I hate hardware... help understanding things?

[Aragarthiel]

I've been looking into starting an MMORPG that a good friend of mine plays, and while I know the system requirements, I don't know how to find what my laptop has, except RAM, bit version, and available hard drive space. I need to know the CPU, graphics card, sound card, and DirectX. I'm not sure what new equipment I'd have to buy, if any, and I'd like to know before I go spending money on the game.

I'm using Windows 8.1.

[SteeleDragon78]

If you are using windows 7, you can find that info by going to the control panel, selecting performance information and tools, then advanced tools from the left side, then veiw advanced system details, which is the 6th option down. then you can select from the components tree on the left. as for the directx my googlefu gives this: Open DirectX Diagnostic Tool by clicking the Start button , typing dxdiag in the search box, and then pressing Enter.

[EricKei]

You can also use CPU-Z (aka CPU-ID), which presents the same basic info in a slightly more digestible form.

Note that laptops generally have onboard graphics, which tend to be functional but not all that powerful. many "gaming" laptops have better ones built-in, but they tend to be quite pricey. It could be that your system will run the game just fine, but at low graphics settings. See if the game has a benchmark or free demo to try out, and experiment with that.

Go ahead and post the system specs once you know them, and also, what game is it?

[Aragarthiel]

Final Fantasy XIV online, it requires (screenshot for laziness):



I have:
Windows 8.1 64-bit
The sticker on my laptop says AMD E1 so I'm assuming that's what the CPU thingy is
3.43GB of RAM available
400+GB of space available
AMD Radeon HD 8210
1366x768 resolution
Good internet
Unknown sound card
DirectX 11

And I don't know what might actually effect game play, since I know some things (like resolution) are for optimal game play, not necessarily a requirement of it.

[Gizmo]

Could try this tool: http://www.systemrequirementslab.com/cyri

For windows 8.1 there are a few threads about it running or not but seems to work for most with a few outliers that could be something other than the operating system. This is one thread that has a hint that stands out though: http://ffxi.allakhazam.com/forum.htm...12467588909672

[ApolloSZ]

Belarc Advisor is a good free program for that. It is simply pulling information that you could locate, if you knew where/how to do so, but puts it in a nice to read format, and even gives license keys (again, all info already on the PC).

With your card, I think ATI have a tool you can download to confirm your graphics card (That the main company for Radeon) specs, which will help get correct drivers for it too.

[EricKei]

I played FFXIV: ARR for about a year, before some wrist issues and unrelated general malaise caused me to quit. I loved it while I played it, though!

The only likely issue is gonna be that graphics system, everything else is plenty -- and on a laptop, the graphics generally cannot be upgraded. As it happens, I'm glad you mentioned it, as they have a benchmark utility with a scoring system which will show you in no uncertain terms if your system can handle the game. As a bonus, you can choose to import the appearance/design of character you make in the benchmark into the actual game!

It's a good way to test things out (and to see how gorgeous the game looks in motion, as it's all rendered in the actual game engine), as it uses the same basic graphics setting options as the game itself. Run it on the lowest and highest settings, then somewhere in between. A score of 6000 or better is about what your system is gonna be optimal for; Under 4000 means it'll be playable, but not by much, and may not be suitable for raiding or areas with tons of other players. Below 3000ish should be playable on the absolute bottom-barrel settings, and if you can't break 3000 on the lowest settings available in the benchmark...well...you'll have to get another system with a "gaming" graphics card to play it at any decent level. Sorry.

Benchmark Download link here: http://na.finalfantasyxiv.com/benchmark/

For comparison: My 5-year-old i3 2.3ghz CPU, with 8GB RAM, and a GeForce 660 video card can run the benchmark at maxed-out settings at 1080p resolution with a score close to 10,000. Smooth as silk. Note that, as an MMO, network latency will be an issue in certain big fights (I'm looking at you, Titan).

http://www.arrstatus.com/ Is a good resource -- it tracks when servers are actually up or down, and you can toggle the server names to see their IP addresses. Use that for PING and TRACERT to get an idea of your potential latency/lag situation. The North American servers are all in Montreal, and I was able to maintain a Ping of around 90-110 from the Deep South US. The ONLY fights where this didn't cut the mustard were in the aforementioned thrice-damned Titan fights. (Yes, that is the actual music from the fight - Lyrics here). No worries, though, that video shows one of the easier-difficulty versions of the fight....

[Aragarthiel]

As it happens, I'm glad you mentioned it, as they have a benchmark utility with a scoring system which will show you in no uncertain terms if your system can handle the game. As a bonus, you can choose to import the appearance/design of character you make in the benchmark into the actual game!

OMG I LOVE YOU

For comparison:

/snip

No worries, though, that video shows one of the easier-difficulty versions of the fight....

