Is my video card a bottleneck for FSX?

[beauchampboiler 0]

Hello,

 

After a long break, I have recently started getting back into Flight Simulation and therefore my current PC, although fairly new, was not purchased with FSX in mind.

 

Its specs are as follows:

Intel Core i5-3470 @ 3.2GHz (up to 3.6Ghz via TurboBoost) (Ivy Bridge)

8GB RAM

Nvidia Geforce GT 610

Windows 8

 

Performance with this setup is reasonable in most cases with 30+ fps with medium settings and default scenery with the PMDG 737NGX. 

I have a rudimentary knowledge of of PC Hardware so I may be completely wrong but I get the feeling that the graphics card is the major stumbling block to improved performance. If this is the case, I would be extremely grateful if someone could recommend a decent mid-range card, know to run FSX well. I have a budget of around £150, although I do not want to pay more for unused performance that would be constrained by the CPU (I understand that FSX is more CPU than GPU heavy). 

 

Any comments or suggestions would be gratefully received.

 

Thanks :-)

[z06z33 763]

I would think the processor speed is more of an issue than the card. Can you overclock your system?

[jetsflier 87]

Probably not... with your CPU not being a -k version (able to be overclocked) they are both balancing eachother out in a way, they are of similar ability in their respective classes.

[beauchampboiler 0]

Thanks for your responses. Sounds as if I'll be sticking with my current setup for a while. 

[SteveW 1,792]

 

From the nVidia site

 

Texture fill rate (billion/sec), memory bandwidth (Gb/s):

GT 610 6.5, 14.4

GT 630 14, 28.5

GT 650 33.9, 80.0

GT 650Ti 59.2, 86.4

GT 680 128.8, 192.2

 

You are correct the GPU is poor, the CPU may not be top of the range but it's quite fast and good enough for a 650ti (£120 ish) if it will fit in the box and the mobo/psu are up to it.

[Adam T Lutley 12]

I'd consider the 660ti. A great compromise between price and performance. Regards

[CordoganAir 55]

I'd consider the 660ti. A great compromise between price and performance. Regards

+1

 

 

Sent from my iPhone

 

[stevekirks 3]

Holy Thread Revival Batman...

 

Here's the issue I'm facing today:

 

Specs:

 

Dell Optiplex 755 Desktop with current BIOS A21

Core2 Duo E7500 2.93GHz

4GB RAM DDR2-667

250GB SATA hard drive as C: (Windows/FSX)

32GB SATA SSD as drive E: (ReadyBoost, pagefile only)

Nvidia GT210

FSX - DX10 with freebie fixes and sane FSX.CFG changes

 

Issue:

 

With the config above, I get 20+FPS on default aircraft, 10-15 on my PMDG777.  I swapped the lowly GT210 for a less lowly GT640 and get sound crackles, widely varied FPS no matter what the aircraft loaded.

 

What I've done so far:

-Reinstalled FSX

-Updated every chipset driver I could find

-Lowered settings in FSX to minimums

-NickN's suggestions

-AVSIM's FSX guide 2.0

-Slowly adding in typical config changes like HIGHMEM and BufferPools

 

Nothing changes.  What baffles me is that with the lower GT210 in place, it's stable, flyable and no sound issues.  With the faster and higher-end GT640, the whole thing is wonky.

 

Any ideas?