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Best Graphics card to run FS9 on?... (Read 1845 times)

Jun 14^th, 2004 at 6:54pm

737NGCapt Offline
Colonel
Greensboro, North Carolina

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Posts: 138

Well i'm getting a new computer soon, and I have a choice of the following cards, and I don't want to get one that wont run FS good. Any input on these are greatly appreciated!

128MB DDR ATI RADEON™ 9800 Pro Graphics Card with TV-Out and DVI or 128MB DDR ATI RADEON™ 9800 Pro Graphics Card

128MB DDR GeForce FX 5200 Graphics Card with TV-Out and DVI

256MB DDR ATI RADEON™ 9800 XT

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Reply #1 - Jun 14^th, 2004 at 7:10pm

Rivers Offline
Colonel
As Real As It Gets
São Paulo Brazil

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Posts: 513

1-256MB DDR ATI RADEON™ 9800 XT

2-128MB DDR ATI RADEON™ 9800 Pro Graphics Card with TV-Out and DVI or 128MB DDR ATI RADEON™ 9800 Pro Graphics Card

3- 128MB DDR GeForce FX 5200 Graphics Card with TV-Out and DVI .

ps: first is better.

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Reply #2 - Jun 15^th, 2004 at 5:09am

Gixer Offline
Colonel
Lets go fly a kite!!

Posts: 1540

EEEEEEK scrap the FX5200 off the list straight away!! my old GF4 Ti4600 out performs em lol.

As said the 9800XT is the best and the 9800Pro its little brother.

My brother has a 9800pro, he upgraded from a fx5600 256ddr (Think it was only 128bit though). He has noticed a big improvement though still cannot run everything maxed out. The clouds still hurt FPS a little. I do not know what the 9800XT performs like though it should be better and be able to handle a little more.

If your gonna buy any of these two try and wait a bit, with the new generation of cards coming out prices should drop a little, either that or try and stretch to purchasing a X800pro or 6800GT Grin

Grin

Only thing is I gotta feeling you may have to wait a bit for these cards as many people have them on pre-order already.

Usually with graphics cards though your limited by how much you can afford, if you can afford it get the 9800xt or newer gen card if not then get the 9800pro which can be had rather cheap nowadays.

AMD64 3500+ @ 2200MHz 400FSB&&MSI K8N Neo 2 mobo nForce3 chipset&&1gig Corsair XMS PC3200 timings @ 10.2.2.2 &&XFX 6800 Ultra @ 450/1200&&80gig HDD&&Loadsa fans!!!

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Reply #3 - Jun 15^th, 2004 at 10:11am

Iroquois Offline
Colonel
Happy Halloween
Ontario Canada

Gender:
Posts: 3244

Ultimate card for FS9? Probably something like a nVidia Quadro FX3000. The very same kind 3D graphic artists use. Of course who what's to shell out $1200 for a graphics card.

The best on the market right now are the nVidia Geforce 6800 and the ATI Radeon X800. It seems both cards are neck and neck in the race. The 6800 is beating the X800 on some benchmarks but not in others. There doesn't seem to be any real advantages between the two. Seems the 6800 is more expensive but I only checked one site for prices on those.

Of course, when it comes to graphics cards, I don't trust benchmarks. I've run benchmarks that give my system a low rating but I have no problems when it comes to playing many newer games. Just like life, you can do very well or very poorly on a test but it's how you preform in the real world that really matters.

I only pretend to know what I'm talking about. Heck, that's what lawyers, car mechanics, and IT professionals do everyday. Wink

Wink

&&The Rig: &&AMD Athlon XP2000+ Palomino, ECS K7S5A 3.1, 1GB PC2700 DDR, Geforce FX5200 128mb, SB Live Platinum, 16xDVD, 16x10x40x CDRW, 40/60gb 7200rpm HDD, 325w Power, Windows XP Home SP1, Directx 9.0c with 66.81 Beta gfx drivers

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Reply #4 - Jun 15^th, 2004 at 12:25pm

Daz Offline
Colonel
in the morning im making
WAFFLES!
Leeds, UK

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dont forget the 5950 ultra it matches the 9800 xt or there abouts

AMD athlon XP2800+ @2.34ghz&&Epox 8RDA3G 400 fsb, 8x AGP&&1024MB DDR400 PC3200&&XFX 256MB FX5950 Ultra (oc 525/1.04)&&40 gig maxtor 7200rpm&&80 gig seagate baracuda 7200rpm&&

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Reply #5 - Jun 16^th, 2004 at 1:04pm

congo Offline
Colonel
Make BIOS your Friend
Australia

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Posts: 3663

The best bang for buck in these parts is in the GF FX5900XT at the moment, even though the 5900XT is a lower spec and price, it performs almost equal to it's high priced sister's and has 85-90% of the power of a ATI Radeon 9800XT. So, it depends on what is outpricing what where you live.

