Need for 256MB card?

  • Thread starter Thread starter Marc Wendler
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Marc Wendler

As I am about to build up a system for the new fligth simulator 2004
I´m thinking about the appropriate video-card. My problem is, that I
not only want to run FS2004, but also add very complex scenerys like
the swiss professional add on. Can you give my reason why buying a
256MB card instead of 128MB at the moment. My current favourite would
be the 9600 XT which should be totally appropriate for normal flying.
But I´m quite unsure how massive, detailed scenery would affect my
fps. Rest of the system would be 3,0 P4, 512MB333, 80HD-7200rpm.
So is there a big advantage with 256MB?

Thanks for helping me on this question.

Marc
 
Marc said:
As I am about to build up a system for the new fligth simulator 2004
I´m thinking about the appropriate video-card. My problem is, that I
not only want to run FS2004, but also add very complex scenerys like
the swiss professional add on. Can you give my reason why buying a
256MB card instead of 128MB at the moment. My current favourite would
be the 9600 XT which should be totally appropriate for normal flying.
But I´m quite unsure how massive, detailed scenery would affect my
fps. Rest of the system would be 3,0 P4, 512MB333, 80HD-7200rpm.
So is there a big advantage with 256MB?
Click to expand...

A question to answer a question;

Why do you guys always go all the way with the CPU, and only halfway on the
vidcard?
With a super fast CPU like that, the vidcard is quickly the limiting factor!
If you get a P4 2.6 , you save enough money to get a 9800np or even a pro!
And you can clock the 2.6 to 3.25 easily, usually... (i have a 'silent' PC
in which i have managed that)

Please, consider it, you'll love the result ;-)

Thomas
 
"Marc Wendler" wrote
As I am about to build up a system for the new fligth simulator 2004
I´m thinking about the appropriate video-card. My problem is, that I
not only want to run FS2004, but also add very complex scenerys like
the swiss professional add on. Can you give my reason why buying a
256MB card instead of 128MB at the moment. My current favourite would
be the 9600 XT which should be totally appropriate for normal flying.
But I´m quite unsure how massive, detailed scenery would affect my
fps. Rest of the system would be 3,0 P4, 512MB333, 80HD-7200rpm.
So is there a big advantage with 256MB?
Click to expand...


Hi,

I would say that 128MB is just about right. I think the *Marketing* people
know how to control our minds. In a very *few* cases it has been shown that
a 256MB card in faster under certain conditions (1600x1200, 8x FSAA, 16x
ANSO, etc). This was only only a few games, and I don't think *Flight
Simulator* was one of them.

The 9600XT is a low end mid-range card (about the same as the older
9500Pro), if you could afford it I would recommend the 9800 or the 9800 Pro.
You should be able to get them cheaper as they are being phased out for the
newer XT cards. The XT is basically the same as the 9600Pro/9800/9800Pro,
but just overclocked and with an enhanced cooling solution. . . .

Don't buy a card to be too future proofed! all you need right now is DX9 -
AGP 8x and 128MB, that will keep you happy for years!!!

There are so many new things coming out (Marketing, marketing!) DDR-II, PCI
Express etc, just buy the best you can afford for the games you wanna play
now (or the coming months). Software is along way behind the hardare right
now so don't worry :)
--
Wayne ][

Barton (AQXEA) XP2500+ @ 2.2GHz (10x220) - 1.775vCore
CoolerMaster Aero 7 Lite - 3,200rpm
ABIT NF7-S (v2.0 - BIOS#14)
512MB Dual TwiSTER PC3500 @ DDR440 1:1 (9,3,3,2.0 - 2.7v)
Sapphire Atlantis 9800 - 3.3ns Samsung (325/290 Default)
240GB (2x120GB) WD-SE SATA RAID-0 (NTFS - 16k Stripe)
Antec SX630II Mini-Tower Case Inc 300w PSU
2 x CoolerMaster 80mm Blue Neon Fans
WinXP-PRO-SP1
Cat 3.7 - DX9.0b
 
comparing 9700pro 128 to 9800 pro 256 at 1024X768 was little difference.
jump to 1152X850 or higher and it was a noticeable difference.
 
Marc Wendler said:
As I am about to build up a system for the new fligth simulator 2004
I´m thinking about the appropriate video-card. My problem is, that I
not only want to run FS2004, but also add very complex scenerys like
the swiss professional add on. Can you give my reason why buying a
256MB card instead of 128MB at the moment. My current favourite would
be the 9600 XT which should be totally appropriate for normal flying.
But I´m quite unsure how massive, detailed scenery would affect my
fps. Rest of the system would be 3,0 P4, 512MB333, 80HD-7200rpm.
So is there a big advantage with 256MB?

Thanks for helping me on this question.

