Time to ditch the 7600GT ?

[townfan]

I bought FSX over a year ago and had it running on a 32 bit XP setup and a half decent video card. Like most I was getting poor frame rates, so silly me, I saved up and built a new system from scratch, with the exception of the 7600GT video card. I also screwed up wholly and installed Vista 64 bit.

Now I have a fast machine supposedly, bug free (?) and the only thing I cant do is flash my BIOS because MSI are too lazy to issue a 64 bit update utility ( cant do it using a DOS boot floppy for some reason ) FSX runs ,but has extremely jerky graphics, even with sliders all the way over to the left.

Microsoft have just washed their hands of me having tried a load of "fixes", saying I need to get my equipment tested, but all the tests I have run to date including DXdiag, Windiag say all is well.

I have scanned a lot of threads recently with disgruntled NVidia owners saying that DirectX 9.0c and their cards just dont like each other, and ATI owners gleefully saying they dont have a problem so 'get an ATI card !"

I am having trouble getting a straight answer. Is there a problem with certain NVidia cards?. Is there a problem with DirectX 9.0c ? Is there problem with NVidia, DirectX 9.0c and Vista 64 all thrown together ? Is it SP 2 ? Is anyone trying to fix this?

If the consencus is that I can fix this by getting an ATI card which do folks recommend for FSX ? ( I have no other graphics intensive games) that is a higher standard than a 7600GT that has a severe stammer right now. I only have about $150-$175 to spend unfortunately.

And no, I'm not getting a MAC

Frustrated ? - You betcha....

Thanks

AMD 64 X2 5200
MSI K9 NEO F V3
3GB DDR2 800
NVidia 7600 GT
ATA 250gb HD and Lightscribe DVD+RW
Windows Vista 64 Home premium
FSX SP2

[Mel Mutter]

Try 169.21_forceware_winxp_32bit_english_whql Drivers for your card it seems to help series 7 Nvidia cards

[Mace]

There is a new ATI card that looks like a winner with FSX. It's called the 3870 or something like that (I can't keep up with all those numbers)

However, if your budget is under $200 as you say, then you are not going to be able to get the new ATI card. In my opinion, you are going to have to "up" your budget to at least the $250 range if you want a decent video card to go with your monster cpu.

Right now you are limited by your gfx card. If you buy a card at your budget level ($150-200) then that will be like putting cheap used tires on a $60,000 Corvette. You will be bottlenecking your cpu in the sense that you will not be able to run with the details that you expect with your level of cpu.

My opin, you should save $$$, give blood, rob a bank, whatever it takes, to save up $250-$300 and get a solid card for your new box.

[kagazi]

The HD3870 is a great card, especially for the money. I picked it up at newegg for $239 shipping and taxes included. My Sapphire single slot version was the only one that would fit in my case. HIS has a really nice double slot turbo if you have the room; Another option is the Sapphire Atomic version, which is overclocked as well and single slot. The specs on the standard version are GDDR4 w/512 Mb 776 MHz core and 1126 memory. The statistics that I saw put it in the same speed class as the X2900 XT only it runs cooler and uses less energy.

[noell]

An AMD 5200 is far from what would be termed a "monster" CPU these days. Unfortunately, AMD's products don't hold a candle to what Intel has to offer. Even AMD's latest Phenom processor is outperformed by Intel's cheapest Quad core. So, if you want a "monster" when it comes to processing power, you have to go with Intel. Hopefully all that will change and AMD will find a way to once again become competitive but right now they are lagging.

So, if you buy a "monster" video card, you will be bottlenecked in FSX by your processor and you will be unable to utilize a high end video card to its full potential. A good system is all about balance. What you have is, at best, a mid-range processor (when it comes to FSX) so a mid-range video card will be fine. That said, there's no harm in going with a higher level video card as prices on some very capable cards aren't that bad right now. Plus you can always transfer your video card to another system should you choose to upgrade at some point to a system with a more powerful processor. As for what brand video card, you will find that Ati and Nvidia each has its own group of fan boys. The truth is, either will perform just fine in FSX provided, of course, you choose the right model.

