Hi All,It will be some time before I can afford a total system upgrade, so I was thinking of just changing from a ATI 9800 Pro Video card to a GeForce 7600 GT (AGP). My system is as follows:P4 2.53 ghz, 768 mb RDRAM, Gigabyte GA-8IXHP MB, 350 watt PS, Aluminum case w3 fansI usually run 1280 x 960 resolution through a Viewsonic 19 in G90f monitor.I'm looking for improved smoothness in VC's such as the Dreamfleet A36 and Baron. I can't even run the VC in the FFG Saab due to low frame rates (2d works fine).Is this a waste of money? Will I see any significant improvement? I'm only thinking of FS9, FSX will probably have to wait for a whole new system.Dale

IMHO a 7800GS with 512meg of GPU RAM, or don't bother.Allcott

Agreed.See my thread: http://forums.avsim.net/dcboard.php?az=sho..._id=18742&page=You have to buy it overseas and I got mine from overclockers. Just make sure if you get it you a) have the space. requires two slots but only one AGP slot.:( have the power. Needs a power input.c) get the right one. Your looking for the gloden sample plus version with 512mb not the lesser one.

Thanks for the recommendation. I based my choice of the 7600 GT (AGP) on an article in Tom's Hardware (http://www.tomshardware.com/2006/09/26/the_best_gaming_video_cards_for_the_money/page7.html)He also recognized the speed of the 7800GT, but at that price range did not recommend it.Dale

Yeah, the 7600Gt should up your speeds a good bit, although remember that FS is very CPU bound. In terms of pure graphics power the 7600GT should be about 4-6x faster than the 9800Pro though. Just make sure your PSU can put out enough juice to run the new card...--2002cbr600f4i

Hi Dale, You'll probably get the greatest performance increase if you reduce your resolution. ;-) Hope you have a tube! :-) 1280x is a challenge for many FlyTendos and generally put, 128MB of GPU-RAM is 'limite-limite' wanting to do 'FS garnie' @ 1280x. At the same time, 750MB of RAM w/ winXP(?) is tight as well (depending on AI, addon AC/sceneries/mesh?). At the end of this 'chain', a 2.5GHz CPU is going to have a hard time powering a better GPU... MH Conclusion: Since almost every component/amount isn't top end and the 'bottlenecks are nicely balanced', individual upgrades will only show very limited benefits. If you don't use AI and addon sceneries, one of these limited benefits could be that a 256MB adapter @ low AA/AF settings likely helps loading your plane's textures, etc. Just keep in mind your system doesn't have enough spare cycles and resources for stuff like AI/scenery addons AND to 'do it' @ 1280x at the same time. FS is a 3D game... A vicious circle... FWIW and IMHO, 2GBs of RAM is a must have with FSX. Don't expect 'too much' from 1GB FlyTendos case you want to enjoy FS9 levels of IQ at relatively high resolutions... GPUs and FSX are the same story. FSX with a a 128MB 9800pro @ 1280x for example; no joy - FSX with the same 9800pro @ 1024x is limite-limite. If TOM's HG (very clever 'reviews') were capable of making you believe you'ld see a benefit, it could be another example of how misleading they might be..? IMsnsHO, they're the most subjective hardware info source on the inet. Extremetech and some others seem more objective. ;-) Hope this adds to thoughts and kind regards Jaap

Hi Jaap,Thanks for all the info - I think you are right that my whole system is in need of an update, and just one component probably won't have that much impact. The problem is - a new motherboard plus a new processor and 2 gigs of decent memory plus an up to date graphics board will run at least $1000, even if I do the assembly and setup myself. There's a good chance I'll need to update the power supply and I really should install a new hard drive.It's all just more than I can afford right now. Guess I'll just have to resign myself to fly FS9 with what I have and wait a year or so to build a whole new system. By that time, I suspect everyone will know how to build a good FSX system, or, if not, sales will fall flat and most people will stay with FS9.Dale

I just upgraded my P4-2.8, 768Meg, GF4-Ti4200-128Meg by getting a new 7600GT 256 Meg AGP card and am very happy with the result.FS9 flies better, looks better and the FSX demo suddenly looks great and gets respectable (20 fps) performance. This card is definitely worth the money. Another 512 Meg of RAM is on order and that way my P4 should have some life left in it.