http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct....d=56&subcat=416Got a whole bunch of money to burn so wanna spend some before the girlfriend spots some new shoes :)HIS ATI Radeon HD 3870 X2 1024MB GDDR3 TV-Out/Dual DVI/HDMI (PCI-Express) - RetailRob

naw, with that you can crank up the AA and AFwhat size monitor do you run?

Purchased this a few weeks ago (it's a tv not a monitor)http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct....tid=511&subcat=I'm thinking the money would be best spent on some extra goflight modules.Rob

HIS ATI Radeon HD 3870 X2 1024MB GDDR3 TV-Out/Dual DVI/HDMI (PCI-Express)These new dual GPU video cards aren't so simple. This one is a Crossfire board, which means you'll have to own an X38 chipset mobo in order to enjoy anything that Crossfire may bring to a game. Expect nVidia's dual GPU cards to have much the same restrictions. Additionally, neither manufacturers' drivers could ever be accused of being optimized for dual GPU/video cards. Finally, FS9 cannot take advantage of dual GPU/video cards.Other than that it seems perfect. :-lol

>HIS ATI Radeon HD 3870 X2 1024MB GDDR3 TV-Out/Dual>DVI/HDMI (PCI-Express)>>These new dual GPU video cards aren't so simple. This one is>a Crossfire board, which means you'll have to own an X38>chipset mobo in order to enjoy anything that Crossfire may>bring to a game. >>Other than that it seems perfect. :-lol You do not need the X38 chipset to run a 3870 x2 in Cross Fire, it does not rely on chipset support. Any motherboard that can run a standard 3780 can run the 3870 X2. If the application is CPU bound (like FS9 and FSX) the benefit from multi GPU

Yeah I kinda assumed fs9 would not take advantage of this new technology.. However I was thinking it would help take the load of undocking the PMDG Overhead and PFD ND FCU ect. To be honest more FPS is not an issue anymore with fs9.. Well only one way to find out so I will order it tomorrow.Rob

For FS9, an X800 is more than sufficient. If you want more FS9 performance, upgrade your CPU to the fastest C2D clock speed you can afford.Gary

I agree that fs needs raw cpu power but sorry I have to disagree abou the card.. I run a quad core now clocked at 3.6ghz, but on my old lowly P4 upgrading to a 512mb x1950 512mb meant I could run at 6x AA and 16 AF with zero perfomance hit. I hear people saying they run fs9 maxed into heathrow and get 40FPS on an old AMD machine and

You do not need the X38 chipset to run a 3870 x2 in Cross Fire, it does not rely on chipset support. Any motherboard that can run a standard 3780 can run the 3870 X2.Thanks for the correction. I had read that in order to run two X2's in Crossfire an X38 mobo must be used.Cheers,

I have tested this numerous times in the past and you can run FS9 at max AA/AF on an X800 or 6800 and get zero performance hit in complex areas. Better graphics cards than these will not improve your low-end FPS in FS9.Gary

If you read my post I clearly stated it's not about more FPS. I am more than aware that fs9 is CPU intensive. (you can run FS9 at max AA/AF on an X800 or 6800 and get zero performance hit in complex areas)Sorry but I have been upgrading and simming since the Sublogic days on the C64 and Amiga. Your statement holds no ground unless you give specifics like ram and CPU that these cards are running on. Also Types of addons. Default FS9 would proberly run smooth on my crappy laptop.Rob

You will find that I have posted here many times on this very topic, with the specifics you seek. The upshot my FS9 experience is that given enough RAM (1GB+) and a medium level graphics card (ala 6800 / X800 or better) and regardless of AA/AF settings, your CPU will determine your lowest FPS experience. If your own quantitative testing indicates otherwise, then please post your test methodology and results for both before and after you upgrade for our benefit.Gary

Sorry I'm not making myself clear... I am NOT TALKING about FPS. I fully understand that if you put a high end video card into a a low end machine you will get hardly any increase in perfomance due to the CPU or whatever being the bottleneck. There is no point sticking a Ferrari Engine into a 20 year old Ford escort. My Original post was "Is the card I mentioned overkill", I kinda new it was, just wanted some more opinions. However I am still willing to purchase this card due the past experiance of upgrading cards and finding I can undock to multiple monitors, Crank up settings (that are not even available on older cards) And it works a heck of a lot better then older cards I have used. So just to summarize: FS91. Yes V fast CPU is the most important factor2. I would say 2 gig is min with todays add ons3. Get the fastest vid card you can affordRob