Simviation Forums

Hi all.. a little tip when picking out a pc for Flight Sim use,
a good rule to remember is that top-of-the-line video cards (ATI's X800 & Nvidia's 6800 series,in this case) are CPU-limited. I.e., a 6800 or X800 paired up with a P4 2.4 Ghz will limit you to the performance of a 5900 or 9800XT.On the other hand,an AMD Athlon XP3000, any  Athlon 64,or a 3.0 +Ghz P4  are not CPU-limited,and will allow the card to run at its full speed.  

Later,L1011blonde

L1011blonde,

That is one of the best pieces of advice that I have seen relative to the whole video card discussions in a long while.

I have the aforementioned 2.4 gig 533 fsb machine.  I also have an ATI 9800XT.  Even with that generation of card, the video card rips........ but the processor and fsb/ram (relative to the fs2004 demands) is the "restrictor plate" in the system.  So up away from stuff that takesd the cpu power..... framerates are good.  But get into the heavy AI  stuff..... and it goes to heck.

best,

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

Yup, my CPU is my bottleneck in my system at the moment.

I beg to differ, buy a 6800GT ,considering the top end ATI cards are still about

The CPU will limit the FPS, but the better card will still show a good improvement, especially when the difference between the cards is so great.

I cite a relative's case where he recently installed a 9800pro on his Athlon 1.2ghz machine.

He scored in the high 5000's in 3Dmark '03 with THAT cpu....... I was surprised, as was he. I'm running a similar powered card and only get just over 6000 3d marks with my overclocked 2800+

However, any time the CPU is overloaded or inadequate, you will see the effects of the shortfall, on any system.

I'm running IL-2 Forgotten Battles at the moment, and in Perfect video mode, my FPS drops like a lead balloon, which is terrible because the water rendering in perfect mode is just awesome.

I asked about this problem, and got a few replies saying that it wasn't my video card, but the CPU that was my problem, despite the fact that my CPU is benchmarking at around 3.2 P rating.

The consensus was that we all need 10ghz cpu's now......