Hi there guys.
I have done some upgrading to my PC and I am now using a 6800 Ultra PCI-e.  The improvements were immediate.  I then bought a new payware aircraft (PMDG Beech 1900 C) and I love it except that it appears to be a hog on the graphics card.   It sometimes makes the performance stutter.  I don't get that with any other payware or freeware aircraft.

For what I paid for the 6800 Ultra, I would expect it to handle just about any payware without stuttering.  So the question is: would getting another card and running them SLI help?  By help, I don't mean getting 80 fps in places where I already get 50 fps.  By help, I mean 20 fps where I now get 15 fps.  Please let me know if I am expecting too much out of my graphics card(s).

Thanks in advance for your input,
Ben.

I didnt know that it dropped pipes...  ???  Would it be possible to unlock the pipes in RivaTuner or such like back up to 16? Think how that would go!
Dan 

So what your are saying is that all 16 pipes are still there, but its gone down in its bandwith type of thing? Like staying at 16 pipes, but going to AGP 6X?

BTW is there any card with more than 16 pipes?
Dan

Well if thats tghe case then its goin on the wish list! Now think of them in SLi! I understand now I think. Thanks Andy.
Dan

Quote:

No, the 16x PCI-E bit means that it has 16x the bandwidth of the 1xPCI-E bandwidth.  The pipelines is dependant on the GFX card.  The 16x PCI-E is dependant on the motherboard.  The only reason the motherboard chooses 1x PCI-E for the second slot is that if both sockets operated at 16x PCI-E the motherboard would overload all its bandwidth and crash.  The number x PCI-E simply tells you how much bandwidth is potentially used.

Hi-D I agree with your correction of what you said about my comment. Was what i meant, I just said it poorly.

There seems to be a misguided line of thought in many PC users interpretation of FPS.

Given any PC/software configuration, Frames Per Second is our only true indicator of graphics performance.

It's useful for fine tuning where the human eye is fallible.
An adjustment here and there, backed up by comparitive FPS testing is solid proof that your settings/hardware changes are having an effect or not.

FPS testing will not work if you can't set up a test scientifically, everything in the PC environment must be identical except for a single change to make a valid comparitive analysis.

I suspect that people's mistrust in FPS testing may be due to a number of factors, but they need to understand it's validity. It is a direct measure of graphics performance under the conditions of the test. There is no magic, nothing unexplained or mysterious.

FPS testing has a direct relationship with overall graphics performance. Any improvement in FPS through tweaking, drivers or hardware changes is usually a good thing unless quality has been sacrificed. (robbing Peter to pay Paul...)

Increasing FPS beyond your ability to see the difference is pointless of course, as are tweaks that make FPS rise at the expense of image quality. (unless of course, FPS is so low that image quality must be sacrificed.)

Unfortunately, and in reality, most of us have to downgrade our image quality through lower resolutions, inadequate filtering, and reduction of detail until we do get an acceptable FPS to properly use and enjoy the software.

This is where FPS is an essential tool for us, because it is a true way to measure changes that we make in our efforts to get a good compromise between speed and quality on our displays.

Somebody's 75 FPS is pretty much meaningless to me unless I have a comparison, such as what their last tested FPS was before whatever change they made.

75 FPS might be attained on their system at quality settings so low that I wouldn't consider using them.

FPS results are mainly useful for two things:
1. Individually, to fine tune our PC's
2. Comparitive testing between hardware types/models

If I haven't explained this well enough let me know, or maybe someone else can add in.

Make FPS your friend!  

The problem can be memory.
Some payware need allot of space... some dont.
if you have allot of aircraft, like I had. The fps can nosedive if you dont have proper memory. That is why my new alienware computer will have 4gb .
Sorry, didnt mean to brag. but yeah. Memory can be a big problem. My Current computer only had 67mb left and the max fps were about 20. And no. I have a good graphics card but not one like the 6800.

If I were you. I would enjoy the framerates even if its 20 or 30. Thats still pretty good.