Hi all,I'm tossing up the idea of upgrading my 7800GT for something with at least 512MB VRAM. Possibly a 7950GT. I'm intend to keep my current setup for a few more years as my MOBO (GA K8NXP-SLI) won't handle much of a CPU upgrade and when the time comes I'll spend a lot more $$ than I can afford at the moment.From what I've read on many forums, my 7800GT is probably a bottleneck for my OC'ed CPU running FSX. Alternatively, I could opt for a 8800GTS for another $300AUD and move that across to a new computer down the track.Any ideas?cheersmitchell

Zogis GeForce 7950 GT Reviewhttp://www.hardwaresecrets.com/article/430/1nVidia GeForce 7800 GT Reviewhttp://www.hardwaresecrets.com/article/202/3Since you allready have a 7 series Graphics card, it does not make a lot of sense to me to replace one card with another of improved but not hugely differant capability, particularly as it would be your AMD Athlon 64 x2 4400 not your present graphics card, that would be bottlenecking your FSX performance. The 8800 is a better choice since it will give you Directx 10 capability but I would suggest waiting untill your next computer to buy a Directx 10 card as by that time, the present 8800 card or equivalent capability card may have become a mid-range product with more capable cards on the market at that stage, and so if the 8800 type card would be a mid range card it would be more aggressively priced. http://www.neoseeker.com/Articles/Hardware...ews/gak8nxpsli/Best and Warm RegardsAdrian Wainer

>>From what I've read on many forums, my 7800GT is probably a>bottleneck for my OC'ed CPU running FSX. >I don't know what forums from which you got that impression, but a 7800GT is not a bottleneck for your o/c'ed 4400+ in FSX.FSX is cpu-bound and a 7800 card will supply data to the cpu as fast as the cpu can handle it. You are limited by your cpu.Benchmark data posted by several users here further bolsters the contention that a 7800 does not bottleneck a 3700+, 4000+, 4200+, 4400+, or 4800+ in FSX. It might in other games, but not FSX.>Alternatively, I could opt for a 8800GTS for another $300AUD>and move that across to a new computer down the track.>I would suggest an 8800 series card, unless you plan to rebuild your system once the DX10 update is out for FSX.In that case, a 79xx series card with 512 ram would be a good "tide-me-over" card to last you until the end of the year.Actually if it is bottlenecking with FSX you are worried about, you'd be better off getting a Core2 and keeping the 7800GT.RhettAMD 3700+ (@2310 mhz), eVGA 7800GT 256 (Guru3D 93.71), ASUS A8N-E, PC Power 510 SLI, 2 GB Corsair XMS 2.5-3-3-8 (1T), WD 250 gig 7200 rpm SATA2, CoolerMaster Praetorian case

>I would suggest an 8800 series card, unless you plan to>rebuild your system once the DX10 update is out for FSX.>>In that case, a 79xx series card with 512 ram would be a good>"tide-me-over" card to last you until the end of the year.>>Actually if it is bottlenecking with FSX you are worried>about, you'd be better off getting a Core2 and keeping the>7800GT.>>>Rhett>Hmmm... I take your points. As it will probably be a while before a rebuild - one that will be MOBO, CPU, RAM and GPU, the 7900 series with 512 will probably be the way to go, for now.Thanks for the input. Adrian, thanks for including the links. Much appreciated.cheers

After doing a bit more research I'll definitely upgrade all my components. I thought a decent upgrade would be more expensive!I can change MOBO, CPU and RAM for:* Gigabyte GA-965G-DS3 Intel G965* Intel Core 2 Duo E6600 (Conroe, 2.4Ghz)* Corsair 2GB TWIN2X2048-6400C3DF DDR-II PC2-6400 Dual Channel Kit (2x1GB, 800Mhz, CL3), for around $1200AUD.That may be worth saving for. I can use my 7800GT until I can add a decent DX10card.

Mitchell really unless you exactly must have the latest and the best, I would not upgrade from your present computer to a Core 2 Duo as your system is allready to a high specification and whilst for sure you would get an improvement with Conroe Core 2 Duo, I don't think it [ such a performance improvement ] is enough to be worth junking your present system for, if I was you I would wait around to see how Directx 10 cards develop with a view to getting one of them if Directx 10 provides significant benefit and a good range of Directx cards at value prices becomes available. And for the longer term jump directly to the new generation of processors that will follow the AMD Athlon 64 940 AM2 and Conroe Core 2 Duo. If Conroe Core 2 Duo was capable of running FSX with the sliders maxed out under all condtions or even if it was capable of running FSX with the sliders at very high levels over places like Seattle to give top class graphics whilst provideing high enough frame rates for hands on manual control fast jet flight I would say get it but it can't, so I can't see the sense of spending a shed load of money to get a Conroe Core 2 Duo, for a relatively small improvement.Best and Warm RegardsAdrian Wainer

Adrian has a very good point.I for one am planning to keep what I have (specs in sig) at least until the DX10 update is out.I have been tempted to go Core2, but I can't justify it given that my present rig runs FSX amazingly well. Core2 would give me a moderate punch, but I want to be bowled over.Maybe SP1 will do something in this regard...take that into consideration too, as you ponder your hardware decisions...RhettAMD 3700+ (@2310 mhz), eVGA 7800GT 256 (Guru3D 93.71), ASUS A8N-E, PC Power 510 SLI, 2 GB Corsair XMS 2.5-3-3-8 (1T), WD 250 gig 7200 rpm SATA2, CoolerMaster Praetorian case

Thanks Rhett and Adrian for throwing the cold water on. I KNOW you're right. I think I'll wait until SP1 and maybe upgrade the GPU.Cheers and thanks for the advice. It's a jungle out there in hardware land ;) mitchell