Just posted this at DELL XPS Video forum:" Well, OK, this new puppy, from NewEgg (unbelievably fast delivery, wow!) is now installed in my XPS Gen 4 with upgraded RAM of 2048 now and 3.80 Ghz Intel 570 processor. nVidia drivers 91.47. I use only Flight Simulator 2004 and nothing else on this machine. It is "virgin", no IE, no AV, no utilities, never connected to the web and never will be. I have two LCD panels, the DELL 2405 and DELL 1805. The former runs at 1920x1200x32, the latter at 1280x1024x32. FSAA set to 4x, aniso set to 8x. Global "Quality" setting. I have a dozen flightsim hardware add-ons as well and every USB slot is occupied and I run two USB hubs. Overall? The GTO card runs no better than my just-uninstalled ATi Radeon X850 XT PE (256 RAM). Honestly, I think the picture quality on the GTO is extremely good, but not visibly better in any way than the Radeon. Frames might be slightly faster but it might also be the additional 1024 RAM I installed a few days ago. As anybody who uses MSFS knows, the sim absolutely crushes almost every PC and video card, especially with a huge mass of aircraft, scenery and traffic add-ons such as I have, so comparisons with games such as Doom, Far Cry, etc., are utterly useless benchmarks for dedicated simmers such as me. Frames range from a low of 17 to a high of 66 depending on the views in the sim. Average is around 30 fps. It is fluid and smooth, but so was the Radeon. Am I disappointed? Not sure. Frankly, my primary objective in getting this card was to be able to run the MATROX Triplehead2go set-up and use 3x19" LCD panels which I might or might not end up doing. I felt that the performance using the Radeon card was already excellent and I knew from my own reading of reports that the X850 was a giant and hard to beat for its generation and it could beat the pants off a similar nVidia card with FSAA and aniso set to 4x and 8x respectively. The GTO card does load textures faster than the Radeon. The texture lag of extremely complex add-ons in SPOT view of 3-5 secs that I used to have is now reduced to 1-2 secs. at most, and once cached, is instant so that is a definite improvement. Must be the extra 256 RAM working for the sim. Beyond this, maybe I already had the best video card for FS? I wonder if that just might be true. I still have the Radeon. It's a pity I can't run it in the same tower at the same time and use it for something complementary to the sim but I can have only one single video card active at any one time in this box. Should I do anything or can I do anything else to make things faster or even more fluid? I have no idea how to overclock or tweak anything. Is it even necessary? Any ideas or suggestions welcomed. Thanks. Thanks also to all who posted and gave me guidance and advice for changing the video card. Really, much appreciated. Including today's "emergency" when I couldn't figure out the Molex from a Rolex and the 6-pin Dongle from the PSU or hard drive ! Cheers, JS The GPU core temp when running FS2004 is 41-43C. Is this good. What does it mean?"I welcome any comments, advice, suggestions, comparisons, etc.Thanks!JS

Your GPU temp is fine.The rest, I can't comment. Don't know. :)Manny

Thanks.I was expecting something magical--or mystical--to happen with the GTO. So far, I have yet to be magicized--but I am mystified....!JS

I somehow like your writing style, especially toward the end.

Oh, well, thanks....!I am making the best of a bit of a disappointment. I gotta say, the Radeon rocked while nVidia is a bit invidious in its claims.Perhaps this feeling will be attenuated when I get 3x19" LCDs and run the MATROX Triplehead2go. And by then, I shall also be broke, hah!JS

JS. I am looking forward to your writeup on the T2Go setup. I currently have the Dell 24" LCD and want to replace that with the 3 X 19" and T2Go setup. Manny

