The FINAL FANTASY XIV: Dawntrail Official Benchmark, a new benchmark that allows players to see how well the fifth expansion for FFXIV might run on their PCs, is now available for download ahead of the game’s release on July 2, 2024, Square Enix has announced. In addition to new in-game areas and enemies, the benchmark also serves as a preview for the MMORPG’s graphical update, which will introduce enhanced textures, shadow resolution, and more.
Download link and requirements:
- FFXIV: Dawntrail Benchmark (3.92 GB)
- Windows 10 64 bit, Windows 11 64 bit
- Graphics card and drivers compatible with DirectX 11
- Minimum resolution of 1024×720
Highlights include:
- New visual enhancements (Dawntrail will feature the game’s first graphical update)
- Female option for Hrothgar race in character creator
- High-definition 4K (3840×2160) resolution support
- High-quality, 5.1 surround sound
- Multilingual support (i.e., Japanese, English, German, French)
The graphical update promises:
- Enhanced screen-wide aesthetic appeal
- Enhanced texture and shadow resolution
- Improved material qualities
- Preservation of the existing style
A look at some of the new graphics:
Additional info regarding graphics settings:
- Five graphics presets are available: Maximum, High (Desktop), High (Laptop), Standard (Desktop), and Standard (Laptop).
- Selecting “Save as Preset” will allow you to save up to three custom graphics settings. You can also include a comment when saving preset settings, which will display as a description to the left of the dropdown menu.
- Players who have already installed FINAL FANTASY XIV may choose to import their graphics settings. After selecting “Import My Settings,” the “My Settings” option will appear in the preset dropdown menu.
- Selecting “Default” will restore all default settings and delete all saved presets.
- Four monitor resolutions are available: 1024×768, 1280×720, 1920×1080, and 3840×2160. Other resolution options may be available depending on your monitor.
- High graphics and resolution settings will place more stress on your system.
- Disable the logo and score display for a full, unobstructed view of the benchmark scenes. Please note that your computer performance will not be scored while this setting is enabled, and no results screen will be shown. This setting will also prevent scoring when enabled alongside the option to allow looped testing without a frame rate cap.
- To use NVIDIA DLSS graphics upscaling requires a graphics card which supports the feature.
Square Enix on its new benchmark:
The benchmark software offers users the ability to create a character, or import an existing one, to be featured in the benchmark’s real-time cutscenes. In addition to the existing playable races in the character creator, users will be able to create female Hrothgar: a new playable race debuting alongside Dawntrail. The appearance data of characters created using the benchmark can also be saved for use in the Windows version of the game.