SurClaro Flight Simulator Resources

Richards · Joined: 06 Apr 2005 Posts: 4

Hi Guys & Gals! Can anyone suggest a decent fairly reasonable priced graphics card for FS 2004 & FS Traffic 2004? As my computer has recentley crashed whilst playing this game and seems to be making a loud noise during the game too! The fan seems to be working overtime from the moment the game loads! I have to restart it to stop the fan's loud noise!

Any help would be received greatfully.

Thanks and kind regards, Mat.

jojojojo · Posted: Fri Feb 17, 2006 1:13 am Post subject:

Ok this is what might be a good choice the Radeon 9550 256mb probly one of the best choices. But I have a GEFORCE 5600XT 128mb, its pretty good but maybe soon I will go with the 9550. Good Luck :)

tropicalfish · Joined: 04 Oct 2005 Posts: 863

what kind of GFX card do you have? the reason why the fan is so noisy becuase its small
when the fan is smal, it needs to spin faster to move the same amount of air a larger fan does at a lower rpm. there are many great GFX card coolers out there, with a fan and without a fan

T-Fish

groundsquirrel · Posted: Fri Feb 17, 2006 2:42 am Post subject: hmmm,

Your loud fan issue is most likely the case or power supply fan/s. The fan on the graphics card (when equipped) is unlikely to be noisy enough to be heard. Make sure there is plenty of room around your PC's tower and that all of the ports are clean for good airflow. Also, make sure there is at least six inches of room behind it for the power supply exhaust fan.

tropicalfish · Joined: 04 Oct 2005 Posts: 863

Usually (with my computer at least... lol) the smaller fans will have a higher pitch sound and the larger fans will have a lower more windier sound. if you know what i mean.......

T-Fish

Mythrilfan · Posted: Sun Feb 19, 2006 1:56 pm Post subject:

jojojo: the card You are pointing to is OLD. VERY old, and not good enough at this point. the best bang for buck rate is probarbly still delivered by the gf 6600gt. and it IS reasonably priced.

heeshung · Joined: 07 Dec 2005 Posts: 554

Mythrilfan wrote: the best bang for buck rate is probarbly still delivered by the gf 6600gt.

...only if you have a good enough power supply...

For example, most computers that are not custom built, have a smaller power supply. Mine is one, and can only handle up to a Nvidia 6200.

Mythrilfan · Posted: Mon Feb 20, 2006 9:11 am Post subject:

i am guessing 350 and perhaps even 300 watts is enough for the 6600gt...

09El_Boissevain · Joined: 01 Feb 2006 Posts: 838 Location: Cairo, Egypt

Is there a difference in quality/performance in various grafix cards with the same amount of memory (256mb)?? I have the NVidia 5500 GeForce (256mb). Is this a good choice?

Captain El 8O

Mythrilfan · Posted: Mon Mar 06, 2006 9:08 am Post subject:

Of course there is, i have a 128mb card which blows Yours to pieces :P first of all, when talking about memory, the memory clock speed. Mine is like trice Yours, which means that the information in the memory can be changed faster, whick means faster rendering. The main graphics processor (GPU) speed is also a very important factor. So, actually the amount of memory only shows how many textures You can load at one point. 256 was possible even three generations ago, so You can imagine that the new 256's are waaaay faster and use the amount more intelligently.

09El_Boissevain · Joined: 01 Feb 2006 Posts: 838 Location: Cairo, Egypt

So what do you recommend would be the BEST yet? GeForce 7800??
By the way, does any computer support 2 grafix cards?? Just wondering, because I don't think my dad will like the idea of a new grafix card :lol:

Capt. El

Mythrilfan · Posted: Mon Mar 06, 2006 1:20 pm Post subject:

All i am saying is, the newer and costier, the (usually) faster it is. If You want raw power, buy a 7800 and deal with the consequences (bills). If You want more bang for buck, You should probarbly buy a gf6600gt.

Yes, newer (or very old, 3dfx compartible) motherboards have an option for 2 gfx cards, it is called SLI (Scalable Link Interface) for nvidia and crossfire for ati. i think i wont make it ununderstandable for You by telling You how it works, but You have to have two 16x PCI express slots on Your motherboard, two gfx cards (obviously), these must be with the same gpu and manufacturer for nvidia cards (the lowest supporting card is the 6600gt); i do not know very well how it is for ati cards, however i remember that it was not so strict.

BUT, again, Your motherboard has to be up-to-date for it to be compartible.

Tenspace · Posted: Mon Mar 06, 2006 3:14 pm Post subject:

First question - is your machine designed for AGP or PCI-Express graphics cards?

Second question - are you looking for something under $250? That will limit you in the future. The 7800 series is probably the lowest level card you want for the next version of flight sim.

rd · Posted: Mon Mar 06, 2006 3:38 pm Post subject:

Sorry, but you WILL NOT need the 7800 card for the next FS. You can still run a 5200 or 5500 or even the 6600GT and 6800GT.

Newer people, please go to this link, it explains everything you need to know on what you need, and how it all works together.

http://forums.surclaro.com/ftopic4812.html

My O/S Specs:

O/S Windows XXXXX

CPU AMD Athlon 64 3800+

M/B ASUS 8V Deluxe

Card EVGA 6800GT

RAM 1,536 MB (1.5 g) PC 3200

H/D Maxtor 380 GB

P/S 480W

I see alot of guessing, myths, and so forth. Myth has been pretty much on the level. But you need what you can afford. Some systems with lower end stuff can still go just as good as the newer high tech stuff. You just have to know what youv'e got, and how to tweak it. As well as know the limitations of them.

RD

Tenspace · Posted: Mon Mar 06, 2006 5:10 pm Post subject:

RD, that link is for FS2004, not FSX. If you remember, the "minimum requirements" listed for FS2004 included a 450MHz processor. Yeah, right. ;)

MS has not revealed the minimum requirements for FSX. But I'll betcha a $200 hamburger that whatever they list, if you double it, you still won't be able to run even 3/4 max settings without the system choking.

Running an Athlon 3000, 1 GB RAM, and a 5500 in FSX would probably be the equivalent of running a 900MHz, 256MB, All-in-Wonder machine with FS2004.

BTW, RD, I may be new to Surclaro, but I've been involved with flight sims since the first iterations of MSFS. I still have my original floppies to Bruce Artwick's flight sim, TRACON, Falcon, and the four-color Chuck Yeager flight simulator. Also, I have been building computers since 1978. I'm pretty confident in my predictions for FSX hardware.

Here is what I would consider a minimum usable system for FSX:

Athlon x2 3800
1GB RAM
nVidia 6800 or better GPU
DVD-ROM
80+GB HDD