OT -- Need graphics card advice

[gradyhappyg]

Just had not one but two failed GPU fans on my old ATI cards(6770 and 4650)do in two separate cards in the space of a week one five years old but not used the whole five years used maybe one year and one used constantly for three years. Been looking around and there are just too many choices for me to figure out which one to get. After having two failed ATI fans been thinking about going Nvidia for a change. No point in buying more card than my 8 year old PC can handle. Got PCI-E socket and 650 watt power supply rest of specs are Windows 7 64 bit Intell Core Quad CPU 8400Q Clocked at 2.66Ghz and 8 gigs of ram on HP P6340F. This 4.5 FPS slide show with FSX setting all most all the way down and the onboard Intell G45 GPU is driving me crazy. Any help would be much appreciated.

[falcon409]

I've seen it said straight up that if you intend to fly in Flight Simulator, there is no other brand to consider beyond NVidia. . .they are synonymous. For as long as you've had your PC, it actually sounds like the GPU's you had were the weak link. You should be able to fly FSX with much more environment showing than you did and a new GPU will take you there for sure. There are far more knowledgeable folks than I that can point you to what you need, but I am using an NVidia 650ti w/2gig of memory that does very well and I purchased it for under $200.

[gradyhappyg]

I've seen it said straight up that if you intend to fly in Flight Simulator, there is no other brand to consider beyond NVidia. . .they are synonymous. For as long as you've had your PC, it actually sounds like the GPU's you had were the weak link. You should be able to fly FSX with much more environment showing than you did and a new GPU will take you there for sure. There are far more knowledgeable folks than I that can point you to what you need, but I am using an NVidia 650ti w/2gig of memory that does very well and I purchased it for under $200.

Thanks for the input.
Checked out the NVidia 650ti w/2gigs got a bunch of different cards got EVGA, Gigabyte, GeForce, Asus, Pny and Nvidia ranging in price from 120 bucks to 249 bucks single fans and double fans some that use two slots and have openings on the top slot for ventilation still confused but getting closer.
Again thanks!

[manfredc3]

Gradyhappyg,

Any of the brand names will do fine.

Remember that FSX rely's more on your processor than the graphics card, but a GTX 650ti or 660 would be more than enough for your system. Anything higher will be overkill, and a waste of your money.

I would advise to choose a card with 2Gb memory instead of the 1Gb version. It will have a massive impact on loading time of your textures/scenery.

Have a look at this card: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...140313065705:s

[roger-wilco-66]

I second Manfreds and the other remarks. Got myself a Nvidia GT660 2GB RAM over a year ago to replace the 460. I'm more than happy with it and think that it produces the best bang for the buck. I'd also definitly go for the 2GB model!

Cheers,
Mark

[rvn817j]

I just purchased this graphics board for an older build I run regularly and am very pleased with the change / performance -
Gigabyte GeForce GTX 660 OC 2GB GDDR5 PCI-Express 3.0 DVI-I/DVI-D/HDMI/Displayport SLI Ready Graphics Card GV-N660OC-2GD

The graphics board was $190 on Amazon (if you have 'prime' you can get 2 day shipping for no charge).

Your old cards are ATI / AMD cards and everyone seems to be recommending Nvidia. The motherboard I installed my card into will only take an Nvidia graphics card due to the motherboard chipset used. (I probably would not have gotten an Nvidia card if I had a choice, but that is based only on personal choice.) Check to ensure your motherboard will take Nvidia. Also check to ensure that your PCI-E slot will accommodate the new board. (Based on the boards you are replacing, it likely will, but it doesn't hurt to be sure.)

Hope this helped some.

[gradyhappyg]

Thanks for all the advice looks like I am going with the 650/660 2 gig Nvidia based card haven't decided on which brand yet. I am a lil short on cash at the moment so as I save I can keep an eye out for any sales or discounts. One more question- any one done business with Newegg.com and how did they do with the transaction?

