First a picture of what it looks like:Closeup of the PanelThen my system specs, setup and FPS results:System:MSI P55-G55i5-750 @ 4.0Ghz4GB DDR3-1600GTX 480CFG file tweaks: (Only the relevant stuff) (Thanks Bojote)[JOBSCHEDULER]AffinityMask=14[bUFFERPOOLS]UsePools=0[GRAPHICS]HIGHMEMFIX=1STALE_BUFFER_THRESHOLD=1024[Display]TextureMaxLoad=9TEXTURE_BANDWIDTH_MULT=40UPPER_FRAMERATE_LIMIT=0ForceFullScreenVSync=FalseForceVSync=False[Main]DisablePreload=1FIBER_FRAME_TIME_FRACTION=0.25[DISPLAY.Device.NVIDIA GeForce GTX 480.0] *only shown to display using FSX enabled AF and nHancer enabled AA*Mode=1920x1080x32Anisotropic=1nHancer Settings: (Thanks NickN)AA: 32xS (forced, not enhanced)AF: Application ControlledvSync: Off*All other settings default driver values*FSX Display Settings: (Only things not maxed out)Texture Res: 30cmWater: High 2xTraffic: 0 Comm / 2 GA (controlled by UT2 at 100% Daily and Weekly schedules)Car Traffic: 15Water Traffic: 0 / 0AC Self Shadow: OffGround Scenery Shadows: OffBloom: Off (ENBSeries Mod instead)Lens Flare: OffCloud Distance: MinimumCloud Density: HighResults:Area in Screenshots above: 25~29 no stutters or blurries (FPS Limiter set to 25, so I could probably set it higher with the FPS jumping over 25...)Urban Areas: Portland - 22~25 (22 over KPDX, 25 everywhere else in town), Seattle - 17~25 (17 over and at KSEA, 25 everywhere else in town) (I attribute the FPS loss to 100% UT2 Traffic)Thoughts:The new GTX 480 is a monster! When testing, I only lost 3 FPS when going from 8xS to 32xS. The Fermi architecture seems to handle high AA very well, and I'm very pleased with the results! Hope this helps anyone that was interested.Phil

nHancer Settings: (Thanks NickN)AA: 32xS (forced, not enhanced)

Amazing pics! What is the difference between forced and enhanced AA? Which one has better IQ?

Amazing pics! What is the difference between forced and enhanced AA? Which one has better IQ?

Probably none since new drivers work bothways the same. Confirmed over several posts... Should be used as enhanced, as it was designed too. Nevertheless, excellent pics! Could you check out how much performance loss through such high IQ?

Great pix!Looks like the Ansio is a bit low though, like 8x (FSX aniso)You should be able to do full 16x no problem performance wise. Forced is still better IQ than enhanced as long as you are using a decent high res screen res, its still too easy to see the differance and with the 200 serries it should be even less performace impact. Also can you do jitered sampling type AA? should be an option the the CP will improve the shadow edges a great deal for things like aircraft self shadows etc.Post more pix!

hey pmhart ....what driverversion do u use with gtx 480 ??? thanks ... rich

hey pmhart ....what driverversion do u use with gtx 480 ??? thanks ... rich

Rich, he is using the pre-2xx series of drivers. NHancer does't work with the latest driver revisions. You can use Nvidia Inspector though.

Thanks for your conclusion Phil.I also consider to upgrade from a GTX280 to a GTX480 card but I'm not sure if it is worth it.How is the performance in heavy weather with many cloud layers with such high AA?Nevertheless with the GTX280 I can see a drop of frames with many clouds in the background and my hope is that the GTX480 will do it's job better under such conditions.

Thanks for your conclusion Phil.I also consider to upgrade from a GTX280 to a GTX480 card but I'm not sure if it is worth it.How is the performance in heavy weather with many cloud layers with such high AA?Nevertheless with the GTX280 I can see a drop of frames with many clouds in the background and my hope is that the GTX480 will do it's job better under such conditions.

Oh, it's worth it alright. :)

Well crap....you guys are gonna make me go spend 500 bucks.......:(

Well crap....you guys are gonna make me go spend 500 bucks.......:(

It's worth it my friend...