Marc
Click to expand...

What about a 9800 Non Pro with 256 Mb... should be still somewhere on
the market!

Or go directly for the best option a 9800XT with 256Mb memory.

Umm, if you need it, well first of all ... 512 system memory? come
one.. you can do better, take atleast 1 Gigabyte like I have. Now that
is nice playing! Add to that the 9800XT with 256Mb and i'm sure FS2004
will run perfectly even with the detailed scenery installed!
 
Marc said:
As I am about to build up a system for the new fligth simulator 2004
I´m thinking about the appropriate video-card. My problem is, that I
not only want to run FS2004, but also add very complex scenerys like
the swiss professional add on. Can you give my reason why buying a
256MB card instead of 128MB at the moment. My current favourite would
be the 9600 XT which should be totally appropriate for normal flying.
But I´m quite unsure how massive, detailed scenery would affect my
fps. Rest of the system would be 3,0 P4, 512MB333, 80HD-7200rpm.
So is there a big advantage with 256MB?

Thanks for helping me on this question.

Marc
Click to expand...

You'd be better off buying a 128mb card and spending the money saved on
ddr400 ram. Why strangle a 3ghz P4 with slow ram?
 
James Grabowski said:
You'd be better off buying a 128mb card and spending the money saved on
ddr400 ram. Why strangle a 3ghz P4 with slow ram?
Click to expand...

He might have the 3.06GHz P4 with 533MHz bus. Besides, PC2700 is hardly
slow. In a dual channel config it gives 5.4GB/s bandwidth, and even the
2.7GB/s bandwidth of single channel is nothing to sneeze at.
 
Shiranui said:
He might have the 3.06GHz P4 with 533MHz bus. Besides, PC2700 is hardly
slow. In a dual channel config it gives 5.4GB/s bandwidth, and even the
2.7GB/s bandwidth of single channel is nothing to sneeze at.
Click to expand...

He'd be better off buying a 200mhz one rather than a 133mhz one even if
it meant dropping to a 2.8ghz processor. P4's love memory bandwidth and
more then 128mb of video ram is unlikely to be used in current games.
 
He'd be better off buying a 200mhz one rather than a 133mhz one even if
it meant dropping to a 2.8ghz processor. P4's love memory bandwidth and
more then 128mb of video ram is unlikely to be used in current games.
Click to expand...

Well that would depend on his mobo now wouldn't it? If he's like me and has
a mobo based on 845PE buying a P4 with the 800MHz bus would be pointless as
it would clock down so much, and buying a whole new setup is still a bit
expensive ($100~200 for a mobo, $160~$300+ for the CPU, varible prices on
PC3200 ram).
 
As I am about to build up a system for the new fligth simulator 2004
I´m thinking about the appropriate video-card. My problem is, that I
not only want to run FS2004, but also add very complex scenerys like
the swiss professional add on. Can you give my reason why buying a
256MB card instead of 128MB at the moment. My current favourite would
be the 9600 XT which should be totally appropriate for normal flying.
But I´m quite unsure how massive, detailed scenery would affect my
fps. Rest of the system would be 3,0 P4, 512MB333, 80HD-7200rpm.
So is there a big advantage with 256MB?
Click to expand...

Er... no.... 256mb = waste of money.

Also, consider the AMD64-3000, its cheaper than the P4 3.0Ghz... and
when WindowsXP-64 comes out- it will be even faster.

For the money saved, get 2 sticks of 512mb DDR for a total of 1GB.

Also, a 120GB Maxtor or WD drive is recommened... games eat space.

The 9600xt - can't go wrong.
 
He might have the 3.06GHz P4 with 533MHz bus. Besides, PC2700 is hardly
slow. In a dual channel config it gives 5.4GB/s bandwidth, and even the
2.7GB/s bandwidth of single channel is nothing to sneeze at.
Click to expand...

Or an AMD64 3000 with over 6GB bandwidth in both directions.
 
Darthy said:
Er... no.... 256mb = waste of money.

Also, consider the AMD64-3000, its cheaper than the P4 3.0Ghz... and
when WindowsXP-64 comes out- it will be even faster.

For the money saved, get 2 sticks of 512mb DDR for a total of 1GB.

Also, a 120GB Maxtor or WD drive is recommened... games eat space.

The 9600xt - can't go wrong.
Click to expand...

1 Gig ram does wonders, my motherboard might be Pre-dual memory but
it's fast enough ( 400Mhz ) and I can say, enough room to keep 3 games
in, one big fat outlook, programs like word. And then it still doesn't
cough yet!

No game I play actually even uses close to half of the memory, and
even the heavier ones have no problems loading. Maybe I ever will
upgrade to 2 Gig ram.. then again for a game machine.. 1 Gig should be
enough!
 
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