Video Card

[ThatOnePerson]

Something like this: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.a ... 6820220144

Just look for it to say 2 x 1gb

[NDSP]

Ordering from Dell will not guarantee it's compatible unless you know what type of interface you have, and once you know that theres no point in ordering from Dell anyway. Newegg is an extremely reliable retailer, with fair prices to boot. Ive ordered from them many times. I have a dell myself and have changed several things, all from Newegg. BTW the card I posted has a $60 dollar rebate. At $112 dollars, thats a fricken steal.

OK.  I have an ITE (i think) interface.  I'll start looking on Newegg though.  I'm sorry if I'm being annoying when I ask this but, will that card be a major upgrade from what I have?

Also: for both the ram and the video card... I have absolutely no idea how to install them.  Is it worth it to have somebody come in to set it up, or is it simple enough for me to do myself?

[ThatOnePerson]

By interface I mean, for ram do you have DDR-2? And for the video card PCI-E? As for installing them yourself, Its about as straight forward as it gets as far as pc parts go. Basically it comes down to putting both in there corresponding slots

As for the video card, it should be a noticeable difference. Whats your budget?

[NDSP]

By interface I mean, for ram do you have DDR-2? And for the video card PCI-E? As for installing them yourself, Its about as straight forward as it gets as far as pc parts go. Basically it comes down to putting both in there corresponding slots

As for the video card, it should be a noticeable difference. Whats your budget?

Video card $100-300

Sorry, but I dont know how to get to that information for the DDR-2 or PCI-E

[ThatOnePerson]

If you can go up to $300, I would got for this :http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814130038

If you have an x300, chances are you have pci-e, and if you have pci-e chances are you have ddr-2. Ill try and find a pic of a pci-e slot.

[jimcooper1]

Ordering from Dell will not guarantee it's compatible .

Entering the DELL Service Tag will guarantee compatability. The PC will be on their database right down to Motherboard serial number.

[Dan Morera]

I got that same computer. And I can tell you a few things. I upgraded not long ago, first I would recommend that you stick with FS9 not FS9. After receiving lots of help from these guys specially Nick N (thank you Nick) I realized that I needed to do a lot of research. The motherboard that you have will limit the speed of you ram to 266. Your current CPU is not fast enough to keep up with fsx. I had your same video card and changed it for a Nvidia 8800gts 320mb, BUT I also had to change my power supply unit, you'll probably need to change yours too.

This is guy to take sometime, so get tips from here do a lot of reading and then make your decision.  I'm happy with my fs9, it looks great at good fps.

[NDSP]

I got that same computer. And I can tell you a few things. I upgraded not long ago, first I would recommend that you stick with FS9 not FS9. After receiving lots of help from these guys specially Nick N (thank you Nick) I realized that I needed to do a lot of research. The motherboard that you have will limit the speed of you ram to 266. Your current CPU is not fast enough to keep up with fsx. I had your same video card and changed it for a Nvidia 8800gts 320mb, BUT I also had to change my power supply unit, you'll probably need to change yours too.

This is guy to take sometime, so get tips from here do a lot of reading and then make your decision.  I'm happy with my fs9, it looks great at good fps.

With my current computer (without any upgrades) I was able to get around 10 Frames and sometimes up to 20 when cruising.  Now you are probably right, and I am probably just making a fool of myself by saying this, but, I do believe that buying what I am going to can get me up to atleast around 15-20 frames with settings at Low to Medium Low.  

I'm really not looking to be able to run FSX with everything at Ultra High and getting 30 frames.  I'm just looking for decent game play with low settings so I can get around 15 frames.

[Dan Morera]

When cruising, yeah probably 20, but when it comes to landing and taking off, you'll probably have problems, for me personally it is not as fun to land/take off at 8 to 10 fps.   Another thing is to hold those 20 all the time, not a range of 10 to 20, that would be like having 10 all the time. Just what ever you do, take you time to make your decision.

[NDSP]

Ok.  I am almost ready for a final decision on the video card.

I just wanted to make sure that this card

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.a ... 6814102061

would be a noticeable (and worth the money) upgrade from my current card.  If so, then that is the one I am going to order.

Nick


thanks for all the help!

[congo]

It will be a great improvement if it fits in your PC

[NDSP]

It will be a great improvement if it fits in your PC   :-?

AGP or PCIe ? The card linked above is  PCIe.

Will it physically fit, and do you have the power requirements?

I have PCI-e, and this card was recommended before when I gave my computer information.  So I'm assuming so.

[NickN]

FS9 will run very well on that card and with the right amount of memory, probably flat out


FSX is so CPU bound even an 8xxx series card in a system like that will be limited. Its not the video card as much as the system bus, CPU/Memory speed



And yes, you will need to upgrade the PSU for that tower, especially with a ATI card. They need a lot more power than most cards to run.


Even with his new hardware I ran through a complete windows setup and optimize process with Dan because he was still not getting the results he expected with FS9


You

[NDSP]

So to run this card properly, I should buy the RAM, and install it first, before installing the video card? :-?



Nick


PS: Low settings dont bother me.  

[NDSP]

Please, somebody.  I'd like to get the card coming soon.