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DVA1329
First Officer, L-1011-100
Joined on September 22 2003
Western Europe
66 legs, 155.0 hours
53 legs,
132.3 hours online 5 legs,
20.7 hours event
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Posted onPost created on
September 15 2004 10:48 ET by Tim Slater
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I've been running my NVIDIA TNT 32MB card for about two years now and it definately deserves a break. It sometimes got me frame rates of up to 300 in open skies and was absolutely fine for general FL flying, but with all this new and detailed scenery becoming available, it's definately time to upgrade. I was wondering if you guys could help me choose something. Nothing too fancy, maybe 64MB or 128MB DDR. I'm running FS2002 with no intention of upgrading any time soon. I am thinking about the Geforce FX 5200. Any good?
Regards,
Tim
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DVA1385
Captain, B767-300
E-MAIL
Joined on November 09 2003
Century Club
"www.flyaoamedia.com" Western United States
122 legs, 479.3 hours
72 legs,
282.0 hours online 36 legs,
162.1 hours ACARS
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Posted onPost created on
September 15 2004 11:58 ET by Chris Palmer
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Go to pricewatch.com and look at all the cards. They find the best deals on the net, bar none. Get the best card you can for your price range. Im sure you wont have trouble getting a good one. If you want the 5200, i think they have them at Wal-Mart.
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DVA1129
Senior Captain, B757-200
E-MAIL
Joined on March 10 2003
Million Mile Club
Millennium Club
Online Six Century Club
""never ever give up"" Ardmore, OK USA
1,210 legs, 3,192.7 hours
602 legs,
1,222.0 hours online 508 legs,
1,054.6 hours ACARS 15 legs,
27.7 hours event
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Posted onPost created on
September 15 2004 15:49 ET by Craig Davidson
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I have a FX5700 Ultra, and i like it, little bit pricy i think about 180 now but its a good solid card
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DVA630
Senior Captain, B777-200
Joined on June 22 2002
Million Mile Club
DVA Twenty-Year Anniversary
Eight Century Club
Online Seven Century Club
Everett 250 Club
B757 100 Club
"Flightsimaroma therapy." Bainbridge, PA
873 legs, 2,775.4 hours
783 legs,
2,429.4 hours online 487 legs,
1,454.8 hours ACARS 19 legs,
64.1 hours event
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Posted onPost created on
September 15 2004 18:09 ET by Kenneth Rodriguez
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Tim:
The Nvidia FX5200 128MB DDR is a great card and will be a world better than what you have now. You can get is as low as $89.99, maybe even loer than that on www.pricewatch.com.
It really is a good card for the money. I used to have that card and never had any problems with it. I upgraded to an Ultra 5700 256MB just to process graphice faster.
Regards,
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DVA1329
First Officer, L-1011-100
Joined on September 22 2003
Western Europe
66 legs, 155.0 hours
53 legs,
132.3 hours online 5 legs,
20.7 hours event
|
Posted onPost created on
September 15 2004 22:56 ET by Tim Slater
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Thanks for the replies everyone. I am looking at the prices of the 256MB version of the 5200 on eBay. They look very good.
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DVA1603
Captain, B727-200
Joined on April 02 2004
Double Century Club
Albany, GA USA
266 legs, 399.1 hours
85 legs,
131.0 hours online 93 legs,
129.4 hours ACARS 2 legs,
3.4 hours event
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Posted onPost created on
September 16 2004 04:23 ET by Michael Wilson
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Tim, XFX is likely the best manufacturer that you can find for the 5200. In my experience, they make the best GeForce cards that can be found. They overclock exceptionally well.
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DVA1633
Senior Captain, L-1011-100
Joined on April 17 2004
Century Club
Den Haag, Zuid-Holland NL
163 legs, 437.6 hours
2 legs,
11.5 hours online
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Posted onPost created on
September 16 2004 11:09 ET by Sander Jordans
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you can also have A look at the FX5700LE, it's 170 euro's but it's definetly worth it;)
BTW; nice to see a new face in the Tristar, you will love it!!
