FS9 is too much for HD 6850 to handle?

[Hatch76 214]

Hey guys,I just "upgraded" my video card from the 9800GT 1GB to the Sapphire HD 6850 1GB and the results I am seeing are very disappointing. I was pretty happy with my 9800GT card except for when I would get into heavy clouds, the GPU would take a 100% load and start stuttering. So, after over a year of dealing with it, I finally decided to save some money and get a new card. I got the Sapphire 6850 1GB card and am running it now. But, to my surprise, I cant max out both FS9 settings and the settings in the Catalyst Control Center (CCC). When I do that, the stuttering is back and actually worse than before! This is very disappointing. I was hoping upgrading to this card would allow me to max out all the settings and have 0 stuttering. I know its not my CPU because my frames indicate 33 (locked at 33) and the CCC shows GPU at 100% which gives it away. Why is this?My specs are:Intel E2200 OC @ 2.92Ghz4GB DDR2 RAMSapphire Radeon HD 6850I am running these while getting those results:PMDG 744REX OverdriveActiveSky 6.5Ill try and attach photos of various things. I have all my FS9 settings maxed except for the weather as posted below:.And you can also see my CCC settings below: and the photo with the 744 is where I get the worst stutteringI'm not sure if anyone will be able to help out but I am really hoping so!Thanks!Kyle

[Glynn 403]

Hey guys,I just "upgraded" my video card from the 9800GT 1GB to the Sapphire HD 6850 1GB and the results I am seeing are very disappointing. I was pretty happy with my 9800GT card except for when I would get into heavy clouds, the GPU would take a 100% load and start stuttering. So, after over a year of dealing with it, I finally decided to save some money and get a new card. I got the Sapphire 6850 1GB card and am running it now. But, to my surprise, I cant max out both FS9 settings and the settings in the Catalyst Control Center (CCC). When I do that, the stuttering is back and actually worse than before! This is very disappointing. I was hoping upgrading to this card would allow me to max out all the settings and have 0 stuttering. I know its not my CPU because my frames indicate 33 (locked at 33) and the CCC shows GPU at 100% which gives it away. Why is this?Kyle

HelloATi cards are known to suffer in heavy cloud situations, A quick Google or a search here will throw up many posts on this.Nvidia seems to be a better solution for FS9 and FSX.

[Hatch76 214]

HelloATi cards are known to suffer in heavy cloud situations, A quick Google or a search here will throw up many posts on this.Nvidia seems to be a better solution for FS9 and FSX.

Dang it! I thought I had done enough research into this card. It was between this card and the GTX 460 and after talking to two simmers who build computers for a living suggested this one over the GTX 460. Looks like Im S.O.L?

[JSkorna 137]

My 5770 eats FS9 alive for breakfast, lunch and dinner. I am never planning to give up on ATI cards.

[Hatch76 214]

My 5770 eats FS9 alive for breakfast, lunch and dinner. I am never planning to give up on ATI cards.

What are your settings in the CCC and Flight Sim? Hard to imagine the 5770 is better than the 6950. If I take away REX and HD 3D clouds, I'm sure FS9 is no problem, even my good ol' 9800 GT would handle it then! I think I'm going to return it and go ahead with the GTX 560.

[JSkorna 137]

If you are interested I'll post those later on. I would not return the card just yet.

[Glynn 403]

If you are interested I'll post those later on. I would not return the card just yet.

Hello JimThe GTX 560Ti will be the faster card without a doubt, even the plain 560 version will be better.Still the 6850 should absolutly scream with FS9, there is something else wrong if it does not.I used to do Ok with an old AMD 3700 and an ATi XT850 back in the day so the OP's machine should have no difficulty running FS9

[JSkorna 137]

I agree but it really is GPU over-kill for FS9. I just didn't like all the shimmering I was seeing when I tried the GTX line of cards a few years ago.

[Hatch76 214]

Hello JimThe GTX 560Ti will be the faster card without a doubt, even the plain 560 version will be better.Still the 6850 should absolutly scream with FS9, there is something else wrong if it does not.I used to do Ok with an old AMD 3700 and an ATi XT850 back in the day so the OP's machine should have no difficulty running FS9

Thats whats got me a little confused. It should be able to handle the worst of weather and be ok. I can load up thunderstorms via the FS9 weather and it seems to do ok, but when I go somewhere that is getting slammed and load the weather via ActiveSky, thats when I see the huge stutters. Could ActiveSky and REX have a conflict going on between them?I really appreciate your help guys!

[PebbleBeach 99]

Critical - Make sure hyperthreading is turned offin your BIOS. Made a night and day difference for me.

[pilotter 109]

I agree but it really is GPU over-kill for FS9. I just didn't like all the shimmering I was seeing when I tried the GTX line of cards a few years ago.

Now I have a HD 6490M, also problems with clouds, so really would like to know your settinggs

[JSkorna 137]

Hi,AA 8X and Filter set to Edge DetectAF 16XTessellation OffCat. AI Hi QualityMipmap Detail Level High QualityWait for Vertical Refresh Always OnAA Mode Adaptive Multi Sample AA

[pilotter 109]

Thanks JIm, do you use ati tray tools, because I can't find the mip map setting in the ccc?

[PebbleBeach 99]

Thanks Jim for those settings. Work very nicely on the 6970 in Eyefinity.

[pilotter 109]

Jim also tried your setting, but still clouds bring the sim to the 15 fps, does not matter what kind of cloud draw distance..