Best Graphics card to run FS9 on?...

[Delta_]

I get 12000 in '01
4100 in '03.  
I believe the higher scores are due to overdrive and the higher clock memory i use. (Although it is not o/c'ed)

[congo]

The TI4200 still kicks it.

I just upgraded from that to an FX 5900XT and saw very little improvement over the TI4200 in FS9, very disappointed after forking out nearly $350 bucks (oh, and that was cheap here......  :P)

I managed to O/Clock the 5900XT and it runs a bit better, but nothing like I expected.

Saying that, however, it made the difference of a few Frame rates in heavy scenery in FS9, makeing it just flyable, so, I guess I achieved my goal.

[Gixer]

Congo the main difference that the fX5900 provides you is that you should be able to apply some AA an AF.  The FX5900 should handle this better than your ti4200 or my ti4600.  I can run AA and AF but not to much.

Try 4x AA and 4 or 8x AF.  The fx5900 shouldn't take to much of a hit with those unlike our older cards.

[Gixer]

Congo the main difference that the fX5900 provides you is that you should be able to apply some AA an AF.  The FX5900 should handle this better than your ti4200 or my ti4600.  I can run AA and AF but not to much.

Try 4x AA and 4 or 8x AF.  The fx5900 shouldn't take to much of a hit with those unlike our older cards.

[Iroquois]

I hate to tell you guys, but benchmarks lie. I ran 3dMark03 on my Duron 950. I think I got 940 points. That's low. I upgraded to an Athlon XP 2000+ which is almost twice as fast, 860 points. I think they're just a ploy to get you to upgrade to expensive stuff. (I noticed Alienware sponsors Futuremark) How could my score actually drop with the same drivers, same IQ settings, and a faster  CPU? (<- rhetorical question)
Strangely enough, I did quite well on PCMark04.

I found that it was the CPU holding me back. I've got better frames in FS, smooth CFS3. Even the Far Cry demo runs smooth as a baby's bottom. These are all with 61.21 drivers which I found are best with the FX5200.

I just upgraded from that to an FX 5900XT and saw very little improvement over the TI4200 in FS9, very disappointed after forking out nearly $350 bucks (oh, and that was cheap here......

I don't know what XT stands for, extream I guess but the cards with that lable are hardly extream. XT cards are much slower than their regular and Ultra counterparts. You would have been better off buying a FX5700 or a regular FX5900.

[Gixer]

Iroquois.

[Iroquois]

So that explains it. They make it sound like it tests the everything involved in 3D games.

[Gixer]

Yeah I know they do, I thought it was weird I scored so low on 3dMark03 at first, then I did some hunting around and found out.  

Thats y I score quite high on 3dMark01 as the rest of my system is pretty good and the gf4 ti4600 doesnt work bad on 3dmark01.  Of course the newer cards these days are much better  ;D

So if ever you just upgrade your g/card bench using 3dMark03 to see how much better it is.  If you alter ram timings, o-clock pc or upgrade bits use 3dMark01.

[leworthy8]

Here are my 3dmark scores:

3dmark2001 = 18208
3dmark2003  = 6890

[Iroquois]

So if ever you just upgrade your g/card bench using 3dMark03 to see how much better it is.  If you alter ram timings, o-clock pc or upgrade bits use 3dMark01.

It's getting to the point where I have to upgrade each year. I think my old Geforce 2 MX400 lasted about a year before it became inadequate. Only had the FX5200 for a year and they've got this  6800 now. Technology needs to slow down at least enough for my bank accoount to catch up.  

[congo]

I don't know what XT stands for, extream I guess but the cards with that lable are hardly extream. XT cards are much slower than their regular and Ultra counterparts. You would have been better off buying a FX5700 or a regular FX5900.

The FX 5900XT is a crippled version of the  FX 5900. It generally uses slower RAM but the nv35 GPU chip is the same. The PCB design is usally modified from the other reference FX 5900 cards. Depending on the manufacturer or luck, it may even turn out to be a performance card with quality components onboard.

The stock clocks on the 5900XT are: GPU=390mhz / RAM=700mhz.  Mine clocks fine at 450/900 and runs reasonably cool at that. Going to 460/900, I see the temp rising. Winfast provide the overclock utility for my card.

Even at stock clocking, the FX 5900XT isn't very far behind it's standard FX 5900 counterparts.

Any FX 5900XT  card blows away all FX 5700 cards, that's just a fact, the FX5700 GPU just isn't in the same league.

And yes, Gixer, it does handles the AA, AF and higher resolutions better.

I noticed your system overclock Gixer, I too just upgraded to a XP2800+ and obtained 364mhz FSB with no apparent heat rise, scored just over 16,000 3dMarks in '01 with the card overclocked as above. I had to add a case fan to blow across the video card. There are no heat sinks on the Video cards RAM chips, but the RAM is running cool enough, it's the GPU that is warming up.

Look at Leworthy8's score with his overclocked XP3200+ !!!  ;) Well done!

[Iroquois]

You were the one complaining about it Congo.

I've always viewed overclocking as a no no. I have a Jaton 3DForce FX5200LE which clocks at 250mhz core 360mhz VRAM. According to  Riva Tuner, the max clock speeds are 375/540. Of course my worry is the GPU over heating or over exerting itself and burning out.

[congo]

Yeah, I was whining a bit, the FX 5900XT is an ok card, I just expected too much in FS9...... lol, when wil I learn!

I generally don't think overclocking a video card is a good idea at all, but remember, the 5900XT is a clocked down version of a very fast GPU. It begs for it.

If the 5900XT comes with fast RAM chips, then it's a bonus. It usually ships with either Samsung or Hynix 2.8ns RAM. Some cards are found with 2.2ns Hynix chips (the good stuff!). Someone wrote that Hynix has a high yield of fast chips, and that many Hynix 2.8ns chips are re-labeled 2.2ns chips. My card has labeled 2.8ns Hynix, yet it clocks (so far) to 900mhz with no cooling or excessive heat. I'm not sure how fast the ram will go.

There are several better cards of course, it's just that these are relatively cheap at the moment and have a bit of punch.

[Gixer]

Congo it will clock higher.  I had it at 400  ;D and it registered as an XP3200+ hehehe.  Thing is if I go any higher than I currently am I have to greatly slacken off the ram timings.  As of this my bench scores dont really change.  Now if I had PC3500ram then I could go higher and keep the tight timings.  It does appear that the Nforce2 boards really like tight ram timings.  

[congo]

Getting off track here so I'll post a thread in Overclocking Gixer, thanks.