You need a VGA performance chart to check what card you intend on buying for a performance comparison.

Here is a link..........

http://graphics.tomshardware.com/graphic/20031229/vga-charts-03.html

Note that many of the cards have very similar names. This is a HUGE TRAP as the performance can vary significantly by the mere addition of of letter in the graphics card's name. BEWARE of that and ask here if you are not sure, also make sure you get what you want when you actually buy it, and not an inferior model with an apparently same name.

For instance:

9800se
9800pro
9800xt
R9800

There are large performance gaps between those cards even though at first glance they are the same.

Mainboard: Asus P5K-Premium, CPU=Intel E6850 @ x8x450fsb 3.6ghz, RAM: 4gb PC8500 Team Dark, Video: NV8800GT, HDD: 2x1Tb Samsung F3 RAID-0 + 1Tb F3, PSU: Antec 550 Basiq, OS: Win7x64, Display: 24" WS LCD

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Reply #6 - Jun 28^th, 2004 at 1:28pm

Skittles Offline
Colonel
N769JC: "Isn't simulating
stimulating?
JAQ: Westover Field, CA (O70)

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I have the ATI 9800 Pro 128 and burned up two cards. I eventually replaced the fan and heatsink with better quality parts.

As far as performance I'm running P4 3.2GHz w/Hyperthreading, WIN2K, Video card above, Soundblaster Live (Upgrading soon) and a WD 1220GB HHD, 7200RPM

Keep in mind my FPS are locked at 24.
I get 10-13 at KSEA, Wa
15-20 at KLAX, Ca
24 at KSFO, Ca and
24 at KSAN, Ca

I have Megascenery in So. California and No. California.

Joe

I need to add: This is with most sliders set to high, others on normal. Weather on Fair Skies. During Summer Day

What do computers and air conditioners have in common?
They both will work perfectly, until you open windows.

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Reply #7 - Jun 28^th, 2004 at 4:51pm

Scottler Offline
Colonel
Albany, New York USA

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Posts: 5989

Don't listen to 'em AJ. You've seen my screens. Those were all taken with the FX5200.

Great edit, Bob.&&&&&&Google it. &&&&www.google.com

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Reply #8 - Jun 29^th, 2004 at 11:13am

4_Series_Scania Offline
Colonel
He who laughs last, thinks
slowest.
Stoke on Trent England U.K.

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Posts: 3638

Quote:

Don't listen to 'em AJ. You've seen my screens. Those were all taken with the FX5200.

Well said!

My FX5600 died recently, Roll Eyes

Roll Eyes

, thankfully, my #2 machine has an Asus 9520 FX5200 fitted and I fitted it to my #1 pc.
Frankly, I was surprised to find I hav'nt had to alter any of my games settings to fix performance issues - there were'nt any! - Questioning in my mind the logic of paying 3 times the price (at the time ) for the supposedly better FX5600.......

My advice to you is to get your new machine with a basic FX5200, wait 6 months and then pick up one of the recomended cards listed by others here for a fraction of what they cost currently.

Why? PCI express cards will be current very soon, AGP cards will become obsolete overnight prices will reflect this considerably in a few months time.

Hey - Its your money not mine....... Wink

Wink

Posting drivel here since Jan 31st, 2002. - That long!

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Reply #9 - Jun 30^th, 2004 at 5:12am

Gixer Offline
Colonel
Lets go fly a kite!!

Posts: 1540

I dont think prices will just drop over nite lol. The prices of 9800pro's have already started to drop a little and one of these can be clocked to 9800xt speeds pretty easy anyhow usually.

As for the FX5200 I still say it SUX big style. My bro had a FX5600 256ddr card and my GF4 ti4600 out performed it. On a clear day with no traffic about yes the FX5200 may well give desent FPS but get near a big airport with thunderstorms and AI planes everywhere I think the word DIE comes to mind Wink

Wink

Another thing, ok say you spend £50 on a FX5200 now I really doubt the other cards will drop that £50 soon enough so you would end up spending more in the end when u buy the better card later on when it may have dropped price a little and you also then have an FX5200 to try get rid of.