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DVA1329
First Officer, L-1011-100
Joined on September 22 2003
Western Europe
66 legs, 155.0 hours
53 legs,
132.3 hours online 5 legs,
20.7 hours event
|
Posted onPost created on
September 16 2004 13:57 ET by Tim Slater
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huh, I've been flying the three-holer for quite a while, lol
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DVA043
Senior Captain, MD-11
OLP
Joined on June 10 2001
Event Half Century Club
Online Double Century Club
50 State Club
DVA Twenty-Year Anniversary
Everett 1500 Club
Bi-Millennium Club
Four Million Mile Club
"Col. Panic" Marietta, GA
2,241 legs, 8,967.3 hours
240 legs,
553.9 hours online 1,899 legs,
7,760.4 hours ACARS 75 legs,
196.3 hours event 2,277 legs, 9,102.2 hours total 91 legs dispatched, 66.4
hours
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Posted onPost created on
September 16 2004 18:38 ET by Luke Kolin
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For the love of God, don't touch the 256MB version of any card except an X800 or 6X00. There are hardly any games that need any more than 128MB of texture memory, and the ones that do will run like garbage on a 5200.
If you want a decent priced ATI, get a 9800 or a used 9700 from eBay. If you want nV, look at 5700 or 5900. For a little more, the 6600GT is looking like the next sweet spot.
cheers!
Luke KolinSenior Captain, MD-11
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DVA1866
First Officer, B777-200
Joined on August 31 2004
Las Vegas, NV USA
41 legs, 79.4 hours
28 legs,
47.3 hours online 7 legs,
9.9 hours ACARS 4 legs,
8.2 hours event
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Posted onPost created on
September 17 2004 07:32 ET by Michael Odom
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If you have a TNT card, I would assume you also have an older system. There is a big difference between the earlier generation AGP slots, and the more modern ones, the most important of which is voltage. Make sure you verify that your motherboard can support the newer AGP cards before you buy.
Also, depending on the age of your system, you might consider that you may be disappointed with a high end video card if your machine is too slow. I had a P4 1.6GhZ system with a GeForce 3, and when I upgraded to a FX5700, I did see an improvement, but I was a little dissapointed. The problem was that my motherboard only supported the 133MhZ SDRAM, and I had a severe bottleneck with the system RAM. I would suggest that if your motherboard doesn't support 8x AGP, and you are not planning to upgrade the rest of your system, then the FX5200 or a FX5700LE is a good performance/price choice. And I agree with Luke, if this is the case, don't waste your money on the extra ram. Again, I am assuming you have an older system.
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DVA1329
First Officer, L-1011-100
Joined on September 22 2003
Western Europe
66 legs, 155.0 hours
53 legs,
132.3 hours online 5 legs,
20.7 hours event
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Posted onPost created on
September 17 2004 10:25 ET by Tim Slater
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ECS K7S5A Mainboard
Athlon XP 1600+ 133MHZ FSB (planning to upgrade to 2600+ with 233MHZ FSB)
512MB DDR2100 266MHZ
AGP 2.0 4X slot
Will AGP 4X really matter that much in FS2k2?
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DVA1329
First Officer, L-1011-100
Joined on September 22 2003
Western Europe
66 legs, 155.0 hours
53 legs,
132.3 hours online 5 legs,
20.7 hours event
|
Posted onPost created on
September 17 2004 10:28 ET by Tim Slater
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correction on the above - the XP2600+ will have a 266MHZ FSB
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DVA1866
First Officer, B777-200
Joined on August 31 2004
Las Vegas, NV USA
41 legs, 79.4 hours
28 legs,
47.3 hours online 7 legs,
9.9 hours ACARS 4 legs,
8.2 hours event
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Posted onPost created on
September 17 2004 11:24 ET by Michael Odom
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I was just using the 8X as sort of a "rule-of-thumb" kind of thing. The AGP 2.0 is the important spec.