[Meshman]

One more question- any one done business with Newegg.com and how did they do with the transaction?

Over the years I have made 28 purchases from Newegg. The last one was a very big mess, involving a very big monitor! Luckily for me, I found the right place to complain and had sufficient background to back up the situation. Newegg stepped forward and replaced the damaged monitor (twice!) and I can still offer them as a viable supplier to buy from.

[rvn817j]

I'm not knockin' what Meshman says, but my experience with Newegg has been over many years and they have repeatedly done a great job. They employ people to call (or chat with online) if what you ordered is not working properly, they ship fast and do exactly what they say they will do. (You do have to comply with their return policies which vary with component...cpu, memory, HDTV, etc., etc. are all slightly different.) They deal with many, many builders that OC and mod so they have to be careful with user error vs. broken component.

I haven't dealt much with other places (e.g., Tiger Direct) because I have never had any reason to switch. The only other online place I use is Amazon and they do a fine job also.

Sign up with Newegg to receive their email specials that contain "promotion codes". There are some really good savings on the promotion codes and also on some "refurbished" items.

[mmann]

Hopefully you have better luck with a newer Nvidia video card than I did. My old system was an AMD 5000+ with Nvidia 9600 GT 512MB. The new system I received this week has an Intel i7-4770K liquid cooled with Nvidia GTX660 2GB. The newer system with default scenery gives me flashing blue polygons on the ground; the old system never does this. The frame rates are limited to 30 FPS on both systems (which both can achieve). Needless to say I am returning the newer system and sticking with the older one!

[txnetcop]

Hopefully you have better luck with a newer Nvidia video card than I did. My old system was an AMD 5000+ with Nvidia 9600 GT 512MB. The new system I received this week has an Intel i7-4770K liquid cooled with Nvidia GTX660 2GB. The newer system with default scenery gives me flashing blue polygons on the ground; the old system never does this. The frame rates are limited to 30 FPS on both systems (which both can achieve). Needless to say I am returning the newer system and sticking with the older one!

Sounds like GPU overheating on your video cards or you have BUFFERPOOLS set too high in your aircraft config. You can use Nvidia Inspector to raise your fan speed and I would be willing to bet your flashing blue polygons go away. The GTX 660 is one of the finest video cards ever made for FSX and P3D. Something else might check is to make sure your video cards are properly seated into the motherboard. Hope this helps ya!
One more thing: Try putting your water effects at High 2.x

Ted

[manfredc3]

Never had any issues with Newegg.com, and their customer service is top notch.

Last year I bought a Windows 7 OS from them, and the seller ended up sending me a branded version, that would only work on hp computers (it was not mentioned in the add).

I contacted Newegg.com. about two weeks after receiving the OS, and they ended up refunding me the purchase price, without me having to return the original purchased one.

So, I can definitely recommend them as well as Amazon.com. Never had any issues with TigerDirect.com either, but with them you have to read the description carefully, to see if you are buying a new or refurbished unit.

[gradyhappyg]

Thanks for the reccos on Newegg everyone. I have never have done any shopping through them in fact the only non FSX online sellers I have are Amazon with whom have never had an issue and 1 item from E-bay also with no issue. Don't think I am brave enough to chance buying electronics thru E-bay though. Newegg seemed to have a wider selection of the GPUs and more detailed descriptions such as power requirements and features than Amazon. So it looks like soon I will be the proud owner of a new Newegg sold Nvidia GPU and will finally get to play with that inspector deal I have been hearing so much about.
Like a kid at Christmas I can't wait.

PS mmann I am with txnetcop I think your problem is with some of the settings. That system should rock. Might need to play around with them a bit.

PSS when I do get the new card I will check back and let everyone know how it works out.

Again many thanks to all.

[mmann]

PS mmann I am with txnetcop I think your problem is with some of the settings. That system should rock. Might need to play around with them a bit.

