Final Fantasy XIV: Best AMD Radeon Software Settings
AMD Radeon Software is a fantastic tool that allows us to change our GPU and Final Fantasy XIV settings, fine-tune fan speeds, monitor temperatures, and even overclock/ undervolt / underclock our GPU for the best performance possible in Final Fantasy XIV.
According to AMD, you can get more than 40% more performance out of your existing hardware without spending a dime. It would be a pity not to get this extra performance in Final Fantasy XIV and leave the settings on default.
Below you can find the Best AMD Radeon settings for Final Fantasy XIV, with explanations and suggestions for each setting so you can tweak them to your needs.
Before you optimize the AMD settings for Final Fantasy XIV, I highly recommend uninstalling any previous drivers and downloading and installing the right AMD driver for Final Fantasy XIV on your computer. If you are unsure which driver you should get, you can check out my list of the best AMD drivers for each game, including Final Fantasy XIV.
Best AMD Radeon Settings for Final Fantasy XIV
Assuming you installed the best AMD driver for Final Fantasy XIV, you can go to your Desktop, Right-click, and then select “AMD Software” to open up the panel itself, where you can adjust all the AMD Software settings.
To automatically update your drivers, download the free version of DriverBooster or follow my comprehensive guide on AMD Radeon Software if you want to do it manually.
Best AMD Graphics tab settings for Final Fantasy XIV
To navigate to the Graphics tab, click on Gaming – > Games -> Global Graphics.
Now you should be able to see several default profiles by AMD. Click on the eSports profile since it has some of the best settings by default.
Okay, now you can see a list of settings. We will go through them individually and choose the best AMD settings for Final Fantasy XIV.
Radeon Anti-Lag
Reduces input lag in Final Fantasy XIV by decreasing the time between your clicks and the output you see on the screen.
Recommendation
Keep it Disabled if you have a decent to high-end PC. Only enable it if your PC struggles to run Final Fantasy XIV properly.
Radeon Chill: Dynamically regulates framerate to save power when that’s possible.
Recommendation
Keep it disabled on any desktop computer. You can enable it on your Laptop if you are playing Final Fantasy XIV without a charger.
Radeon Boost
Lowers your resolution dynamically to increase performance.
Recommendation
On medium/High-end PC, keep it disabled since you most probably won’t see any difference.
On the other hand, if you have a really low-end pc or laptop, you can try and Enable it.
Radeon Image Sharpening
Improves visuals for a minimal performance cost( Totally worth it).
Recommendation
Set it to enabled because it will make Final Fantasy XIV look better and sharper, increasing your visibility.
Sharpness: This is a personal preference. I like to keep it between 70% and 90%
Radeon Enhanced Sync
It reduces tearing and lag when Final Fantasy XIV’s fps are higher than your monitor’s refresh rate.
Recommendation
Personally, I use Freesync, so I always keep this disabled since it doesn’t improve tearing or lag in my case. Many users have reported unstable performance when enabling this option; others say it works wonders. The best you can do is test it yourself and see what works best for you!
Wait for Vertical Refresh(V-sync)
Locks your FPS to your monitor’s refresh rate.
Recommendation
Always off.
Anti-Aliasing
Improves image quality by reducing jagged edges from textures
Recommendation
Use application settings and change it from Final Fantasy XIV’s settings.
Anti-Aliasing Method
Improves image quality by reducing aliasing at the edge of the textures
Recommendations
Choose on your own, depending on your needs. I will shortly describe the performance/visual balance so you can decide depending on your playstyle.
- Multisampling: This will give you the best FPS in Final Fantasy XIV but lower quality than the rest.
- Adaptive Multisampling: The middle of these two options in terms of visuals/ performance.
- Supersampling: Best visuals, but it’s graphically demanding, and it will tank your frames in Final Fantasy XIV.
Morphological Anti-Aliasing
It’s an Anti-Aliasing technique that can be combined with the three AA modes. It claims to have a similar effect to SSAA, but less of a performance hit.
Recommendations
Disabled. It’s worth experimenting in Final Fantasy XIV, though and check if you like it.
Anisotropic Filtering
Increases and sharpens the quality of textures on surfaces that appear far away or at odd angles.
Recommendations
Personally, on my RX5700xt, I keep this enabled and 16x.
- Disabled: For the best performance possible in Final Fantasy XIV ( More FPS )
- Anisotropic Filtering Level 2x, 4x, 8x, 16x: Depending on your GPU, make a few tests, and see which one gives you the best quality/performance balance.
