Help me..... Please!

[The red barron 41]

Hi,

I am in need of a new graphics card because the old one is shot and needs replacing.

Preferly one that isn't expeensive so under

[mutley 4,498]

If I were buying a new card it would be something like an nVidia GeForce GTX 285. http://hothardware.com/Articles/NVIDIA-GeForce-GTX-285-Unveiled/

You won't get to run it with all sliders right as it is CPU power you need not a huge graphics card.

If you do buy a bigger card you have to make sure you have the right connectors on the motherboard especially if you have an older machine AND just as importantly a big enough power supply with the right connectors to supply it the juice.

To be honest, as you admit not to be PC literate, you should get proper advice by taking your pc to a dealer and get them to advise, that could save you money and frustration by not buying something that will not work. :wacky:

Cheers

[The red barron 41]

Thanks Joe as for the PC expert that would be my dad as he works with PC's all of the time and has done for ages so he knows what he is on about. It's not that I want it to look amassing but it is the fact that I some times get graphic related errors and that with the current card It won't support PMDG's requirements.

TRB :wacky:

[stu7708 244]

What GFX-card do you have today??

The only GFX spec for the PMDG 747 according to their website is that you should have at least 512 MB Gfx memory for best preformance.

The minimum specs don't, as far as I see, contain anything GFX related...

Othervise, I think Mut summed it up rather good. The two most important things to check is if your power supply can handle the new card, and that you have the right connectors on you motherboard..

If you do happen to have a motherboard with only AGP-connectors make sure that the card you get (if you still can get hold of an AGP-card) has with the same version of AGP as you motherboard has since different versions supply different voltage to the card... I know that part in particular from experience unfortunatly.

[SEATAC 400]

Stu, the minimum specs that developers give are usually unrealistic. The minimums don't get you top notch performance.

But I'm sure that you know this.

Mr. Barron, you said that you don't have a lot to spend on a card, under 500. I am in the United States, but isn't 500 pounds around $800 or so? That would by you one hell of a card.

[The red barron 41]

Hi,

Seatac,

[SEATAC 400]

I am sure that you've already done this, and it is by no means a substitute for a new GPU, but updating the video drivers on a regular basis is always a good idea. It may help with performance issues.

[The red barron 41]

I have been looking at Nvidias GeForce GTX 280/260 As I have heard that it is very good. http://www.nvidia.co.uk/object/geforce_gtx_260_uk.html Let me know if this is right or if you know of a better card.

I have asked for money for xmas and then I am going to give the money to my dad because he will know if it will be alright for the PC and all of that stuff. Please let me know if that card is right or if there is a better one out there.

Cheers

TRB :great:

[MartinW 0]

As Mutley said...

Flight sim is CPU bound. If you have a rubbish CPU, and you buy a top notch graphics card, the CPU will be the bottleneck and you won't get the performance you expect.

If you have a good CPU and you buy a top notch graphics card, you will see the benefit, but not as much as you would from an equivalent CPU upgrade.

What are you complete system specs, Motherboard, CPU, GPU etc. Without which it's tricky to advise.