Not sure I'd believe the release date, but who knows, it could be accurate. But for FSX, this IS the card you want.http://forums.vr-zone.com/showthread.php?t=299884Why you want it:1. 100% scalable, this is NOT a Crossfire config so you'll benefit from the two GPUs in any game including FSX2. Power efficient dual GPU setup (650 Watt PSU)If you can wait a month or less for a GPU, I would. This 4870X2 will provide some real benefits to FSX.Rob.

Hope it does, but won't the 256bit bus will hold it back at 1920x1200 with AA and AF turned up?

We'll have to wait and see, but I don't see why it would, current 4870 doesn't have a problem at those resolutions with AA and AF turned up.Also it is 2 X 256bit memory interface. 1600 stream processors (vs. 240 in the GTX 280) and 230GB/sec memory bandwidth (vs. 141GB/sec in the GTX 280). So as you can see, it doesn't appear the memory interface will be a bottleneck (especially at DDR5).But key issue, the 4870X2 is not just two 4870's put on one PCB and acting the same as a two cards in crossfire. So it is not like the 3870X2 nor is it like the nVidia 9800GX2. It is 100% scalable to any game/sim, including FSX. For FSX'ers, this IS the most important aspect of the 4870X2.FSX support for SLI/Crossfire is limited, primarily only certain AA extended modes will work (in either camp) -- basically allowing one to run higher AA without any fps hit. In the 4870X2 this is not going to be the case, you'll get better fps.From a reliable source I have, the retail price will be $499. If that is accurate, you can see another wave of price cuts coming from nVidia for their GTX 280. So if you are still wanting the GTX 280, it's still a good idea to wait and watch the price drop drastically.For the end consumer, it's a win win regardless of what card you select. And this is what happens when we have competition...if we only had the same level of competition in the Flight Sim market we "may" have seen a very different FSX. ;)

>But key issue, the 4870X2 is not just two 4870's put on one>PCB and acting the same as a two cards in crossfire. So it is>not like the 3870X2 nor is it like the nVidia 9800GX2. It is>100% scalable to any game/sim, including FSX. For FSX'ers,>this IS the most important aspect of the 4870X2.I

I can understand your caution. But the same things were said about dual CPUs and now look how well quad core CPUs are scaling. But GPU scaling is not as difficult at CPU scaling as graphics type tasks are very linear and thread well.But for anyone in the GPU market, definitely worth waiting for the 4870X2 to see what it can deliver.

Indeed, the HD 4870 is now available from a few vendors.Here's a list of some of the better-known ATI Radeon vendors (* means the HD 4870X2 card is already shown on their web).AsusTekDiamond *Gigabyte *HIS *MSI *Sapphire *VisionTekQuestion is, which vendor is recommended in terms of:1. Product quality,2. Noise Level3. Temperature4. Power Management5. Customer support6. WarrantySo I would love to hear your ATI Radeon vendor experiences and war stories to help me choose a vendor. Any and all feedback most appreciated! Many thanks!Cheers,jahman.

Should be a great card.. the single 4870 has transformed FS for me, however I would not suggest anyone buying this unless they are on a 64bit system with a lot of Memoryhttp://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct....s)%20-%20RetailRob

I'm finally upgrading my computer to a core2, but purchased an 8800gtx when it first came out. im happy with its performance but honestly disappointed in nvidias drivers. so this is really great news for me. Might have to sell the 8800 and get this 4870x2!! Thanks for the link!

'Its scalability is completely dependent on the drivers.'Exactly....do you think ATi will ever release a driver with FSX support for this? Probably not.And my understanding is that unless you are gaming at 2560 x XXXX resolution on a 27" or 30" widescreen, it's not worth the investment as the CPU becomes a bottleneck at lower resolutions. (even an overclocked Q9550 according to anandtech)

>'Its scalability is completely dependent on the drivers.'>>Exactly....do you think ATi will ever release a driver with>FSX support for this? Probably not.>Your exactly right, if the driver doesn

I was planning on getting it but I am not sure. The drivers need to support it and that doesn't mean that you will actually see better performance. And with PhysX being added to nVidia cards and while few games use it I am still kinda leaning to a GTX 280.....maybe a 9800X2 I am not sure yet...

With 1GB of RAM wouldn't it have issues with shared memory reducing overall system RAM available (don't understand the technicals behind it)?

>if the game is CPU bound, dual GPU

>with PhysX being added to nVidia cardsJust a hunch, but personally I blieve PhysX to be stillborn because in tis essence Video processing is really a subset of physics processing, therefore for example the gates needed to do real-time ray tracing (as in Larrabee) can also do the physics stuff. PhysX thus becomes just a question of adding additional stream processors (Consider the HD 4870HD has 1600 of them for a whopping 2.4 TeraFLOPs!)Cheers,jahman.

>With 1GB of RAM wouldn't it have issues with shared memory>reducing overall system RAM available (don't understand the>technicals behind it)?That depends...With Vista 64 you are no longer bound to 4 GBy System RAM. What I don't know (and have not been able to obtain answerst to) is what size of address footrpint does Vista 64 have *within* the address space of a 32-bit application like FSX (remember, under Win XP the OS, FSX and the video RAM all have to fit within 4 GBy).But with Vista 64, that size of the OS within the 4 GBy virtual address space of FSX might well be smaller, thus freeing additional address space for FSX and video RAM.Additionally, DX10 virtualizes the video RAM and this might reduce the video footprint within the 32-bit app (or not).Finally, although the HD 4870X2s sport 2 GBy Video RAM for 1 GBy per GPU, that RAM is duplicated so the address space "used" by the HD 4870X2 is only 1 GBy.Cheers,jahman.