Hello all...I just wanted to word my opinion here. I really thought I would be doing an upgrade when I went from x800Pro to 7800GT... But man, I was wrong....With my ATI I ran at 4xAA at full settings and got no less than 25FPS everywhere, with 100% 3D Clouds, lots of traffic, the works, at any given airport...When I installed my 7800GT with the same specs, I was seeing 14-17FPS in the same places that I before saw at 25+fps.. Plus, 4xAA in the ATI can only be compared to Nvidia's 8xs, so it would be even less fps if I turned it up to 8xs.Noow, I have installed Nvidia's 81.85 and 77.77 drivers. I am keeping 77.77 because I think there's a little more performance in them... I want to hear your opinions on this please. If I had to go at it again, I would buy the ATI X1800 instead... I have to admit I bought the 7800GT becuase it was $100 cheaper and all the reviews conclude that performance wise are the same, although they don't do test comparisons on FS2004, only on Doom3, FarCry and stuff like that....What do you think? CarlitosAthlon AMD 64 3700+ @ 2475Mhz (275x9) San DiegoMSI K8N Neo4 Platinum SLIThermaltake PL-C01144x512MB G.Skill PC44002x200GB Seagate HD, SATA 7200RPM on channels 3-4Liteon CD-RW 52x24x48Liteon DVD-RW SOHW-1633SEVGA Geforce 7800GTEnermax 460W PSDell 19" LCD 1905FP

Did you thoroughly clean your system of the ATI drivers before installing the nVidia card? Sometimes different flavors of drivers don't play well together. Drivercleaner does a great job of removing both ATI and nVidia video drivers (as well as a number of other drivers). Follow the directions in the Readme and you can't go wrong. Might be a good idea to reinstall the motherboard chipset drivers and DirectX after cleaning both the ATI and nVidia drivers from the system.Hope this helps,Greg

Yeap, used DriveCleaner Pro as advertised!! I don't think is a driver issue since the two cards are from different vendors. Plus the motherboard drivers are new.Also, other games work much better with the 7800GT than with the x800. I am referring specifically to FS2004. And, it's not that they don't work, it's that for FS2004 ATI is a lot better card IMHO. The X800 outperforms the 7800GT and the 4xAA on the ATI is as nice or better than the 8xAA on the 7800GT.For other games (I only play FS2004 (not a game) and Battlefield 2), the 7800GT is better....Carlitos

Carlitos,When making a major system change like that, you might want to consider a format of your HD and re-installing Windows from scratch. There is no telling how many things could still be referencing your old card and slowing down the system. I have two of the 7800 GTX OC 490/1300 stock but I run them at 515/1325 non SLI and personally I love them. If you have the time and the ability to back things up, I would seriosuly consider a completely fresh install. Also, what settings are you using in the driver? I have mine set to High Quality with all of the optimization features turned off and they have no problems. I think you will see a huge difference if you can start from scratch though. I use the XG 77.77 drivers by www.tweaksrus.com btw.Just my .02,Good luck,-Paul

>Hello all...>>I just wanted to word my opinion here. I really thought I>would be doing an upgrade when I went from x800Pro to>7800GT... But man, I was wrong....>>Athlon AMD 64 3700+ @ 2475Mhz (275x9) San Diego>MSI K8N Neo4 Platinum SLI>Thermaltake PL-C0114>4x512MB G.Skill PC4400>2x200GB Seagate HD, SATA 7200RPM on channels 3-4>Liteon CD-RW 52x24x48>Liteon DVD-RW SOHW-1633S>EVGA Geforce 7800GT>Enermax 460W PS>Dell 19" LCD 1905FPHow very strange hardware can be!I have the same motherboard as you, an Athlon 64 3500, Leadtek 7800GT Extreme and 1Gb of PC3200 DDR. I installed the CaptainSim Herc, lined up at Heathrow with the UK2000 Scenery installed, Activesky weather and ALL sliders maxed, 8xAA, 16xAF, visibility and clouds set to 60 miles, full 3d clouds.I was averaging 22-25fps with the occasional dip to 20fps. Silky smooth too.My guess would be you have old drivers hanging around and causing you problems. I went from the GEForce 9800 pro to the ATI X800XT a year ago, and had REALLY slow frame rates. I used the utilities to clear old drivers but no good. I ended up re-installing windows and drivers to get a smmoth performance back.This type of problem regularly crops up when you go to another manufacturers graphics cards.Good luck!Ray Keattch

