Hi Gents,I've been following various threads about the 8800 and 3870 and I'm beginning to lean towards the ATI 3870.However, herein lies the problem. I went to Newegg and other sites and am overwhelmed with all the different versions of the same card.I was hoping someone here could give me some suggestions as to which card I'm looking for.When most folks on here refer to having the ATI 3870 card, I am assuming most are paying between $200-$300 for the card right??? Reason I ask is I have seen various versions of this card ranging all the way up to $500.00. I believe Ray Proudfoot opted for this one. But again, my budget dictates a card in the $200-$300 range and I'm hoping all the folks on here raving about this card are using the one found within this price range.One other thing I should mention. I use my PC exclusively to receive HD signal for my 42" LG HDTV. My current video card, 8400GS has a HDMI output on it. However, I notice a lot of these newer cards claiming to decode HD only have the DVI output. Whats up with that?Many thanks in advance. And, if possible, could someone please post a link (newegg or elsewhere) of the exact card?Thanks a bunch!Mitch

Hi,8800 GT is faster but doesn't have as much issues as the 3870. 3870s are now available for less than $200, so you might want to get one with good cooling and a low price. Which link are you looking at?Regards

Just get a sapphire 3870 from newegg at around $180. I usually support the 8800gt, but fsx is a weird application, you may be better off with an ati card if you dont care about playing crysis and only use fsx, since gpu horsepower isnt going to make a difference in fsx.

Guys,thank you for taking the time to respond.The video card will primarily for 3 things only.1. FS92. FSX3. HDTV - I use Media Center to watch and record TVAgain, seems like all these cards are equipped only with DVI ports. How come none of them have a HDMI output like my 8400GS??? DVI is subordinate to HDMI as you know.As for simming, I currently have a quad 6600 with 3 GB ram and my frame rates in FSX suck! I should be getting better results. I cant even crank the cloud settings in FS9 without issues. It has to be the video card.Again, I'm prepared to pay around $250.00 or so for a good card.Mitch

Alright for that setup an ati card makes sense, are you using 3 sticks of ram? If you are dual channel is not enabled and that is hurting your performance alot. Overclocking that cpu will help also.

Yeah overclocking helps. Also, do you fly DirectX 10 or 9? If 9, go for the 8800 GT. Or you can get a GTS 512, which, in my opinion, is one of the best cards out there as of today. Talking price/performance wise of course.http://www.newegg.com/Product/ProductList....%24200+-+%24300

Hi Mitch,While I could be wrong, I think most of the favorable comparisons refer to the ATI 3870 X2, which is sort of an "all-in-one" crossfire type of solution. Two GPUs, dual slot, and 1Gb of memory, IIRC.The standard ATI 3870 is quite a bit less robust when compared to NVidia' 8800 GT and GTS. If you're looking for the best DX10.xxx card specifically, then it's a bit of a crap shoot. Until DX10 actually works, I don't think there is a definitive edge to either GPU maker. It's a bit like the battle between HD DVD and Blu-Ray. If I had to bet though, my money would be on NVidia as their GPUs are the reference for DX10. Regards,Jeff