Flirting with my ex

[jkeye 152]

Im currently in a love hate relationship for the past year with FSX-stutters,low frame rates CTDs even with my new Quad core Vista system (couldnt buy one with xp on it).Out of frustration I have started using FS9 again.All sliders maxed,smooth frames.Sure,there are some things it doesnt have that FSX has,but the end result of a package has to be usability and enjoyability.I think FS9 beats FSx here.Until or unless something changes somewhere down the line.Just my opinionJK

[Guest Nils79]

You should start blogging.Thats what i do, if get nostalgic feelings:http://img242.imageshack.us/img242/7317/65839453af4.jpgNow i will eat something...

[Guest fsxmissionguy]

I'd bet dollars to donuts you have an Nvidia 8800. Would I be right?

[jkeye 152]

No- an 8300.Glad I didnt shell out the dosh for the 8800!I dont think it would make any difference to FSX.Why did you ask?JK

[Guest Nils79]

What you are using is no gaming graphics card.FSX needs a good graphics card and that's why you have performance problems. The AMD HD3870 are nice cards.

[Guest fsxmissionguy]

You need to break up with your ex ... and by that, I mean Nvidia. She's cheating on you, dude.You're mad at FSX, but in reality you have a video card with a crap driver set leaking its suckitude all over your excellent game. (Their DX9 cards are working well, though. I have the GeForce 7950.)If you're interested in having some fun with FSX, go to Best Buy and get an ATI HD3850. This DX10.1 card is about $150.00.

[PhilTaylor 45]

Yes, graphics cards make a difference.Performance is as good as the weakest link in the chain.The IHVs make 4 lines of cards:1)Ultra for the enthusiast at super high prices2)High-end at high prices3)Mid-range at mid prices4)Low-end at low prices.For nVidia, that translates to:1)8800 GTX overclocked 768m monstor2)8800 GTS 512m, 8800 GT 2nd gen3)86004)8400The manufacturing process is not perfect, and there are defects in almost every wafer burnt by the FAB. The IHVs have come up with a clever way to avoid having to throw as many chips out due to defects.Typically the chips are manufactured in quadrants, with the shader pipes and stream processors arrayed around a central memory controller. There is a single die design for all variants using this approach.When the wafers come out of the FAB, the parts are speed bined, by that I mean they are tested at the maximum rated performance to see if the part works. If it doesnt work at that clock, they reduce the clock until they see if it does work. If it does not work at all, the chip is discarded. If it does work, the level at which it speed bins determines what variant the part can be sold as.If the part doesnt speed bin out for Ultra, they try it for High. Typically High has the same number of shader units and stream processors as Ultra and the same memory width but with lower clocks ( less memory bandwidth ) and less memory.If it doesnt speed bin out for High, they turn 1 quadrant off ( now 3/4 of the top end ) and try to bin it as a Mid-range. With fewer shader units and stream processors. at a lower clock, and with less memory and less memory bus width which means less memory bandwidth.If that doesnt work, they turn 2 quadrants off ( now 1/2 of the top end ) and try at Low-end. With fewer shader units and stream processors. at a lower clock, and with less memory and sometimes less memory bus width which means less memory bandwidth. Much less.Low-end is really low-end, this is no joke. There are reviews of the 1st gen DX10 parts that show low-end DX10 performs worse than DX9 parts. Really.You have an 8300 which is below an 8400. Who knows, that might only be 1/4 of the die active. 25% of an Ultra or High-end.With that low a graphics card, the CPU is no longer the bottleneck.You get what you pay for.

[frankla 44]

Don't discount 8800. Its not between NVIDIA and ATI. Its just that you have a very low end video card that is making your Quad Core useless for modern gaming.

[delta november 0]

Now THAT is useful information.....particularly since it comes froman ex Vid Card employee:-hah

[Guest fsxmissionguy]

Also, don't necessarily embrace the 8800.The driver set is not right yet - based on hundreds of posts by 8800 users (and not just FSX DX10 users, but users of other DX10 games).

[Guest Stoopy]

I've been waiting for some feedback on the ATI 3850/3870 so thank you very much for bringing some good, topical information to a post that otherwise didn't have any real point or info in it (from an outside perspective).I've an ATI 1650 PRO and since it's the oldest part of my fairly new C2D E6750 system, and really like ATI after switching to them as an ex-NVidia user, I've been waiting to see what the word on the streets is with these new cards and FSX.So please continue to tell!

[FlyingsCool 3]

My 8800 GTS 640 works fine. (???)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

[Guest ftrusky]

My 8800 GTS 640 works fine. (???)>>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 180Seems like there are so many variables possible from one users "box" to another. Different combos of hardware, software and setup make it perplexing. I've had good results with 2 - 7900GTX SLI on my almost 2 year old AMD64- FX60 dual core and I run at 1920 X 1200, AA and AF both at 16x, and fairly high FSX settings on my 24" monitor. (I'm a low flyin' eye candy junkie.) I get a very smooth (locked at 20) 19/20 fps with the stock MSFS G/A planes and 15+ with my favorite Aerosoft and RealAir planes. For some reason 15+ works smoothly as well. Sure, there is the occasional stutter (momentary short duration freeze, burp, (whatever you want to call it), especially on takeoff and landing. But for me it works, it's not a show stopper. And around major cities the stress is more noticeable.Oh yes, and I'm still using old ForceWare 84.21 drivers.

[Paul J 349]

Hey, Stoopy;I've run (very happily, with good frames at SEA) the 1950xtx since October last year and have been waiting for something in a "better price range" to come out from ATI that will support the Matrox "TripleHead2Go" system. There have been SO MANY posts about the 8800's blurries problems, the AF and AA settings and so on over that time I was glad I stayed with ATI. I really wanted to be able to go to that card, but wasn't going to shell out another $600+. Then two weeks ago ATI delivered, and I bought the ASUS version - the EAH3870 for just over $250 Can. The benchmarks show somewhat less performance than the 8800GTX - but - following David Roche's "rebuild FSX properly with SP1 &2" post - I can now get bloom on, water at the high end; most sliders full or near there; moderate traffic - with only some stuttering around KSEA. That's with ASX/G, GEX, UTX and UTraffic. I had no trouble setting this card to the same settings as the 1950. In practice I'm running the FSX settings shown in the attachment - RealAir Spit 14 and the EagleSoft Citation II departing SEA and flying the area covered including PAE and Jon Patch/Holger Sandmann's Victoria+ at all altitudes; matter of fact I stepped outside the cockpit of the Spit and flew up the edge of the SEA area to just above Seattle at a few feet off the Max water. At 240kts+ there is no hesitation, stuttering or other degradation. It is quite smooth, scary and impressive. This is with current time and weather (pretty dense and overcast in the area). While some of these settings may seem low for some folks - the settings that have changed are as a combined result of the rebuild, SP2 AND the card. There is no single bullet here, as the improvement wasn't achievable with just the card and SP2: in fact SP2 made it worse and it's been off and on again twice before reaching that decision; but after reading David's post about rebuilding - I re-thought it, and then decided to rebuild it - and it has actually worked! Water does not have the hit that it did, road and aircraft still do, but not so bad AND I'm now able to run more settings turned on and higher for all the original settings. I run Diskeeper for defragging, and RegHeal to fix the registry. For these results at this cost - the ATI 3780 is an absolute bargain.

[jmig 100]

>Hey, Stoopy;>I've run (very happily, with good frames at SEA) the 1950xtx>since October last year and have been waiting for something in>a "better price range" to come out from ATI that will support>the Matrox "TripleHead2Go" system.Snoopy, Does the 3870 support the full TH2Go resolution?