Best graphic card

[martyn 0]

Hi all,Sorry if this has already been asked before, but what in youropinion is the best graphic card for fs9, money no object.Martyn

[Guest ront1]

Your processor is more important in FS9 than your video card. I would think that your video card would work ok. For a question like this, try using the search function. This has been discussed quite a bit.Ron

[Guest orenda635]

Why upgrade? You've got a pretty beefed system as it is. Save your money.

[Guest beana5]

Hi Martyn, Iam currently useing the Nvidia 5600agp 256mb/the53.03 driver. along with a pent4cpu 2.4hz and 1024 mem, ect ect. Ifind the performace to be adequate BUT if , and i will soon,upgrade , i would choose the nivida 5900xt or the nividia 5950. I have seen them in setups such as mine ,and they were first rate in all areas. Again the BUT, it could be most difficult to choose. The only constant thing about them all "is they change faster than you can choose".the ques. you ask is always timley. How ever there may never be an answer, for the "best one" is just around the bend.;-)

[W2DR 1,860]

My pick is an ATI Radeon 9800XT or Pro. - Doug

[Guest SlimDady]

thats what i have cauz its the bestmy first radeon card and im pretty dman happy with it, if u want to save some buck and still get the next best thing then the 9800pro u should be able to find that one for 100$less

[Guest Nathan Palmer]

I have the 5600 golden limited card from pixelview with 256 ram and the faster clock speed. I am currently upgrading my entire system and its a barebones build so I am still getting it all set. Prior to getting the system I got the new video card the e-VGA 5900SE (XT) and put it in my old system (this one) and sad to say noticed not one frame rate upgrade So as someone stated above its more the CPU then the VPU. I did notice a frame increase when i upgraded to the 5600 from the gForce 3 card. My old system is a P4 2gig 512RDR rig. My new system is stated below. I went with the 5900SE card because of price to frames was not worth another 5-15 frames more in my eyes. All I care about is a solid 20FPS as much as I can get which seem the 5900SE should deliver during 99% of the flights.

[Guest allcott]

The difference between 5600 and 5900 cards should be in visual quality, not basic fps. The 5900 will run higher levels of FSAA or Anisotropic Filtering without frame rate hits, or will allow a higher resolution for a given fps. I'm running a 5600 at the moment, and the speed is OK at 1600x1200x32, but NOT with FSAA switched on as well. I'm contemplating an upgrade as well as the 21" monitor I use still shows the flaws in lower-level anti-aliasing, even at that high a res. But I'm only considering a 5900XT. The rest just isn't needed by FS, as it doesn't include any of the latest pixel-shading routines or any DirectX9-specific features.Some 5900 cards can be modded to 5950 specs. See over at www.guru3d.comAllcott

[Guest Trundle]

If you want the best video card on the market, you should buy an ATI Radeon 9800XT. Though the Nvidia cards are better for FS2004 (since FS2004 is an DirectX 8 game). With the XT you will have a great card though for all the upcoming DirectX 9 Games (which are much better with an ATI Card). Also the Radeon 9800XT features Dynamic Overclocking which will automatically set the Card speed higher/lower suppose how hot the card is.

[martyn 0]

Would there be a big difference in 128 ram versus 256 ram for graphic cards, Martyn

[Guest Trundle]

There wont be a big difference, dunno if there will be even a small one, FS2004 doesnt use much Video Card Ram, but it uses a lot of system ram. However, next week im getting the 9800XT and it'll be a change of my current 128mb card, I will take a look if the ram changes anything and then post it.

[martyn 0]

I look forward to that as I am thinking aboutgetting a 9800XT as well.Martyn

[Guest groundpounder75]

Martyn,I have an older system,- P4 1.8GHz- 512Mb PC800 RAM- 2 Western Digital 80G drives- mobo uses Intel 850 chipset and 4x AGPThree weeks ago I bought an ATI 9600XT. Wrong choice. I took it back the next day. I upgraded to a 350W power supply, no big deal, and bought the ATI 9800 Pro (128 meg). This has been by far the best investment I have ever made for a computer. I just saved myself the cost of an entirely new computer system. I figure I can run this current setup until the 64 bit processors are mainstream and all the peripherals and programs are up to speed. The best part about it are the FPS. I have it locked to 35 and I can maintain 25-30 FPS most of the time with the display settings really high. Of course, with AI maxed, using UT at LAX, she slows right down. But, that's all right for me. I would place a vote in for the ATI built 9800 Pro. Remember, more RAM won't make you card faster. It is the access time to the RAM that matters.Also, I read in this post the FS9 is a DX8 game. I thought it was DX9?

[Guest Jimbofly]

FS9 requires DX9 to run, but does not require a DX9 card, as the graphics are up to DX8 specs.On the matter of the video card, I too would recommend the Radeon 9800XT or Pro. Even if raw performance isn't greater than with an NVidia card, I can assure you anti-aliased performance and anisotrophic filtering performance are FAR better, and the resulting visual quality (especially with ATI cards) is spectacular. I'm running FS9 with 4x AA and 4x Aniso, and I have my resolution set at 1280x1024 with most settings on full, and I get an average of 25fps in cities and up to 60fps in deserts (I have it locked at 25fps, however).Just my 2cJames

[Guest cw1011]

Save your money. The amount you will spend upgrading from your 9700 will not be worth the performance gain. Go to Tom's Hardware Guide site and do a little looking around on benchmarks etc. The 9800 XT is faster, but not enough to justify spending $400+ and then selling your 9700 Pro for $150. Just my opinion-do your own research though.