hi allas you can see my system below, you think it is a good idea to upgrade the GPU, i heard and read that the 6600GT is not good for clouds in FS and i get heaps of stuttering, if i upgrade to the 7800 or 7900 will i get marked improvement in performance with the current system?rgds

>hi all>>as you can see my system below, you think it is a good idea to>upgrade the GPU, i heard and read that the 6600GT is not good>for clouds in FS and i get heaps of stuttering, >>if i upgrade to the 7800 or 7900 will i get marked improvement>in performance with the current system?>>rgdsCouldn't be more pleased, Not sure what your expectations are, but If you want to use the highest settings and you don't mind paying Extra$$$ than there is nothing that touches the GainWard 7800 GS+ for AGP. It is handling everything I can throw at it with ease.It has no trouble running FS9 at 1600x1200 8xSAA 16xAF and SSxTSAA.some benchmarks for who cares...http://service.futuremark.com/compare?3dm06=3090443DMark06 @ 1280x1024 =4400http://service.futuremark.com/compare?2k3=48065503DMark03 @ 1024x768 = 16909And one more for the DX8:http://service.futuremark.com/compare?2k1=89792123DMark01SE @ 1024x768 = 24617

hi Paulthanks for thisyes im not expecting to shoot the lights out, just want consistent 20fps when going through heavy dense clouds and i do not have all my sliders set to max either.But i do use the PMDG 737 VC 100% of the time so this could have some affect on performance.So it looks like a 7800GT is on the cards for me.

You are AGP yes?

yep AGPthe old technologyLOL

>yep AGP>>the old technology>>LOL>Yeah me too,Here are some things to look for and think about...All AGP:7800 GS 256 cards G70 Core, 16 pipes will clock to about 400-450/1200+7900 GS 256mb coming soon various brands, G71 core but only 20 pipes, clocks 450-500/1200+7800 GS Bliss 512mb from Gainward is G70 Core with 20 pipes, clocks 400-450/1200+7800 GS+ Bliss 512mb from Gainward is a full 7900 GT, has G71 core with full 24 pipes clocks 450-550/12-1400 --this card is going down in price every week but still very expensive, was about $550 to bring it from UK to US (shipping was cheap).But I love the card, and get a good laugh from many of the PCI-E boxes that it keeps right up with.You would have no trouble getting very flyable FPS in VC mode, I use it all the time, Level-D 767 and CS727.Will hold me over until the dust settles with DX10, 18 monthes or more.

I guess you use the cloud fix? Don

>I guess you use the cloud fix? Don

ive tried all sorts of textures to reduce the sizenone worksmay upgrade my card very soon.

Are you guys talking about the DXT or DX3 cloud textures or whatever they're called, that you can get for FS?Rhett

Paul,Thanks :)Excellent post, exactly the info I needed as I too want to upgrade my AGP nonsense FX500 to a 7800GS card.......

>>hi allsnip...>some benchmarks for who cares...>>http://service.futuremark.com/compare?3dm06=309044>3DMark06 @ 1280x1024 =4400>>http://service.futuremark.com/compare?2k3=4806550>3DMark03 @ 1024x768 = 16909>>And one more for the DX8:>http://service.futuremark.com/compare?2k1=8979212>3DMark01SE @ 1024x768 = 24617> >Those links are dead, the ones below are updated and will stick as I'm done tuning...

I have the same setup as you and my frame rates average 15-20fps with heavy add-ons (PMDG, ActiveSky, payware airports and much more). I have all necessary settings for excellent realistic visuals maxed, which is enough for me. It is all about the configuration (without heavy overclocking). Out of the box, I got maybe 7-10 fps. Benchmarks are a good general performance indicator, but won't give you any indication about FS9 performance. Then again, on a poorly configured and maintained system, they won't shine. There are many, many factors to squeeze out the best of the system.I thought about upgrading myself, but a few more fps for 200-300 bucks does not justify it. I'll wait until DX10 cards come out for FSX.

>I have the same setup as you and my frame rates average>15-20fps with heavy add-ons (PMDG, ActiveSky, payware airports>and much more). I have all necessary settings for excellent>realistic visuals maxed, which is enough for me. It is all>about the configuration (without heavy overclocking). Out of>the box, I got maybe 7-10 fps. Benchmarks are a good general>performance indicator, but won't give you any indication about>FS9 performance. Then again, on a poorly configured and>maintained system, they won't shine. There are many, many>factors to squeeze out the best of the system.>>I thought about upgrading myself, but a few more fps for>200-300 bucks does not justify it. I'll wait until DX10 cards>come out for FSX.Bechmarks help you to tune your system, compare to others for hardware choices and settings and a DX8 bench (3D01se) can indeed help you to set it up for FS9, best thing is however to run a "canned" flight in FS9 and use fraps...I am running 1600x1200 8sxAA 16xAF and SSxTransparencyAA, all settings maxed but 3D cloudes @ 80% flying Sanfransisco Megacity/scenery with add-on airports and level-d 767 I get constant 40-60, in VC its stuck at 30 down to threshold..I've been benching FS9 for long time and though there are certainly areas that will still bring it to a crawl, I coudn't be happier as I have set Fs9 up on many boxes costing many times this old box and and can run close to them....And I wouldn't be one of the first in line for DX10 cards....second gen will be much more worthwhile and so a decent card like the 7900 GT AGP should hold me over, I give it a life of atleast 18 months...will see

Posted this in the MS Flight Simulator General Discussion Forum FSXbefore thinking about this form.Will FSX use the New SLI Technology. I will be getting a new Dell Xps 700 that will have the new 1G NVIDIA GeForce 7950 GX2. I hope this will help with FSX. Is this a good choice.