Graphics

On Wed, 21 Apr 2004 00:30:59 -0700, Peter Duniho wrote:

"Greg Copeland" wrote in message
news
[...] I must warn you that I am a programmer
and have a fair knowledge of what's going on under the covers.

I'm a programmer too and "have a fair knowledge of what's going on under the
covers". So what?

I am amused at how much text you went to the trouble to write, just to make
up a brand new argument, pretending it was the old one, and debating it as
if someone else actually said all the things you bothered to rebut.

As for your answering the original question, that's not what this subthread
is about. I made a perfectly accurate statement, and you claimed it was
false. Since you failed in that, you then proceeded to write an entirely
entertaining essay, making up a whole new argument, the purpose of which I
can only imagine is that you figured you'd have better luck with that one
than the previous one.

I do appreciate the time you've spent in pursuit of the amusement of the
rest of us though. Thanks!

Pete


I can only say that it's not very often a troll reels me in. Congrats.
You got me.

Should you actually want to know the truth, bother to go back and read
what I said. Hopefully Jim will wade through the find the facts.
Everything I've stated is accurate and factual. I seriously have no idea
who rang your bell, but troll is the best I can come up with to describe
your oddly combatant behavior.

I did notice, however, that you failed to respond to any of my requests
for specifics. I think that speaks volumes. Nuff said. Like I said, I
think Jim will be able to wade through.

I think it depends on your system CPU and power supply. These cards require
external power supply connections and I think a minimum of 350W or more. So
if you have less than that and do not like messing with upgrading your PSU
then dont bother. Think of the ATI9600XT which is a vg card. I installed it
, no extra power required and it improved everything. Modest frame rate
improvement but tremendous eye candy improvement. Better water/ocean effects
etc etc. It was worth every penny. I had a geforce 2 MX400 before so it was
a great leap.

On the CPU if you are not at or near the top then going with the very
expensive cards will not help performance much. Its like putting a rolls
royce engine in a VW (no offense meant to VW owners its a great car) :-)

my 2 cents

Bill
"Jim Chambers" wrote in message
...
HI pilots, Is it worth getting the expensive new boards like the Radeon
9800 or gforce FX 5900 ie. is there sufficient detail in FS 2004 to show
off these boards?.......Comments welcome......Jim. N. London

I am thinking of upgrading my graphics card too.
My system is as follows.
Windows XP Home
120 gig HDD
1024mb of pc 3200 400mhz ram
AMD Athlon XP2600
Gigabyte 7vaxp mainboard.

Is this enough "main" hardware to do the radeon 9800 or equivalent some
justice.

Phil.
"Dudley Henriques" wrote in message
link.net...

"Jim Chambers" wrote in message
...
HI pilots, Is it worth getting the expensive new boards like the
Radeon
9800 or gforce FX 5900 ie. is there sufficient detail in FS 2004 to
show
off these boards?.......Comments welcome......Jim. N. London

Flight simulators are extremely system intensive. That means the entire
system as a unit, not just the video card. A good card is definately an
asset, but a total waste if not installed in a fairly fast system with
adaquate ram to back it up.
Anyone contemplating a high end video card as an upgrade for flight
simulators is well advised to take a good look at their entire system
and make a decision based on the system as it will be after the card is
installed. In other words, I's say that a HUGE percentage of people who
spend big bucks on a high end video card should have spent the money
first to upgrade their general system. It's a shame to see these people
time and time again put out hard earned money and then want to know why
their high end video card only gives them 5 FPS increase in performance
along with driver conflicts caused by having to upgrade video drivers
that are way ahead of their system's basic performance level.
There comes a point when upgrading the system as a whole is the FAR
better choice than just upgrading the video card!
Dudley Henriques
International Fighter Pilots Fellowship
Commercial Pilot/ CFI Retired
For personal email, please replace
the z's with e's.
dhenriquesATzarthlinkDOTnzt

On Wed, 21 Apr 2004 19:07:14 +0100, Pilot Pete wrote:

I am thinking of upgrading my graphics card too.
My system is as follows.
Windows XP Home
120 gig HDD
1024mb of pc 3200 400mhz ram
AMD Athlon XP2600
Gigabyte 7vaxp mainboard.

Is this enough "main" hardware to do the radeon 9800 or equivalent some
justice.