With the processor upgrade and video card upgrade, you'll have a good machine. I'd recommend getting the fastest 128MB video card in your budget, but if your video card budget is over $150, you might consider putting the extra money on a 2800+ processor and maxing out that motherboard.
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DVA1866
First Officer, B777-200
Joined on August 31 2004
Las Vegas, NV USA
41 legs, 79.4 hours
28 legs,
47.3 hours online 7 legs,
9.9 hours ACARS 4 legs,
8.2 hours event
|
Posted onPost created on
September 17 2004 11:36 ET by Michael Odom
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I took a closer look at that Motherboard... the 2600+ is probably the best processor choice given that motherboards max FSB is 266MHz.
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DVA1633
Senior Captain, L-1011-100
Joined on April 17 2004
Century Club
Den Haag, Zuid-Holland NL
163 legs, 437.6 hours
2 legs,
11.5 hours online
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Posted onPost created on
September 17 2004 11:57 ET by Sander Jordans
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LOL, never noticed it must be because of the sig
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DVA1329
First Officer, L-1011-100
Joined on September 22 2003
Western Europe
66 legs, 155.0 hours
53 legs,
132.3 hours online 5 legs,
20.7 hours event
|
Posted onPost created on
September 17 2004 14:53 ET by Tim Slater
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yup, the XP2600 is the max. Shame the BIOS settings are locked so I can't overclock Still, 2GHZ is much better than what I have now. I don't think AMD make the 266FSB version of the 2600+ any more though, but I know a few have appeared on eBay. The problem is the competition with all the other K7S5A users.
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DVA043
Senior Captain, MD-11
OLP
Joined on June 10 2001
Event Half Century Club
Online Double Century Club
50 State Club
DVA Twenty-Year Anniversary
Everett 1500 Club
Bi-Millennium Club
Four Million Mile Club
"Col. Panic" Marietta, GA
2,241 legs, 8,967.3 hours
240 legs,
553.9 hours online 1,899 legs,
7,760.4 hours ACARS 75 legs,
196.3 hours event 2,277 legs, 9,102.2 hours total 91 legs dispatched, 66.4
hours
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Posted onPost created on
September 17 2004 15:04 ET by Luke Kolin
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If you've got a 2600, I would strongly suggest getting into the 5700 or 9600 range minimum, if not higher. If you can find a European seller, a used 5900 or 9700 would really be a sweet purchase.
I cannot rant enough about how good a deal my used 9700 Non-Pro is. I went from a 9600Pro to it, but going from a 128-bit memory bus to 256-bit bus on the vidcard doubled my framerates for $120US.
Cheers!
Luke KolinSenior Captain, MD-11
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DVA1909
Captain, B757-200
Joined on September 18 2004
Century Club
"Ang!" Lakewood, CA
167 legs, 500.3 hours
3 legs,
5.8 hours online 104 legs,
337.5 hours ACARS
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Posted onPost created on
September 21 2004 22:14 ET by Colin Stave
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Hi all,
I just joined up a few days ago, about the same time as I upgraded to fs2k4. I'd been thinking about getting a new card anyway but between the demands of the new software and the extensive panels on the fleet (I like those very much by the way) this definitely pushed me over the edge. After looking over the conversations here, I'm seeing the ati 9800 as a best bet for me. I was just wondering if any of the experts here could possibly predict any compatibility issues. I got a new system last October (I know, 11 months old is ancient in these times). 2.6 Ghz Celeron, 512 ram DDR2100. I noticed people talking about the importance of an AGP 2X. I honestly don't even know how to find that out. Could someone help me out on that?
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DVA1866
First Officer, B777-200
Joined on August 31 2004
Las Vegas, NV USA
41 legs, 79.4 hours
28 legs,
47.3 hours online 7 legs,
9.9 hours ACARS 4 legs,
8.2 hours event
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Posted onPost created on
September 22 2004 19:03 ET by Michael Odom
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11 months old---you're probably ok. The latest is AGP 8X, and AGP 2x has been around for a really long time. Your system or motherboard specs should tell you. If it is a name brand computer (Dell, HP, etc) then there's some propoganda somewhere that will let you know. Otherwise, it will be a specification on your motherboard. If you've lost the manuals, a quick Google search should reveal your machine's secrets. If not, post 'em and we'll look them up.
