video card upgrade but no improvement

[rjacks]

hey folks-I upgraded my video card, but there isn't much improvement on fs9, if any..I am wondering if I should update other components before i take it back...thanks

intel p4 2.0mghz/400 850 chipset
512mb ddr rambus
128mb ti4600 gforce4-old video card
256mb ddr 9600XT ati-new video card


Thanks!

Richard

[heyer]

>hey folks-I upgraded my video card, but there isn't much
>improvement on fs9, if any..I am wondering if I should
>update other components before i take it back...thanks
>
>intel p4 2.0mghz/400 850 chipset
>512mb ddr rambus
>128mb ti4600 gforce4-old video card
>256mb ddr 9600XT ati-new video card

You'd better have asked or read all the related forum threads before spending so much money on a new graphics adapter. MSFS is - and always used to be - extremly CPU hungy. And that's where you bottleneck appears to be; 2 GHz really isn't too much for FS9.

I'm almost sure that the pictures will look a little better with the new card but there won't be hardly any framerate improvement I fear...

[rjacks]

i can only upgrade to a p4 2.8 mhz because of the 800 chipset-will that be enough?

thanks

[heyer]

>i can only upgrade to a p4 2.8 mhz because of the 800
>chipset-will that be enough?

It's GHz not MHz and 2.8 GHz doesn't sound too bad but only in combination with an Intel 875 chipset mainboard providing 800 MHz FSB (and the corresponding memory, i.e. 2x512 MB).

[Luke]

>It's GHz not MHz and 2.8 GHz doesn't sound too bad

The difference between 2Ghz and 2.8Ghz is nothing in FS.

>but only in combination with an Intel 875 chipset mainboard
>providing 800 MHz FSB

The i865 chipset also provides an 800Mhz at half the price of the i875.

The problem our original poster has is that the extra 128MB on the 9600 card does nothing except cost him money; more RAM in video cards rarely equals better performance once you're past 128MB. The 9600 will allow him to run FS9 at the same resolution as the 4600, but now with AF and AA enabled for nicer visuals.

The card isn't really worth keeping; I'd get a 128MB 9800XT or save my money altogether and wait for the nV 6600 series to be released; these look like $200 cards that smoke the ATI 9800 series.

That and money might also be well spent considering a total system upgrade. The i850 chipset uses RAMBUS I believe, so we'd be looking at a new CPU, new mobo, new RAM and a new video card.

Cheers!

Luke

[Bigshot]

Definitely take the video card back. Try a 9800Pro128mb. A 2.8 CPU would be a big help too. Also a gig of ram. Or if you're thinking about a laptop, check these out at Dell.

_________________________________________________________________
0GR33P9G $2,608.00 Inspiron XPS P4-3400 Windows® XP Pro 15.4 60 G (I) 7200RPM 1000mbRam DVD 256MB RADEON™ 9800 XT ETH-0 Notebook
EP0MDJGM $2,993.00 Inspiron 9100 P4-3200 Windows® XP Pro 15.4 60 G (I) 7200RPM 1000mbRam DVD 256MB RADEON™ 9800 XT ETH-0 Notebook
FLTA6WGM $2,379.00 Inspiron 9100 P4-3000 Windows® XP Pro 15.4 100 G (I) 4200RPM 1000mbRam DVD 256MB RADEON™ 9800 XT ETH-0 Notebook
_________________________________________________________________

If you need to upgrade your motherboard, here's a free one.
http://www.newegg.com/app/viewproductdesc.asp?description=13-139-144&DEPA=0

[rjacks]

so with that new mobocan can I put in a 800mghz P4 say 3ghz procesor?
and will it allow hyperthreading?
Thanks
Richard

[Luke]

>so with that new mobocan can I put in a 800mghz P4 say 3ghz
>procesor? and will it allow hyperthreading?

Yes, all of the C and E model P4s, as well as the B model 3.06 provide HyperThreading. Get yourself a decent i865 motherboard and a gig of PC3200 (or faster) RAM, and see if you can pick up a used 2.4 Northwood on eBay (they are almost impossible to get new now).

With PC3700 RAM, you can easily overclock the FSB to 950Mhz and the CPU to 3Ghz, all on stock cooling.

Cheers!

Luke

[rjacks]

Would you consider the free one offered above a good one?
where would I get the bios from?

Thanks!!
Richard

[Luke]

>Would you consider the free one offered above a good one?

Stuff's free for a reason, and a lousy mobo will cause you no end of grief. When you consider that a good ASUS or ABit i865 motherboard is around $75-$85, it's well worth the money to get one of those reputable brands.

Out of curiosity, how much is your time worth when it comes to aggravation and frustration? :)

Cheers!

Luke

[aigean]

>where would I get the bios from?

manufacturer's website

[MadMaster]

First of all, the 9600XT is not faster than the TI4600. Take back the 9600XT because it is not an upgrade. Next time plan on spending around $300 or more for an upgrade.

Regardless of what people say, a graphics card does have an effect of frame rates. If you browse these forumns enough you will see that people say that they can maintain their frame rate lock better with a better graphics card. This wasn't very true with FS2002 but with FS2004 it is necessary to have a fast video card.

Your processor and motherboard are a little behind and it probably wouldn't be a bad idea to upgrade them.

Like I said, take the 9600XT back and think about getting a x800 pro or a 6800 GT at least.

[Bruce]

i think a lot of people "dis" the ti4600 because it is an old card (mine is getting towards 2 years old) but when new is was the "dogs bollocks", and even now still outperforms most low and midrange cards only being surpassed by the top cards. when i got this card to replace my Voodoo 5 (again the top card of its time), i saw a pretty big jump in performance and image quality, i would expect a similar jump if i shelled out the dosh for new card and something costing less than £250 would be very unlikelty to do this. interestingly i did not see such a big jump going from a banshee to Voodoo 4 then 5, and i can't remeber how big the jump from a 2mb card to the 16mb banshee was, although i guess it must have been pretty good :)

[inca]

Please, read also my post (and replies) in this forum about the same problem.

I bought it .....the FX 5900 XT video card....and I'm very desapointed.

http://www.flightsim.com/dcforum/DCForumID29/1085.html

[MadMaster]

I agree the TI-4600 is a good card, as I own one. It is however starting to get a little old. It was a top card and to upgrade it is a good idea to go to a top card again or else you'll be stuck with a card that is about the same speed.