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 Post subject: Need a Cheap Computer to play on
PostPosted: Sat Sep 04, 2010 2:42 pm 
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Someone help, i dont need a big gaming rig as i have a macbook i use for most of my shit i just want something cheap that'll run FFXIV Links would be apprecaited thanks!

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PostPosted: Sat Sep 04, 2010 3:32 pm 
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What's your budget?
Are you willing to assemble it yourself? If so, you can build a PC that will run FFXIV adequately for around $500-600 US (OS + monitor not included).

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PostPosted: Sat Sep 04, 2010 3:33 pm 
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cheapest one i could find so far ($459):
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16883103267

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PostPosted: Sat Sep 04, 2010 3:43 pm 
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He'll have to pick up a video card if he gets that pre-built one you linked Whisp (another ~$150ish)

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PostPosted: Sat Sep 04, 2010 3:47 pm 
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ChickenNoodleSoup wrote:
He'll have to pick up a video card if he gets that pre-built one you linked Whisp (another ~$150ish)


NVIDIA GeForce 9200 is equipped. thats above the minimum requirements

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PostPosted: Sat Sep 04, 2010 4:24 pm 
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He'd probably want to kill someone playing on that integrated gpu though. Integrated card for gaming = no no, although that particular integrated card isn't too shabby (with being able to run games older games at respectable details quite fine - but that's for another discussion). That said, unless he doesn't mind playing FFXIV at lower resolutions and lowest detail, if so then by all means.

If he'd gets that machine though, he'd get an incredible boost in gaming performance with simply buying an aging Radeon HD4850 at under $100 with that prebuilt you linked. Could probably find the HD4870 for $100-120ish too somewhere online. Great performance for the buck, if you don't mind older technology (no DX11). IF he does do this (buys that prebuilt and decides to get a better gpu), I would highly recommend replacing that cheap ass laughable 220w PSU.



But for some food for thought, look at this for self-built option for comparison:

AMD Athlon II X3 440 3.0GHz Triple-Core AM3 95W ($75)
ASRock M3A770DE: Socket AM3, 770 Chipset, ATX ($60)
Radeon HD 5770 1GB ($145)
G.SKILL 4GB (2 x 2GB) DDR3 1333 ($81)
Samsung F3 500GB SATA II 3.0Gb/s ($53)
SeaSonic S12II 520W 80PLUS BRONZE Certified ($60)
Rosewill CHALLENGER ATX 2 x 120mm + 1x 140mm fans ($45)
LITE-ON Black 24X SATA CD/DVD Burner ($20)

Quite a respectable gaming machine for a total price is under $540 before taxes

If you're willing to overclock too, you'd get much more value and performance for your money, but I'm assuming no overclocking here.

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PostPosted: Sun Sep 05, 2010 12:31 pm 
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i'd be willing to up to 800 but like i said i do everything on my mac so i'm not putting more than that into a PC when i can just wait for PS3 version. I can build it myself but i work so damn much i'd really just like to order a pre-built. thanks guys!

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PostPosted: Sun Sep 05, 2010 2:52 pm 
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Whisp wrote:
ChickenNoodleSoup wrote:
He'll have to pick up a video card if he gets that pre-built one you linked Whisp (another ~$150ish)


NVIDIA GeForce 9200 is equipped. thats above the minimum requirements


Not quite:

Quote:
Graphics Card: NVIDIA GeForce 9600 series or higher with VRAM 512MB or more, or ATI Radeon 2900 series or higher with VRAM 512MB or more


It's worth pointing out that the older nvidia numbering works like this: The first number is the "series", and the second number is the "power". Though an increase in series makes the card slightly faster (for being new tech) its the second number that denotes how good the card is.

e.g.: A 9400 is not as good as a 8600. The 9400 might be a 9-series, but the 8600's "6" is higher than the 9400's "4".

When it comes to 3D games, anything below x6xx (8600, 9600, etc) simply won't cut it. This all applies to the new range of cards, but they only have 3 digits instead of 4 digits. So a "GTX 280" is better (way better) than a "GTX 420".

I don't use ATI cards so I'm not sure how their numbering works.


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PostPosted: Sun Sep 05, 2010 10:53 pm 
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Rule of thumb, you are correct Ket (in that nVidia video cards under x6xx aren't generally worth your time for 3D gaming), but it's not necessarily always true. That integrated 9200 nvidia card Whisp mentions packs quite a punch for an integrated card, which is able to play games like Crysis on low settings (at a respectable frame rate on lower resolutions - 1440x900 and 1280x720). I know the game isn't the benchmark it used to be but that's still quite an accomplishment.

The same integrated card can also play newer games like COD6 and Fallout 3 at about 30 frames. Obviously don't expect to be playing at higher resolutions like 1680x1050, especially at 1920×1200. I think the same card can run Aion at 1280x720 resolution with medium details, so it should be able to run FFXIV at low details.

I'd still wouldn't recommend it though (and i'm sure you agree with me there, haha), but this is more of a case of YMMV. Alderan seems to be content with the minimum (doesn't want any hassle, time constraints) until the PS3 release so Whisp's link would probably tide him over. If it ends up running too sluggish for his tastes and/or he finds running at lower resolutions and details an eyesore, it's a quick run to local computer shop/new egg online ordering at $150 for a quick upgrade (ATI Radeon HD4850 - under $100, and a better PSU ~$50) that will adequately run FFXIV.

Though if his limit is $800 US (final prices after tax), he can build quite a sweet system (that will run FFXIV smoothly) by getting a better cpu and mobo from the list in my previous post.

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PostPosted: Mon Sep 06, 2010 10:45 am 
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It's a shame really. When people ask "How can I play FFXIV without shelling out more than $300 for a new computer?" the answer should be: "PS3".

