I'm at work now so I can't write a lengthy post about my findings with the latest batch of video cards being and/or have been released in 2004/05. To make this quick I

I don't think a 512MB videocard is going to do much for FS9 I'm afraid. It really doesn't use that much videoram - the terrain textures are 256x256 tiles, DXTC compressed and 43KB each, and while many addon planes use fairly high-res textures they're usually DXTC compressed as well. Also the only 512MB card available is the mid-range X800XL which is slower than the X800XT in terms of clockspeed, fillrate and memory bandwidth.

Im watching this thread with great interest as I want to upgrade from my current X300 to something more capable.Im absolutely swamped with information-overload with all the gazillions of graphics-card reviews out there!Right now Im eyeing the Sapphire Radeon X800 256M:http://tinyurl.com/8odr8

I agree with Jimmie, the X800XL is the card to get now if you are on a budget, but not the fastest. I think it boils down to the speed at which info travels on the texture updating. I'm with you, I have a fairly fast rig and I feel I shouldn't have to wait for texture loading either. I feel it has more to do with the way the game is coded more than hardware issue. Seeing a simmer with a new FX-55, 6800 rig getting 25 FPS with full settings and then seeing another simmer with an AMD 1.4, g4 4600 rig getting the same FPS with the same settings, something ain't right there! LOLI went from 1 gig of high end gaming 3500 DDR to 2 gigs, thinking it would help, not one bit! (hey, but now I can have 3DSMax, FS, and Gmax all open at the same time ;-) )Regards, MichaelKDFWhttp://www.calvirair.com/mcpics/mcdcvabanner.jpgCalVirAir International

>...Seeing a simmer with a new FX-55, 6800 rig getting 25 FPS with>full settings and then seeing another simmer with an AMD 1.4,>g4 4600 rig getting the same FPS with the same settings,>something ain't right there...That's a case of someone having the cash but not the experience/knowledge to set it up right! ;)

This is 25FPS running 1600x1200 6x AA, 16x AF, 100% traffic (every airport is packed), fs genesis mesh, add-on scenery for the airports, and flying strickly in the VC. If you are talking about my setup and my experience, please stop. Because everything is setup the way it should be, I am just trying to push this game to the limits and it won't go any farther. BTW my job is IT so I know a thing or 2 about computers

I dont think he meant you..I think he was expressing the difference tweaking FS to your needs can do.

I tend to agree with Michael in KDFW. The big problem with FS2004 and all other previous versions is the coding of the program. I never have played most of those shoot em up games, and I do not know if they demand more of a video card but I would think FS with all of the scenery, traffic, gauges, and sounds puts a lot more load on the system that someone shooting at bad guys.Also everyone is so intent on more ram, bigger video cards and faster CPUs. I think they are for the most part fast enough. What is slowing us down are the bus/s that move all of this data in and out of the computer and onto the screen. I believe the newer 64 bit one and two processor chips along with the 16 lane wide video buses will help speed up the flow of data which in turn should make for faster and smoother video. That is if the programmers do not load up so much video detail to the image so that we are back where we are now.Terry

If you guys want to play the best coded game ever try Guild Wars. It

>I would think FS with all of the scenery, traffic, gauges, and>sounds puts a lot more load on the system that someone>shooting at bad guys.Which is why I wish people would stop asking for frivilous features and demand things that would actually make a difference.#1 Multithread FS2006, There are already a lot of hyperthreading CPUs out and by the time FS2006 comes out, dual core CPUs will be shipping. Put the graphics engine in it's own thread, update and refine the physics engine, maybe add physics hardware support (PPU), a separate thread for AI, ATC, etc.#2 64 bit support. While I dont think that 64 bit would change most games much, I think it would make a HUGE difference in FS given the complex calculations that are constantly going on, multiple tasks (hopefully threaded) using up all the registers etc.#3 Update the graphics engine to use current APIs Directx 9.0c minimum... I see that Longhorn is going to have some additional extensions that will make current current directx 9 games faster and offer even more detail and efficiency.#4 Overhaul the multiplayer code. It still appears to be fundamentally designed for direct connections. Work with VATSIM and the like to create real APIs that they can work with to create real virtual flight sim worlds instead of having to kludge it together. Maybe even include an ATC app with FS10. Imagine the marketing power. Fly or provide ATC to those who do. Microsoft has the resources to create a virtual ATC system which can dwarf what currently exists. One where the ATC is provided by a single central computer in areas where real life controllers are not available and feeds in the AI traffic which would be the same to everyone in the system. This would have the added benefit of offloading the AI and ATC function to a mainframe and FS10 would only have to render and perform the flight model for 1 user.Make FS10 a significant step forward and not just another seemingly incremental patch.

Good points. It reminds me of people who demand something like landing lights that wig wag or other features that would be nice when most airplane developers barely have enough time to come out with a bug free product as it is. Microsoft decided to go the route of most game developers and just add more eye candy instead of actually spending the time to make the coding better.

Hi all, interesting reading all this about graphics cards, as i have changed over from FS2002 to FS2004 this Febuary i feel that i have now got it running well and perhaps it may help others to enjoy their flying without the stuttering and pausing that seemed to happen, i have XP,AbitAN7 Motherboard, AMD 2500 1.83Hz, 1.00GB Ram,Nvidia 5700 VE Graphics card which i bought last week for