Airline Mogul Forum
Non-Airline Mogul => General Chat => Topic started by: Hampo on January 26, 2008, 12:17:05 pm
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Hello all.
I currently have an ATI Radeon X300 graphics card (i think) which i got with my computer and its, well, not the best lets say...
I'm now looking for a new graphics card but have no idea where to start! I know my PC has PCI-E slot.
I'm not looking to spend a stupid amount of money as i only use it for Flight Simulator/Counter Strike.
Thanks, Sam
(PS- To all you spammers, don't post unless you ACTUALLY KNOW something about them ;))
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Umm...yeah, they're a lot in the US :roll:
Just tell me a site of the store you'd most likely go. :wink:
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I use a ATI Radeon 2400 PRO.. It's great and I wouldnt go further than this one because this is all I need.
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Thanks for the so far useless information.
:roll:
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I sent this thread to a friend of mine and will send it to another. Both are PC "Builders" and should put you on the right track.
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Thanks Stephen ;)
Now completely give up with my graphics card. Flight Sim is running like crap,settings refuse to work as they were before it decided to die on me... fook it!
New graphics card FTW!
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you can try out www.fs2004.com/forums and the technical section. They live on graphic cards, so you'll get your answer in no time
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While a new graphics card may help with out the rest of your system specs it may not help enough - FS relies as much on CPU as it does on a GFX card. If you could post system specs - CPU, Ram etc it would be more use.
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Ok, thanks for that :D here goes...
2ghz processor, 512mb RAM (I think i will update it with my new graphics card), 160gb RAM
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edit: 3.00ghz processor!
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Big difference there Sam. :P Sounds like my laptop. I've the same style specs and get on average 30fps when bombing around the place on VATSIM.
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My graphics used to be playable... A bit jaggy but not too bad, getting about 20fps using activesky, level d etc... But the other week they changed to a random setting. Tried to get it back to what it was but its not happening! I either have to have 30fps+ but really jaggy graphics, or smooth as a baby bum at 10fps!
New graphics card will be better tho!
4gb of RAM and a GeForce 8800 i've got my eye on
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My graphics used to be playable... A bit jaggy but not too bad, getting about 20fps using activesky, level d etc... But the other week they changed to a random setting. Tried to get it back to what it was but its not happening! I either have to have 30fps+ but really jaggy graphics, or smooth as a baby bum at 10fps!
New graphics card will be better tho!
4gb of RAM and a GeForce 8800 i've got my eye on
that 4GB ram and 8800 will give it a enormous boost! you can also increase the FPS by this little mod that you do to one of the cfg files which increases the bandwidth that you assign to the texture loading. PM me when you get it
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I am still considering sticking 2gigs of RAM into my laptop. If I ever decide to use my Desktop for FS I may do an upgrade similar to yours. But for now I will leave it for AM. :)
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Hmm, just got the link for this from Stephen. Apparently my "knowledge" was needed :D
As regards posting your PC's specs - a 3.0Ghz processor could be just fine if it's a Core2Duo, not as much if it's a Celeron - AMD similar story with Sempron/Athlon ;) Martin was certainly right - FS uses much more CPU than a lot of games and improving the graphics won't help there if you have a useless proc. Looks like yours is fine though pending confirmation that it's not something useless or really old.
What's your budget? I just picked up 2x7900GTX for €200 (about $300) and they run FS2004 fantastically. That said they were second hand, for a little more than that money a single 8800GT would be even better. If you have less than that in the coffers, an HD3850 should do a fine job at with FS9 on medium high. The 8800GT or GTS seem best value though, look for the OC versions with hjigher core speeds as default for a few yoyos/dollars more.
A lot of this is hearsay - I've never owned any of these cards I speak of - but I'd be very tempted to go with a nVidia card so I'd be pushin towards the 8800GT (around €250-€300, same in dollars).
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Hmm, just got the link for this from Stephen. Apparently my "knowledge" was needed :D
As regards posting your PC's specs - a 3.0Ghz processor could be just fine if it's a Core2Duo, not as much if it's a Celeron - AMD similar story with Sempron/Athlon ;) Martin was certainly right - FS uses much more CPU than a lot of games and improving the graphics won't help there if you have a useless proc. Looks like yours is fine though pending confirmation that it's not something useless or really old.
What's your budget? I just picked up 2x7900GTX for €200 (about $300) and they run FS2004 fantastically. That said they were second hand, for a little more than that money a single 8800GT would be even better. If you have less than that in the coffers, an HD3850 should do a fine job at with FS9 on medium high. The 8800GT or GTS seem best value though, look for the OC versions with hjigher core speeds as default for a few yoyos/dollars more.
A lot of this is hearsay - I've never owned any of these cards I speak of - but I'd be very tempted to go with a nVidia card so I'd be pushin towards the 8800GT (around €250-€300, same in dollars).
wow :shock: Theirs two Stephans :shock:
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Hey!
Thanks for the reply :D
After a bit of looking around i found that my PC isn't really up to a 8800GT.
Apparently, my processor would hold back the graphics card and I wouldn't be getting the best out of it. I also found out that my PSU is a crappy 305watts... It would cost about £250 to get a 8800GT, 2gb RAM and a new PSU. For double the amount, I could probably build myself a high spec computer.
I have been advised to buy a second hand 7900 graphics card and see how it runs. That may be enough for all my needs until my computer finally has its day.
Thanks!
Sam
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With those power and CPU limitations, your best bet would be a high-end 7k GeForce series card, as you suggested, the 7900 would work quite well. Just be careful not to overclock it, as your PSU does seem slightly low for a mid-to-high-end PC...
In any case, I'd advise against getting an ATI: they just aren't as reliable or all-rounded as the nVidia cards are ;)
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Ordered myself 2gb of RAM which will boost it up to 2.5gb total and put a bid on a 7800GT so i'll see how it goes :D
Sam
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Suppose you are running FS9 and not FSX?
But, I also must say that buying a 7800 might ne throwing money away if you are looking to upgrading your cpu and mobo soon too, then you are stuck with a bottle neck GPU. 7800 is only DX9, while 8600-8800 are DX10.
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Yea, if you're planning to get a new PC any time soon (within the next 6 months), I'd live with what you have atm and get a higher end PC when you do purchase.
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Ordered myself 2gb of RAM which will boost it up to 2.5gb total and put a bid on a 7800GT so i'll see how it goes :D
Sam
Good choice, Nvidia card's are way better than anything else.. If you wanna spend a bit more, get more RAM, it's definetly alway's better to get more RAM without even thinking twice. Too bad you could'nt get the 8800GTX.. It's making me :cry:
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Got my gfx card from the post office just then. I think the post office still have my RAM tho, but i'll get it tomorrow.
Time to install...
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Right.
I need your help guys.
I managed to install the card, install drivers etc and it was working. I restarted computer and when i got to the log in screen it just turned black and i couldn't see anything. I went into safe mode, uninstalled etc tried again but once again nothing worked.
Now when i try to go into safe mode the screen has all random black lines over it, everything is distorted and i cant see anything. I cant get onto anything in side my computer because the screen refuses to work.
Anyone?
Thanks, Sam