ATI 9800 pro

[dcs1968]

I am running an ATI 9800 pro 256 and want to know if this is good to run FS9 with add-ons.
I am going to build a dual core box and I have a budget of $500. (wife set limit)

Currently I run XP2400 w/1.25megs of ram with ATI 9800 pro and ATA133 200gig HD.

Now for $500 I can build a Intel Pentium D940 3.2 ghz w/ 2gigs of DDR2 533mhz memory with a fast SATA-300 16meg cache 250gig hard drive. The only thing is that I must keep my old video card

I figure I can always upgrade mother board and video card when I have the funds down the road(when the wife lets me)

I have read that FS9 is more CPU and memory intensive than GPU demanding. How true is this?

[DizZa]

Upgrading everthing except the Video card may not improve your performance much, a whole new computer would be much better, BUT, yes that will run fs9 pretty well. If you ONLY use that computer for fs9, could buy a dirt cheap Athlon 4000+, 2gb RAM, and a new video card, I think that MAY run under $500.

[757200ba]

Hi!!I know the felling of having "controled" founds, but this is my opinion.Your ATI card is an AGP right?So are you going to spend money on AGP system again? I would keep those $500, put away more money maybe who knows more $500 and then you could make yourself a much better and actual system.With even a better power supply (something that we usually forget)to hold up al those upgrades.So think wise, i know you are going to make the best decision.And its also true that FS9 is more CPU and RAM eater but it also likes a nice GPU 8-)
Take care

[ctjoyce]

The biggest flaw in this build is that you're not going to be able to find a LGA775 board that supports a PD 9XX and AGP. Intel dumped AGP after their 915G chipset, and PD requires 945 or later.

For $500 you may be stuck with what you have, solely due to your GPU, and it not being PCI-E. The best system that I can think of for $500 would be this

ASUS or Gigabyte nForce 4 motherboard $100 give or take
1GB Corsair XMS DDR2-800 $150
Western Digital 250GB SATAIII $67
Intel 820 Pentium D OEM $80 (This thing overclocks like crazy)
Zalman CNPS-7000Cu $30
ATi Radeon X1650Pro $150

And even then I broke $500. That is going to be the closest I can get to $500 without seriously cutting parts. Also depending on your Power supply you may need to get a 500W one. This is going to add another $100 onto the price tag.

Cheers
Cameron

PS: All prices retrieved from newegg.com

[Harold]

I used to have a 9800 Pro until September and it ran FS9 very very wel

[JBaymore]

Hi.  I have a 9800XT............ the faster "big cousin" of that card.  I have it on VERY good recommendation (Nick) that my card is not up to running fs2004 really maxed out.  The reality I have experienced proves that (see machine specs in trailer).  So I would guess that if your expectation is to "max things out" and get great frame rates .... it won't work as you expect.  If you are willing to turn some stuff down....... then it will work just fine.

best,

......................john

[dcs1968]

I thank everyone for their input. It gives me some more to think about before I spend my money

[Nick N]

To absolutely max out FS9 and still have decent smooth flight you need (at the very minimum) a x800-850xt or Nvidia 6600GT 256mb with 2 gigs of system memory. Preferably a x1900-7800GS 256-512mb or higher for max and solid higher frame. With the slower cards (x800-850xt or Nvidia 6600GT) you still need to replace the clouds and other elements in FS9 to optimize the software. It should be done with the better cards too.


With FSX, its best to just wait till this summer. There will be a great shift in the hardware approach becoming available for motherboards, processors and video adapters.

I would not bother running FSX on anything less than a 7900GTX - x1950xtx because anything less the scenery is not satisfying without doing very serious hacks to the textures and even doing that the results are very questionable. SP1 for FSX will be out in a matter of weeks, which I can say with all confidence, is going to make a lot of people very happy.