Hi everyone, This is my first post in the forums I'm pretty sure this subject has been spoken of before I'm in the process of upgrading my PC for fluid Fs9 frame rates.My next quest is to buy a graphics card that I will benefit from the most, My old pc ran FS9 pretty well with all sliders maxed out FS9 config tweaks Active sky6 (With Low Res Clouds) + Payware scenery & PMDG aircraft. My old system was : Athlon 64 2.0Ghz CPU + 512mb 7300GT AGP + 2Gb PC3200 RamI have now upgraded and really wish to push my FS9 that bit further, I'm not really interested in moving across to FSX to be honest I love FS9 and have a lot of payware I just don't feel like losing that right now.. Anyway I'm really looking for a graphics card that would really give me the most for what I have.I'm looking to be running PMDG 737/E-Jets Heathrow Xtreme Scenery, GE Pro, Active Sky 6 and I'm really interested in getting some High def cloud sets too I'm just looking at getting a decent frame rate with the PC I have.Any suggestions would be fantastic it's just the graphics card I need really but any advice on the any other parts of my setup would also be great!Here is my current specs: Windows 7 [64BIT]Phenom X2 550 black edition[Duel Core] 3.1Ghz (Not over clocked as of yet)OCZ Gold 4Gb 800Mhz RamASRock K10N78FullHD-HSLI R2.0/R3.0 Micro ATX Motherboard400W Icute Power supplyMany thanks again!Dan :(

For FS9 once you get to about G80/G92 level you've got all the performance you need and then the key to maintaining acceptable framerate at high resolution with AA (assuming you want to do this) is getting more than 512MB video RAM. A 1GB GTS 250 would be an excellent card for FS9. There are 17 such cards listed on Newegg right now. I'd recommend one of these two cards (Zotac and MSI)as they have the highest memory clocks of all the cards listed and G92-based cards such as the GTS 250 are primarily limited by the speed of their RAM.

For FS9 once you get to about G80/G92 level you've got all the performance you need and then the key to maintaining acceptable framerate at high resolution with AA (assuming you want to do this) is getting more than 512MB video RAM. A 1GB GTS 250 would be an excellent card for FS9. There are 17 such cards listed on Newegg right now. I'd recommend one of these two cards (Zotac and MSI)as they have the highest memory clocks of all the cards listed and G92-based cards such as the GTS 250 are primarily limited by the speed of their RAM.

Thank you very much for your quick response! I have been looking at the GTS250 Also! I noticed it requires a 450W power supply if I was to run this card on a 400W supply would this cause damage? Bare in mind I'm running only a resolution of 1240x768 I do intend to get hold of a more powerful supply in the near future but wanted to graphics card first!Other then this is my current setup adequate for running FS9 smoothly bare in mind that my CPU hasn't over clocked and out of the box runs at 3.1GhzMany thanks again!

Depends on the quality of your current PSU.The overall wattage rating is unfortunately irrelevant due to the fact that different manufacturers will inflate the Amperage on the all +3.3V and +5.0V rails which barely see any usage, compared to the all-important +12V rail which devices like graphics cards receive their power from. You need to find out what the +12V rating of yoru PSU is to determine if it can handle a GTS 250. In order to do so, you can look up its specs online at the manufacturer's website or if there is a sticker visible on the side facing out from the case which lists the Amperage of each individual rail, usually at least the maximum capability is listed for each rail. Unfortunately the maximum Amperage capability doesn't mean too much if the constant delivery is significantly lower. Most GTS250s need at least 24A on the +12V rail. The overclocked editions may need slightly more. I would say 30A at most.

Depends on the quality of your current PSU.The overall wattage rating is unfortunately irrelevant due to the fact that different manufacturers will inflate the Amperage on the all +3.3V and +5.0V rails which barely see any usage, compared to the all-important +12V rail which devices like graphics cards receive their power from. You need to find out what the +12V rating of yoru PSU is to determine if it can handle a GTS 250. In order to do so, you can look up its specs online at the manufacturer's website or if there is a sticker visible on the side facing out from the case which lists the Amperage of each individual rail, usually at least the maximum capability is listed for each rail. Unfortunately the maximum Amperage capability doesn't mean too much if the constant delivery is significantly lower. Most GTS250s need at least 24A on the +12V rail. The overclocked editions may need slightly more. I would say 30A at most.