I'm stickin to my guns here I reckon best performance/price card out is the 9800pro at the moment, you just gotta learn how to o-clock it a bit and even flash the bios so it thinks its a 9800XT Grin

Grin

AMD64 3500+ @ 2200MHz 400FSB&&MSI K8N Neo 2 mobo nForce3 chipset&&1gig Corsair XMS PC3200 timings @ 10.2.2.2 &&XFX 6800 Ultra @ 450/1200&&80gig HDD&&Loadsa fans!!!

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Reply #10 - Jun 30^th, 2004 at 12:14pm

Scottler Offline
Colonel
Albany, New York USA

Gender:
Posts: 5989

Quote:

As for the FX5200 I still say it SUX big style. My bro had a FX5600 256ddr card and my GF4 ti4600 out performed it.

So you've never even seen a 5200?

Great edit, Bob.&&&&&&Google it. &&&&www.google.com

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Reply #11 - Jun 30^th, 2004 at 1:03pm

Iroquois Offline
Colonel
Happy Halloween
Ontario Canada

Gender:
Posts: 3244

Quote:

So you've never even seen a 5200?

I guess he hasn't. Lets remember that not all of us have money to burn. The FX5200 is a excellent card for it's price. Plus it has DX9 compatability that the TI 4x00 series doesn't have.

I only pretend to know what I'm talking about. Heck, that's what lawyers, car mechanics, and IT professionals do everyday. Wink

Wink

&&The Rig: &&AMD Athlon XP2000+ Palomino, ECS K7S5A 3.1, 1GB PC2700 DDR, Geforce FX5200 128mb, SB Live Platinum, 16xDVD, 16x10x40x CDRW, 40/60gb 7200rpm HDD, 325w Power, Windows XP Home SP1, Directx 9.0c with 66.81 Beta gfx drivers

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Reply #12 - Jun 30^th, 2004 at 4:47pm

Gixer Offline
Colonel
Lets go fly a kite!!

Posts: 1540

Yes I have on my friends system Tongue

Tongue

and it SUX! Its nothing against you the card just cant handle much.

You are totally right that the Ti4x00 series doesn't fully support DX9 BUT, myself and my bro have exactly same spec except for G-card. My ti4600 would run fs9 far far far smoother that his fx5600 256ddr job.

I was a bit gutted coz i told him to get it as it should be better than mine lol, but after a while we did some research (Someone did post some benchies on here recently) and I couldn't believe what I was seeing. The fx5600 was quite a few down from my aging GF4 ti4600. That explained y i was running smoother and then I appologised to him for recommendin it Embarrassed

Embarrassed

On the DX9 note even though it doesnt fully support it all reflections and effects in fs9 work. Also on 1280x1024 I can run a bit of Anti Alias which I am sure the FX5200 could never handle with AI and clouds without runnin like a slide show.

On the system that I saw the FX5200 on he now has my brothers FX5600 and it does run much better but his system spec is higher than mine bar the FX5600 and in all benchy tests we run I score better???

Again its nothing against you guys its just the fx5200-5600 dont perform well at all. From the FX5700 up things get a lot better.

The thing is the original question was he has a choice of various cards and out of those I would not choose the FX5200. Yes I know we dont all have lots to spend on a G-card but I am guessin this guy is willin to pay a bit more so he has a good setup.

AMD64 3500+ @ 2200MHz 400FSB&&MSI K8N Neo 2 mobo nForce3 chipset&&1gig Corsair XMS PC3200 timings @ 10.2.2.2 &&XFX 6800 Ultra @ 450/1200&&80gig HDD&&Loadsa fans!!!

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Reply #13 - Jun 30^th, 2004 at 4:58pm

Scottler Offline
Colonel
Albany, New York USA

Gender:
Posts: 5989

But again, you're comparing the 9800 to the FX5600, which was never an issue.

Quote:

My ti4600 would run fs9 far far far smoother that his fx5600 256ddr job.

That's twice now.

Great edit, Bob.&&&&&&Google it. &&&&www.google.com

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Reply #14 - Jun 30^th, 2004 at 5:14pm

4_Series_Scania Offline
Colonel
He who laughs last, thinks
slowest.
Stoke on Trent England U.K.

Gender:
Posts: 3638

The FX5600 with Anti Alaising & Anisiotropic filtering enabled will out perform a ti4600. - The reason I bought mine instead of an Asus 8460 Ultra (which cost £100 more!) in the 1'st place!

I run FS / CFS with the above (Quality Settings some would call it) and the performance is better than the ti4600 I tried before I bought my 5600.

Overall, I like my 5600 (well, the replaced one anyway!) and my 5200 still runs Far Cry etc quite happily on my #2 p4 1.8.

Obviously, I don't like Ati - once bitten, twice shy..... Wink

Wink

Posting drivel here since Jan 31st, 2002. - That long!

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