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Yunas13 · **06-21-2015, 10:07 PM**

Guys,
I'm not sure if this goes here but I thought I would post here and ask. Smile

Â
I need some advice on a laptop/desktop to get. I want to give my desktop I've got to my dad as his desktop is 5 to 6 years old and it's acting slow and it's freezing up.Â

I want to get a desktop that is powerful enough to handle FFXIV with ease. I love writing, watching movies/music on the computer. I do want a laptop to but I don't know if it can last just as long as a desktop does. I run the computers hard (everyday I play. Either in the morning or in the evening.) I will look at either but I know I can order one online but I prefer to pick one up at the store. My max spending is $2500.Â Smile

Â What would you recommend? Â I would really appreciate the help. I'm not in a rush and if you have anymore questions, post away. Thank you!

Aysun · **06-21-2015, 10:44 PM**

I'm a screamin' lunatic about my new laptop:Â http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.as...6834233078

I did a lot of research and comparison shopping for different laptops and this one is just brilliant. It's "out of stock" but there are similar models by gigabyte that are just slightly different that you should take a look at!

Other than being a little loud fan-wise (which you'll never notice if you wear headphones a lot like I do), this thing is a beast with a ton of space. I run on High (Laptop) settings capped at 60FPS just for the sake of ease, but it can run on max with no problems. I threw ARR on the SSD and store everything else on the regular HDD. It has G-keys which are GREAT and is super light for being a 17".

Yunas13 · **06-22-2015, 01:02 AM**

http://www.amazon.com/G751JT-DH72-17-3-I...sus+g751jt Â

What about this? It gets a lot of good reviews and someone say it is a beast! One reviewer says they can run Wow on Ultra, but can this handle FFXIV on max settings? I've got a NVIDIA GeForce 550 Ti video card on my desktop and I'm running at 30-49 fps.

Coatleque · **06-22-2015, 01:07 AM**

With a budget of $2500? Skip the laptop.
You can get a 980 GTX for ~$500-$700.
Skip the i7 because you won't use hyperthreading, save money and get an i5
8 GB RAM, only get more if you plan on heavy multitasking
Motherboard costs ~$200
240 GB SSD for around $200-250 (price may have dropped).

All that and you're still at less than that $1700 laptop with a system that will blow it out of the water.

Gaspard · **06-22-2015, 01:20 AM**

Here's a Tip: (One I follow myself)

Alot of avid Hardcore games update their gaming systems constantly. Amongst those, alot of them regularly discard their old machines (Atleast by their standards) Through E-bay etc. Mind you; often times, what counts them as 'outdated' is for the common gamer still a beast machine.Â

An example;

I currently have a;

AMD FX 8150 8-Core CPU, with 16GB of RAM,Â
A Radeon HD 7800
And a bunch of hard drives from which one is an SSD

I bought this whole thing for a joking 400 EUR around two years ago. The only thing I had to do is modify the case because the guy that put it together more or less was braindead when putting it together (not enough air-exhausts on the case, the whole thing was like a sealed heat-gathering cube)

Long story short; Don't spend all that cash simply because you want all the parts to be brand new. you can get an awesome, albeit used gaming PC for less then half it's worth, if you only look around enough.

Meena · **06-22-2015, 01:49 AM**

There are a lot of websites you can follow to build a new pc.

Every few years you may need an upgrade but you'll need at least 900 USD to buy a decent gaming computer you can build up over the years.

I find that a PC has less isues and a logner life than a laptop, a laptop may only last you 1-2 years.

Helpful Link 1
Helpful link 2 - ask here too

Aysun · **06-22-2015, 02:32 AM**

Honestly this is the first time I've dropped this kind of money into a computer, desktop or no. But after building my last desktop on a tight budget and finding myself REALLY wanting a laptop this go around, this was my best choice. ^^ (There's nothing like laying in bed RPing late into the night OHGOD MY SLEEP CYCLES WHY, LAPTOP).

Good luck with whatever you choose!

Yunas13 · **06-22-2015, 06:23 AM**

I wish I could build a desktop but I've not a clue where to start or what parts to get. The desktop I'm playing on now is a built one but I didn't build it, my brother-in-law did as a Christmas present to me 2 years ago.Â

I've decided to go and buy a new video card instead of buying a whole new computer like you all suggested. I'm clueless on what to get as I don't know computers that well.
Want something that can play FFXIV at max settings and not lag at all.

