I'm building a new system for my incoming FSX. I understand video card ram is very important for such a game, especially when running under high resolution. My target monitor resolution will be 1600x1024. CPU is Conroe duo 6600. With mid-high effects, which card will give me more frame rates: 8800gts 320mb OR 8600gts 512mb?

I just built my system and had the same dilemna. I ended up going with the 8800gts. I hope someone can shed some light on this because I never found a good answer.I can tell you that I get very good frames in the air, and acceptable on the ground with pretty much everything I like turned on.Also, another big help for me was overclocking. Read up on it because it made a huge difference for me, and increase of almost 100%

I am running FSX at 1680x1050 with ingame AA and AF right now and, according to MemStatus 2.05, am consuming 242MB video memory, with a peak of 262MB recorded over a one hour period. This strongly suggests that either card you are considering will have enough memory for the job.The following link http://www23.tomshardware.com/graphics_200...2=709&chart=292 shows FSX benchmarked across a range of video cards, but unfortunately not the 8600. Word has it that the 8600 is roughly on par with a 7900 GS, so the performance range you are looking at is approximately between the two blue bars. As you can see, there is not much in it with about 10% difference between the slowest and the fastest. The only other consideration is DX10 performance when the DX10 patch for FSX comes out and I'd like to think the 8800GTS has the edge there.At this stage though, I'd say you would be equally served by either card option.Gary

>I am running FSX at 1680x1050 with ingame AA and AF right nowGary,I'm wondering if you follow the thread below and delete and recreate the FSX Nvidia game profile using nHancer, if your 7900 card might not perform better. Although, you might have to drop the recommended "Combined 8Xs" (recommended for the 8800 cards) to "Combined 4Xs" or see what works best. Make sure you turn off AA in FSX as recommened at the bottom of the post as well. I'd be really interested to know if this tip helps other Nvidia cards besides the 8800 series. http://forums.avsim.net/dcboard.php?az=sho...&topic_id=23202As for the opening post, FWIW, I have been really happy with my 8800GTS 640MB Evga card. At the time of purchase, it was nearly half the price of the 8800GTX on Newegg.com.Regards,

Thank you all for the suggestion.Yes a 640mb 8800gts will end the dispute, but it is $100 more than the 320mb version.I see an old thread here indicating that FS2004 (not to mention FSX) will consume more than 320mb of video card memory at some scenes, and it will lead to swapping with main memory, and frame rates will significantly drop because of that.Anyway I will go with 8800gts 640mb, but will wait unitl its price drop a bit.

Al,Yes I have deleted the FSX profiles using nHancer, which made the 1xx.xx actually usable for me. I can't turn off AA and AF in FSX as I run in windowed mode and that makes AA / AF go away no matter what I select in nVidia control panel or nHancer. I wish it worked the same way FS2004 does in this regard.I still reckon 320MB is enough for the stated resolution. Certainly higher (3360x1050 in my case) needs more.Gary

Gary, your specs blow me away. What kind of performance do you get in FSX?

>Al,>>Yes I have deleted the FSX profiles using nHancer, which made>the 1xx.xx actually usable for me. I can't turn off AA and AF>in FSX as I run in windowed mode and that makes AA / AF go>away no matter what I select in nVidia control panel or>nHancer. I wish it worked the same way FS2004 does in this>regard.Ah I see, I forgot about the Window mode AA issue. Maybe post this over in the Nvidia nzone forum as they now seem to be reading it. Tabs just gave them some info and now those are known issues in the latest beta release notes. Worth a shot.I wasn't sure if deleating the profiles and recreate them really help cards below the 8800 series. You're the first I've read that actually did this with a 7000 series card and had success at that. Good for others to know.

I have the 8800GTS 640mb version and have been very happy with it. I think you need a 1-2 punch though and need to have a good dual or quad core processor to help as well.FSX is not only graphically intensive, it is CPU intensive. Have a blazing fast GPU and an older CPU and you will not ever reach the GPU's potential.

>resolution will be 1600x1024. CPU is Conroe duo 6600. With>mid-high effects, which card will give me more frame rates:>8800gts 320mb OR 8600gts 512mb?I'd get the card with the most memory for sure.You said you will now wait for the 640 to come down in price. I think that's wise and you will be better off all around.RhettAMD 3700+ (@2585 mhz), eVGA 7800GT 256 (Guru3D 93.71), ASUS A8N-E, PC Power 510 SLI, 2gb Corsair XMS 3-3-3-8 (1T), WD 150 gig 10000rpm Raptor, WD 250gig 7200rpm SATA2, Seagate 120gb 5400 rpm external HD, CoolerMaster Praetorian

I just ordered an MSI 8800GTS 640MB OC card from the Egg for $350 after a $30 rebate. That's only $50 or so more than the3 320M cards.Gary

Well, they are about to get better when the MSI 8800GTS 640MB OC video card and X-FI XtremeGamer sound card I just ordered arrive next week :-hahI get pretty good performance in FSX even now. I change my settings all the time, using saved profiles, so that I get 20+ FPS as often as I can. This translates to high settings in the big cities, ultra high in medium populated areas and just about all sliders right in isolated and ocean areas.Clouds can still give me grief, which hopefully the 8800 will tame, and places like JFK can bring me down to single digit FPS, but boy does it all look great.Gary

I bet...Psss... hey... Gary... wanna trade? :9

Congrats... You wont' be disapointed. Can I ask why MSI? I know there is a good following for their motherboards but never bothered to ask what people like about the brand. Don't think I've ever owned a MSI product.

Because it was the cheapest AND comes OCed in the box. I owned an MSI 6800 a couple of years ago and it was a great card. Also, I read two full reviews of this card I found on the net that both gave it big thumbs up AND customer feedback at the Egg is very positive on this card.Gary