Hi all!Today I saw an Nvidia Creative Blaster FX5200 64 MB going cheap (about $70) and I was seriously thinking of buying it. I'm still running FS2002 on a 1200 Mhz system with an ATI Rage Fury Pro/Xpert 2000 Pro 32MB and with dense scenery and I get under 10 FPS (which I consider bad performance while anything above 15 is good). Is it worth the buy? Will it seriously get me better frame rates, and also, will it keep going for at least a year?Thanks in advance!cya!Matti

My opinion(Others are bound to differ)if you're going to upgrade the graphics card then go for one at least 128MB.I know it's more money but ,when ,as sooner or later you will,you upgrade your CPU/Mobo etc,you will still have a halfway decent graphics card.The Graphics card carries a large proportion of the load when running FS(any version) .To illustrate this point,I have an old 700mhz AMD /MS663Ultra PC that my grandchildren use for games ,but it has a 128mb ATI card in it.This combination performs almost as well as my son's 1700Mhz/Asus mobo combination with a 64mb card.Here I'm using a Ti4200/128mb and get very good results with it.Yes it will give you better than the 32mb but not spectacularly so.Yes- it should last a year if treated kindly (before you get it ,as well as after) but you never know with electronic stuff- could last 10 years - or 10 days.Dave

I agree with Dave, that you should probably look around for a 128 mg card (at least). I have used the FX5200 card, 128 mg version, that I got to replace a GeForce 2 Ti 64 mg card on a P4, 2.4G machine. I saw NO FR increase although the card did give me smoother performance in both FS2K2 and Fly!2. I returned the FX 5200 card for an FX 5600 256 mg card.You mention you are replacing a 32 mg card. A 64 mg card will certainly help, but I don't think you'll see much of a frame rate increase. You might however get smoother performance which might satisfy you -- for a while. If you are really after a significant frame rate increase, you'll be better off with a faster processor.-Lindy :-rotorGood luck :-beerchug

Thanks for your reply Dave!My dad has heard that Creative products tend to cuase problems...Is there any founding in that? What I have heard is that ATI causes more problems than Nvidia! Will the new card keep my rates above 15 FPS or not? If not, I don't see the point in getting it...anyone else have an opinion on this?cya!Matti

Will the new card keep your frame rates at or above 15 fps? I doubt it, IMO.As I mentioned, I'm running a P4, 2.4G machine with a 256 mg video card, full install of FS2K2. My FRs are locked at 18 and USUALLY remain about that, but depending on the scenery I run, they do drop... sometimes down to 12 or 10 fps. I have Normal AI set; no weather dialed in; most all the other options set between half and full. However I fly mostly in the bush; seldom in the big cities with lots of buildings, special effects, AI planes, weather, etc.I do not believe the new card would give you the boost you want, although it may smooth out the sim's performance a bit. -Lindy :-rotor

I would recommend one with at least 128MB.

Yep as the others here would agree go for something with atleast 128mb of ram on it its well worth it... my old card was a gf2 mx400 64mb and my system is a 1.6Ghz pent4 running 512mb of 133mhz sdram and I had to run with fairly low setting to get at least 15fps now im doing about 19-20fps with just about everything up a few notches best my system can do my MB and ram is my major bottle neck...I decided to buy a gigabyte radeon 9600pro ... and I the graphics performance increase shocked me..here are some 3dmark03 scores for both types of cards just to illastrate.GF2 mx400 64mb - 95 3D marksRadeon 9600pro 128mb 3006 3dmarks.Kinda knocked my socks off :)Anyway go for the 128 at least it might take longer to save but its worth it ... BTW it took me almost 4 months to save for the 9600pro :)My 2c