Hi guys, and gals (if any).I'm looking to upgrade my Albatron 8800GTS, (its like a really early 8800). I've found 2 cards which have grabbed my attention and they are the BFG 9600GT OC2 and the BFG 9800GT OC. Now they are only a few pounds (

Hi guys, and gals (if any).I'm looking to upgrade my Albatron 8800GTS, (its like a really early 8800). I've found 2 cards which have grabbed my attention and they are the BFG 9600GT OC2 and the BFG 9800GT OC. Now they are only a few pounds (

the 9600GT OC and 8800GTS (the early 8800GTS, which you said yours is, the ones based on the G80 core) are very similar in processing power, pixel fill rate, memory bandwidth. I would definitely not bother with a 9600GT with what you have now, it's basically a sidestep, neither better nor worse imho. Just wasted money.9800GT is only a bit faster than your 8800GTS, again, I wouldn't bother. Not enough gain to be had for the money, imho.Is your GTS a 320 or 640mb version? What are the rest of your system specs? FS9 or FSX?

OK thanks guys. It's the 640Mb version i have.My system specs are:Dell 9200Q6600 at 2.4GHz4Gb Crucial Ballistix 800MhzDell 20" monitor

If your Albatron 8800GTS is the 640MB version then in my opinion (and as suggested above) you will not see a performance increase worth writing home about if you go with either of the new cards you suggest. A couple of FPS if you're lucky. They may be old tech now but for FSX they are still going strong.The very general rule of thumb when upgrading video cards is that you should look at buying only every 3rd generation.Save the cash and buy a good add-on or two instead...

Cheers for the advice but I'm going to have to get a new card, as the 8800 is dying on me, I think it has a VRAM leak. I'm now also considering the Sapphire HD 4850. What do you think?

In that case definitely go for the 9800GT (or GTX+ perhaps if you can stretch it) over the Radeon 4850.

In that case definitely go for the 9800GT (or GTX+ perhaps if you can stretch it) over the Radeon 4850.

Hmmm I'm not sure lol. It's definately a war between the 4850 and 9800GT. Why would you choose the 9800GT over the 4850?

There may be a war on but it is not in the FSX arena. Other games, yes. ATI cards perform 10% to 20% slower in heavy weather, heavy scenery etc which is why Nvidia cards are recommended over ATI for FSX and FS9. That's just how it is. So if FSX is your primary "game" then go with Nvidia without thinking twice, if you play a lot of other AAA games then by all means give the ATI card some thought.

There may be a war on but it is not in the FSX arena. Other games, yes. ATI cards perform 10% to 20% slower in heavy weather, heavy scenery etc which is why Nvidia cards are recommended over ATI for FSX and FS9. That's just how it is. So if FSX is your primary "game" then go with Nvidia without thinking twice, if you play a lot of other AAA games then by all means give the ATI card some thought.

Ok thanks for your help. Just one more thing which one to go for? This one http://www.ebuyer.com/product/154968?orthis one http://www.ebuyer.com/product/148491?

Ok thanks for your help. Just one more thing which one to go for? This one http://www.ebuyer.com/product/154968?orthis one http://www.ebuyer.com/product/148491?

I am a little late in chiming in here. I don't know where you fly and I thought I read your CPU is an Q6600 but do not get the 9600GT. I have an i7 920 with the 9600GT and at Orbx YMML and some other big scenery airports my video card is using all 512 meg of ram...ie...the CPU is giving it more than it can handle. You may want to upgrade later on to a better CPU or the Q6600 may do the same thing at something like YMML....I don't know....but I do know the 9600GT cannot handle FSX with a good CPU. Regards