Looking for advice on upgrading video card...

[JiBrady 20]

My system is about 3 or 4 years old. It has a single core, 3.4GHZ CPU with 2GB main memory. It has an early version PCI Express card, the ATI X600 card, with 256MB memory. I am considering upgrading to a newer ATI Radeon 3870 card, with 512MB memory. My main interest is in improving my FSX experience. Can I expect to see any improvements with regard to FPS, and with possible reduction in "blurry" scenery ( a know FSX problem). What type of "improvements" might I expect? Thanks for your input..Jim

[jackcnd 0]

If you want to upgrade for FSX its best to get :Intel Core 2 Duo CPU 3GHz+ like the e8400 or e8500and a Nvidia 8800/9800 Series GPUYour current CPU will hold back FSX even with a new video card.If you upgrade the system based on the items above you will see amazing improvements, but it will probably mean getting new DDR2 memory and a MB too.Good news is all the above can be have at a very low cost now, $700 or so.

[JiBrady 20]

I am very aware that a new Computer, with all new hardware, would be the best fix. However, I was only thinking of a video card upgrade at this time. I wanted to hear from other users who only upgraded their video card, and what type of changes they experienced.Thanks,Jim

[brucewtb 247]

I doubt that a new video card will give you any improvement with that CPU. I have a similar CPU to you and a year ago had to replace the video card because it had died. The replacement was an up to date relatively hi end model got my system back up but no FPS improvement.Bruceb

[GHarrall 494]

The golden rule for FSX:CPU, CPU and more CPU.The only time a GPU comes into play is if you want higher resolutions and AA/AF, to MAINTAIN your FPS. It also helps with 512mb or more on the GPU to help avoid the blurries.An 8800 series is more than enough for FSX.It needs to be paired with a decent CPU though to see any benefit.