3D cards for FS 2002/FS2004

[Guest Hanse_1]

Hi!I need some good advice as to what is really a good 3D card forFS 2002/2004.As of now I have a GF 4200 Ti, a P4 2.53 gHz, and a Gigabytemainboard (only supports AGP 4x), 1 GB RAM.I read some discouraging reports about ATI Radeon (blurred image, etc.)So, which is the better, a GeForce or an ATI?Reasonable price is also important ($ 250- $ 350)Grateful for serious tips with comments......Thanks!Hans HermanssonSWEDEN

[Guest ccgr]

the higher end GeForce FX's use 2 slots and more power. I prefer Nvidia because of their drivers but ATI is catching up in that area too.

[Guest TOMCAT]

Hi Hans,I'd stay with that 4200 until FS 2004 is released. I got a similar system (2.66 GHz, 1024 MB RAM,, 4200 Ti 128 MB o/c a little). FS 2002 runs extremely well on that rig - and all I've heard about the 2004 version yet doesn't sound as if it was much more demanding concerning hardware issues. Think 2004's performance won't be bad at all.Actually the GF 4's technology isn't too far away from the FX series'. Alright, they might lack the DX9 hardware support - but FS 2004 still doesn't make use of that. So what for should I buy a new video card right now? Maybe to make Nvidia or ATI happy? No sufficient reason at all... ;-)There are lots of folks around with high-end boards such as ATI 9700/9800s or Nvidia FX 5900s who are going to install FS on their computers - let 'em do the testing for us. It's happened more than one time in the past that it turned out that a spankin' brand new full featured video board didn't help much in the more CPU-dependant Microsoft Flightsim.Just my 2

[Guest]

Well, I'd say a ti4200 is fine.. But if you really wanna upgrade, get a 9700 Pro, you won't be dissapointed :-)And ATI's drivers are really stable now, sure they had a bad start, but they are good now :7

[Guest Hanse_1]

Hi again!and thanks guys for your ideas.I'll make my own conclusions, but I take it I sit with a pretty goodcard already as it seems.I really value your advice.Live well!Hans HermanssonSweden

[Bert Pieke]

Fully agree.. P4 2.4 and ti4200.. great combination and best value for money right now.

[Guest]

Hi,I currently have a :2.3 GHz / PIV768 mb DDRAM80 GB Hard DriveNVIDIA GeForce 4 Ti-4600 ...yet I really want to upgrade my card and get rid of the GF4 4600. Now, I want a card that has excellent graphics. Now here are my questions:1.) Is the NVIDIA GeForce 4 Ti-4600 a good card and will it work well with FS2004?2.) How much do Radeon/ATI cards cost that give a lot better quality picture than the GF4 that I own?3.) What kind of frame rates do some of these Radeon/ATI cards show?4.) What things do I have to know before I start choosing which one will work best for a good price and if it will work on my PC?Lastly, if anyone of you have any links to screenshots that you've posted on the screenshots part, if you can reply it here with the card that you have so I can see the quality, that will be great!...or email it to me @ [email protected]!Keep your wings level....

[Guest FPSFREAK]

Hans, The best dollar for dollar card you can get right now is the 9500Pro. With an easy to perform softmod this card will run at stock 9700 Speeds and make mincemeat out of any 42-4800 card around right now. Turn up AA and AF and the distance between the two becomes even more apparent. At 4X AA and 8XAF a 9500 will average 60+% better numbers than the Ti4 series. All this for $190. Not to mention image quality that is superior to the Nvidia.Also, the lack of Direct DX9 support will become even more apparent w FS ACOF due to its use of DX9. See the statement from MS Website below:3D hardware acceleration in multiple windows. Multiple windows and monitors are part of the Flight Simulator experience. But now with DirectX 9, you can set up multiple windows and monitors, each with full 3D hardware acceleration.It comes down to choice. Only you can amke that for yourself. Just trying to provide facts and numbers LOLBobby