n4gix, on 26 Nov 2013 - 5:21 PM, said:

Having read some reviews, I'm about 99% decided on just springing for the EVGA 780Ti (OC'd) from Tiger Direct (free shipping from them!). Even though I could go to the TD store, I'm not going to pay the 6% Illinois sales tax! I can wait a few days for delivery...

That is one sweet card, I wish I had 2 of them. But I dont think you will see much performance gains with it in P3D over going with a basic 780. Mine only run at about 60-70% usage and it is also down clocking.

Hey guys, 

 

Don't forget to delete your shaders cache folder in P3D v2, otherwise your brand new video card will have no effect whatsoever. 

 

 

Mine only run at about 60-70% usage and it is also down clocking.

 

I too was carefully watching utilization of my new 780Ti; I was at the most getting high 70's in percent usage, but if I crank absolutely everything to the right/ultra, I can get it to hit max clock speeds.

 

 

The R9 290X comes close to the Ti and is faster than the GTX780 AND it has 4 GB VRAM which is very interesting, of course...! So I don't want to rule out the R9 just yet. Specially since it's cheaper than the GTX780Ti... We still don't really know how important VRAM really is, do we?

 

Keep in mind that the 3rd party / retail R9 280X's aren't getting near the benchmarks that the AMD reference card got.  There's apparently issues with the fan speed controller or something, lets the card throttle itself far before it reaches maximum potential.  AMD is supposedly working on a fix, but until then it's something to be cautious about. 

Keep in mind that the 3rd party / retail R9 280X's aren't getting near the benchmarks that the AMD reference card got. There's apparently issues with the fan speed controller or something, lets the card throttle itself far before it reaches maximum potential. AMD is supposedly working on a fix, but until then it's something to be cautious about.

I was just reading a review from Tom's Hardware which suggests that these cards startup at their advertised performance clocks and as heat rises, the controller throttles them back and jacks up the fan speed until they reach an equilibrium. The report suggests that the longer you use the R9 the slower it gets. The 1000Mhz 290 actually settles at around 850Mhz. A very strange phenomenon and to coin the reviewer's opinion, 'a very misleading marketing' strategy from AMD in order to make the R9 appear as if it rivals the Titan for 60% of the price when it's more in line with the mid-range nVidia offerings. The fans also supposedly wail like a banshee.

 

I almost backed out my order for a 780 GTX for the R9 but glad now that I didn't.

This is just too weird guys, my trusty GTX-580 packed in about 6 hrs before V2.0 was released, it must have seen it coming and decided to croak before being beaten to death by the new sim? Uncanny...

 

Anyway, I popped into newegg a few minutes ago and I see right on the front page an EVGA GTX 760 4Gb "FTW" for $310 USD (thanks DAL 1850 BTW, I read your other post a minute ago otherwise I would have had no idea what "FTW" meant).

 

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814130944

 

So what's the good word on a card like this? I'm into cheap at the moment and I mainly just need to get back up and running again right now, I may consider a more substantial upgrade or even a completely new build in the future but for now I'm still running the i7-2600K and probably will be for a while. Will this card do the job do you think (I mean it's gotta be better than the GTX-580 right, and the 580 was doing pretty good with FSX)? Also what's the deal with PCIE 3.0, I believe my board slots are only PCIE 2.0, would this card be backwards compatible and work OK with my board? Any caveats?

 

Thanks,

Jim

 

 

I too was carefully watching utilization of my new 780Ti; I was at the most getting high 70's in percent usage, but if I crank absolutely everything to the right/ultra, I can get it to hit max clock speeds.

 

Quoting myself to update my info here - since enabling 4xSGSS via NI, I can definitely make my 780Ti hit 99% utilization.  I'm using 4xSGSS on top of the 8xMSAA inside P3D, plus the 16xAF. FXAA is off.  Things are nice and crisp, can finally read analog gauges like I'm used to in FSX.

 

There's a definitive line between things that use the GPU, and things that don't.  Certain things still seem very CPU dependent, such as autogen (and I bet AI, too).  Shadows (obviously so), water, clouds seem to be very GPU dependent.

 

 

since enabling 4xSGSS via NI

 

I've read that NI doesn't work, is there anything specific you've done to get it running?

A very informative thread 

 

Considering that most of you are still running default planes/default sceneries or FTXG which is not supposed  to add a strain to the sim, it  seems  that adding sceneries/complex or heavily textured aircraft (thinking of the QW Avro line of products which brings  my puny computer to its knees at landing)  or running at  2560x1440 or 1600  put on the table the question of Titan or not Titan ? Even if the Ti is much more reasonable on a price:performance ratio

 

Any of you guys running at 2560/1440 or, heavens forbid, 1600. 

