Slightly OT: 3D Cards...

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Lazerbeak

いや～まいっ&#
Hello friends,

I'm sick of compromise with this sim. If I want to play with (barely) acceptable frames, its graphics must be degraded so much. My computer is an ageing Dell from 2002-03 with small upgrades (2GB RAM, better HD). Processor is Pentium 4 2.8 GHz, 3D card is bone-stock, Nvidia FX5200 AGP card...

I need a new card, and here at SOH I see some recommending this "Sapphire ATI Radeon HD350" which really looks promising. But, I am useless when it's about computers, and it's very hard for me to spend this kind of money unless I'm sure it'll help me enjoy my beloved sim even more...

So, maybe the more experienced can share some know-how to this novice, what is the verdict on this card? Will my fossilised system see improvement with this kind of upgrade? Even can I think (the unthinkable) to run FSX?

I will be so grateful for any information you can spare.

Cheers!
 
My GeForce 9600GT has 512mb of VRAM and the control panel seems to have a stereoscopic 3d vision program attached to it:ernae:

Can be had for around $100-120

I should add that I have FS2004 maxxed out save for clouds and in the wilderness my FPS is ~80 flying in amongst the trees with the Captain Sim C-130...
 
My system is pretty close to yours:

3Gig P4
2 Gig Ram
160Gig IDE C drive
250 Gig SATA K (secondary) drive

My video card is an 8X AGP Nvidia GeForce 7200GS 512Meg.

I can run FS2004 full out with just the clouds turned back a bit (high detail clouds, medium density). I have my frame rates locked at 20, but could go higher, but I see no gains in smoothness at higher frame rates. Locking my frames at 20FPS frees up more resources for scenery detail and sharpness.

OBIO
 
Isn't the GeForce 9600GT a PCIe card? if it is is won't be any good in an AGP MB.

A while ago I had a similar spec system to Lazerbeak's, probably lower spec, but with an identical Nvidia FX5200 AGP card . I was persuaded to try a Nvidia GeForce 7200GS, but could only find a 256mb card.

The 7200GS plus another half gig RAM made a huge difference to frame rates (probably up by 15-20%), but I still had the blurries and some stuttering. I was working on that problem by editing the FS9 CFG file when my MB fizzled and died.

A new MB package and I can now run FS9 more or less maxed out with frame rates limited to 25 fps.

If you can find a 7200GS card I would recommend it and if you can add more RAM, but bear in mind, with such a system spec as yours, FS9 will never be perfect.

I agree with Obio, limit frame rates to free other resources. 25fps is the same rate that the old VHS videos ran at, so if could watch a video you can cope with it in FS9.

Other useful compromises are reducing the %age of clouds and AI traffic, both frame rate hogs.

Sorry to say it, but forget FSX until you replace your PC (my opinion anyway).
 
Hmm, that's a shame. A new computer is definitely out of the question for many years yet.

About clouds, I always fly with minimum clouds with a little fog (set at maximum graphic quality, because the frames are the same if it's lower or higher), and lowering traffic is a crime for a traffic-freak like myself. :icon_lol:

Frames are always locked at 20 (never goes higher than 18 anyway).

It looks like simply a new card is no magic cure for my venerable old box, I may just have to live with it as before.
 
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