Wondering if Final Fantasy XIV (FFXIV) is CPU or GPU intensive? Well, most modern video games are heavier on the GPU. But there are some titles that like banking on CPU resources. In fact, all video games require a good CPU-GPU pair to run on their best performance. A processor is responsible for the frame rate and a graphics card renders the visuals in a video game. In the case of FFXIV, your system’s CPU will be doing most of the work. Then again, if you plan on playing the game at high resolutions, you’ll need a good GPU as well. It depends on what your expectations from the game are.
FFXIV is the fourteenth installment in the popular series. It is available to play on PC via Steam. FFXIV belongs to the ‘massively multiplayer online’ or the MMO genre and is also a fantasy role-playing game (RPG). Usually, a multiplayer game of that scale tends to be heavy on the CPU. It requires a lot of resources to load up players on a server. However, some players reported that the game also uses considerable GPU resources. So, if you are planning to make do with just a good CPU, we are afraid that’s not going to work. Being an open-world game, FFXIV has beautiful visuals that most fans admire. Without a good GPU, you will not be able to render those stunning visuals, no matter how powerful your CPU is.
What are the system requirements for FFXIV?
The minimum system requirements for FFXIV are as follows-
CPU: Intel Core i5 2.4GHz or higher
GPU: NVIDIA Geforce GTX750 or higher, AMD Radeon R7 260X or higher (720p)
System RAM: 4GB
As you may have realized already, the above set is fine if you want to play FFXIV at 720p. However, that’s not a favorable resolution for playing games in 2022. Most of us own at least a 1080p monitor. Hence, let’s take a look at the recommended system requirements-
CPU: Intel Core i7 3GHz or higher
GPU: NVIDIA Geforce GTX970 or higher, AMD Radeon RX 480 or higher (1080p)
System RAM: 8GB
As you can see, the demands are pretty high. The recommended specs stated above are good enough for 1080p gaming. If you plan on playing the game at higher resolutions and want higher frame rates, you’ll need to opt for a newer generation gaming-optimized CPU (Ryzen 7) and a modern graphics card. You may also need to upgrade your RAM capacity to at least 16GB since MMORPGs tend to eat a lot of system resources whenever you visit highly-populated areas of the open world map.
