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SaxTeacher

Budget video card recommendation?

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New avsim member here - last week I installed FSX for the first time on a relatively new i7 computer with 12gb ram.

 

I have two 19" monitors (1280x1024). I am using the on-board (motherboard) video and understand that I can get improved perforrmance by installing a video card.

 

I'm aware that serious simmers use very powerful video cards which are expensive. I am buying a yoke and throttle quadrant this week, and can realistically spend another $100 on a video card. I recognize that a card in this price range won't give the same performance as a high end video card. Still, I would be interested to know if someone has recommendations as to what card in that price range (new, used, or refurbished) would make FSX work well on my two monitors. I see dozens of different video cards available on newegg and ebay, but I don't know how to compare them.

Does the manufacturer matter, or just the model (GTX 770, GTX 1050, etc.), or mostly the amount of RAM (2GB, 4GB, 8GB)? Or is the best choice some combination between the two?

Or perhaps one of you has recently upgraded your video card and would like to sell his used one?

Thanks for any help!

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Sax Teacher,

I can thoroughly recommend the Zotac GTX1050ti  OC (4GB) This is quite a reasonable card and I use it as part of a proposed Zotac combination with a Zotac GTX 1080ti amp extreme. to run multiple monitors.

I would also recommend that you wait for the release of the new AMD RX GPUs. I am surmising that they are going to be cheaper and possibly even competitive with the new GTX 10 range. Expected release (as far as I know) is late this month or early next month. Evaluate carefully as a low end GPU is not going to be totally satisfying for your FSX. ie .. your sliders are going to be largely on the left.

Personally, I would also recommend that you save your biccies and upgrade to either XPlane 11 or P3Dvr (both 64bit platforms) if you are going to be serious about this hobby.  You could also consider a cheaper 64bit platform as a starter (Flight Sim World- FSW) Any of these I beieve are going to perform better and give you a more satisfying experience and much more potential for growth than FSX can provide. 

There are also inumerable posts on just this topic so look around AVSIM, learn and enjoy our hobby to the fullest.

I wish you luck with your choices.

Regards

Tony Chilcott


Tony Chilcott.

 

My System. Motherboard. ASRock Taichi X570 CPU Ryzen 9 3900x (not yet overclocked). RAM 32gb Corsair Vengeance (2x16) 3200mhz. 1 x Gigabyte Aorus GTX1080ti Extreme and a 1200watt PSU.

1 x 1tb SSD 3 x 240BG SSD and 4 x 2TB HDD

OS Win 10 Pro 64bit. Simulators ... FS2004/P3Dv4.5/Xplane.DCS/Aeroflyfs2...MSFS to come for sure.

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Go to ebay and search for a used GTX 780. Its a powerful GPU and more than enough for FSX or better still FSX-SE (steam version)


ZORAN

 

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4 minutes ago, himmelhorse said:

Sax Teacher,

I can thoroughly recommend the Zotac GTX1050ti  OC (4GB) This is quite a reasonable card and I use it as part of a proposed Zotac combination with a Zotac GTX 1080ti amp extreme. to run multiple monitors.

I would also recommend that you wait for the release of the new AMD RX GPUs. I am surmising that they are going to be cheaper and possibly even competitive with the new GTX 10 range. Expected release (as far as I know) is late this month or early next month. Evaluate carefully as a low end GPU is not going to be totally satisfying for your FSX. ie .. your sliders are going to be largely on the left.

Personally, I would also recommend that you save your biccies and upgrade to either XPlane 11 or P3Dvr (both 64bit platforms) if you are going to be serious about this hobby.  You could also consider a cheaper 64bit platform as a starter (Flight Sim World- FSW) Any of these I beieve are going to perform better and give you a more satisfying experience and much more potential for growth than FSX can provide. 

There are also inumerable posts on just this topic so look around AVSIM, learn and enjoy our hobby to the fullest.

I wish you luck with your choices.