>When making a major system change like that, you might want to>consider a format of your HD and re-installing Windows from>scratch.I second that opinion!Whenever I do a major upgrade like that, I do the very same thing. I took a drive image of my PC after the main installation procedures were done (and all current Windows Update patches were installed) to facilitate this - the image does NOT contain any 3rd party drivers, so it's a clean build. This alleviates the need to reactivate Windows, and saves a ton of time with the rebuild. If you have the time and backup means, I'd highly recommend reformatting and reinstalling as well!-Greg

Guys.... You got me all wrong....If under the same circumstances you are using your PC's, I am ALSO getting the same FPS....The point that I'm trying to make is that I thought I was UPGRADING when I changed from an x800Pro to a 7800GT, regarding FS. I didn't end up upgrading....!IMHO, I get almost the same performance with the new card, plus Antialiasing with the ATI was much better. It's not that I am dropping to slideshow framerates. My framerates are OK, same as you all... but before I also had the same FPS, if not a little better... My conclusion, regarding exclusively FS2004 (because in other games I do see the upgrade working) is that from an ATI x800Pro to a 7800GT you don't get any performance upgrade. The way I'm trying to see it today, so I don't get frustrated, is that when FS10 hits the shelves, I think that at that point, my 7800GT WILL be a better option than an x800Pro.Sorry if I confused you guys... I hope all is clear now, and now I wish to hear your opinions.... Have any of you made a similar upgrade???Best regards to all,Carlitos

I did not make the same upgrade, but I did see something simular. I went from ATI 9800 Pro to GeForce 6600GT hoping for an improvement. At that time the 6600GT was the budget friendly way to go, according to many (non FS2004) benchmarks. I saw FPS improvements in many games, but NOT in FS2004. My FPS dropped! Aspecially when AA/AS are turned on. I changed the 6600GT for an ATI X800XL and am very happy with that card. My PERSONAL conclusion is that ATI is the way to go FS2004 wise. If FS is the most important 'game' (sorry for that word ;-) ) you have, go for ATI.

Well Carlitos,you are not the first one, and I dare say that you will not be the last one. I made the same (almost the same) mistake earlier this year by 'upgrading' an ATI 9800 pro to a Gforce 6800 Ultra.And what was the result...? Almost nothing of improvement. The only aspect that did improve was the texturing of autogen buildings. For all the rest, I could have used my ATI further.So, now that I'm stuck with the 6800 I am eagerly awaiting the new generation of ATI-cards. Since I live in Belgium (must be almost the end of the world when it comes down to electronics) I will have to have some more patience but I am sure that, as soon as they hi the shops, my Gforce goes out of the window.Yes... you should have kept the ATI...Luc 'Glaudrung' Brusselmans

I'm real happy with my upgrade from a ATI 9800 Pro to an ATI X800 XT AIO. I didn't expect to see much of a boost but I sure did. Granted I was upgrading the system as a whole and the 9800 must have been the weakest link. Used to use Nvidia but since I've been with ATI for flightsimming I've never looked back.Intel P4 system (4GHz)2Gig DDR 500 (OCZ Gold)Terabyte of hard drivesATI X800 XT AIO (256MB DDR3)(3) 21" Trinitron MonitorsCH Yoke, Pedals, Throttle Quandrant(next... eDimensional Track IR Pro w/vector expansion!)