Phil.
"Dudley Henriques" wrote in message
link.net...

"Jim Chambers" wrote in message
...
HI pilots, Is it worth getting the expensive new boards like the
Radeon
9800 or gforce FX 5900 ie. is there sufficient detail in FS 2004 to
show
off these boards?.......Comments welcome......Jim. N. London

Flight simulators are extremely system intensive. That means the entire
system as a unit, not just the video card. A good card is definately an
asset, but a total waste if not installed in a fairly fast system with
adaquate ram to back it up.
Anyone contemplating a high end video card as an upgrade for flight
simulators is well advised to take a good look at their entire system
and make a decision based on the system as it will be after the card is
installed. In other words, I's say that a HUGE percentage of people who
spend big bucks on a high end video card should have spent the money
first to upgrade their general system. It's a shame to see these people
time and time again put out hard earned money and then want to know why
their high end video card only gives them 5 FPS increase in performance
along with driver conflicts caused by having to upgrade video drivers
that are way ahead of their system's basic performance level.
There comes a point when upgrading the system as a whole is the FAR
better choice than just upgrading the video card!
Dudley Henriques
International Fighter Pilots Fellowship
Commercial Pilot/ CFI Retired
For personal email, please replace
the z's with e's.
dhenriquesATzarthlinkDOTnzt



Yes. You have plenty of machine to push data to the fastest of video
cards.

Nice system, btw.

I would think so. That system shouldn't have any trouble at all running
FS9, or anything else for that matter :-) As for video cards, I
researched and tried several high end cards before ordering one for my
high end Hypersonic system. Be advised that when it comes to the choice
of video cards, someone suggesting one over another is not unlike
walking into the nearest bar and yelling, "I can lick any SOB in this
place" :-))
I'll only tell you that I opted for the FX 5900 Ultra 256 and it's doing
a superb job in FS9 with the sliders exactly where I want them, and this
doesn't mean maxed out to the right. Video settings should be custom set
in for each system independently and using an arbitrary "everything to
the right" and "as much frame rate as I can get" in my opinion isn't the
way to approach flight simulator.
If you have a good system, get a high end card; then "adjust" the
settings until you get them the way you want them to be. It's a
complicated process really, and there isn't a short answer. You'll no
doubt get a lot of short answers, but in my opinion anyway, what I've
told you is the way to go if my personal experience is of any value.
Best of luck with your card purchase regardless of which you decide on,
and have fun "tweaking" the system.
Dudley Henriques
International Fighter Pilots Fellowship
Commercial Pilot/ CFI Retired
For personal email, please replace
the z's with e's.
dhenriquesATzarthlinkDOTnzt
"Pilot Pete" wrote in message
...
I am thinking of upgrading my graphics card too.
My system is as follows.
Windows XP Home
120 gig HDD
1024mb of pc 3200 400mhz ram
AMD Athlon XP2600
Gigabyte 7vaxp mainboard.

Is this enough "main" hardware to do the radeon 9800 or equivalent
some
justice.

Phil.
"Dudley Henriques" wrote in message
link.net...

"Jim Chambers" wrote in message
...
HI pilots, Is it worth getting the expensive new boards like the
Radeon
9800 or gforce FX 5900 ie. is there sufficient detail in FS 2004
to
show
off these boards?.......Comments welcome......Jim. N. London

Flight simulators are extremely system intensive. That means the
entire
system as a unit, not just the video card. A good card is definately
an
asset, but a total waste if not installed in a fairly fast system
with
adaquate ram to back it up.
Anyone contemplating a high end video card as an upgrade for flight
simulators is well advised to take a good look at their entire
system
and make a decision based on the system as it will be after the card
is
installed. In other words, I's say that a HUGE percentage of people
who
spend big bucks on a high end video card should have spent the money
first to upgrade their general system. It's a shame to see these
people
time and time again put out hard earned money and then want to know
why
their high end video card only gives them 5 FPS increase in
performance
along with driver conflicts caused by having to upgrade video
drivers
that are way ahead of their system's basic performance level.
There comes a point when upgrading the system as a whole is the FAR
better choice than just upgrading the video card!
Dudley Henriques
International Fighter Pilots Fellowship
Commercial Pilot/ CFI Retired
For personal email, please replace
the z's with e's.
dhenriquesATzarthlinkDOTnzt