Which one would be best for FS9?I am putting a new system together and I have decided to get a lower end card until the DX10 hardware comes out.I can get either for $170 CADThe X800XL has 16 pipelines compared to 12 for the 7600GTThe 7600GT is clocked a lot faster though......Any opinions?Thanks,Glenn

I upgraded my GPU to a 7600GT a few weeks ago and faced the same decision. They both deliver about the same performance and I did some extensive research before choosing the 7600GT. The X800XL produces a lot more heat than the 7600GT and the 7600GT also makes up for the missing pipelines by higher clockspeeds. I am very happy with mine.Pat

Hi Glen,I upgraded from an ATI Radeon 9800Pro 128MB and could not be more pleased. The X800 XL handles everything with effortless aplomb. Mind you, I had to change a few other things as well as my old MoBo (Gigabyte GA-8IRXP) went belly up after 3 trouble-free years :(MikeASRock 939Dual-SATA2, AMD Athlon 64X2 3800+ (2000MHz), 2GB Crucial PC3200 DDR400 Ram, (AGP 8X) Saphire ATI Radeon X800 XL (R430) 256MB (Omega 3.8.231 (Catalyst 6.3), Hyundai ImageQuest Q17 17" TFT LCD 20ms Monitor (1280x1024x32), SB Audigy2 ZS (Drivers version 5.12.0001.1164 WHQL), WD Caviar SE16 250GB (WD2500KS) SATA2 + Hitachi Deskstar 7K80 UDMA133 (80 GB), ASUS DRW-1608P2S Optical Drive, Antec P150 case with NeoHE 430W PSU, CH Products USB Yoke, Pedals and Fighterstick, Plantronics Headset and Mike combo, TrackIR Pro ver. 4.1 (build 28), Logitech MX1000 Laser Mouse, Windows XP Home Edition (SP2), DirectX 9.0c, AGP Aperture = 128MB

Hi Glenn,ATI does a better job with AA and AF. YMMVHope this helps,Jimhttp://www.hifisim.com/Active Sky V6 Development Team Active Sky V6 Proud SupporterHiFi Beta TeamRadar Contact Supporter: http://www.jdtllc.com/AirSource Member: http://www.air-source.us/FSEconomy Member:http://dot.kelder.net:8080/fseconomy/

>Hi Glenn,>>ATI does a better job with AA and AF. YMMV>>Hope this helps,>JimIt has been a rumour that ATI does a better job with AA and AF. Some claim that ATI cards do not AA clouds at all, while other claims that the nVidia cards have had problems with AA in general. I had both ATI and nVidia in the past few years and never noticed a difference. Not that I am choosing sides, but all of those claims appear to be more myth than fact and probably apply to earlier generations of GPUs.Pat

Hi Pat,"It has been a rumour that ATI does a better job with AA and AF."One thing remains clear to me since my FSGS experience, now over 2 years ago, and that is the fact that Radeons handle higher levels of AA without significant performance penalty. I run at 1280x1024x32 and have never moved from AAx6 and AFx16. The 9800 Pro handled it fine ( frame rate lock was 24) and I now use the same settings with my new X800 XL, currently with a frame rate lock of 30. The sim's performance is demonstrably better in a wider range of situations under the X800 XL. Mind you, it's partnered with an AMD Athlon 64X2 3800+ which, of course, helps ;)However, I believe the story is a bit different at higher screen resolutions and will likely be determined by the available GPU/CPU grunt.Mike