I've already experienced twice lag in cutscenes and I don't like it at all. Sad

Nebbs · **06-22-2015, 08:08 AM**

A few little things, as you don't need a beast to run this game. Decent GFX, CPU, HD and you should be set. After that it is $ into making it last to the next crippling games Smile

. As for me I tend to hit the price point of bang/buck and refresh/upgrade piece by piece.

I run a GTX 960 and that handles the game on max, I could go higher but that would also mean a new MB. They are cheap and get basic OC versions.

I run 8GB RAM, that is enough.

Rather than a SSD I use a Momentus XT Hybrid. They are dirt cheep and you really do notice a difference over bare HDs, sort of a half way house to an SSD but a fraction of the cost.

And yes get an i5, based on the price point. My CPU is just a 3.4GHz i5-3570k

I pull 60fps in the game (I limit it to 60 max), it dips to 50 on huge populated areas etc.. I run it on max settings.

I run three monitors also and have other things running at the same time TV, Browser, Skype etc..

I also use the Nvidia Shadowplay that captures game video with no impact.

C'kayah Polaali · **06-22-2015, 07:30 PM**

I'd recommend a desktop, too. You get far more gaming computer for your buck!

If you're not comfortable building the thing yourself, here's a hybrid option I've taken in the past:

Buy a prebuilt computer with a crappy video card. Do a little research so you know that it has decent parts. For instance, the CyberpowerPC GUA880 is a decent cheap machine with a good motherboard, good processor, reasonable memory and HDD, but a crappy video card and iffy power supply. But it's also only $620. Replacing the video card with a GTX 960 for $240 and a Corsair CX 500 power supply for $60 will get you a really solid gaming system that'll let you run the DX11 client at max graphics for $920 plus tax. Add a 240GB SSD drive for $95 to reduce your zone load time to almost nothing, and you're looking at $1015 plus tax, and a system that will last you for years with decent upgradability. You do have to swap the power supply and video card, but those are relatively simple compared to building a new system.

McBeefâ„¢ · **06-22-2015, 07:51 PM**

I suggest just building one or buying a nice desktop.

C'kayah's suggestion isn't a horrible one, but if your endpoint is 2500, you might as well get something nice. Any prebuilt PC in the 1000 dollar range is going to have sacrifices, and while you can put some nice stuff in there, its better to make one with /all/ nice stuff.

My current set up was under 2000, including the dual 27 inch monitors on the swinging brackets, and the new keyboard. It's very powerful, but specs don't tell the whole story, it has advantages you won't get from a bunch of flash components thrown into a cheap case, such as...

[Image: t05uZjnl.jpg]

- Proper case with removable dust filters, fan controllers, and noise cancelling.

- 850 watt PSU with modular cables

- Aftermarket CPU cooler

- A cat to sleep on your desk

- Multiple hard drives including an 512 GB SSD.

Basically you get something reliable and easy to maintain as well as powerful. My old PC from 2010 is still playing this game at max, mostly because it has good parts. If you are interested in building your own PC, this is a good place to start. However if you have 0 interest then I'd just buy a nice one.

https://pcpartpicker.com/

Yunas13 · **06-22-2015, 08:14 PM**

Ok, I really like what I got and I hope you all think this is a good change. Smile

-I upgraded my 19 inch monitor to a 27 inch 1920x1080 Full HD Acer monitor (FFXIV looks even more gorgeous now)

-I'm upgrading my graphics card from a Geforce GTX 550 TI to a EGVA Geforce GTX 970 (it has 4GB GDDR5, ACX 2.0 (Active Cooling Xtreme) +140 MHz GPU Clock) and replacing my 400w power supply to a 500w one.

My CPU is the same which is an AMD Athlon ™ II X3 450 Processor.

All of this is foreign lingo to me and I would love to learn what it all means, but I've been told my new video card is considered beefy or beasty. So what do you think?

McBeefâ„¢ · **06-22-2015, 09:14 PM**

I have that monitor! It is very pretty.

FFXIV Computer/Laptop sugesstion

RPC has moved! These pages have been kept for historical purposes