Well crap....you guys are gonna make me go spend 500 bucks.......:(

Let me put it this way.....My system has stayed the exact same outside of the addition of my Evga GTX 480 SC+. With my old setup (Evga GTX285 SSC) I ran with the following add-ons and settings:Add-ons (for FSX as a whole):GEX UTXREXASAUT2FS Genesis meshENB SeriesSettings:2560x16008xS FSAA and 16xAFAll settings in-game maxed except for: Scenery shadows off, Bloom Off, Automobile traffic at 10%, Water set to Med 2x (2 marks down for the top). I let ASA control view distance (and I keep it relatively low in order to "blend the horizon). Autogen set to very dense.In-game FPS set to unlimited WITH FPS Limiter set to 30 FPS.Avg. FPS (depending on where I am at and what add-on, of course) was anywhere from 18-30 (locked at 30 for most of the time in flight).Now, with the GTX 480, I hardly ever see it drop below 25 FPS (occasionally it still goes down to 18 FPS), but that seemjs rather few and far between. BUT............Terrain graphics loading is very fast and blurries don't really seem to be a issue at all...AND...the icing on the cake......I run at 32xS FSAA and 16x AF with anywhere form 4x to 8x Super-sampling. It looks amazing. Ay shimmering? Gone. Panel shimmerig in some of my PMDG and other aircraft? Gone. Shimmering on some 2D objects? Gone.So, did the GTX 480 give me a huge boost in FPS? Not really, BUT, it allows me to choose MUCH higher FSAA levels that give an almost perfect image with hardly any FPS impact (thanks to Tabs from PMDG for the heads up on the Super Sampling Nvidia Inspector settings). I think going from 8xS to 32xS with 4x Supersampling costs me about 3-4 FPS (using the PMDG J41, I don't seem to take anywhere near the hit in performance I did before). It's ridiculous. I actually had to close FSX and go check Nvidia Inspector because I couldn't believe I didn't lose a ton of FPS. With my GTX285, running similar settings killed my machine. I still catch myself saying, "No way" sometimes.Is the GTX 480 expensive? Yes (relatively speaking).Is the GTX 480 power hungry? Yes.Does the GTX 480 run hot? Yes.Will it make your entire office/game room hot? Not in my experience.Will it kick your dog? No.Is it anywhere near as bad as many people say (who probably don't own one I might add)? Not even close, IMO. The only times I would not recommend a GTX 480 is if: A.) You have poor case airflow and can't adequatly cool your system, let alone the card. B.) If you are running a resolution lower than 1920x1080 (and even that resolution is pushing it with regards to being low, IMO). Or C.) You have a slower, non-oc'd chip and are hoping the GTX 480 will "save the day". The GTX 480 is extremly fast, but it needs some room to do it's thing. Putting a videocard like this in a Non-oc'd sub-3ghz PC will not do you much good. All you will end up doing is bottlenecking the GPU. Of course, I think 4ghz is even bottlenecking this GPU a little. lol If you are running a rig with a lower resolution, say 1920x0180 and below with lower FSAA settings, I would take a serious look at the GTX 470 and GTX 460 (probably the GTX 460 1Gb sice it apparently OCs so well). If you run 1920x1080/1920x1200/2560x1600 (or a resolution inbetween, like what is native for the new Dell 27") with high FSAA levels, the GTX 480 would more than likely go a long ways for you.On a side note, if you play FS9, the GTX 480 in a good system makes the performance even more stupid fast than before. My apologies for being so long-winded!Hope this helps!!

ForceVSync=TrueForceFullScreenVSync=1

Let me put it this way.....My system has stayed the exact same outside of the addition of my Evga GTX 480 SC+. With my old setup (Evga GTX285 SSC) I ran with the following add-ons and settings:Add-ons (for FSX as a whole):GEX UTXREXASAUT2FS Genesis meshENB SeriesSettings:2560x16008xS FSAA and 16xAFAll settings in-game maxed except for: Scenery shadows off, Bloom Off, Automobile traffic at 10%, Water set to Med 2x (2 marks down for the top). I let ASA control view distance (and I keep it relatively low in order to "blend the horizon). Autogen set to very dense.In-game FPS set to unlimited WITH FPS Limiter set to 30 FPS.Avg. FPS (depending on where I am at and what add-on, of course) was anywhere from 18-30 (locked at 30 for most of the time in flight).Now, with the GTX 480, I hardly ever see it drop below 25 FPS (occasionally it still goes down to 18 FPS), but that seemjs rather few and far between. BUT............Terrain graphics loading is very fast and blurries don't really seem to be a issue at all...AND...the icing on the cake......I run at 32xS FSAA and 16x AF with anywhere form 4x to 8x Super-sampling. It looks amazing. Ay shimmering? Gone. Panel shimmerig in some of my PMDG and other aircraft? Gone. Shimmering on some 2D objects? Gone.So, did the GTX 480 give me a huge boost in FPS? Not really, BUT, it allows me to choose MUCH higher FSAA levels that give an almost perfect image with hardly any FPS impact (thanks to Tabs from PMDG for the heads up on the Super Sampling Nvidia Inspector settings). I think going from 8xS to 32xS with 4x Supersampling costs me about 3-4 FPS (using the PMDG J41, I don't seem to take anywhere near the hit in performance I did before). It's ridiculous. I actually had to close FSX and go check Nvidia Inspector because I couldn't believe I didn't lose a ton of FPS. With my GTX285, running similar settings killed my machine. I still catch myself saying, "No way" sometimes.Is the GTX 480 expensive? Yes (relatively speaking).Is the GTX 480 power hungry? Yes.Does the GTX 480 run hot? Yes.Will it make your entire office/game room hot? Not in my experience.Will it kick your dog? No.Is it anywhere near as bad as many people say (who probably don't own one I might add)? Not even close, IMO. The only times I would not recommend a GTX 480 is if: A.) You have poor case airflow and can't adequatly cool your system, let alone the card. B.) If you are running a resolution lower than 1920x1080 (and even that resolution is pushing it with regards to being low, IMO). Or C.) You have a slower, non-oc'd chip and are hoping the GTX 480 will "save the day". The GTX 480 is extremly fast, but it needs some room to do it's thing. Putting a videocard like this in a Non-oc'd sub-3ghz PC will not do you much good. All you will end up doing is bottlenecking the GPU. Of course, I think 4ghz is even bottlenecking this GPU a little. lol If you are running a rig with a lower resolution, say 1920x0180 and below with lower FSAA settings, I would take a serious look at the GTX 470 and GTX 460 (probably the GTX 460 1Gb sice it apparently OCs so well). If you run 1920x1080/1920x1200/2560x1600 (or a resolution inbetween, like what is native for the new Dell 27") with high FSAA levels, the GTX 480 would more than likely go a long ways for you.On a side note, if you play FS9, the GTX 480 in a good system makes the performance even more stupid fast than before. My apologies for being so long-winded!Hope this helps!!

The GTX 460 is a beautiful card if you are strapped for cash and want a cool and quiet version of a FERMI card.jja