Texture Filtering Quality
Changes texture quality depending on the option chosen. It has the lowest impact on visual quality compared to the rest of the settings.
Recommendation
Performance is the best option for Final Fantasy XIV.
Surface Format Optimization
Enables the graphic driver to change rendering surface formats. This results in improved performance and GPU usage, but it’s an outdated setting used years ago and unlikely to increase performance in modern games.
Recommendation
It won’t mess anything up, so you can keep it enabled just in case it helps your performance in Final Fantasy XIV.
Tessellation Mode
Enhances the details of the objects. It dramatically impacts the performance of games that use a high level of tessellation.
Recommendations
- Override application settings – OFF: Best performance possible (Highest FPS)
- Use application settings: The best option for Performance / Quality balance
- x64: Highest visuals quality possible, but has a noticeable impact on GPU ( It depends how much notice it depends on your GPU)
OpenGL Triple Buffering
Not many games/apps use the OpenGL API nowadays, but for those who do(Here is a list), this setting can give you a smoother experience. Final Fantasy XIV doesn’t support OpenGL.
Recommendations
Disabled, unless your game/app support it.
Reset Shader Cache
Stores shaders for games locally on your disk to greatly improve loading times. I recommend you perform a reset every 6-12 months since it eats up a lot of space after some time.
These were the best AMD Radeon settings for Final Fantasy XIV, but we are not done yet. Now let’s move to the Display tab of AMD Radeon Software.
Best AMD Radeon Display Tab settings for Final Fantasy XIV
The display tab is next to the graphics tab, where we previously optimized the settings.
AMD Freesync / AMD Freesync Premium
A technology that synchronizes your monitor’s refresh and graphics card, adapting the monitor’s refresh rate to the GPU.
Recommendations
Enabled. Your monitor and GPU must be free sync compatible for this option to be available. If you have this option, then I highly recommend you enable it since it will make Final Fantasy XIV much smoother if you get lower frames than your monitors refresh rate.
Virtual Super Resolution
This setting opens resolutions higher than your monitor can ( for example, 2k on a 1080p monitor), then shrinks the resolution down to your monitor size, resulting in a crisper picture.
Recommendations
It depends on your needs and GPU capabilities.
GPU Scaling/Scaling Mode
This setting uses your graphics card to fit the resolution of whatever you are running on your screen.
Recommendation
Test it to see what works best for you.
Color depth/Pixel Format/Custom Colors
I prefer to keep the default ones but you can find some tutorials on youtube and play around with these.
Overrides
On this tab, you will find two settings, Voltage Swing and PreEmphasis. If you are experiencing black screens and flickering in Final Fantasy XIV, play around with these two settings by changing their values. If you don’t have any of these issues, I recommend you not change these values.
A quick sum up of the best AMD Software Settings for Final Fantasy XIV
Below you can find a brief summary of the best AMD settings we discussed above in case you want to copy/paste them.
- Radeon Anti-Lag: High-End system: Disabled / Low-End system: Enabled
- Radeon Chill: Disabled
- Radeon Boost: Disabled
- Radeon Image Sharpening: ON + 80%
- Radeon Enhanced Sync: Disabled
- Wait for Vertical Refresh(V-sync): Disabled
- Anti-Aliasing: Use Application Settings
- Anti-Aliasing Method: Personal Preference
- Morphological Anti-Aliasing: Disabled
- Anisotropic Filtering: Enabled + Personal Preference
- Texture Filtering Quality: Performance
- Surface Format Optimization: Enabled
- Tessellation Mode: Use Application Settings
- OpenGL Triple Buffering: Disabled
- Reset Shader Cache: Twice a year.
- AMD Freesync / AMD Freesync Premium: Enabled
- Virtual Super Resolution: Test it
- GPU Scaling/Scaling Mode: Disabled / Test
- Color depth/Pixel Format/Custom Colors: Defaults
- Overrides: Read above.
Other FPS Improvements for Final Fantasy XIV
If you are looking for other ways to have the best possible gaming experience in Final Fantasy XIV, you can check out my guides on boosting FPS in Final Fantasy XIV and lowering ping in Final Fantasy XIV.
Conclusion
Please note that these settings may not be appropriate for every person on this planet, and we all have different playstyles and preferences regarding quality and performance. To summarize, the above AMD Radeon Software settings are intended for gamers who want the absolute best performance possible in Final Fantasy XIV.