Thanks very much for the fast responce again! unfortunatly it reads only 18A meaning it will not operate correctly.The next best thing could be the 9800GT which would operate ok until I get hold of a better PSUWould the 9800GT be ok for my needs until a later time?Many thanksDan

Who makes your 400W PSU and what is the model?It may be possible that your PSU actually has more than one +12V rail, in which case that 18A rating may not be accurate. If it is a cheap brand though it probably is accurate.

Who makes your 400W PSU and what is the model?It may be possible that your PSU actually has more than one +12V rail, in which case that 18A rating may not be accurate. If it is a cheap brand though it probably is accurate.

The maker is ICute and model is AP-400M12Thanks Dan

Yep, definitely not going to work. I don't believe that PSU has any 6-pin or 6+2 pin PEG connectors. Definitely not the right match for a modern graphics card. Sorry to say the best you can hope to do is an 9800 GT "Green" which does not need the PEG connector for power. Still a good card for FS9 though. If I were you, I would upgrade my PSU and get the card FS9 deserves rather than settling for a lesser card.

Yep, definitely not going to work. I don't believe that PSU has any 6-pin or 6+2 pin PEG connectors. Definitely not the right match for a modern graphics card. Sorry to say the best you can hope to do is an 9800 GT "Green" which does not need the PEG connector for power. Still a good card for FS9 though. If I were you, I would upgrade my PSU and get the card FS9 deserves rather than settling for a lesser card.

Thanks for all the info given! I will be upgrading the PSU in the near future, You say 9800GT "green" Does it have to be the green edition?Thanks again

Thanks for all the info given! I will be upgrading the PSU in the near future, You say 9800GT "green" Does it have to be the green edition?Thanks again

Unless you can find a regular version which doesn't require the use of a 6-pin PEG connector. Let me do some research real quick.Looks like even the Green edition consumes too much power for your PSU. This 9600 GT is the fastest card I could find that doesn't require at least a 6-pin power connector and will likely run on your PSU. You should definitely upgrade your PSU. A 9600 GT is a decent card, but the GTS 250 is a heck of a lot faster.

Unless you can find a regular version which doesn't require the use of a 6-pin PEG connector. Let me do some research real quick.Looks like even the Green edition consumes too much power for your PSU. This 9600 GT is the fastest card I could find that doesn't require at least a 6-pin power connector and will likely run on your PSU. You should definitely upgrade your PSU. A 9600 GT is a decent card, but the GTS 250 is a heck of a lot faster.

Hi mate I've opened up my pc and it does have a 6-pin connector with PCI-E wrote on it. does this help?Thanks

Agreed. Something like this will serve you well and help futureproof should you decide to move to FSXhttp://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx...N82E16817139006Then a solid video card would be like a GTX 275 or GTX 250http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx...N82E16814130475(again future proofing here)

Hi mate I've opened up my pc and it does have a 6-pin connector with PCI-E wrote on it. does this help?Thanks

I wonder why they even bothered with a 6-pin connector when they're only delivering 18A on the +12V rail. Seems rather misplaced, almost as though they were intentionally trying to mislead customers.

I wonder why they even bothered with a 6-pin connector when they're only delivering 18A on the +12V rail. Seems rather misplaced, almost as though they were intentionally trying to mislead customers.

Maybe I'm not sure but here is the link to ithttp://www.maplin.co.uk/Module.aspx?ModuleNo=221000ThanksDan

Maybe I'm not sure but here is the link to ithttp://www.maplin.co.uk/Module.aspx?ModuleNo=221000ThanksDan

Been trying to follow that link all day but it only loaded when you linked to it. Guess Google had the wrong URL :(Definitely not worth keeping. Replace ASAP!