Unfortunately that no longer applies until March, which has left a lot of people stuck without a way to play.

I've had to put up with this for years and years though, living in the EU, we used to always get games 6-12 months after everybody else. It's frustrating, because importing the game is not always an option (region locks) -- wasn't the case for FFXI though.


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PostPosted: Mon Sep 06, 2010 1:37 pm 
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Damn ket that suck when you have limit to play but are they allowing more game to come in your UK?

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PostPosted: Mon Sep 06, 2010 2:24 pm 
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Yeah Thanks for the advice guys, I'm not trying to be super super cheap and do a$300 machine or anything like that but i just dont want to drop two grand. Although i doubt i'll be playing at release, I'm in car sales now and so far i'm having a great month this month so i'm thinking next month is when i'll pick up the machine and FFXIV

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 Post subject:
PostPosted: Mon Sep 06, 2010 2:28 pm 
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If you're willing to spend a little bit more...
This is the computer that ppl suggested for me:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.a ... 6883227258
Thread:
http://yarrthepirate.com/v-web/bulletin ... hp?t=12302

It works great so far. It ran the beta without any problems.

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 Post subject:
PostPosted: Tue Sep 07, 2010 12:50 am 
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That's the thing Alderan, you don't ever, ever have to drop $2000 for a very good gaming computer, far from it. Don't let anyone tell you or try to feed you that bollocks. In that range, you are paying premium price for new technology rather than performance/price ratio.

You can get a crazy ass powerful machine for under $1000 (with some serious processing power that will play all today's game on high settings). In the $700-800 range, you can build a very powerful gaming machine that also has some future proof (cross-fire or SLI as well as cpu upgrade). You can build a very good machine in the $600 range (a very respectable gaming computer).

When it comes to budgeting, a lot of this comes down to what resolution you plan to play at, if you're playing at 1680x1050 and less (22" and smaller wide screen monitors), you don't need to shell out for those cards like ATI's 5850s or 5870s or nVidia's GTX 470 or 480's, instead cards like ATI's 5770s or nVidia's GTX 460 will more than suffice. If you plan on playing at like 2560×1600 resolution, then yes you'll probably want to shell out the money on those higher end cards cards (of course if you're on a budget, this resolution is out of the question, haha). For "HD" resolutions 1920×1200 (typical 24" wide-screen monitors) you're looking at cards like nVidia's GIGABYTE GeForce GTX 460 1GB. This is of course for the newer cards, if you want to go crossfire or SLI, it opens up doors for many more options (and often, cheaper alternatives - though you do lose out on things like DirectX 11).

If you have the time or just curious, check out this site (I reference it a lot, a great baseline to start off while you do more research and reading - it's a great site):

http://www.hardware-revolution.com/700-gaming-build/

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PostPosted: Tue Sep 07, 2010 9:59 am 
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Only reason I bought nVidia 470 GTX cuase it's will last me another 5 years to come before I upgrade, 2nd I like everying thing in HD when I can play Blue Ray Movie to Game that like StarCraft 2 I can turn everying on to get best Looks on game. Why I didn't shell out on 480 cuase I don't wanna spend another 200 exrta buck when I can pay less on 470 that can run alone until I add another same for SLI mode. I do research before I buy it.

btw on Starcraft 2 you can turn everyting on with 460 cards.

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PostPosted: Tue Sep 07, 2010 12:05 pm 
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HD5870 > Joo Noodz!

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PostPosted: Tue Sep 07, 2010 5:02 pm 
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Careful of the phrase 'High Definition' panther, how the phrase High Definition is used by the public is a little misleading, hence why I put 'HD' in quotes. High definition (aka HDTV) is resolution that is much higher than standard television resolution. 1280x720 is 'HD' as much as 1920x1080 is 'high defintion' or 2500x1600. You definitely do not need a beast of a card like Murph's ATI HD5870 to run blue ray movies or games at 1280x720 "HD" resolution (not saying it would not be sweet to have, because it definitely would!).

Anyway, I think it's worth reiterating (although painfully obvious I know) to keep in mind that guidelines are just that, a guideline and definitely not something to be taken set in stone where you'd have to heed to the very last letter lest you be cast into the pits of hell and damnation. In the end, the decision is up to you. Only you know what you're willing to sacrifice and concede or pay in terms of functionality and cost. Only you can gauge the value for yourself of not having to upgrade your video card for the next so and so years, or the ease of mind of not having to build your own PC and just having it all ready for you to run. Or the value of sleeping, cuddling next to your gpu every night like Murph does. \:D/

It's great to read you do research panther! It takes a lot of work and time though so it's very much understandable why people are discouraged and dont' bother (technology always changing and advancing does not help one iota, what with the new plethora of options being churned out on a quarterly basis).

I apologize for my filled geekasm filled posts. :x

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PostPosted: Wed Sep 08, 2010 1:04 am 
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hey ChickenNoodleSoup longtime no see or type. Thanks I do best I can what I know or help someone if I know info after I do look ups.

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PostPosted: Wed Sep 08, 2010 3:40 am 
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A I suppose 'last gen' video card might more than suffice. I had a Radeon 4860 card and was able to run the Starcraft 2 beta at max settings, and after I upgraded I put that in my brother's computer, and I think he's able to run the FFXIV beta at decent if not high settings with it. I'd have to ask him though.

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PostPosted: Wed Sep 08, 2010 8:47 am 
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Woot.com has a pretty cheap machine that looks to fit the specs for $579. May need to upgrade the graphics card, but it should at least play the game on the lowest settings for fairly cheap.

If you haven't used woot.com before, their items only last one day and they have a limited amount.

PS - Hi everyone, I'm part of the group resurrecting for FFXIV, I think we (iMoogle/CSB) are looking to play on Kashuan server

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