The Upgrade That Made The Difference

[dolph98 24]

FSX was running woefully slow on my machine and I wanted, no, I needed more!Well after struggling tweaking and pulling out my hair for a year, I finally bit it and bought an upgrade. I almost replaced the computer completely but I decided to see if I could go a different route.The machine is a Dell XPS 420 with a Q6600@2.4GHz, 3GB RAM, and a 8600GTS/256. I have been thinking the bottleneck was the video card but couldn't put my finger on it. So one day I plugged my friend's 8800GT into the slot and even though my 375W PSU only had one power connector, the FPS went up by at least 10. That was it.Christmas Eve, I received my new ASUS 9800GTX+ from Newegg after checking out the charts on Tom's HW. I also got a new Tagan 700W PSU to replace my weak Dell supply.The difference is night and day. I land in real time instead of in a slideshow, and it cuts through clouds like butter. I don't have any numbers yet because I'm still experimenting on how far to the right I can put the sliders. I'm locked at 30 and so far all is good.For those of you considering an upgrade, don't wait. Walk, don't run, to Newegg cuz this card is only $200 and it comes very close to the 200 series cards in performance for >$100 less.Dolph

[irocx 292]

The difference is night and day. I land in real time instead of in a slideshow, and it cuts through clouds like butter. I'm locked at 30 and so far all is good.

Lots o' fun when you hit the magic spot, hey. Enjoy and happy holidays!