Any of the the Ati models mentioned in an earlier post would be fine as would an Nvidia 8800GT with 512MB. Just keep in mind, the most important component in achieving decent frame rates in FSX is a powerful processor followed closely by a good video card. Just don't expect miracles if you upgrade your video card as it is often the case that a better video card does not provide the expected huge boost in performance.


....Noell

Intel Core 2 Duo E6850 @ 3.8GHz
CPU HSF: Sunbeam Tuniq Tower 120
ASUS P5K Deluxe
2GB Mushkin XP2 PC2-6400 @ DDR2-950 & 5-5-5-15
EVGA 8800 GTS KO ACS3 640MB OC'd @ 650MHz Core & 1.85GHz Mem (Driver: Nvidia 169.28 Beta)
Monitors: Samsung 215TW (Primary) & LG L206WTQ (Secondary)
1 X 36GB WD Raptor
2 X 74GB WD Raptor RAID 0
1 X 250GB WD Caviar (2500KS)
X-Fi XtremeGamer Fatal1ty Pro Series
OCZ GameXStream 700W
Antec P180B case

[Mace]

An AMD 5200 is far from what would be termed a "monster" CPU these days.

I thought he said he had a Q6600...my mistake. I would indeed call a Q6600 a "monster cpu" but you are right, a 5200+ is not a monster. And it does change my outlook a little.

A 5200+ would be more evenly balanced by a $200 gpu. However, if it were me I would still give a serious look at the ATI HD3870, and also at the nVidia 8800GT.

[MongooseMike]

All of the other answers pretty much said it. I second the notion you are being held back by your card. Try an updated driver in the meantime. As for the ATI versus the Nvidia, I went from the ATI 800 to the Nvidia 8800 320mb. A big jump in card strength. Right off the bat I got better frame rates but had crashing problems with the Xpack/ SP2 resolved only after I un-installed the Xpack. As far as I can tell though, there is no proof what so ever that the crashes are caused by the Nvidia card. I have done my homework though and there is a clear indication that that may, in fact, be the cause but the jury is still out. My personal opinion regarding the quality of the 8800GT against the ATI 800 is, I'm thinking about re-installing the ATI. I like the quality better. But thats just my humble opinion.
As for the stutters. I am assuming you mean that scenery will stutter as you fly by. Check your page file on you system. You may be set at the lowest value. I had the stutters bad until I set the file at 3069. Stutters gone!

[RyanbATC]

There is a new ATI card that looks like a winner with FSX. It's called the 3870 or something like that (I can't keep up with all those numbers)

Hey Rhett, haven't seen you in this neck of the woods

yeah the 3870x2
http://www.insidehw.com/Reviews/Grap...70X2-1-GB.html

[townfan]

Hi
Would this install or work on a 64 bit system OK ?

[townfan]

Its a weird kind of stutter, like every second it stops, then gives me 10-12 frames before stopping again. The interesting thing is that on MS Train simulator it does exactly the same . The frame rates are up in the 40s and 50s on this simulation (obviously puts the system under far less duress than FSX, but I get the same stutter every second. Its like a bottlenck that happens at regular interval. Page file settingis set way up there, over 4GB, and i have 3GB ram on tap. I cant help but feel it is a driver / vista / DirectX problem as Train sim uses directX too. Its as if I could be getting frame rates above 15 ps if there wasnt this stutter every second ! I hear all the calls for faster card, and I know that will help. But my question mainly was ; accepting that the hardware is not top of the line, is something wrong with all the software that contributes to running FSX in particular because I am using an Nvidia card. Someone on another thread hinted that the Nvidia driver doesnt work too well with DirectX 9.0c whereas the ATI cards and drivers do. Before I switched to 64 bit new setup, the card worked great in XP 32 bit considering it was a slower machine.