Regards

Tony Chilcott

Nice GPU but his budget is $100


ZORAN

 

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I recommend you budget for a 1080ti. :biggrin:


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Venturi,

I was very aware of that and probably should hae addressed it. However, I did not, mainly because I cannot think of a single GPU at that price that would be better than his on board GPU. 

I further admit that I do not roam in this realm because of my multi monitor situation, so my knowledge is rather limited.

I do feel though, that ALL SIM starters at the moment, would be well advised to follow any suggestions in this post.

I am trying not to be negative and I do realize that everyone has to start somewhere. 

Again, I wish hime luck with his researches and his next decisins

Regards

Tony

 


Tony Chilcott.

 

My System. Motherboard. ASRock Taichi X570 CPU Ryzen 9 3900x (not yet overclocked). RAM 32gb Corsair Vengeance (2x16) 3200mhz. 1 x Gigabyte Aorus GTX1080ti Extreme and a 1200watt PSU.

1 x 1tb SSD 3 x 240BG SSD and 4 x 2TB HDD

OS Win 10 Pro 64bit. Simulators ... FS2004/P3Dv4.5/Xplane.DCS/Aeroflyfs2...MSFS to come for sure.

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4 minutes ago, himmelhorse said:

Venturi,

I was very aware of that and probably should hae addressed it. However, I did not, mainly because I cannot think of a single GPU at that price that would be better than his on board GPU. 

I further admit that I do not roam in this realm because of my multi monitor situation, so my knowledge is rather limited.

I do feel though, that ALL SIM starters at the moment, would be well advised to follow any suggestions in this post.

I am trying not to be negative and I do realize that everyone has to start somewhere. 

Again, I wish hime luck with his researches and his next decisins

Regards

Tony

 

Yeah its a tough to find anything at $100  even used so he will need to at least double his budget. Something like this is perfect but the auction will push it probably to $150 to $200

 

http://www.ebay.com/itm/EVGA-NVIDIA-GeForce-GTX-780-Classified-Computer-PC-Graphics-Card-GPU-/182662771684?hash=item2a878cb3e4:g:eLMAAOSwEAtZZGbb


ZORAN

 

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Venturi,

Amazon ... zotac GTX1050ti OC edition (brand new) listed at USD143.00. I believe that this is a better card, new, and cheaper in the long term. Any brand GTX1050ti is my starter recommendation.

Odourboy recommends the 1080 and I heartily agree but, being sensible, the best advice is to buy the VERY BEST you can afford and if that is a GTX780, a GTX1050 or a monster GTX titan, then so be it.

Unfortunately, due to the constraints of the "Work situation/War Office/She who MUST be obeyed/Loving Wife" some do not the financial freedom that we all want. Only the OP can make that judgement.

Sax Teacher, please let us know what you eventually decide.

Regards to all

Tony


Tony Chilcott.

 

My System. Motherboard. ASRock Taichi X570 CPU Ryzen 9 3900x (not yet overclocked). RAM 32gb Corsair Vengeance (2x16) 3200mhz. 1 x Gigabyte Aorus GTX1080ti Extreme and a 1200watt PSU.

1 x 1tb SSD 3 x 240BG SSD and 4 x 2TB HDD

OS Win 10 Pro 64bit. Simulators ... FS2004/P3Dv4.5/Xplane.DCS/Aeroflyfs2...MSFS to come for sure.

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6 minutes ago, himmelhorse said:

Venturi,

Amazon ... zotac GTX1050ti OC edition (brand new) listed at USD143.00. I believe that this is a better card, new, and cheaper in the long term. Any brand GTX1050ti is my starter recommendation.

Odourboy recommends the 1080 and I heartily agree but, being sensible, the best advice is to buy the VERY BEST you can afford and if that is a GTX780, a GTX1050 or a monster GTX titan, then so be it.

Unfortunately, due to the constraints of the "Work situation/War Office/She who MUST be obeyed/Loving Wife" some do not the financial freedom that we all want. Only the OP can make that judgement.

