Anyone out there have a clear idea on what would be considered the best 3D card to use for FS2002 at this present point in time?Or, if there is a new one due for release soon which promises to be the best?I'm going to shop around for one leading up to Xmas and need one that can more than cope with FS2002, PIC 767, PIC A320 (when it's released) and some 3D shooters.Appreciate any assistance.Best Wishes,767

Right now the ATI Radeon 9700 is the king. Any Geforce 4 4600 Ti is very close but I would check the price between the two. Nvidia is comming out with a ATI killa in December so maybe you should wait so the price will drop on these.................................Best Wishes,crvm

I'm considering the 9700 Pro as well, but I'm curious if anyone has results from just the upgrade to that card. There have been very positive posts from people with new systems that use that card, however I would like to see what impact the card would make on an existing system. I have a P4 1.9 / 512k (OC'd to 2.1) with an ATI 7500 and I see 20 (locked) fps in cruise, but this drops to 8-12 (with stutters) near medium-density airports with AI traffic and PIC. I would consider the cost of the 9700 card if it would bring my landing fps up to 15-20 but with FS 2K2 being processor intensive, I'm not sure that the card alone would do this. Anyone have similar specs who have gone from a GF2 or older ATI to a 9700 or a Ti 44/4600?I'm trying to postpone building a new system until next fall when we see what FS 2k4 will require - which is probably silly because we all know what it will require: hardware that won't be available until summer/fall '04!Thanks

I highly recommend any of the GeForce 4 Ti line of cards. While the ATI RADEON 9700 might be the fastest card out there now, it's very buggy and I've heard many horror stories about it. Suere there some people who are happy with it, but I just wouldn't take that $399 risk.Ryan-Flightpro08 :-cool VATSIM Pilot/ControllerZLA ARTCC Senior Controller (C-3)SAN TRACON Lead [link:www.taxiwaysigns.com|Taxiwaysigns.com] Scenery Designer-----------------------------My "Home Made" System Specs:Intel Pentium 4 2.2GHz ProcessorTurbo Gamer ATX Mid-Tower with 420W Power SupplyEPoX 4G4A Motherboard with Intel 845G ChipsetVisiontek XTASY GeForce4 128MB Ti4600 (Det 30.30 Drivers)512MB PC2100 DDR RAM40GB Matrox 7200RPM Hard DriveWindows XP Home Edition SP1*No CPU or GPU Overclocking*3dMark2001SE Score: 11298-----------------------------Click [link:ftp.avsim.com/library/esearch.php?DLID=&Name=&FileName=&Author=Ryan+Fretwell&CatID=Root]Here to Download my New American Eagle POSKY CRJ-200!

What kind of horror stories have you heard? ATI is typically hardware first, sort out the drivers later type of company so it wouldn't surprise me if there were driver problems this early.Do you use your Visiontek card as a multi-monitor setup? It is important that I be able to retain the ATI-type of multi-monitor with independent displays (vs. stretching the display across all monitors). I do a fair amount of programming for business and need to spread visual studio, Excel, etc. out. When I first got into multi-monitors a few years back, I remember that Nvidia was more difficult than ATI to get a good setup. I think this has been improved with the GF4 and current drivers.I'd rather save $150 and go with the GF4 as long as it can fulfill all of my tasks.

I have indeed used my GeForce 4 Ti4600 with a muili-monitor setup using a DVI-to-VGA converter for my second monitor. nView, the program in which the GeForce 4 chipset manages muiltiple monitors couldn't be easier to use. Simply shut off your computer, plug in your second monitor to the card, and when you start back up, the nView setup wizard will automatically come up, and within 5 minutes, you'll have two monitors ready to go. (I've temporarily had to get get rid of my second monitor, as my father's monitor broke, and so I gave my second monitor to him. Hoping to get another monitor for this system sometime this Chirstmas. :D )As for the 9700. Driver issues of course have plauged the card. A few examples of horror stories and I can of off the top of my head are of John Taveldale, and almost every CFS3 user. John, one of the head guys of POSKY, returned his 9700 within a week of purcahse and went back to his Ti4600. CFS3 users who used ATI driven cards have had "Driver not Compatible" errors (grandit, some nVidia users have seen this as well, but not as often.) I've also had three friends who bought the 9700, and all three within one week of purchase returned the card. There've also been many unhappy people over at www.guru3d.com. Overall, the 9700 is on paper the best card out there now, but it by no means the best card out there if you sit down and look at the whole picture (drivers, stability, quality, etc.) Go with the GeForce 4 Tixxxx, and you'll be thrilled. (Or even wait until nVidia unleashes their new card, the NV30 sometime late this year or early next year. :-) )EDIT: Fixed a bunch of spelling errors. ;-)Ryan-Flightpro08 :-cool VATSIM Pilot/ControllerZLA ARTCC Senior Controller (C-3)SAN TRACON Lead [link:www.taxiwaysigns.com|Taxiwaysigns.com] Scenery Designer-----------------------------My "Home Made" System Specs:Intel Pentium 4 2.2GHz ProcessorTurbo Gamer ATX Mid-Tower with 420W Power SupplyEPoX 4G4A Motherboard with Intel 845G ChipsetVisiontek XTASY GeForce4 128MB Ti4600 (Det 30.30 Drivers)512MB PC2100 DDR RAM40GB Matrox 7200RPM Hard DriveWindows XP Home Edition SP1*No CPU or GPU Overclocking*3dMark2001SE Score: 11298-----------------------------Click [link:ftp.avsim.com/library/esearch.php?DLID=&Name=&FileName=&Author=Ryan+Fretwell&CatID=Root]Here to Download my New American Eagle POSKY CRJ-200!