I had gone through two complete installations of FSX once following Kosta's tweaks and once following NickN's Windows 7 tweak guide. I tried the drivers that came with the GTX660 and then tried with the latest drivers I downloaded. I had the latest Nvidia Inspector and tried various recommended settings. FSX was installed on the main partition on the second hard drive; separate from the Windows 7 Professional 64bit drive; as recommended.

In the end it was all for naught; so I returned the system for my refund and will be content with my older system which runs FSX sufficiently well for my purposes.

[Hanimichal]

This is mine and I am not happy :-(

Operating System: Windows 7 Ultimate, 64-bit (Service Pack 1)
DirectX Version: 11.0
GPU processor: GeForce GTX 660
Driver Version: 334.89
Direct3D API version: 11
Level of resources Direct3D: 11_0
CUDA colors: 960
Core Clock: 1071 MHz
Data Rate memory: 6008 MHz
Memory Interface: 192bits
Memory Bandwidth: 144.19 GB / s
Total available graphics memory: 4096 MB
Dedicated Video Memory: 2048MB GDDR5
Dedicated Video Memory: 0 MB
Shared System Memory: 2048 MB

Because Memory Interface with 192bits is too low , and this make high resolution to slow (even with GDDR5). Also for many addons including payware in same area 2gb is not much. Also CUDA colors and Core Clock must be higher.
However paying 600 U$ or more for this component is paining so much

[Roger]

If you're intending at any time in the future to go with FsX Dx10Fixer or P3Dv2.1 then go for a 4gig card as the gpu will be using as much memory as you can get.

[mmann]

I'm planning on staying with FSX and DX9; would a GTX780 OC 3GB be sufficient and at least eliminate the light blue ground polygons flashes I had with the GTX660 2GB?

[Butcherbird17]

Mike,
Have you tried an older driver for the 660? Not the one installed with the rig when you got it, but one alittle
older. The newer drivers don't always work right with older cards. (not that the 660 is that old) but compared to
the 780 it is. Also I would do as txnetcop posted, open that box up and make sure EVERYTHING is seated and
plugged in properly. Then delete the old fsx.cfg and run it through Bojote's automated FSX Tweaking & Tuning Service
here: http://www.venetubo.com/fsx.html
If you still have the same problems after all that, I would think that maybe the 660 is a bad card and the 780 would
be the card to go with.

Joe

[mmann]

Joe,

I have already returned the system for a refund. I noticed on another site that another GTX660 owner is having the exact same problems I had; so that card is definitely out.

[Roger]

I'm planning on staying with FSX and DX9; would a GTX780 OC 3GB be sufficient and at least eliminate the light blue ground polygons flashes I had with the GTX660 2GB?

That is a good card Mike, but the light blue flashes sound a lot like you have dx10 enabled in your fsx.cfg? The light blue polygons show if their slow to load or if they're not Dx10 material. In close-up there will be text saying something like MS FSX.

[mmann]

DX10 was not enabled; both Kosta and NickN recommended not using DX10.

NickN also said "Nvidia GTX780 - no exceptions to this" so I guess I goofed trying to go cheap with the GTX660.

[Naismith]

DX10 was not enabled; both Kosta and NickN recommended not using DX10.

NickN also said "Nvidia GTX780 - no exceptions to this" .

Seriously? $500 graphic card for a game developed 05 thru' 06.

[dharris]

I have found this website to help when upgrading the video card. It gives percentages as well as graphing the difference. This page is just comparing my 560ti to a 650ti but you can select whatever cards you want to compare. http://www.hwcompare.com/13654/gefor...ce-gtx-650-ti/

[mmann]

Comparing the GTX 660 with the GTX 780 at the Hardware Compare site it is very apparent that the more expensive card is in a different league. I guess you get what you pay for!

[dharris]

Comparing the GTX 660 with the GTX 780 at the Hardware Compare site it is very apparent that the more expensive card is in a different league. I guess you get what you pay for!

try comparing the 660 to the 760 and I think the price difference makes more sense.