Mathijs Kok of Aerosoft was interviewed by http://fsbreak.com/ , it's a great interview, have a listen when you can.Of note, many were surprised when he mentioned the BEST video cards for FSX are the older ones due to timing issues,and the new ones are SLOWER.If I heard correctly, he said the best of all is just a $79 card.A quick look on the Aerosoft forum revealed the card he was talking about was a ATI 4650 !Anyone here compared it to say a GTX280/285 using NickN's suggested settings?

Following his suggestion I bought a 4650 to test. The result is nothing like theirs. 4650 gives me much less FPS compared to my 9800GT and any kind of clouds in FSX ABSOLUTELY kills the ATI.

What was not made clear in the interview was that this 4650 claim was only in DX10 mode...

What was not made clear in the interview was that this 4650 claim was only in DX10 mode...

I still find it impossible to believe, and sickeningly misguiding to people.

I always wondered if the issue with FSX performance was not just a matter of getting the highest processor speeds and video cards at the highest price possible, but a combination of the right gear.

As if by co-incidence I've just bought an Acer Aspire system with an ATI4650 already in it. It is a top performance PC with a fast CPU and enough RAM (6GB) to keep things going at a good tempo for FSX. The PC was meant te replace my old FSX PC and the performance is spectacular. I find that with DX10 the performance is certainly much better with higher FPS (holds 30fps easily). A the end of the day it's all down to taste and what you expect.To be honest, my expectations were non existent and therefore the results are great. I have no bad words (as of yet) for the ATI 4650.

so rightyoif I replaced my overclocked 4890 for a 4650 - I'd get better performance ??ah in DX10 mode ?? come onI'd love to see some benchmarks of a 4650 @ 1900x1200 with 4xFSAA

As if by co-incidence I've just bought an Acer Aspire system with an ATI4650 already in it. It is a top performance PC with a fast CPU and enough RAM (6GB) to keep things going at a good tempo for FSX. The PC was meant te replace my old FSX PC and the performance is spectacular. I find that with DX10 the performance is certainly much better with higher FPS (holds 30fps easily). A the end of the day it's all down to taste and what you expect.To be honest, my expectations were non existent and therefore the results are great. I have no bad words (as of yet) for the ATI 4650.

so rightyoif I replaced my overclocked 4890 for a 4650 - I'd get better performance ??ah in DX10 mode ?? come onI'd love to see some benchmarks of a 4650 @ 1900x1200 with 4xFSAA

Wow, what a fantastic PC you must have, Buckster? Overclocking is great! Beautiful if you are happy with it. I am very happy with mine also :). I won't be replacing it soon. Does your car also go fast?Am I missing the point or is this a friendly discussion?

Wow, what a fantastic PC you must have, Buckster? Overclocking is great! Beautiful if you are happy with it. I am very happy with mine also :). I won't be replacing it soon. Does your car also go fast?Am I missing the point or is this a friendly discussion?

Would you mind posting some benchmarks? =)

My ATI card does better in DX 10 mode then DX9 but it is a 4870 for some reason the bloom high highest water do better then in DX10. So there my be something to it.

Every DX10-capable card should perform better in DX10 mode. That's the point of the DX10 rendering code path of FSX.

Every DX10-capable card should perform better in DX10 mode. That's the point of the DX10 rendering code path of FSX.

They should but DX10 tanked my 8800GTS so did bloom and the highest water settings im DX10 or 9. On the ATI card it seems to have much more headroom in DX10 then the 8800 GTS did in DX 9 i think the popups with buildings is less on the ATI and a couple more FPS then the 8800.

Let me guess: your 8800 GTS was a 320MB model.

Let me guess: your 8800 GTS was a 320MB model.

LOL yep thats the one it was an odd card it was good in many ways but it had its faults.

Indeed. 320MB is not enough VRAM for a GPU as powerful as the G80-GTS.