Wow, that is weird. I am getting great performance from my 6800GT/OC. I was using an archaic but worthy 9700 Pro and this upgrade has increased performance, particularly in weather, way up. With USA Roads/FSScene2004/FSG best terrain mesh/full default clouds/ActiveskyV/Flight Deck Companion/ActiveCamera, RealityXP weather radar/PMDG 1900D/737NG/747-400 I am getting visually awesome IQ and very steady performance. In the air in any area, including LAX, SFO, SEA, heavy clouds w/70m vis, 1600x1200 w/4xAA, 8-16xAF, I get a steady lock on 25 (actually, bounces 23-25), and flight is silky. Rarely, and I think it has in part to do with texture refreshes, and only in weather, it can dip to 14, but it's not common. This is with B1900D, Piper Meridian, CitationX. With jumbos I lower the lock to 22, and it stays 21-22 in some terminals and conditions on the ground, but definitely can slow down in busy, complex terminals. With "W" view out the front, frames stay on 22, with 2D cockpit it goes between 18 and 21. It almost never goes slow enough to perceive it visually as it remains smooth. I have everything hard right, except clouds at heavy, autogen as low as Normal for the most complex terminals, but usually up to above Normal, or full density in lesser terminals or airports.It was weather that killed my performance with the ATI card. It's rare that weather has any effect on performance now which is very cool. I love this sim :()

Hi Carlitos,I see what you are saying and I must say I agree with a few points you raised here. I went from a 9800 Pro to a 7800GT and what really annoys me about the 7800GT is that you indeed have to max out all quality setting in the drivers to get visual quality that is on par with a ATI card running on 4x/8x AA/AF. That of course brings a significant performance penalty with it.I have the same CPU as well (overclocked mine to 2800 MHz without any issues ay all) and I am getting pretty good frames none the less. Certainly around 20-30 on average.My advice would be to check the FS9.cfg and remove all traces of old driver information. You could also rename it and let FS9 create a new one. That did a lot for me. Other then that I am wondering why you choose such a low multiplier setting on your CPU? The 3700+ uses a default multiplier of 11. I run 11 x 254Mhz FSB = roughly 2800Mhz overall. I also raised the vcore to 2.65V.Regards,Alex YSSY

Alex,I am using 275FSB because my memory is holding me down. This weekend I am receiving 2x1GB Crucial Ballistix which I think I can get to run @ probably 290FSB 1:1.Regarding the multiplier, I can't get my CPU to go past 2520Mhz stable. What kind of cooling do you have? What's the ambient temperature?Where I'm at, the ambient temp is about 32C... I'm at the office at the moment, so I don't remember the CPU and Case temps, but I'll let you know later....Any tips???? Do you have a max temp that you think might be a limit to let the processor get to?Thanks,CarlitosP.S. I feel like I made this post at overclockers.com's forum, hehe.. But beleive it or not, this is all intended to make FS2004 go smoother...

Carlos,I have pretty high ambient temps (around 30 C) at the moment with the Australian Summer approaching :)I build myself a customer water-cooling kit based on a Zahlman WB2 Gold, a pond pump, a fish tank and a car aircon radiator that I got from a scrap yard. The entire kit cost me around 100 $ AU and served me through three different CPU's up until now.With that my CPU temps are around 34 C idle and 43 C under heavy load while the ambient is around 30 (@ 2800 MHz).What might hold your overclock back could be the vcore. If I were you I'd start from clock settings and use a memory divider to slow the RAM down. Once you have the ram isolated you can add FSB (in reasonable increments). Boot into windows and do a load test every time you've used a new setting. If you start getting crashes it's time to raise he vcore a little. I run mine at 1.65 but I've also tried 1.75 and had no issues. As it wasn't needed I choose the lower voltage obviously.Once you've found the max of your CPU you can bring the RAM back into the equation. When overclocking RAM you should keep in mind that you might have to raise the voltage and/or have to relax the timings a little. In any case: Keep a close look at the CPU temps, make sure you got a decent case and CPU cooling and have patience. You will also have to disable cool&quiet as it will interfere with your overclock and will most likely produce crashes.Hope this helps :)Cheers,Alex

Thanks Alex for taking the time to respond to this... I have tried most of the things you mention here, but the thing is that temperatures get higher and higher...I will try some stuff out and if I get anything different from what I have now, I'll let you know...G'day mate...Carlitos