This is part of my issue with hardware- I can understand software well enough to teach me to use it but all I can gather from this paragraph is that the servers might cause me lag and there's a way to find out how bad it'll be. I don't mean to sound like an idiot but all of my computer classes have been on how to use software.

[EricKei]

Glad I could help! (I made a few edits midstream, ya may wanna re-read).

You can access these from the command prompt:

Ping lets you tell how much latency (delay) there is when communicating with the game server. Use in the form of

ping ###.###.###.###

Try it a few times, at different times of the day -- Ideally, you want this under 100

Tracert (aka trace route) shows you the network path between you and the game server. If there are more than 8 or so locations, or if any of them mention the company "Level 3", that may cause issues in congested fights such as Titan. Nothing you can really do about that short of paying for a monthly Tunnelling/VPN service to bypass them, which may not be worth the trouble nor cost. Once you get that far, run the basic Titan fight with friends who can walk you through it. Even lag-free, it's a pain in the butt. use the same basic format:

tracert ###.###.###.###

The main symptom from high latency issues will be things like being hit by enemy attacks AFTER you have moved your character out of the area of effect, due to the server not getting your movement command in time. In Titan, in particular, this can mean instant death. Until you reach the major endgame fights, though, this will not be an issue.

Buuuuut, on the upside: FFXIV will start supporting Directx11 -- which your computer can use -- with the Heavensward expansion coming out in a few weeks; I'm guessing that's when you'll be starting. Should make it even prettier ^_^

Go ahead and run that benchmark a few times at different graphics settings and post the score results (with setting name) here. I should be able to help you get an idea of the best setting to use in the actual game from that. Try not to have anything else running at the time if you can.

[Aragarthiel]

So, I run PING and TRACERT while playing the game? Or before I start? Other than that, I've got it. The benchmark is downloading now, so I'll be sure to post back when I get the results from it.

UPDATE: It got downloaded but I can't run it because it requires DirectX 9. I get this message when I run the program from the main folder (ffxiv-heavensward-bench):


And when I go into ffxiv-heavensward-bench>game and I run ffxiv_dx11...


I KNOW I have DirectX 11

Another update: I fixed the above issue (redownload +reinstall DirectX), but my benchmark score on default settings was 550. Ouch.

[EricKei]

DX is backwards-compatible. If DX11 is working, everything prior should do fine.

550? Oh dear >_< That's not even playable. Try the absolute minimal settings and see what happens. If the score doesn't break 3000, I really would not recommend trying to run it on that system. Maybe there's another you could use? If you decide to get a new one...well...I don't know enough about laptops to provide a useful answer. Sorry. I'm sure others who frequent this part of the board could help with that.

For ping/tracert -- If you're able to get access to a comp that can run the game smoothly, these will become factors:

Go to the start menu. Type in cmd but do NOT press enter. You should see "command prompt" or "cmd.exe" as one of the choices. Right click it and choose Run as Administrator, then allow it when Windows asks you to do so.

You should see an old DOS-style text box.

Type this to see your Ping (I picked a random North American server from Aether cluster - just stick with that if you wanna try others, it's the only one I know 100% for sure is a NA cluster):

ping 199.91.189.30

Try it 2 or 3 times and lemme know the results show in the last line (minimum, maximum, average). Also, lemme know if the "Packets" line shows anything other than zero in the "lost" entry

Type this to see your tracert:

tracert 199.91.189.30

This is mostly to get an idea of how far your data must travel to get to the game server; basically, how many stops along the train route Lemme know how many have "Level3" in the name (if any) and how many lines are shown (they're numbered) (don't post the IP addresses). Level3's servers are known for slowing things down a bit.

[Aragarthiel]

DX11 is working fine now.

Minimal settings gave me 985, with all other programs closed out through Task Manager, and set to full screen. I suspect my processor.

I used PING for the server my friend plays on. All I got was this: Packets: Sent = 4, Received = 0, Lost = 4 <100% loss>

[EricKei]

Your system has onboard graphics (in English: the video is part of the CPU, and shares resources (including RAM) with it). I'm 99% sure that's the culprit. Here's a comparison chart:
http://www.videocardbenchmark.net/gp...Radeon+HD+8210

Eep. Score of 252. The card I use would rate around 5,200 on that scale, and it's about 3 generations old at this point. Sorry to be the bearer of bad news, here x.x Not your fault. Very very few laptops were built with anything but desktop productivity/web browsing in mind, and your system is plenty good for that.

Nothing much you can to about it aside from replacing the system. The vast majority of laptop graphics are in that same range, save for the overpriced "gamer" laptops that I know nothing about.

[Aragarthiel]

Welp. That sucks. :/ Thanks for helping, though!

[EricKei]

Saw your ninja edit

100% loss? Eugh... the servers are up, so you're not getting through *at all*, which is odd, to say the least. I take it the Ping number was either astronomical or just not present?