I only fly FS9 with my 3.4GHZ Windows XP machine. I have a 8800 Ultra Video card but I am thinking of upgrading it to a the latest nvdia 480 Video Card. I am looking to reduce stutters, improve image quality. get rid of the blurries and improve refresh rate. Just wondering if anyone can kindly advise.Many thanks,Chris EGBB

I only fly FS9 with my 3.4GHZ Windows XP machine. I have a 8800 Ultra Video card but I am thinking of upgrading it to a the latest nvdia 480 Video Card. I am looking to reduce stutters, improve image quality. get rid of the blurries and improve refresh rate. Just wondering if anyone can kindly advise.Many thanks,Chris EGBB

I think that the 480 is overkill for your system. A 4.0Ghz + i5/i7 is a better match for that card, FS9 and FSX really need processor speed above all else, so if you have proper cooling, I would go for more processor speed first. Also, I don't know what version of XP you are using, but the 480 and XP64 have not been a good match. XP is ancient by pc technology standards. I also wouldn't count on a GPU upgrade reducing stutters, you need to look at your overall system bandwidth (CPU speed, GPU, memory speed/latency, HDD read speed, FSB speed). That 8800 Ultra is already a pretty powerful GPU for FS9. If you are dead set on trying a video card, buy locally and return if the results are not what you wanted.

Many thanks Shane, much appreciated. I use Win XP SP3 (not Win 64)Not sure if this will make much difference?Best Regards,Chris

Many thanks Shane, much appreciated. I use Win XP SP3 (not Win 64)Not sure if this will make much difference?Best Regards,Chris

I prefer a 64 bit operating system because it decrease the chance of an OOM error in FSX, and it increases overall performance of the system and programs.

I only fly FS9 with my 3.4GHZ Windows XP machine. I have a 8800 Ultra Video card but I am thinking of upgrading it to a the latest nvdia 480 Video Card. I am looking to reduce stutters, improve image quality. get rid of the blurries and improve refresh rate. Just wondering if anyone can kindly advise.Many thanks,Chris EGBB

I think the 480 would be an expensive over-kill since it's capable of DX11 and as far as I know WXP isn't.

No, no and no. It is NOT an overkill if you look at it from a specific angle. Getting a GTX285 over GTX480 would be a stupid move now, and GTX285 will give a very nice boost in certain situations over 8800 Ultra, especially if you, like me, like the good picture quality with Nhancer using 8xS or higher settings. If you are interested into numbers, http://forums1.avsim.net/index.php?showtopic=274220GTX480 will definitely perform better in heavy clouds situations, you can bet on that. I noticed huge improvement when using high quality picture and some heavy clouds.There is also a system comparison (I believe I had CPU only comparison somewhere, but I don't remember where):http://forums1.avsim.net/index.php?showtopic=276252Maybe these two topics help you decide better, what path would be better for you.

We also need to know what that 3.4 CPU is.Bob

I only fly FS9 with my 3.4GHZ Windows XP machine. I have a 8800 Ultra Video card but I am thinking of upgrading it to a the latest nvdia 480 Video Card. I am looking to reduce stutters, improve image quality. get rid of the blurries and improve refresh rate. Just wondering if anyone can kindly advise.Many thanks,Chris EGBB

I use a Nvidia GeForce GTS 240 and can't get stuttering even if I wanted some. The rest of my system comprises i5 3.2Ghz processor, 8Gb ram, Windows 7, 1Tb HD. I don't think it's always the video card's shortcoming that gives rise to stuttering.

Many thanks Word Not Allowed, I am looking to improve the image quality substantially and to stop the dreaded blurries. I use enhancer which has helped but the blurries are still there with my 8800 Ultra. Do you think the 480 or 285 would be better in this regard. As I use Win Xp 32 SP3 would I need to re-install windows?Sorry I am relatively new to this.Thank YouChris EGBB

Be aware that with FS9, blurries are something very common. Even with the strongest hardware. I'm talking about unsharp textures further away, not unsharp textures when flying faster. Continuous loading should always be OK. The difference between those cards is more in antialiasing area than aniso, which is what cures blurries the most, and that one is always 16x.Antialiasing is what cures the sharpness on the edges, and the best picture quality gives the 8xSQ setting or higher, which has 2x2 Supersampling enabled, which is VERY hard on the system. 8800 can't handle it. 285 or 480 do it very well. For FSX though, even on my 285, 2x2 SS kills the performance considerably. In FS9 it was OK.Another point in FS9, you gotta meet the correct settings to get the optimal non-blurry performance. Keep in mind that FS9 is relatively limited in puncto LOD_RADIUS, and it's always relatively short. Very much comparable with the setting of 3.5 in FSX, if you ever tried that...

Do you think the 480 or 285 would be better in this regard. As I use Win Xp 32 SP3 would I need to re-install windows?

Yes, I truly believe they are better. Not only a placebo effect, but a real proven and checked fps improvement.For the GPU change, no windows reinstall needed.

Many thanks Word Not Allowed much appreciated. I am looking at the 480 but I am concerned about the noise and heat issues which are widely reported.Doies anyone know what the Power supply should be ?Best Wishes and thank you very muchChris EGBB

Exactly my problem too. I wanted to get it also, but spinning 600

Many thanks Word Not Allowed I think thats what I shall do, go ahead with teh 480. I will let you know how I get on regarding quality and frame rates. What sort of PSU do I need?Best Wishes and grateful thanks,Chris EGBB

Heh, a good one. I would say 650+ at least. I know that my PC, when OCed, at full power usage I could push it to with different benchmarks and test utilities, up to 600w usage from the outlet (measured with the certified equipment). Mine is 750, so it handled that test well. I suggest Corsair or similar top quality PSUs.