A couple of days ago I upgraded my 6 year old Radeon 4870 512MB video card for a newer Radeon HD 7870 2GB OC version and see a slight loss of performance and visual quality in FSX....... How can this be..... Loaded the latest drivers and everything seems to be working ...... Have tried various settings and tweaks with minimal results...... I know the card is working as have seen a very noticeable improvement in visuals and FPS in other game applications...... It seems like a step backward in FSX however...... Any thoughts as to what I may be doing wrong..... I know FSX is CPU limited, but my 6 year old Intel E8500 overclocked to 3.8 has been keeping me in the game longer than I expected...... All things considered the combination of the old Radeon 4870 and Intel E8500 has run FSX very well over the years at near max settings.......Wondering if a switch to something like a GeForce 650TI would make a difference....... Only upgrading due to the new Prepar3D V2 will require at least a 1GB video card......... I also know I will have to upgrade my Vista 64bit OS to Windows 7 or 8 as well.......
 

Any thoughts or suggestions appreciated.......

 

JayDub

Hi Jay

With the old E8500 you ar very cpu bound the 4870 match that cpu good ewen swap to a 780Ti gone be the same result.

1.5 year ago i did a test in fsmark11 with a I7 2700k @5.2ghz , first a run a 4870 1gb get a avg 24fps swap card to a 670 avg 52fps.

as you see it was oppsite result its important you match cpu- gpu not run strong cpu on weak gpu or opposite.

Thanks,

 

That makes sense to me....... The matched combo of E8500 and Radeon 4870 have really done a great job with FSX....... FPS locked at 31 and for the most part if I stay out of major cities the FPS will stay at a rate that will give a relatively smooth FSX experience...... This with all settings at max except for water at mid range and autogen at dense....... I fly almost exclusively in the Orbx sceneries with FTX Global also installed.........

 

Guess I will hold off a while and do a total rebuild with new CPU/ GPU combo........ Won't be flying Prepar3D V2 any time in the near future...... Possibly everyone will have worked the bugs out of it by the time I am ready.......

 

JayDub