Hello,I have a computer for FS9:ASUS A8N sli MB2 gigs of ramAMD Athlon 64 3500+NVIDIA GF6800 (2)Video cards1. If I replace the video card with a newer fast card , should I expect a performance increase?Thanks in advance,Ron Sagel

Nope.You'd need a whole new system to see FPS increase.I used to have that card XFX 6800XT PCIe 256mb and upgraded to a 8800GT 512mb - saw no difference

I imagine that it will.I had a little bit better processor (Athlon 2.0GHz) and went from a 7200GS to a 8600GT and it make a world of a difference. I realize that the 6800 card is pretty good and may even beat out the 8600GT, but if you grab say a 9600GT (which is pretty cheap) you will see increased performance. Check out gpureview.com to compare your card to ones you're thinking about.For what I have seen, you will see a greater increase in performance with a more powerful graphics card in fs9 than with a faster processor (as long as you have a fairly good processor, and I imagine that your processor is just fine).

>For what I have seen, you will see a greater increase in>performance with a more powerful graphics card in fs9 than>with a faster processor (as long as you have a fairly good>processor, and I imagine that your processor is just fine).I strongly disagree here and recommend the complete opposite. Each time I have upgraded video card from 6800GT->X800XT->7900GTO->8800GTS, I have run an FS9 test to compare performance with the previous card and found that while high end FPS does increase, low end FPS (ie. where you really want the boost) didn't budge noticably, even with AA/AF set anywhere from off/off to max/max. Upgrading CPU, on the other hand, produced a direct increase in the FPS floor, in some cases quite markedly (A64 to C2D upgrade).Get the fastest CPU you can for FS9 (C2D series is best, even if the extra cores don't get used). I agree with Ryan that anything I have upgraded to since having a 6800GT has made neglible performance improvement, although you may get benefit from the higher AA/AF capabilities that newer cards can do.Gary

Agreed. And make sure it's a Core 2 Duo, and not one of the Pentium dual core or Celeron dual core CPUs.Here is an interesting observation: Computer 1-see specs below.(Vista)Computer two: E4400, Xp Home, 7950 gs.If I set both computers up the same, gpu and game settings, I get the same FPS taking off from LAX at same time of day(about 60). Computer 1 scores twice as high on 3dmark. Thought that was interesting.Bob

Well there you have it. 3 people say it makes no difference, so I've been proven wrong here.

Don't be too hard on yourself, as I should have qualified that the performance gains from upgrading a video card for FS9 diminish very quickly after reaching the 6800GT class. My upgrade from a GF3 Ti200 to a 9800 Pro in the very early days of FS9 did actually boost low end performance quite noticably. It wasn't until my upgrades after the 6800GT that performance didn't get any better, although eye candy quality and AA/AF levels did improve with subsequent video card generations.In your case, the 7200GS is actually a much lower performing video card than the 6800GT I speak of and indeed the 8600GT you upgraded to, so your observation of an FS9 performance boost is very likely. What I didn't want people thinking was that such performance boosts can be expected upgrading an already reasonably modern graphics card and I apologise if I said this in too heavy handed a manner.Gary

Nope, not too hard at all :) and I don't mind being proven wrong one bit. I'm here to learn too, and thanks for the explanation. Now I know where the cut-off point is.

Sorry to hi-jack the thread, but would I gain any benefit if I upgraded from a 6800gs card to a 7800gtx or similar? My pc is a Pentium4 3ghz. Apologises again.

Assuming we are still talking FS9, there will be neglible performance improvement but you will be able to crank AA/AF up to higher levels.Gary

Thanks Gary, is there a card which would show significant improvement. By the way I was still talking about fs9.Many thanksBarry

Hello,Thanks for all the help -If I were to change to a newer card with more memory, would that improve my scenery/texture load times?In general, my FPS is fine (except for a few airports)Thanks,Ron Sagel

Significant improvement? Unfortunately, no. FS9 maxed out in the video card department about two to three years ago.Gary

Only if you now have a video card with less than 128M memory or one with more than that but it is shared video memory (ie. shared with system RAM and hence slowish). Otherwise you will only see a very marginal improvement in scenery/texture load times.Gary