Most newly released games require the best computers around, this is a given and Final Fantasy XIV is no exception; however, you don’t need to see Eorzea “the way it is supposed to be seen,” even if this might make your experience much more comfortable–what if you can’t afford the newest and bestest machine available? Don’t worry about it, the story and experience of simply playing a Final Fantasy MMORPG is sure to give you loads of fun, especially if you’re a previous fan of the series. Heck, my PC is three years old and I can run the game on almost maxed out settings without too much lag and a more-or-less steady frame rate of 18-26 frames per second, often piking at 34-40 (might be more since I have set the limit of FRAPS to 40 FPS)–and my PC barely reaches the minimum requirements!
If you don’t know your computer’s specs, feel free to just use the official benchmark supplied by Square Enix, it will tell you if you’re computer will be able to run Final Fantasy XIV and if so, how well. Click here to go there now.
Minimum requirementsIt’s the minimum… duh.
| Operating System | Windows XP SP3, Windows Vista 32-bit SP2 or 64-bit, or Windows 7 32-bit or 64-bit* |
|---|---|
| Processor (CPU) | Intel® Core™ 2 Duo (2.0GHz) or faster; or AMD® Athlon™ X2 (2.0GHz) or faster |
| Memory (RAM) | 1.5GB or more for Windows XP, or 2GB or more for Windows Vista or Windows 7 |
| Storage (HDD/SDD) | 6GB or more to download, 15GB or more to install. |
| Video/Graphics Card (GPU) | NVIDIA® GeForce® 9600 series or higher with 512MB VRAM or equivalent, or ATI® Radeon™ 2900 series or higher with 512MB VRAM or equivalent |
| Sound/Audio Card | DirectSound® compatible sound card (DirectX® 9.0c or higher) |
| Internet Connection | Broadband internet connection |
| Monitor Resolution | 1280×720 or higher; 32-bit |
| DirectX® | DirectX® 9.0c |
| Controls/Input | Keyboard, Mouse and/or Gamepad (e.g. Xbox 360 Wireless Controller for Windows) |
* 64-bit operating systems will run in WoW64 (Windows on Windows 64) mode.
Recommended requirementsIf possible, you want surpass this.
| Operating System | Windows 7 32-bit or 64-bit* |
|---|---|
| Processor (CPU) | Intel® Core™ i7 (2.66GHz) or faster |
| Memory (RAM) | 4GB or more |
| Storage (HDD/SDD) | 6GB or more to download, 15GB or more to install. |
| Video/Graphics Card (GPU) | NVIDIA® GeForce® GTX 460 with 768MB VRAM or equivalent |
| Sound/Audio Card | DirectSound® compatible sound card (DirectX® 9.0c or higher) |
| Internet Connection | Broadband Internet connection |
| Monitor Resolution | 1280×720 or higher; 32-bit |
| DirectX® | DirectX® 9.0c |
| Controls/Input | Keyboard, Mouse and/or Gamepad (e.g. Xbox 360 Wireless Controller for Windows) |
* 64-bit operating systems will run in WoW64 (Windows on Windows 64) mode.
Recommended settingsRecommended by Square Enix!
So apparently Square Enix have some recommendations themselves; suprisingly they are telling us not to use one of the settings they included in the game for it to run smooth. Huh.
| Window Size | 1280×720 |
|---|---|
| Display Mode | Windowed |
| Ambient Occlusion | Off |
| Depth of Field | On |
| Shadow Detail | Standard |
| Multisampling | 4x MSAA |
| Buffer Size | Window Size |
| Texture Quality | High |
| Texture Filtering | High |
You can access these settings through the “FINAL FANTASY XIV Config” (“FINAL FANTASY XIV Beta Version Config” during the open beta) which you should be able to find in the Start menu > All Programs in a folder called SQUARE ENIX > FINAL FANTASY XIV (it’s called SQUARE ENIX > FINAL FANTASY XIV Beta Version).
Now, please enjoy playing Final Fantasy XIV on the highest settings your computer can handle and enter the most beautiful land you will ever witness, namely Eorzea.