ati 3450 512mb

[derrek_lee_25]

would this be a good card for fs2004 will i notice a performance boost from my 9250

[Groundbound1]

Boost? Yeah, a little. Good for FS9? No, not really. Is this a card that you have already, is someone giving it to you, or are you planning to buy it?

(Also, this post might get moved to the "Hardware" section of the forum. Don't panic if it "disappears")

[Strategic Retreat]

Whatever modern video-card is better than a ancient Radeon 9250.

This said, do not expect a dramatic boost. As average FS9 is more CPU power dependent than GPU, and without upgrading the CPU as well you will surely receive a good boost in some conditions, like complex sceneries and plane models, and a medium boost in presence of a great deal of AI planes (which depend on the CPU as much as the GPU), but little to nothing more in the same conditions that the old Radeon already gives you high FPS rates.

Keep in mind that when I say "good boost" and "medium boost" I speak relatively to your actual FPS rate. No miracles. If your actual FPS rate is, to say, around 20 on a complex plane model or scenery, where a good performance boost is to be expected, you can maybe 5 FPS more as an average. To have a superior FPS boost than this you MUST upgrade CPU (and preferably memory too) speed as well.

[Groundbound1]

As average FS9 is more CPU power dependent than GPU, and without upgrading the CPU...

Other way around Strat. (FSX works the way you described, but FS9 favors the GPU more heavily) Also, upgrade the CPU from what? Kind of hard to make that assessment, without knowing what he's using currently isn't it?

[Strategic Retreat]

Other way around Strat. (FSX works the way you described, but FS9 favors the GPU more heavily) Also, upgrade the CPU from what? Kind of hard to make that assessment, without knowing what he's using currently isn't it?

This is the ABSOLUTE FIRST TIME I've heard FS9 is GPU dependent more than FSX, and that this last depends more on the CPU, and I'm around ever since FS4.

You have it all wrong. Recheck and control your sources.

As about his CPU... Derrek surely knows what he has and if he need help for an upgrade, he'll ask.

[Groundbound1]

You don't remember Nick Needham, do ya?

[Strategic Retreat]

[quote]You don't remember Nick Needham, do ya?

[Groundbound1]

At any rate, even if we can't agree on this, we can both agree that the answer to the op's question is that a card other than an HD 3450 might prove more useful for fs9, right?

[Strategic Retreat]

We can agree that a simulator is not a mere game (with Flight being the classical exception that confirms the rule, it being a mer[d]e game sold as a simulator) and for a simulator... WHATEVER THIS SIMULATOR THIS MAY BE... upgrading the sole video-card is like... mounting an oversized engine in a car. Unless you tune up a lot of other pieces, you won't see any real advantage out of it. 8-)

These other pieces are the CPU and memory, this last both in size and speed. Of course a faster HD helps too... and so does an audio-card with a self reliant chipset that does not use the PC's CPU to process audio data (a plague, lately, these audio interfaces that are dumber than an old ISA connector SoundBlaster 16 of all the way back in 1994 and only to save the 50 cents of the cost of a sound processor)... :-/

There's no dearth of pieces to tune up to the new video-card's real or supposed power, anyway. Coming myself from a Radeon 9200 (back in 2004), I can attest that almost any other more advanced card is better. Of course, changing only the video-card hardly makes miracles in the the betterment of a sim's performances.

[Groundbound1]

I will gladly concede the fact that I was mistaking about the cpu vs gpu dependency of FS9, but still think that a recommendation for a cpu upgrade, while not necessarily unwarranted, is entirely premature. The op mentioned nothing about his current hardware aside from the video card, you therefore have no basis for such a recommendation.

[ViperPilot]

would this be a good card for fs2004 will i notice a performance boost from my 9250

Derrick,

As some have said above, the 3450 would be a small upgrade from your on board graphics suite. If you want more bang for your buck, try finding a 1GB or larger video card based on your system specs and motherboard... the extra memory won't hurt, and you might as well get as much as your wallet will allow.

Hope this helps!

Alan