When I learned my favorite time-sink MMO, Final Fantasy XIV, was getting a graphics overhaul with the new Dawntrail expansion, I decided I needed to find out exactly what hardware would give me the best experience with the updated textures.
Final Fantasy XIV: Dawntrail is the 7th iteration of the Square Enix MMO, though the 1.0 version of the game is no longer playable, and for good reason. However, the revamped 2.0 base game and five subsequent expansions are all still playable. And as the 7.0 iteration begins its post-launch life cycle, we're looking at the hefty graphic update that came alongside the Dawntrail launch.
While I would have loved to test absolutely every possible system I could get my hands on, I decided to stick to the more common configuration options out of deference to you, dear readers. I'm not writing for an audience made up exclusively of my own clones, after all.
So we're pitting the PlayStation 5 graphics against the Nvidia RTX 4080 and the RTX 4060 to see just what platform has the best graphics. To keep things as close to repeatable as possible, I ran the same level 85 dungeon, "The Skydeep Cenote," on the same character, on the same job, with the same party of NPC companions. Outside of a benchmark, this is as close as I could get to scientific evaluation of the game.
The results may surprise you.
PlayStation 5 graphics
Sony's PlayStation 5 may have older hardware compared to brand new gaming PCs, but the 3.5 GHz AMD Zen 2 processor, 10.3 teraflop RDNA 2 graphics card, and 16GB of memory still manage to provide a seamless gaming experience. Sure, you may be capped at a 120Hz refresh rate, but most games don't manage to push that number that high.
The graphics update for FFXIV: Dawntrail is mainly centered around character hair and face textures, the appearance of skin and hair on characters, the appearance of metallic material on specific gear, the appearance of fog, the appearance of water and waves, the appearance of distant terrain, soft shadows, shadows used in the background of some cutscenes, and changes in lighting due to the passage of time. So, a lot of the tweaks are subtle, but when you take a moment to look at characters in closeups, it becomes obvious how much more detail is captured in the 7.0 graphics update.
The PS5 version of the game has never looked so stunning.
Nvidia RTX 4080 graphics
I used the Lenovo Legion Pro 7i (Gen 9) for my RTX 4080 laptop. With an Intel Core i9-14900HX processor, Nvidia RTX 4080 GPU, and 32GB of memory the Pro 7i should be more than powerful enough to handle a game that re-launched in 2013. And it is, don't get me wrong. The game plays smoothly even with the graphics settings toggled to Desktop (High) settings, though I primarily played with the Laptop (High) preset enabled on the Legion Pro 7i.
While you still get those nice lighting and texture changes with the 4080-powered laptop running the game, there isn't much here that isn't available in the PS5 version.
Nvidia RTX 4060 graphics
I used the Dell XPS 14 OLED as my RTX 4060 machine. With an Intel Core Ultra 7 155H, Nvidia RTX 4060 GPU, and 32GB of memory, the Dell XPS 14 may not be a gaming laptop, but it can do some basic gaming. One thing I noticed with the XPS 14 was that I had to toggle my graphics settings down to the Laptop (Standard) preset to avoid some stuttering, especially as the laptop got hotter after a lot of use or in high-traffic areas where server connection issues could easily crop up.
The revamped facial animations and textures in the RTX 4060 version are certainly still gorgeous, but they lack a bit of depth compared to the RTX 4080 and PS5 versions.
Bottom line
Everyone is going to game on the platform they like best, whether that's a fully future-proof desktop PC with an Nvidia RTX 4090 GPU, a premium laptop with a discrete graphics card like the XPS 14, a high-end gaming laptop with an RTX 4080 like the Legion Pro 7i, a PS5, or even a MacBook Pro.
But if, like me, you have options, it's always good to know what the best version of a game is. And for Final Fantasy XIV: Dawntrail, you can't beat the combination of top-tier graphics and low price-point of the PlayStation 5. After all, a $499 console is a bargain compared to a $3,000+ gaming laptop or custom desktop PC. And despite the extra power of the RTX 4080 in the Legion Pro 7i (Gen 9), there isn't much visible difference between the 4080 and the PS5's RDNA 2 GPU.
