I have had GEForce graphics since the GEforce 1 was released. However, My Ti4400 did not match my new Dell 8300 pc...P4 3GHz512Mb RamAudigy 2 soundcardAfter weeks of reading posts on here I took the plunge and purchased a Hercules Prophet 9800 Pro card. First the positive..1.. Graphics quality make my Ti400 look silly - I have never seen FS9 look so good. Set at 4X AA and 16X AF. Right to the horizon everything is pin sharp!2.. Everything maxed and the FPS never drops below 24 (set 24 max). I mean Everything maxed at 1280 x 960 - even real weather and lots of clouds see 24FPS!However, I do have a couple of problems.1.. In fullscreen mode FPS is fluid as described above. In windowed mode, 24 FPS suddenly becomes 2 FPS and I can see the screen redrawing! After about 15 seconds it goes back up to 24 FPS. This cycle continues.2.. I am getting FPS of 16 when in 2d panel mode where VC is glued to 24 - anyone suggest a setting that may be causing this?I downloaded the 3.9 drivers from ATI.Many thanks,Ray Keattch.

Well I gotta say you got off lucky. I recently bought an ATI 9800 PRO and have had numerous problems running FS9 with it. My system is comparable to yoursP4 2.4 GHz512 Mb DDR RamI cannot get the constant framerates that you are talking about though. I tried maxing everything out, figuring that this amazing video card would do the trick. Yes, the graphics do look fantastic, but the frame rates still drop when I use a payware aircraft such as FSD Seneca V. The other BIG problem is the spontaneous rebooting!!! That's right, it sometimes decides that its time to reboot, even if im' in the middle of a flight.I have tried a whole bunch of variations in my display settings and have yet to find the sweetspot that will give me good smooth frames, with the sharp graphics that this card should deliver.Sorry I can't help you, but it sure feels good to rant :)

How comes I have only read positive posts about the 9800 pro but yet the day I buy it I see loadsa negative!Following a guide on this very group, I lowered the 'Hardware rendered lights' a couple of notches and WOW! Almost no shimmering!I raised my FPS up to 75 to see what the average was - 34 so I rest my FPS to be fixed at 30. So far it has remained at 30FPS with a slight drop to around 25 when approaching an airport like KSEA.I too am now seeing FS9 either refuse to start (falls over when it gets to loading WX) or reboots like you describe. The view out the window is so amazing that I am prepared to do the driver/tweak thing! As I have a dell it is suggested I get Dells own 9800 driver.Are you flying in full screen mode? Mine is superb in fullscreen with constant 30 fps I mentioned ( I have 3 PC's so push all other apps out to them - WX, Vatsim etc). If I put it into windowed mode then I do get a cycle of good/ bad FPS between 2 and 30!I will not go back to Nvidia yet as the graphics are just fantastic - its like getting a new sim!Ray Keattch.