Hi,I'm thinking of buying a Dell computer with 3.0 GHz processor speed, 512 MB RAM. It comes with a Radeon X300 SE graphics card. I can't find any reviews about this card on the internet, even after a Google search. Does anyone have experience with this card in FS2004?I realize I could buy a better card on Ebay, but this particular computer only has PCI slots, which cuts down my options.Thanks in advance for any suggestions.

Chances are it's using PCI Express which actually boost your ability to buy a higher end card.I'd ditch the idea, save some more pennies and go for an X700 or X800. Anything less isn't going to give you great performance IMO.

I have the Radeon X300 in my PC and it gives good performance but cannot handle FS in hi-detail mode - if thats what you are after then definetly *do not* get the X300...as the fellow Avsimmer mentioned above - if you can do it: get a higher-spec card!I have 1GB of RAM on my system but still get a drastic FPS drop when I use the ATI configuration to set anisotropic filtering & anti-aliasing set to 4 & above. I have to leave them both at 2 - although that alone does show a huge difference...no more jagged lines at least!But dont expect the hyper-resolution you see in some screenshots on Avsim! You will be flying a slideshow!I dont know how different the "SE" is but this is my take on the X300, performance will differ with diff comps I guess...Good luck deciding!

Thanks for your input - that's exactly what I wanted to know.When customizing a new Dell system, the only other option they offer is a GeForce 6800. So I'll need to read through the forums to look for other opinions on this card. I'm sure it would be a step up from the X300.I also have another option - a Gateway advertised at Circuit City that comes with a Athlon 64 3500+ processor and 128MB ATI RADEON

geognut,I just received my 8400 (3Ghz) I bought through Dell's Outlet for $550. Here's what I'm upgrading/replacing:- I'm adding 1GB RAM to bring it to 2GB- Replacing the single 80GB drive with two 160GB's in RAID 1 (mirror) and one 36GB Raptor (10,000rpm) for the page file- Replacing the X300SE with an X800XLI know the Raptor just for the page file is extravagent, but I wanted to get the page file separate from the OS and wanted it on a really fast drive to reduce stuttering.As for the X800XL, I read alot of good things about that card.This rig BETTER allow me to max at least some of the frigging sliders!;-)One thing I can say about my Dell experience so far is that my 5-year old 8200 has been bulletproof.Good luck and good flying! http://home.earthlink.net/~pmhemm/Hemm_Signature.jpg

Here's a few Benchmarks between an ATI X300 SE (128mb) & Nvidia GeForce 6200 (128mb, 256mb). : http://www.trustedreviews.com/article.aspx?head=15&page=2957While the ATI handly beats both Nvidia cards in all but one benchmark, it's also very clear looking @ the scores acheived, that both cards wouldn't make very good Flight Sim performers. Their just not great gaming cards period. I'd stay far away from the X300.If the only other available option for that particular DELL system is the GeForce 6800 then I'd go that route. It's a much better card than the X300 SE.Still if you can get/afford a higher end ATI card (in the X800 range)I'd unquestionably get one.