Video Card Questions

[allardjd 1,853]

Gents,

Am considering a new system. (You’ve seen my graphics… :mrhappy: :sadblinky: :???: :wink: :???: :roll: ) Two systems I’m considering list these as video cards.

1) NVIDIA GeForce 7500LE 256MB (512MB shared)

2) NVIDIA GeForce 8800GTS w/ 320MB, Dual DVI-I Dual link TV Out (Factory Overclocked) w/ VGA adapter

I’m WAY out of the loop on hardware, and would appreciate your help/advice.

• Are both of these dual monitor cards?

• Are these cards high-end enough for FSX and likely to keep me compatible with new sim add-on products for the

next few years? (I know - that’s a very subjective, open-ended question, deserving of a similar answer… still, I respect and

value the opinions I get here.)

• I understand that Direct X 10 compatibility is an issue and don’t see it mentioned in the specs for these systems.

Is it important and are these cards DX-10 compatible?

I’d be very grateful for any help or opinions any of you would care to post, or send privately.

Thanks,

John

[dgor 0]

John,

The 7500LE isn't really a good choice for FS. I'm on the better 7600GT and it does struggle sometimes. The 8800GTS (and the more powerful 8800GTX) are fantastic cards, very powerful and with dual montor support (not sure about the 7500s though). The 8800GTS should be enough for all the latest games, including FSX. It's compatible with DX10, the 8*** series being the only nVidia cards that are right now.

However I would advise you to make sure that the rest of your computer can live up to your graphics card. You won't get the most out of it if you don't have a high-end CPU and RAM to work with it. Don't forget the power supply too - those high end cards need a pretty good one to function (Mut just bought a rather nice looking one actually).

Sorry about not being able to be more in-depth, I'm sure MartinW or Theo will be able to answer a lot, lot more clearly for you.

Dave

[mutley 4,498]

Hi John,

I would go for the 8800 if you can. Dave gives some good advice there about helping it along with a decent CPU and memory.

I'm no expert but there are some on here like Uncle Martin who could give better advice. Me and computer hardware are not exactly on speaking terms at the moment!

Cheers

[MartinW 0]

Sounds like good advice from the lads there.

As far as flight sim is concerned the CPU is the most important component, as both FS9 and FSX are CPU dominant. That means Intel these days as the Core Two Duo and the Intel Quad core CPU's knock AMD for six.

Flight sim at its heart is still antiquated with a few fancy bits bolted on to the legacy coding. So as I say, the CPU is the priority and then the GPU.

The CPU is less dominant at higher resolutions though and with a small advantage from SLI at very high resolutions. (Not enough to warrant the cost of the extra card though) The exact opposite holds true for conventional games with the GPU being the priority.

DX10 cards: DX10 is Vista only so the new operating system in conjunction with a Direct X 10 compliant card would be required.

Aces have said that they expect an improvement in the sim with Vista/DX10 but we will have to wait until the FSX/DX10 update is released to know for sure exactly what that entails.

I agree entirely in regard to the PSU, I've said a number of times that I regard the PSU as the heart of the system. Many cheap PSU's don't provide anything like the stability and performance they claim.

I use an Enermax in my simming rig at present, it's very quiet with it's big 120 fan, and the modular cables are very good for keeping the mess inside your PC to a minimum, and that’s important of course to maximize air flow through the case.

Seasonic and Antec are also very good PSU's as stable and powerful on the important 12v rails as the makers claim.

:-)

[hello_basil 0]

I've recently built a Core 2 Duo system, using an Akasa 460W PSU I'm able to Power an E6420, 2GB, DVD+/-RW, HDD's and a BFG 8800GTS.

And apparentally 430W can easily handle the 8800GTS in real terms; save some trees and your money by getting a Tagan Modular PSU! :mrhappy:

PS: Dave, I gave in at last - I bought a Tagan Modular - Wow they're nice! :-)