Just installed the ATI 9800 Pro, and was wondering if anyone can suggest what settings to use for its properties in the Control Panel.Thanks,

For Open GL & Direct3D settings tabs the following:Anti-Aliasing: Application PreferenceAnisotropic Filtering: Application PreferenceTexture Preference: High QualityMipmap Detail Level: High QualityWait For Vertical Synch: Always On (Otherwise you will get tearing)TRUFORM: Application PreferenceI would turn Anisotropic Filtering On Manually to 2X or 4X depending if the application supports it automatically or not. Also I run at 1600 X 1200 X 32 for the most part and if the application does not support antialiasing then I turn it on Manually to 2X. However, Splinter Cell has problems with it manually enabled so I found the above settings seem to work the best for everything including FS2002.

Howard,Try 4XAA and 16XAF. You may want to start w text preference and Mipmap at quality level and turn up one by one. I was always under the impression that vertical sync should be off. Could be wrong. I don't see 1600x1200x32 in my display options. Try running at 1600x1200x16. Should you need more info do a search under the MS FS tips and tricks section.Bobby

Slightly OT but the splinter cell/FSAA issue is easily fixed, open your splinterCell.ini and look for the section [D3DDrv.D3DRenderDevice]then add the lineLevel_of_Anisotropy=0and presto, FSAA with no light bleed through.

Have you noticed a great improvement in FS2K2? What was your previous card?I've been debating getting the 9800 or the 9700, it's a $100 difference, and is it worth it? I figure either is better than the GF3 Ti 200 I have now.Lobaeux

Bobby, I have always thought of vertical synch always being off as well as far as forever. The cards are updating in between refresh rates which will give you a look like graphics when they first came out on the PC called tearing. VERY NOTICABLE in Nascar Racing Season 2003 when turned off. I appreciate the Splinter Cell tip and of course the more Anisotropic Filtering you have the less "BLURRIES" you will have. Your textures will be in sharper looking for a further distance out. Of course any upping of AF or AA will reduce FPS. At 1600 X 1200 there isn't much need to kill your FPS by going any higher than that. I have Dual 21" monitors as well as a 19" and it is very smooth at 2X AA and 1600 X 1200. EVEN 1280 X 1024 is acceptable. I don't MIND the defocus of textures at the range they are but 2X or 4X AF will fix that up.I like smoothness, quality, antijaggies, and LOTS of FPS so my response is what IMO & tastes have found to be good ALL AROUND without having to go back and change everytime.

The 9700 Pro, believe it or not, is old news now. It's however still one great videocard.If it's worth the $100 difference is really up to you, it depends on how much $100 is to you. It also depends on if you're the kind of person who wants to have the latest and greatest no matter the cost.To get an idea of performance, check some of the hardware sites.In particular, www.beyond3d.com. Also check www.anandtech.com and www.tomshardware.com. I would disregard the Doom III benchmarks for now, because they benchmarked using a beta version. Noone knows what optimizations will be in the full version and the picture may change significantly then.A 9800 Pro may allow you to use 6x FSAA with the same performance as 4x FSAA on the 9700 Pro. Or you can use 4x FSAA still and get better performance. I doubt the difference in either case would be very great though. A couple of FPS maybe. FS2002 is mostly CPU dependant and the videocard isn't that important.

Check this site out, describes the tweaking of an ATI card very well. The author is mucho informed on this subject:http://www.atiguide.ionichost.com/

Alright, I want to set some stuff straight. These facts I am going to post come from the dude who wrote the ATI guide, link below. I showed him this post, and he had this to say about it:Mister Hat says: "Wait For Vertical Synch: Always On (Otherwise you will get tearing)" - Vsync is impossible unless you get a constant frames per second that is equal to or greater than your monitor refresh rate. Anything less and its useless. That stuff about tearing has nothing to do with VSync being off. I keep Vsync off myself because the detail level I choose my games completlely negates me maintaining a 75FPs or greater (due to 75hz refresh rate)"....and if the application does not support antialiasing then I turn it on Manually to 2X." -- Well that's the completely wrong attitude to look at it. An application never supports AA, in fact its never even aware its on. AA and AF both are 100% hardware and stay that way. The FS AA, AFAIK, is a software AA feature. Either way, turning it off in FS, and on in the control panel is what you should do, you get better AA that way.

>The 9700 Pro, believe it or not, is old news now. It's>however still one great videocard.Old News??? Um in what country or Planet LOL :)>>If it's worth the $100 difference is really up to you, it>depends on how much $100 is to you. It also depends on if>you're the kind of person who wants to have the latest and>greatest no matter the cost.If you own a 9700 than no it's not worth the upgrade...If you own anything less than you have 2 choices, Wait for the 256Meg Version or buy a 9800Pro Now.>>To get an idea of performance, check some of the hardware>sites.>In particular, www.beyond3d.com. Also check www.anandtech.com>and www.tomshardware.com. I would disregard the Doom III>benchmarks for now, because they benchmarked using a beta>version. Noone knows what optimizations will be in the full>version and the picture may change significantly then.>>A 9800 Pro may allow you to use 6x FSAA with the same>performance as 4x FSAA on the 9700 Pro. Or you can use 4x FSAA>still and get better performance. I doubt the difference in>either case would be very great though. A couple of FPS maybe.>FS2002 is mostly CPU dependant and the videocard isn't that>important.To a point. Compare benchmarks with the exact same CPU running a Ti4600 and a 9700. The card can make a huge difference.. :)Not meant as a Flame. Just some counterpoints.Bobby