Thanks for the info. Other than the card, your system is almost identical to mine however your 3dMark score is nearly three times mine! What kind of frame rates do you get and what scenery are you using it with? Has Visiontek solved the XP full screen refresh-rate problem or do you use the RefreshForce ap? Do you notice any frame rate change when extending the PIC pedestal, FMC, etc over to the second screen?It's too bad to hear about ATI. This should have been ATI's chance to gain - or at least maintain - market share. I like the idea of two graphics chip makers competing. I have always had great luck with their products in a 2D environment but it looks like this time I'll need to look seriously at the GF4 or wait for the NV30.Thanks again,Dennis

Hi 767 :)Just buy the 'Point of View' Geforce 4 XP!!!.....You can easely clock this card as a TI4600!!!.... http://www.pointofview-online.com ...I buyed my for $220 in Holland thats cheap for a Geforce 4NOTE:Flightsimulator uses most of the CPU and not the GPU!!!....so in other words if you want more framerate's just buy a faster CPU!!!So if you have the latest AMD or Intel CPU a TI4200 XP will do the job!!!....do not use a TI4200 or higher on a system with only a 600mHz CPU, thats useles.goodluck with it!fmcdude

A Ti4200 is a good deal if you're looking for an interim card.

Hi, its no use to take a look at 3DMark. FS uses almost only CPU force and not GPU force. The game's used in 3DMark are all GPU based.......Flightsim is not!Having the latest P4 with a GF TI4600 is no use....the GF TI4200 wil do the same job!I took this test with a GF TI4600 and a GF TI4200 of a friend of my.There was NO change in framerate using both cards with FS on the latest P-4!By the way: my card is a TI4200 clockt as a real TI4600! ;)Bestfmcdude

My 3DMark score is that high because it was recorded using nVidia's new det 40 series, which boosted 3DMark scores like 1000-2000 points. ;-)In FS2k2 on this rig, I've seen everything from 8FPS to 100FPS, it just depends on where I am. Overall, I think FS2k2 still should run faster, but I'm just picky. :-)Ryan-Flightpro08 :-cool VATSIM Pilot/ControllerZLA ARTCC Senior Controller (C-3)SAN TRACON Lead ASRC (Advanced Simulated Radar Client) Beta Tester-----------------------------My "Home Made" System Specs:Intel Pentium 4 2.2GHz ProcessorTurbo Gamer ATX Mid-Tower with 420W Power SupplyEPoX 4G4A Motherboard with Intel 845G ChipsetVisiontek XTASY GeForce4 128MB Ti4600 (Det 30.30 Drivers)512MB PC2100 DDR RAM40GB Matrox 7200RPM Hard DriveWindows XP Home Edition SP1*No CPU or GPU Overclocking*3dMark2001SE Score: 11298-----------------------------Click [link:ftp.avsim.com/library/esearch.php?DLID=&Name=&FileName=&Author=Ryan+Fretwell&CatID=Root]Here to Download my American Eagle POSKY CRJ-200!

Oh, and as for the refresh rate problem...It's nothing Visiontek or any video card company from either nVidia or ATI can fix. It's part of XP's codeing that was implemented to prevent games from upping up sombody's refresh rate a possibly breaking their monitor. While I think it's annoying, it's fairy easy to fix, so it's no big deal.Ryan-Flightpro08 :-cool VATSIM Pilot/ControllerZLA ARTCC Senior Controller (C-3)SAN TRACON Lead ASRC (Advanced Simulated Radar Client) Beta Tester-----------------------------My "Home Made" System Specs:Intel Pentium 4 2.2GHz ProcessorTurbo Gamer ATX Mid-Tower with 420W Power SupplyEPoX 4G4A Motherboard with Intel 845G ChipsetVisiontek XTASY GeForce4 128MB Ti4600 (Det 30.30 Drivers)512MB PC2100 DDR RAM40GB Matrox 7200RPM Hard DriveWindows XP Home Edition SP1*No CPU or GPU Overclocking*3dMark2001SE Score: 11298-----------------------------Click [link:ftp.avsim.com/library/esearch.php?DLID=&Name=&FileName=&Author=Ryan+Fretwell&CatID=Root]Here to Download my American Eagle POSKY CRJ-200!