Hi my fellow simmers,I am currently running an ATI9800pro 128meg video card on an Intel 3.4 gig processor with 1 gig of ram. I also have dual monitors, a Sony 19" lcd and a Sony 19" crt. I want to improve the video performance. What would you suggest regarding a video card that would be powerful enough to notice an improvement. I know this is a time worn issue and I appoligize if my post irritates anyone. But, with things changing as fast as they do, I wanted to get the latest in opinions from those who know.Thanks,Bill Worth

You would probably notice an improvement with a GeForce 6600 GT or higher. If you have the cash, get a 6800 or 6800 GT. This is only based on stuff I've read that this series of gfx cards shows a noticeable improvement over the 9800 Pro in most games, but as for MSFS specifically, I'm not sure. As with any major purchase, do your research. If you want a quick and dirty starting point off the top of someone's head, well, there ya go. ;)(My 6600 GT comes tomorrow...I'll let you know if it improves any over my 4600)

For single monitor I would suggest a X800XT or something however nvidia is a bit better for dual monitors generally :).The 6600 GT is generally better even if some here claim they don

I thank you both very much. I really appreciate getting your opinions. I will "go shopping" and see what I can afford.Best regards,Bill Worth

going by my personal expereience ou would see little of no gain in performance going from you present card to any other card on the market even the most expensive. I base this on going from G4 ti4600 4xAGP to a 6600GT 8xAGP; in FS9 i honestly haven't noticed any improvement at all, in a couple of other games there has been a small improvement and in NASCAR 2003 i now find it runs better in D3D than it does in Open GL and there is a small improvment in performance and a reasonable improvement in quality. Unfortunatly Grand Prix Legends does not run so well (and was far better with the old card and drivers), ther is not only a ubsstantial drop in Open GL perfomance there is now a line at the edge of the textures tiles (the mirror problem is fixable though), the performance in D3D is ven worse and brings with it so much menu faults it is not really playable. I think if yo have a top end card like your 9800 it is best to wait at least 2 generations befor upgrading and if you wnat to see an improvement you are going to need to go or a high end card again. I waited the 2 generations but only went for the mid range card and saw not big improvments, i may have seen something with a 6800Gt or better, but i may have reached the best i can considering my 333fsb XP3000+

Well I've tested my 6600 GT in Seattle on a cloudy day, for a few minutes (been busy). The game did seem to run a lot smoother, though the VC in the PMDG 737 still slowed it down a bit. The game still would stutter a bit say when panning around my airplane. So overall I'd say you still get some of the usual FS "jerkiness" but in between it's more silky. However, you can see by my specs that there are plenty of other places for bottlenecks in my system, like my 4x AGP or my 266 MHz FSB. Overall, I agree with the last guy. You have a pretty good card already. If it were me I'd wait another couple generations before buying a replacement myself. I don't have the money to blow on the latest thing every year. :(

Thanks to a post in another thread, I dug up the January 2005 issue of Computer Pilot Magazine. There is a nice article by Doug Horton that forcuses on video cards and FS9 using data from Lars Weinand. There is a graph that shows the fps in FS9 using 32 different graphics cards. The scenario set up at Hong Kong, dusk, 4xAA, 8xAF, 1024x768/32bit.Here are some of the numbers:GeForce 6800 Ultra: 70.3GeForce 6800 GT : 65.6Radeon 9800 Pro : 34.1 Based upon those numbers, it looks promising. However, I don't have the money to blow on the latest thing every year either. And,there can be a large gap between sitting stationary and actual flying when it comes to fps and smoothness in fs9. So, that is why I value you guys and your opinions. Thanks,Bill Worth

Yeah those score doesn

Right on, Bruce! Technically, the 6600s are almost like the Ti4X00 series and come with a 128-bit memory interface and 8 pixel pipelines. So I also have strong reservations about huge differences between these two types regarding FS. I'ld only use both of them upto 1024x resolutions. The 6800-series play in another category and it would be sad if 350-500$ cards couldn't outperform the 9800pro (which does pretty well upto 1280x). What I miss in PC-Pilot mentions so far, are comments about the weather settings in these tests. Sometimes, users should be scepticle, because -what I call- 'selectively objective' articles are a reality nowadays. Tom's Hardware Guide has some very good examples of this kind of 'objective' reporting. Like P

Based on my experience going from a 4800SE card to a 6800GT at great expense (over 600 Australian dollars) you would probably notice very little improvement in FS9. With the 6800GT you can wind up AA and AF to the max and get a somewhat better looking display without any FPS penalty and there is lttle FPS loss in heavy cloud but in just about any other scenario no change from the old card.Bruceb

Thanks to all who have responded. I appreciate your opinions. The reason I am feeling the need for an update to the video card is to run LDS's excellent 767. It runs with the 9800 card but clouds and traffic really bog it down. Judging by the majority of responses, I may not see much of an improvement. So, I think I will just "lay in the bushes" for a while and see what the furture has to offer. And, my fellow aviators, remember any landing you can walk away from is a good landing. Any landing you can taxi away from is an excellent landing!Best,Bill Worth

>>>And, my fellow aviators, remember any landing you can walk away from is a good landing. Any landing you can taxi away from is an excellent landing!Best,Bill Worth<<

Hi Jaap,Thanks for the info. I use the second monitor for FSNAV but usually not when I fly the 767. With the 767, I just use one monitor. The CPU doesn't seem to be maxed out. So, maybe an X800pro might yield an increase that one would notice? Also, what do you think about the Nvidia cards?Thanks,Bill Worth

Hi Bill, you're welcome. The X800pro was more a thought in case you use both monitors at the same time. With one display @1280x a 9800pro does pretty well and you'ld probably not see much of a fps increase if swapping. Personally, I'ld only go for the X800 if I already had rudder pedals (which I consider my best FS investment!), really wanted to have the security that nothing is holding me back and provided the cash is in da purse. The Nvidia or Ati discussion could probably fill a book from this forum alone. To keep it short, I'll refer to what I wrote in my first post in this thread. Otherwise, both have advantages and disadvantages; Atis handle clouds well but shimmer with certain textures and the other way around. IMHO, P

Thanks Jaap,You have been a big help. Yes, I do have Hyperthreading enabled and the taskmanager indicates 50%. I didn't realize the CPU was actually maxed out. I'm holding back right now but, the GeForce 6800GT is kind of in the back of my mind because of the report in Computer Pilot. (I do have rudder pedals) But, you have a good point about the weather settings etc in the report. That can make a big difference. Best,Bill Worth