I'm a little confused as to how the 7xxx/8xxx and 9xxx cards rate as far as FSX/FS9 performance is concerned. I'm looking at a 7900GT, but understand that maybe a 8800GTS/X is a beter card- which with a lower number somewhat surprizes me.Thanks for any info,Bruce.

Hmmmmm...... Last time I looked 8800 was a higher number than 7900, but than again I was a product of public education, so maybe I'm wrong?Pete S.

Bruce,If you are going to spend any money more than $300-$400 then I would suggest you might as well go for the 8800. If not the GTX, atleast the GTS. Yes...it helps FS9 too... A Lot.BTW..what is 9XXXX?Manny

The 8800 series are the latest nVidia cards...They are also DirectX 10 compatable...If I were looking to buy a High End card today...I'd pretty much look at the 8800's...(Provided you have complimentary hardware)The recent line-up of nVidia cards looks a little like this (Decending order):8800GTX = King of the Hill DX108800GTS = DX107950GX27950GT7900GTX7900GTO7900GT7900GS7800GTX7800GT7600GT 7600GSI personally own a 7800GTX, a 7950GX2 and a 8800GTX...I love them all...I currently have the 7800GTX paired up with a AMD 4800x2...While not too much of an FSX Rig...I does a fine job with FS9...The 7950GX2 is in my AMD FX-57 system...It is really my Main FS9 Rig...Runs FS9 Awesome..Can't comment @ FSX on that system as I didn't want to "Waste" an activation trying it out on that rig...I just built a C2D E6600 system and have the 8800GTX on that one...It is very very new to me...I have very little FS time on it thusfar...But preliminary results would pit it about like my FX-57 with FS9...It *seems* like it's gonna be a nice running FS9 set-up...I havn't loaded FSX yet...This will be my FSX Rig...I plan to OC it as hard as I can...I can't "personally" say I feel the 8800GTX is vastly superior to my other cards with FS9...Keep in mind..It's *Very* new to me...I have not had much time to "dial it in" just yet...In a nutshell..I think I've been impressed with the later generation of nVidia cards...All of them have required a little "Tinkering" with the driver settings to get them to my liking...I'll probably wind up eating my words on the 8800 as soon as I have spent some time setting it up...We'll see..But..I feel all the cards I own have been up to the task as far as FS9 is concerned...Similar Image Quality and overall performance...I'd recommend the 8800's as they are the latest...And I think would afford a tad bit more future proofing as they support DX10...(BTW..I hate the tearm "Future Proofing"..Nothing computer related seems to be very "Future Proof"..he he)Good Luck in your decision!!

Woops- I got that wrong- sorry. Somehow I translated the 7900 into a number starting with "9". Sorry- obviously your public education is better then mine is :)Bruce.

Hi Manny,I think I got dislexic with the 7900- sorry. I guess I won't be balancing that check book tonight :)Bruce.

Thanks Chuck, much appreciated.Bruce.

7950 GX2....just "friggin" awesome! 2 heads are better than 1.

Right now..I'd say I like my 7950GX2 better than the 8800...Your right..It's awesome...What drivers are you using?? I like the factory 93.71's pretty well...But I switched back to the XG 92.91'sOne problem with the 8800 thusfar is there are limited drivers..I'm hoping some drivers will start flowing soon..The current 97.02's are not that great FS drivers IMHO...

Thanks for all the good replies to my somewhat misleading question.Regarding the manufacturer of the nVidia card, are some better than others for the same model? I'm looking at EVGA right now at an on-line store, and knowing that there are other companies retailing these cards I wonder if they're all equal or not?Thanks for any info,Bruce.

eVga is pretty well reguarded...One of my personal favorites...Typically..With the High End cards...Most of the vendors stick pretty close to the "referance" card (ie: Factory design)...I "Think"..with the 8800...about the only difference is going to be the stickers, software bundels and warranties...eVga, BFG and XFX are sometimes noted as offering "Factory Overclocked" cards...I havn't noticed any of the 8800 with in that configuration...Hope that Helps...

Thanks Chuck. Is there any downside to be "factory overclocked"? I have read before that some lower end NV cards that are over-clocked (whether factory or user) have resulted in freezes, maybe lockups, etc., but I'm not sure enough to know if that really is an issue or not.Thanks- Bruce.

"Is there any downside to be "factory overclocked"?"In my expierence...No Downside at all...There is typically a "condition" that you "Can't" manually overclock the card any further than the factory settings without voiding the warranty...Which is fine with me...The Factory OC cards typically carry the same warranty as their non OC'ed counterparts... With the exception of the 8800...Most of my recent cards have been a Factory OC'ed card...I have owned a BFG 6800Ultra OC, XFX 7800GTX OC and the XFX 7950GX2 xTreme...I have had Great Luck with all of them..."I have read before that some lower end NV cards that are over-clocked (whether factory or user) have resulted in freezes, maybe lockups, etc., but I'm not sure enough to know if that really is an issue or not."Kinda glad you bring that up...That may be??In my previous post I made a comment.."Typically..With the High End cards...Most of the vendors stick pretty close to the "referance" card (ie: Factory design)"I "think" what happens is...With the lower end videocards...The Vendor controlls more of the components used to build the videocard...ie: The Vendor buys the GPU/VPU from nVidia or ATI...Then they use their own components to build the cards with...You can actually see this..If you go to newegg and pull up a page of lowerend cards...You'll notice for a given "Model" of videocard they will look different from vendor to vendor...The PCB's may be different colors, shapes or sizes...The coolers may vary...The prices may even vary..Sometimes significantly...For Example..Here is a search page of the 7600GS videocard:http://www.newegg.com/Product/ProductList....&SubCategory=48This is where I think one could expect to see allot of varience in performance...The quality of the components would totally depend on the vendor...So a blanket statement like..."The nVidia 7600GS videocard is the best card in the world" ...In my opinion would not apply...There are too many variants of the 7600GS...Some are bound to be better than others...They are not all the same...Thus..I could understand the varying levels of success with OC'ing that level of card...I would Expect the results to vary... Like I mentioned earlier...This situation "Typically" doesn't exist in the "Upper End" videocards for some reason...The vendors typically stay allot closer to the "Referance" boards...you'll normally see a card like the 8800 vary no more than $20-30 in price...They all look the same except the stickers ect...That's just something I've noticed along the way...May not be 100% accurate in my observations...But that's my theory anyhow...Have Fun...

Thanks again, Chuck. Much appreciated :)Bruce.