor first and maybe the 8GB of RAM, then wait on the power supply and graphics card.

My current budget is $200 for now, but I'll be getting some cash from relatives.

The guy at microcenter said that the GTX 550/560 would be a better choice, I kind of have to agree with that from what he explained to me.

But thank you for replying. The last time I ran the benchmark on my desktop I got around maybe a 500-700 score.

Actually, now that I look at that link at the bottom you gave me...I need to do some more looking up on info now...

 

[RhombusHatesYou]

[quote="DuskServent" post="538.323226.13249956"My Biostar motherboard isn't good enough to take the Phenom II X6 cpu (which is $165 on it's own) so I found a different one for $100, I'm still thinking of getting either the GTX 550 or 560 ($100 difference), to replace the power supply would be $80 for a 750 watt, and I have one lil stick of RAM in the computer.[/quote]

Honestly, you're wasting your money on an X6 if you're wanting it for gaming. A high end X4 will do you better than a low end X6.

I'd recommend you get a Phenom II X4 955, 4GB of RAM and look around for a mid range/affordable GPU card. The GTX 560 would do nicely... a GTX 560Ti would be even better.