I have a Gateway 700X - P4, 2.53Ghz, 1Gb RDRAM, nVidia Ti-4600. Although I am mostly happy with my FPS, clouds are the killer. I have the smaller files, etc. Coverage is set to medium. If I clear the weather, frames go up. Have a ton of AI and it doesn't have hardly any effect like the clouds do.Is there another nVidia based card that would have any beneficial impact. My mobo will only support 4X AGP. If I could stay above 13-15 fps with clouds I would be happy!Rick

Hi Rick,Yes you can upgrade your video card with a newer nvidia card. I would like to know how much your looking to spend and even though your AGP slot is 4x most current AGP cards I believe that are 8x will go to a 4x mode, I will do the research to find out if I am correct on this because its not just about the transfer speed(4x,8x etc) but its alao about the voltage the slot and the card can handle. Just off the top of my head you can pick up a 6600 for a nice price and get a huge boost there, but since we dont what you want to spend its just an educated guess. Also do you plan on using this new card for the next FS or future games out there?thanksPaul

Paul,Thanks for the reply. I guess I would be willing to spend up to $200, if I was going to see a big increase in performance, but not for just a few frames. Right now I lock my frames at 20. As long as I'm not in any weather drawing cumulus clouds, or at any major a/p, I will stay between 15 and locked at 20. On my system, anything above 12 fps is controllable and still smooth and fun to fly.Is it true that the Ti-4600 was developed to use DirectX 8, and might not work as well using Direct X 9.x? I have found that using the older drivers for the Ti4600 work the best for me (45.23). The newer drivers always make some unpredictable things happen.I have been seeing good things about the 6600. Will I need an additional power supply? There are differeny versions & manufacturers of the 6600. Which and who are good, and what to stay away from?I don't think I will hurry into the new FS, as i have way too much addon's and am getting so much enjoyment from FS9. I don't relish startign over!Rick

Yes you are correct about the drivers and if you are going to the 6600s I would suggest the 6600gt(faster) and I have the 6600gt and I love the performance but I have the PCI-E version but I dont need any additional power but if you have a good power supply you will just need to draw some power from your P/S for it but they usually give you the "Y" adapter for that purpose. Now as far as companies are concerned BGF PNY XFX(which I have) are excellent companies but you will pay a premimum for it but I suggest XFX, lifetime warranty like the other big guys but reasonable in price, currently at 146 at newegg for the 128 meg version about 194 for the 256 but from a company called Palit, but I would search out HardOcp and Anadatech for their reviews of the video cards but I think what I suggested is a good choice.Paul

Paul,Thanks again! Were you able to find out for sure if the 8X cards will operate correctly in a 4X slot?Rick

Oh yes sorry about that if you computer is realitively new, within about 5 years, putting an 8x card in a 4x agp slot should not be a problem. If you can let me know the year when your computer was built if not i will research it out of the technical stuff.Paul

never mind i found the specs and yes you can put in a 8x card no problem because i found a setup similar to yours with a 5900 ultra vid card which is definately a 8x cardpaul

Rick & Paul, forgive me for piping in here but I am very interested in upgrading my system and I find your comments very helpful. My question is do you think the XFX PVT43AUD Geforce 6600GT 256MB 128-bit GDDR3 AGP 4X/8X Video Card would improve my old flight sim system I built in July 2003 ie.? P4 3.0, Clocked to 3.16Asus P4C800-E-Deluxe MotherboardWin XP Home Editions Service Pack IIATI Radeon 9700 Pro 128 MB2ea Corsair 512 MB DDR400 PC3200 Double Data2ea Ultra 512 MB PC3200 DDR400Antec SL400 W 12V ATX Power SupplySeagate 40 GB 7200 RPMThanks much! Erv/KSDF

>Rick & Paul, forgive me for piping in here but I am very>interested in upgrading my system and I find your comments>very helpful. My question is do you think the XFX PVT43AUD>Geforce 6600GT 256MB 128-bit GDDR3 AGP 4X/8X Video Card would>improve my old flight sim system I built in July 2003 ie.? > P4 3.0, Clocked to 3.16>Asus P4C800-E-Deluxe Motherboard>Win XP Home Editions Service Pack II>ATI Radeon 9700 Pro 128 MB>2ea Corsair 512 MB DDR400 PC3200 Double Data>2ea Ultra 512 MB PC3200 DDR400>Antec SL400 W 12V ATX Power Supply>Seagate 40 GB 7200 RPM>Thanks much! Erv/KSDF>No problem yes the card will give you a huge performance increase when compared to the 9700 you have in there now and if I am reading your system specs right you have a total of 2 gigs of ram in your system? Nice system by the way, loving the corsair ram!thanks Paul

Thanks much!Erv

Weel I went out over the weekend and bought the BFG 6600GT OC and must say its fun again to fly FS9. Also had to upgrade the power supply as mine was only 250 watts. I have been able to stay locked at 22 fps most of the time, dipping to 13-15 at major a/p's. This is with scenery densities at Very Dense & Dense, with plenty of AI. Can really enjoy the payware KMDW, KDEN, and KPVD now.The only thing I noticed is at times I get a good pause in turns, which I didn't have with my old card. Watching the frames, sometimes they are locked at 22 then the pause/stutter, where the sound stutters too along with the screen. Other times I see the frames go from 22 to 1 for just a second, and of course, this is where the stutter occurs. But not in every turn - really random. Will have to play with some of the settings!I just wish Gateway would allow you full access of the BIOS. Would love to open up the AGP Aperature to 128.Rick