Have you done any tweaking in the drivers yet?? I have a 7950GX2..So I realize our settings may not be exactly the same...But here is what I run under the FS9 Profile..-Right click on your desktop...-Then select nVidia control panel from pop up...(Note: on the first run of the control panel you may be asked if you prefer the old style control panel or the new panel..My settings are for the New Control panel...I'd imagine these settings would do fine under the old control panel as well..Don't know for sure though..)-Once the control panel opens look in the upper grey frame and you should see a "Standard Settings" header with a drop down arrow...Go ahead and click that arrow and change it to say "Advanced Settings"-Then Click 3D Settings-Now Manage 3D Settings-Under manage 3D settings you should see a couple of tabs.."Global Settings" and "Program Settings"..Click on "Program Settings"..-In that upper box..scroll down until you get to "MS Flight Simulator 2004"There you can try these settings if you like:Anisotropic filtering: 16X Anisotropic optimization: On Anisotropic sample optimization: Off Antialiasing settings: 8x Conformal texrure clamp: Use Hardware Extension limit: Off Force mipmaps: Trilinear Gamma correct antialiasing: On Hardware acceleration: Single display performance mode Ignore OpenGL error reporting: Off Image settings: Quality Negative LOD bias: Clamp OpenGL threading: Auto Transparency antialiasing: Supersampling Triliner optimization: On Triple buffering: Off SLI performance mode: NVIDIA recommended(SLI) Vertical sync: Use the 3D application setting You could try those for starters...You may still have some experimenting to do for your perticular set-up...This may give you a decent foundation to start with??Have Fun!!

Chuck:Many thanks for your wonderful post. I appreciate it even though I never seriously thought about tweaking anything. I've been proud of that over the years (!) But this time, what the heck, I shall print out your guide and try it some time tomorrow during the holiday and see what happens.Cheers!Js

I just realized something..My GX2 is an SLI configuration..So the following line will for sure be different for you..(If you even see it??)...The rest of the settings would still be applicable...*SLI performance mode: NVIDIA recommended(SLI)*You may not see that line..If you do..Leave it disabled..Unless you have two of the 7900GTO's..."I never seriously thought about tweaking anything. I've been proud of that over the years (!)"Well...I think things have changed a bit...I use to never touch driver settings with my older videocards...FS runs just fine with my X800XTPE right out of the box...But it seems to me...The more this stuff advances...The more you have to learn in order to maximize it's performance...Sad to say...I think(Hope) you'll be suprised once you get that card set up...Keep in mind though..Everyone's hardware set-up is different...I feel this will get you "In the Ballpark"...But you may have to tinker a bit...Which is good...You learn that way...and you will hopefully come upon a combination that works well for you...Good Luck..Have Fun!!

I just recently picked up an ATI x1900XTX, and because I have an Asrock Dual 939 Mb, I can run a PCIE and an AGP video card at the same time. I have the X1900XTX connected to my Dell 24". and my AGP X800XL connected to a 19" CRT. I have my FPS set at 25, and rarely go below that no matter what the weather or location. Every thing is smooth and loads fast. I even have the option to use 2 more monitors. This is a great setup, and I am glad I stayed with ATI. Not sure how well it will work with FSX though. I do regret that TH2Go does not work well with ATI, and I can see why you went with NVIDIA. Hope that works out better for you!Bill

I really miss the razor sharp precision of the ATi 850 card but (sigh!) I've come this far, I might as well continue and go to triple monitors next--and blow another $1K in the process !Sheesh, the things we do for FS...!JS

>I couldn't figure out the Molex from a RolexWanna buy a watch? ;)

Hi, Well welcome to the club I was wondering if it was only me that made a move to improve my FS9 by adding ram for a total of 2meg and upgraded my video card from a eVGA 6800 to a eVGA 7900GTX on an intel 3.73ee setup only to find when I fired it up that I saw about $700 less in the pocket and the same fair running of FS9 and now I hear that the video card is out of date to run DX 10 and VISTA. To add insult I can't give the 6800 away for $50 bucks. Welcome to Bill Gates world of wonders!Tony

I hear ya, mate!It's all a big con. So is FSX. This great hobby has become a bad joke.I upgraded to the GTO only to be able to do Triplehead2go for my FS9. The Radeon was superior and considering it's almost 2 years older than the GTO, was an amazing piece of hardware.JS

So I take it the tweeking didn't help...Well Darn...Sorry..