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DVA1909
Captain, B757-200
Joined on September 18 2004
Century Club
"Ang!" Lakewood, CA
167 legs, 500.3 hours
3 legs,
5.8 hours online 104 legs,
337.5 hours ACARS
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Posted onPost created on
September 23 2004 01:07 ET by Colin Stave
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Ok, my machine is the emachines t2682. From what I have been able to dig up I can tell you that the mother board is an Imperial-gv (845GV) and the processor is the celeron 2.6G 478P 128K F400. One probable good sign is that Emachines reccomends the ATI RADEON 9200SE 128MB DDR DVI/TV-OUT PCI and the nVidia MX400 64MB DDR PCI 4X Graphic Card as possible video controller upgrades for this specific model. I have a feeling that tells you if it can handle the 9800.
Thanks
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DVA1866
First Officer, B777-200
Joined on August 31 2004
Las Vegas, NV USA
41 legs, 79.4 hours
28 legs,
47.3 hours online 7 legs,
9.9 hours ACARS 4 legs,
8.2 hours event
|
Posted onPost created on
September 23 2004 08:18 ET by Michael Odom
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You might want to take a look at these links.
http://www.thepc.info/PCI-AGP.html
http://www.msi-polska.pl/html/e_service/techexpress/tech_column/pertect/page1.htm
The 9800 requires at least an AGP 4x slot, and I have a feeling that your motherboard only supports AGP2x, although I still cannot find any documentation to back that up. There's also the issue of power. In those machines they sometimes get cheap and put something like a 100W-150W power supply, the later video cards require a lot of power, and you may overtax your power supply with a newer card. You'll need to check that too. There's generally a sticker on the power supply that will tell you.
Hate to say it, but you may be at the point where you need to get a new machine.
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DVA1529
Captain, B747-400
Joined on February 16 2004
Online Century Club
Triple Century Club
DVA Twenty-Year Anniversary
Long Beach Century Club
""Vision, Determination, Achievement"" Northeastern United States
339 legs, 981.2 hours
185 legs,
373.4 hours online 182 legs,
687.1 hours ACARS 5 legs,
7.6 hours event
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Posted onPost created on
September 23 2004 14:41 ET by Alexis Lluveres
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I have the Nvidia FX5200 PCI 128 MG and is GREAT. Specially if you go to FS9 News it will show you what new download driver you can get. I got the new driver and it works even great. I don't have a problem with it. If you get the Card download the new Driver from FS9 News.
Alexis LluveresCaptain, B747-400
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DVA720
Captain, B737-800
E-MAIL
Joined on July 21 2002
Century Club
Southeastern United States
172 legs, 372.2 hours
5 legs,
7.3 hours online
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Posted onPost created on
September 23 2004 17:45 ET by Paul Campbell
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Where are you guys getting 200 or three hundred plus screen rates when I have a 3.0GHz system with 512MB DDR at 400MHz with a 128GB DDR ATI Radeon 9800 Card and can only max 35 rates per minute? Is there something I have to tweak or what? I ordered this Dell Deminsion 8300 for gaming and haven't seen a frame rate over 35 yet. I'm pulling three monitors that should't affect my rates that much should they?
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DVA953
Senior Captain, B737-800
E-MAIL
Joined on November 17 2002
50 State Club
Double Century Club
Online Double Century Club
"V1 means V1..." West Lafayette, IN USA
214 legs, 376.8 hours
211 legs,
373.0 hours online 117 legs,
223.6 hours ACARS
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Posted onPost created on
September 23 2004 18:12 ET by James Brickell
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Paul,
Frames are measured in FPS, Frames per Second. The maximum the human eye can distinguish is something like 28-30 FPS, so if you're getting 35 FPS, that's pretty damn good.
