Graphics card

[zeberdee]

Hi all I have been looking for a good card to replace the ATI Radeon 9200 se (128Mb) that I've just bought!!!!  for the computer Iam putting together (See New set up further down) I have found an MSI FX 5700 ultra-td 128 that I can just afford (selling one of the children) My question is. is it any good ? Will it be better for the machine Iam building? Many thanks for your time and help. Regards Chris.

[GreG]

It should definately.  As long as you get one that is Direct X 9.0+ compatible, you'll be just fine.

[4_Series_Scania]

Don't kid yourself!

The FX range and indeed the ATI 9000 range are simply obsolete compared to the newer Direct X9 cards such as the 6800 series. The performance differance is frankly staggering!

Very shortly, Nvidia are to release the 6600 cards approx

[zeberdee]

Hi tanks for the quick replies, only got

[B42L8]

Just a question, how does the 9800 pro fit into this discussion?? is it worthwhile to buy this one now or wait for next release..............I have the 9200 also and graphics is OK but not great

[4_Series_Scania]

Just a question, how does the 9800 pro fit into this discussion?? is it worthwhile to buy this one now or wait for next release..............I have the 9200 also and graphics is OK but not great

A 9800 Pro is an excellent card, but compared to the 6800 series its a league slower......

Equally, its a card that not too long back, was the top card bar none and had a

[JBaymore]

I am starting to really believe that the speed and smoothness of this sim is more dependent on the CPU, FSB, and RAM speed than it is on the graphics card........ once you get to the level of something like an ATI 9800pro or XT and if you are trying to run it "maxed".

I am seeing this thought form a lot of people now that fs2004 is getting on to over a year old.

best,

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

[Gixer]

Me and my Brother had exactly the same setup until recently.  We both had the same mobo, I had an XP2800 he had an XP3000 CPU.  He has a 9800pro I have a 6800Ultra.  My PC ran FS2004 a hell of a lot smoother than his did.  I have since upgraded my mobo and CPU though FS still doesn't run as sweetly as what I would like it too.

I think you just need the absolute best of everything!!!

[4_Series_Scania]

[quote]

A 9800 Pro is an excellent card, but compared to the 6800 series its a league slower......

Equally, its a card that not too long back, was the top card bar none and had a

[HeavyMetal]

Gixer, im looking at yer specs and you should be smokin. Whats your CPU temp by the way?? Under load and at idle?? Do you have an aftermarket heatsinlk?? Just curious.  You seem to be better off than me in the spec dept, so why are you not running smooth??

[Gixer]

Y? Coz i got nice high res 1600x1200, all settings maxxed par AI @ 75% and amount of 3d clouds @ 60%  Anti-Alias @4x Anistropic is now at 16x image quality set to 'Quality'

FS just hogs your whole system, specially those dam clouds.  Dunno what my temps are I brought the AMD64 3500 retail so it has the stock cooler on it.  Thing is I know this system is fast.  All my other games are absolutely awsome on it.  Its just FS2004 that hits it the hardest.

So yes everything has got better on this system, hell on my old system with the FS settings at what there at I was lucky to hold 3-5fps going into KSEA.  I have run bench tests etc and here are the results:

3dMark01 : 23977

3dMark03 : 13122

So I know this system is pretty good, old system was scoring 18000 on 01 and a meesly 1500 on 03 (Due to GF4 graphics card)  As I have said many times finding the correct settings for FS2004 is all a comprimise, have to turn a few things down just to make it run silky smooth.

[Fozzer]

...innit funny...!
You have a look at my specs, down below, (NO! not there!..... .....), and with my AMD 2600 and my N-vidia Ge Force 4 4200 Ti, 64 Mb card, running FS 2002 with everything maxed I achieve in excess of 30 FPS, (locked at 30 FPS), even banking over populated areas..... ....!
...so...
What improvement would I achieve by spending loadsa money on an up-grade.... ::)....?

Cheers all...!

Paul.

P.S. I hate those strange, un-realistic, lumpy clouds in FS 2004.... ...!
They deserve to be frame-rate hoggers...LOL.... ...!

[4_Series_Scania]

...innit funny...!
You have a look at my specs, down below, (NO! not there!..... .....), and with my AMD 2600 and my N-vidia Ge Force 4 4200 Ti, 64 Mb card, running FS 2002 with everything maxed I achieve in excess of 30 FPS, (locked at 30 FPS), even banking over populated areas..... ....!
...so...
What improvement would I achieve by spending loadsa money on an up-grade.... ::)....?

Cheers all...!

Paul.

P.S. I hate those strange, un-realistic, lumpy clouds in FS 2004.... ...!
They deserve to be frame-rate hoggers...LOL.... ...!

As impressed as you would be with a 6800 Paul, I doubt sincerely, you'd find it

[B42L8]

As a newbe to the computer upgrades, when you say 6600 or 6800, are these nVidia cards??  and when they are leagues above the RADEON 8800pro, what effect does this have on use of FS9?? also I see the specs say 128 or 256, again is it best to get the higher number.......appreciate the advice

[4_Series_Scania]

[quote]As a newbe to the computer upgrades, when you say 6600 or 6800, are these nVidia cards??