This is just too weird guys, my trusty GTX-580 packed in about 6 hrs before V2.0 was released, it must have seen it coming and decided to croak before being beaten to death by the new sim? Uncanny...

 

Anyway, I popped into newegg a few minutes ago and I see right on the front page an EVGA GTX 760 4Gb "FTW" for $310 USD (thanks DAL 1850 BTW, I read your other post a minute ago otherwise I would have had no idea what "FTW" meant).

 

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814130944

 

So what's the good word on a card like this? I'm into cheap at the moment and I mainly just need to get back up and running again right now, I may consider a more substantial upgrade or even a completely new build in the future but for now I'm still running the i7-2600K and probably will be for a while. Will this card do the job do you think (I mean it's gotta be better than the GTX-580 right, and the 580 was doing pretty good with FSX)? Also what's the deal with PCIE 3.0, I believe my board slots are only PCIE 2.0, would this card be backwards compatible and work OK with my board? Any caveats?

 

Thanks,

Jim

 

I would go for a 770 4GB. You can get them for $375 on newegg or maybe less at another site. Maybe wait for BF sale?

I dont suppose anybody is running triple 24" monitors with a 780 and some complex payware add-on aircraft as well as mega airports? If however someone is, what settings have you and is "she / p3d.v2." smooth?

Some lovely esoteric hardware getting wafted about here! :cool:

 

But just to say, for those of us to whom a $500+ video card is firmly within the realms of fantasy, you don't need the best video card in the world to run P3D2 (especially if you're only using 1 monitor).

 

There is plenty to see, (beautiful cockpit dynamic shadows, volumetric fog, pop-less autogen, etc) even with a modest card, like my HD 7850 2GB.     

 

Obviously, those with the Titans and 780s will also be able to have ground shadows and some other goodies, but my main point is that some people may be reading this thread thinking they stand no chance with P3D2 unless they have a $500 graphics card.     

 

The reality is, P3D is looking stunning on my system, with my humble card; I have plenty of new visual goodies, and I have come nowhere near an OOM, and that's with flights in the Airbus X Extended, QW Avros, ERJ145, with high autogen settings and cockpit shadows.

 

I do think 2GB VRAM is a good idea, but that apart, you don't need a super expensive video card to enjoy this sim.

Jimmy RFR, on 27 Nov 2013 - 01:34 AM, said:Jimmy RFR, on 27 Nov 2013 - 01:34 AM, said:

Quoting myself to update my info here - since enabling 4xSGSS via NI, I can definitely make my 780Ti hit 99% utilization.  I'm using 4xSGSS on top of the 8xMSAA inside P3D, plus the 16xAF. FXAA is off.  Things are nice and crisp, can finally read analog gauges like I'm used to in FSX.

 

There's a definitive line between things that use the GPU, and things that don't.  Certain things still seem very CPU dependent, such as autogen (and I bet AI, too).  Shadows (obviously so), water, clouds seem to be very GPU dependent.

I found that the only thing that would make me hit the 99% was turning on terrain cast shadows and making sure to click inside the window once the sim was back on the screen. Could you check this with the 780ti?

Could you elaborate what you both mean by 99% : VRAM  or GPU ? (if my question has  any sense)

This is just too weird guys, my trusty GTX-580 packed in about 6 hrs before V2.0 was released, it must have seen it coming and decided to croak before being beaten to death by the new sim? Uncanny...

 

Anyway, I popped into newegg a few minutes ago and I see right on the front page an EVGA GTX 760 4Gb "FTW" for $310 USD (thanks DAL 1850 BTW, I read your other post a minute ago otherwise I would have had no idea what "FTW" meant).

 

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814130944

 

So what's the good word on a card like this? I'm into cheap at the moment and I mainly just need to get back up and running again right now, I may consider a more substantial upgrade or even a completely new build in the future but for now I'm still running the i7-2600K and probably will be for a while. Will this card do the job do you think (I mean it's gotta be better than the GTX-580 right, and the 580 was doing pretty good with FSX)? Also what's the deal with PCIE 3.0, I believe my board slots are only PCIE 2.0, would this card be backwards compatible and work OK with my board? Any caveats?

 

Thanks,

Jim

Jim,

 

I would say a 770 would be the minimum if I was buying a card today.

domkle, on 27 Nov 2013 - 05:40 AM, said:

Could you elaborate what you both mean by 99% : VRAM  or GPU ? (if my question has  any sense)

GPU usage