I really don't know what SLI is or if I need to use it ?I am planning to get a new system and the compter company (VELOCITY) suggests that you upgrade to a 700 watt PS for the 5500 to use SLI. The system Intel 6600 core 2 DUO 1t 2.4 GHZ with 2 gigs corsair extreem ram comes with a standard 500 watt PS. Anyone have any opinions ? Or should I get another card like a NVIDIA 7950 GT ? (512 MB )The system I plan on obtaining is highlited below:"Upgrading PC. What to buy for FSX" Hello all, some help.I currently have a p4 3.0 ghz 512 mb ram and integrated graphics (up to 64 mb) but my BIOS shows I could only raise it from 8mb, where it was set to 32 mb ---Did not help any as you can see system is really weak to run FSX. Runs, with stutters and long delays but at 8-28 FPS,not much senery no autogen, weather or traffic and blurry.I am upgrading system to run FSX: Intell core 2 Duo E 6600 dual 2.40 Mhz, 4 MB L2 cache, Ansus P5NSLI NVidea Nforce 570 SLI, Intell edition, DDR2 PCI expess motherboard, 2 gigs corsoir extreem memory XMS2 DDR2 low latency CL4, 500 watt power supply, 2 x 250 gb hard drives. My question, since I picked a graet CPU, is what video card to get?Considering 7950 GT 512 MB7900 Gs 256 MBX1900 XT 256 MB or maybe even a 8800 GTS but I'm not into the Vista/ 10 issues and don't want to get the 700 watt recommended power supply!.WHAT DO YOU THINK WOULD BE THE BEST OVERALL GPU to run FSX ?Thank you so much for your input.Bob

First off, get a different motherboard. That board is a pos that won't o/c at all. Get a 680i board if you just have to do SLI. SLI for fsx will do nothing for you anyway so unless you have other demanding games then i say get the 8800gts. An 8800gts will be slightly faster than a 7950gt SLI combo anyway and will only take up one slot and one power plug. Regardless of what that guy says you won't need a 700 watt psu for a single 8800gts card or for dual 7950's. For dual 8800gtx's you will but you aren't going that route i assume. My single 8800gts runs just fine on my dell xps which has a 470 watts psu if i remember right. I would however get a psu with good solid 12v rails and at least 600 watts to be future proof just in case. Get at least 800mhz ram with cas 4 timings. 4x4x4x12 minimums. I am going with the super talent 800mhz ram with 4x4x3x8 timings which will handily do 1000mhz at higher timings. That e6600 cpu is the best bang for the buck right now. My recommendations are to get a 680i board if you must do SLI. If not then get the new intel bad axe 2 board, not the bad axe 1, get the 2nd one. This new board is getting stellar reviews for o/c ability and is also way more stable than the 680i boards atm which are known to have memory compatibility problems, sound card issues, and sata drive issues. I would also go with a single 8800gts card. It will cost you a bit less than dual 7950's, will run faster, will take less power connectors and less power, and be dx10 compatible.

Whereas the 8800GTS is the best, how do the other cards compare in terms of price/performance, forgetting about SLI and using them as single cards?Are there any good nVidia based motherboards compared to the Intel Axe2?Thomas[a href=http://www.flyingscool.com] http://www.flyingscool.com/images/Signature.jpg [/a]I like using VC's :-)N15802 KASH '73 Piper Cherokee Challenger 180

The 8800 series is next gen, so nothing really compares. They are the first DX10 compatible cards on the market.Considering the 8800's perform better than most SLI configurations using the fastest DX9 cards, ou can see it's like apples and oranges.Nvidia 7900's and ATI 1900 series are the next best thing though and should run FSX pretty well (remember FSX is CPU bound so a faster graphics card is only going to gain you so much.)

The 8800gts is about twice as fast as a 7950gt. It didnt show up in 3dmark scores for me but in games my benchmarks went up anywhere from 50-75% depending on the game. The 8800gts is a beast. The gtx is even more beastly. The asus striker and evga 680i are decent boards but they all still have quirks and bugs still because the boards are only 3 weeks old and they haven't worked the kinks out yet. The bad axe 2 is guaranteed stability because its an intel board and uses the 975 chipset which is a proven overclocker. Its the board i am getting because i have no desire to ever run sli. If i needed sli capability then i would go with the evga board because the striker is over $400 and not worth it imo. Keep in mind that nvidia has not released vista drivers for their 8800 cards yet and their xp drivers are still only in their infancy as beta releases. The potential of this card is still greatly untapped if they would get on the ball and release some decent drivers.

Looks like the 7950GX2 1GB could give the 8800 GS 640MB a run for its money? It costs $50 more, though.I love how they make it impossible to compare different boards on their site (nVidia). Each board has different specs, and they don't even tell you the difference between the 7800 GS GT and GTX.The 7950 GT 512 looks like a good deal ($280 at pricewatch).At $280 for a 7950 GT 512, why would you consider a 7800 GTX 256 for $522? Is the 7800 actually an SLI dual card card?What makes the FireGL card so expensive? I thought the X19xx cards were top of the line?Thomas[a href=http://www.flyingscool.com] http://www.flyingscool.com/images/Signature.jpg [/a]I like using VC's :-)N15802 KASH '73 Piper Cherokee Challenger 180

7800gtx was made in such small quantities and was never a hard launch product. Stay away as a 7900gt is just as fast at half the cost. The 7950gx2 is not as fast as an 8800gts. My dad has one and my 3.6 p4 gets higher frame rates in games than his fx-62 with 7950gx2. The 8800gts gave me wayyy more performance in games than my old 7900gt and my 7900gt was no slouch. The firegl cards are not for gaming. They are CAD type cards that are great for graphics and CAD but not so good for games. The ati x19x0 cards are very good but it seems that many people who have performance issues with fsx tend to use them. They also suck oodles of power and are large, not to mention they are also old tech. My recommendation is if you want to enjoy the dx10 patch for fsx to get the 8800gts now/upgrade to vista later after the patch and drivers are released and not to waste any money on old technology cards now that you will just have to replace with an 8800gts later anyway.

My thinking is that, since the FSX DX10 patch won't be out till March at the earliest, more likely May (especially because they are spending time now working on a performance enhancement patch, which I imagine is taking away from DX10 development - I'm sure the DX10 specification work is done, but specification work and actually getting it done are two totally different things and it takes lots of time to implement real code), that it would be smarter to save money today and get a DX10 card when it's time to upgrade to DX10 and Vista.But then it all depends on budget. To me, it seems an awful lot to spend $500 for a card today, and get something that may be half broken when the real DX10 is finished. But if there's a business justifcation for it, I may do it.Thanks for the info though. Definately good information to have.Thomas[a href=http://www.flyingscool.com] http://www.flyingscool.com/images/Signature.jpg [/a]I like using VC's :-)N15802 KASH '73 Piper Cherokee Challenger 180

I'm thinking this thread will be moved to hardware..or deleted, but...If you've got the cash today, go for the 8800 series (I did and the Sun hasn't stopped shining and birds haven't stopped singing since... it's pure bliss I tell you)Otherwise go for the best deal on an X1900 XTX which is the fastest non DX10 card.These 8800's are built like no other GPU to date. The architecture is completely new. Seriously, go read some reviews of the 8800's...Since we can't use DX10 until Vista anyhow, you're not really losing anything and the 8800 crushes everything else out there right now.. and that's with immature drivers!!As for GS vs GT vs GTX, aside from the default clock speeds being lower, the cheaper (GS, GT) cards have features disabled or stripped down.