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DVA1603
Captain, B727-200
Joined on April 02 2004
Double Century Club
Albany, GA USA
266 legs, 399.1 hours
85 legs,
131.0 hours online 93 legs,
129.4 hours ACARS 2 legs,
3.4 hours event
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Posted onPost created on
September 23 2004 18:15 ET by Michael Wilson
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Regardless of FPS, is FS2004 choppy or smooth? What are your FS2004 settings? How are your three monitors set up?
Take screenshots of your FS2004 settings and e-mail them to me.
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DVA1909
Captain, B757-200
Joined on September 18 2004
Century Club
"Ang!" Lakewood, CA
167 legs, 500.3 hours
3 legs,
5.8 hours online 104 legs,
337.5 hours ACARS
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Posted onPost created on
September 23 2004 18:51 ET by Colin Stave
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Ok, as it turns out I have no AGP slot at all. I found a good deal on a ATI 9200 128mb that's PCI input. Do you all think it's worth the upgrade? Right now my graphics adapter is an Intel 82845G 3D Internal 64 MB installed onto the motherboard. I've heard a lot about this type causing bottlenecks.
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DVA953
Senior Captain, B737-800
E-MAIL
Joined on November 17 2002
50 State Club
Double Century Club
Online Double Century Club
"V1 means V1..." West Lafayette, IN USA
214 legs, 376.8 hours
211 legs,
373.0 hours online 117 legs,
223.6 hours ACARS
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Posted onPost created on
September 23 2004 19:00 ET by James Brickell
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Are you absolutely sure that your motherboard has no AGP slot? My three year old Asus board has one, so your 11 month old mobo should too..
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DVA720
Captain, B737-800
E-MAIL
Joined on July 21 2002
Century Club
Southeastern United States
172 legs, 372.2 hours
5 legs,
7.3 hours online
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Posted onPost created on
September 23 2004 19:46 ET by Paul Campbell
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JB, That's what has me confused when I see post with 200 or three hundred rpm's I remember seeing an artile about frame rates saying that there is really no use in setting your rates above 25 or thirty rpm's since there is no noticable difference anyway. At around 15 plus my graphics runs very smoothly without any studder of loss of image. The problem I have is at times my screen(s) will freeze, go blank then the images will slowly repaint back together, then start motion again. I have no idea what causes that.
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DVA720
Captain, B737-800
E-MAIL
Joined on July 21 2002
Century Club
Southeastern United States
172 legs, 372.2 hours
5 legs,
7.3 hours online
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Posted onPost created on
September 23 2004 19:51 ET by Paul Campbell
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Michael, What part of Settings are you refering to taking screenshots of?
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DVA1909
Captain, B757-200
Joined on September 18 2004
Century Club
"Ang!" Lakewood, CA
167 legs, 500.3 hours
3 legs,
5.8 hours online 104 legs,
337.5 hours ACARS
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Posted onPost created on
September 23 2004 20:00 ET by Colin Stave
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I'm pretty sure. All I can see is 3 PCI slots, nothing below or above is any different. This link is a picture of exactly what my board looks like. http://parts.emachines.com/emachines/moreinfo.asp?product_id=69099 Hope that helps answer your question.
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DVA1909
Captain, B757-200
Joined on September 18 2004
Century Club
"Ang!" Lakewood, CA
167 legs, 500.3 hours
3 legs,
5.8 hours online 104 legs,
337.5 hours ACARS
|
Posted onPost created on
September 23 2004 20:06 ET by Colin Stave
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Also, if you look on the left side of that page there is a drop down menu labeled "Select Model" Find "T2682" in there and all of the specs are listed.
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DVA1329
First Officer, L-1011-100
Joined on September 22 2003
Western Europe
66 legs, 155.0 hours
53 legs,
132.3 hours online 5 legs,
20.7 hours event
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Posted onPost created on
September 23 2004 22:56 ET by Tim Slater
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Can somebody check this out and tell me if it is any good? http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&category=27387&item=5125873853&rd=1
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