Sax Teacher, please let us know what you eventually decide.

Regards to all

Tony

Tony thats a great find !!

you have a link ,I may buy one myself :-}


ZORAN

 

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Thanks so much, all, for your recommendations.

I see the one recommended by Tony on Amazon at http://a.co/2uqtSqC
It is titled "ZOTAC GeForce GTX 1050 Ti OC Edition 4GB GDDR5 Super Compact Gaming Graphics Card (ZT-P10510B-10L)"

(There is a more expensive listing for the same item that "ships within 2 weeks" whereas this $143.77 listing "ships within 1 to 2 months.")

 

My question now is about the "style" choice. Amazon lists three: "low profile 4TGB, Mini 4GB, and OC Edition 4GB." How can I determine which of these is (a) best and (b) will fit in one of my computers?

One computer is a HP model HPE210f. The other is an Acer Aspire TC-705.

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Depends on the size of your PC case. It wont matter much which one you buy the main difference being the mini and low profile cards dont overclock as well as the full sized GPU"s but you wont need to overclock especially for FSX as its CPU bound (not GPU or video card bound)


ZORAN

 

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Hey there, SaxTeacher.  Check your Avsim messages.



Doug Miannay

PC: i9-13900K (OC 6.1) | ASUS Maximus Z790 Hero | ASUS Strix RTX4080 (OC) | ASUS ROG Strix LC II 360 AIO | 32GB G.Skill DDR5 TridentZ RGB 6400Hz | Samsung 990 Pro 1TB M.2 (OS/Apps) | Samsung 990 Pro 2TB M.2 (Sim) | Samsung 990 Pro 2TB M.2 (Games) | Fractal Design Define R7 Blackout Case | Win11 Pro x64

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SaxTeacher,

The one I have is the ti OC edition. for PC .. it is tiny in comparison to the r( 290 it replaced in my computer It also operates at 30 degrees for normal computer use and goes up to 42 degrees when really maxed out. It is also very light and incredibly easy to install ... you have to go to NVIDIA site to download drivers and your windows set up must be current or the drver software tells you it is not compatibile with your computer. (win10 64bt PRO) I have no idea about win7 as I had just upgraded before I purchased the Zotac.  I am incredibly impressed as it out performs the R9. .. Temp ffor R9 also climbed to 90 degrees when stressed (it was not as stressed as I was when I saw those temperatures which are "normal")

Again the GTX1050 IS cheaper but the extra for the ti OC is worth it.

Regards

Tony 

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Tony Chilcott.

 

My System. Motherboard. ASRock Taichi X570 CPU Ryzen 9 3900x (not yet overclocked). RAM 32gb Corsair Vengeance (2x16) 3200mhz. 1 x Gigabyte Aorus GTX1080ti Extreme and a 1200watt PSU.

1 x 1tb SSD 3 x 240BG SSD and 4 x 2TB HDD

OS Win 10 Pro 64bit. Simulators ... FS2004/P3Dv4.5/Xplane.DCS/Aeroflyfs2...MSFS to come for sure.

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On 7/17/2017 at 8:31 PM, SaxTeacher said:

[edited]
I see the "ZOTAC GeForce GTX 1050 Ti OC Edition 4GB GDDR5 Super Compact Gaming Graphics Card (ZT-P10510B-10L)"  on Amazon at http://a.co/2uqtSqC for $143.77

(There is a more expensive listing for the same item that "ships within 2 weeks," whereas the $143.77 listing "ships within 1 to 2 months.")

Unfortunately the price on this graphics card has increased. Amazon now has it at $205.

Newegg is offering it at $176 but lists it as "out of stock."

B&H has it at $159: 
https://www.bhphotovideo.com/bnh/controller/home?A=details&O=&Q=&ap=y&c3api=1876%2C{creative}%2C{keyword}&gclid=EAIaIQobChMIrdf_vM2n1QIVh42zCh3xow6OEAkYAiABEgIkzfD_BwE&is=REG&m=Y&sku=1302693

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