DVA1933
Senior Captain, B727-200
Joined on September 19 2004
Triple Century Club
Monterrey, NL Mexico
357 legs, 860.4 hours
72 legs,
132.3 hours online 255 legs,
668.3 hours ACARS 1 legs,
1.9 hours event
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Posted onPost created on
December 13 2007 21:34 ET by David Eugenio Gomez
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Guys, I'm having a video card reserved at a local store for tomorrow. I'd like to hear your opinion on this purchase.
I'd be upgrading from onboard video. It's a 7600GS 512MB DDR2 12 pipelines, 128-bit and Silent-pipe equiped.
http://www.pcdomino.com/page/PROD/GIVGNX76G512PR.html
I know it's an older model, but the reason I'd be getting this is because it's relatively cheap ~ $140 bucks. I live in Mexico and I have no way to buy on the internet and have it shipped down here or to a friend's place in the US cause I'd still need to pick it up up there. By the way, it's some of the best piece of hardware I can get in this country without having to mortage my house.
The only graphics-demanding game I ever use is FS9, and don't think to upgrade to FSX for years. My other applications are Engineering-oriented, for college research, Photoshop, Sony Vegas, Matlab and Mathematica.
My other option is an eVGA 8600GT at the same price, but the guy at the local store told me that this card is HOT and NOISY, and I can't stand noise in this small room of mine. Plus, he told me I'd need at least a 500W PSU, and that the card consumes big energy.
Current specs:
Windows XP SP2
P4 3.0Ghz ~ 800Mhz FSB
1 Gig RAM
250GB SATA HD
400W PSU
Integrated Graphics
In other words, is it really worth it?
Thanks!
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DVA4808
Captain, B737-800
Joined on August 05 2007
DVA Fifteen-Year Anniversary
"Fly Delta Jets" MS USA
26 legs, 47.8 hours
7 legs,
17.1 hours online 9 legs,
19.4 hours ACARS 4 legs,
9.3 hours event
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Posted onPost created on
December 18 2007 17:41 ET by Pat McCarthy
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David,
I'm in the process of upgrading a very similar system to run FSX at reasonable frame rates using XP Pro/DX9. I have decided it's not worth the money and frustration of dealing with Vista and DX10 on my present set up. Given that - and like you - I have been researching video cards, and other options, to increase performance without breaking the bank.
What I found in my research is that Flight Simulator requires good performance from each of the functions of the host computer - video, RAM, and storage. You really can't just upgrade one area without balancing upgrades in the others. In my case, I too have decided on an Nvidia 7 series video card as well as a RAM and HD upgrade.
I selected the Nvidia 7900GT basically on a benchmark test referenced on www.fsinsider.com: see Phil Taylor's article there (http://www.fsinsider.com/tips/Pages/GraphicsHardwareBenchmarks.aspx) on the test found at Tom's Hardware site. That test indicated the N7900GT had excellent performance even up against some of the high speed - and high dollar - 8 series cards. Interestingly, your selection the N7600GS was right up there in performance with the N7900GT.
I have also decided to upgrade to 2GB of high-speed ram, and to add a Western Digital 150GB Raptor 10K RPM hard drive. All of these upgrades should give respectable frame rates in FSX, and would make FS9 blaze. My total cost for all of these upgrades is about $400.00.
I think you have a good start; just consider making a couple more additions to get the best response from your system.
What does everyone else think about this topic? Maybe we can get a good, timely discussion of optimum system set-ups for value minded pilots.
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DVA1933
Senior Captain, B727-200
Joined on September 19 2004
Triple Century Club
Monterrey, NL Mexico
357 legs, 860.4 hours
72 legs,
132.3 hours online 255 legs,
668.3 hours ACARS 1 legs,
1.9 hours event
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Posted onPost created on
December 18 2007 21:31 ET by David Eugenio Gomez
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