PC upgrade for MSFS -> graphic cards & chipset question...

[mburkhard 23]

Hello all,there seem to be quite some hardware experts in this corner of AVSim and since I'm buying a new machine solely due to MSFS I thought my questions would be suited better in here than on other hardware websites. :)I most likely might get a ATI X800XT card, that is IF I can find one on the planet!Here in Switzerland they are not available. Although out for several months still no shop can deliver them here, why that is so is beyond me...Is there any good store in the US that shipps overseas and has got some X800XT in stock? I'm tired of waiting...Now another thing I need some advise:What chipset is best for MSFS? I'm not interested in games, but MSFS should run as fast as possible.Is the nForce 4 best? Even with an ATI card? Or should I go for VIA when buying ATI? Or doesn't it matter at all?Oh and here's why I'm going for ATI and not nVidia: The GeForce today is just to loud! In fact I hope I can get one of those HIS IceQ II cards. I hate nothing more than a loud and noisy PC.Any advise would be much appreciated!Regards,Markus

[Maxis 1,853]

I guess im in the same boat as you are ,,, about to build a new system and get rid of the system i built last year.Present System P4 3.0 C (Northwood)Asus P4p800 (865 Springdale Chipset)ATI X800Pro 256 Meg AGP Corsair Value Select 2x512 @ 2.5-3-3-6Audigy Mp3120 GB WD IDE Drive40 GB Hitachi IDE Drive400 watt powmax Power supplyServed me well but i wanted something with a bit more biteAMD athlon 64 Winchester 3500Gigabit/MSI/Asus based Nforce 4 chipset based boardx800XLAudigy 2 ZSWD 70 GB Raptor in Raid configI was planning to wait for the Nforce 4 Chipset (Non SLI) since they seem to be the performance leader in the gaming chipset dept at the moment They havent tested it as far as i know in FS9 but it appears to perform extremley well in other games that were tested.

[Guest orenda635]

The best chipsets for gamming are the nForce 3 250 (AGP) and the nForce 4 (PCI-e). If you have an ATI card, it doesn't matter.As for the ATI card, it you're just playing MSFS, then the X800XT is a very good card. If you want to play games like FarCry or Doom3, then the Geforce 6800GT or Ultra is the better choice because they have some new technologies that the X800s don't have.US stores like Tigerdirect.com should carry them in stock but expect to pay high shipping costs.

[mburkhard 23]

Thank you both for your answers!I've checkt tigerdirect.com and others. It seems that thanks to the paranoid US-government those stores do not ship to Europe at all.Anyway, this week the situation around the X800XT cards seems to improve. I've even spotted a store here in Switzerland with a X850XT in stock.I'll definitly go for a nForce 4 chipset. Now if I only could find a FX-55 CPU ;)Regards,Markus