512 vs 512

Yes, 1 8800GT is actually faster than 2 7900GS's believe it or not. I can assure you that you'll see a jump in Flight Simulator and other games. I had a 7800GT not long ago and I could barely run Crysis on Medium settings and was getting about 20 frames. Now with my new 8800GT I can run it on high and still get around 40 frames. You definitely won't regret getting an 8800GT and when its price comes down in the future get another one for SLI and you will be glued to your computer. P.S. The 8800GT is almost as fast as the 8800GTX, almost meaning 5-10 fps slower.

Yes, getting 1 8800GT to replace your current setup is easily justifiable. Buy with confidence! You can always just get another down the road if you feel you need the xtra performance.

Best,

3Ball

Do NOT buy the 8800GT. It is not compatable with the next version of DX10 coming out. The 3870 from ATI is compatable and is only 8% slower. Using SLI is not an option with that card as it will no longer be in production in a few monthes. There is a hudge difference with the new DX10 coming out.

What core is your processor? 3.2 should mean it is a Pentium D. Couldn't that mean the processor is to blame some?

Unless someone slipped something past me you are compleatly wrong
Im assuming you are talking about DX10.1 which while has some nice new features will NOT be an issue at all there are only a handfull of games that are DX 10 at the minuite and they will run on DX9 cards anyway.
Dont know wher you got this info but its compleatly wrong dx10.1 is just a subset of DX10 same as DX9 had updates.
While it is true that the 8800GT will be unable to run DX10.1 that dosent mean that the card wont run games that use it whenever that happens no time soon is my guess. It just means there will be a few effects that it wont run so a DX10.1 card may look a little prettier but thats it.
Any way to the OP while i agree that the card is a good upgrade MS Flight Simulator X is a very CPU intensive game so you may want to look at upgrading the cpu as well.
Mactronix

While I like the 3870 more (mainly for the dual slot cooler, HDMI, and slightly better picture quality)...I am going to have to agree with mactronix on this one and say that DX10.1 isnt that big of a deal. If it was I would wait for more of a stock to be in for these cards, but since they are low in stock right now and I dont want an 8800GT because of its single slot design I am probably going to go with an EVGA 8800GTS 640mb SSC edition (i know the extra cost doesnt justify the slight performance difference over the 8800GT, and only at higher res's at that, but it isnt my money so hey...what do I care lol, gettin it for x-mas from paps, unless he was able to find the 3870 in stock from the links I gave him...who knows...its suppose to be a surprise right? lol)

Best,

3Ball

I try to be polite but sometimes it just doesn't cut it. You, sir, are either sadly misinformed or a complete dumba$$.

There is no "new" DX10 coming out. There is DX10.1 which has minor improvements and features. The point, however, is moot. No game today runs exclusively on DX10 (except Halo 2 Vista...), NO game has DX10.1 support, and it is highly unlikely that a DX10.1-only game will come out within the next 12 months. AND, the 8800GT IS compatible with DX10.1 - it just won't run the DX10.1-only features. Just like his current card will run DX10 games, but in DX9 mode. That's not incompatibility.

SLi not an option? What in the f*ck are you smoking? I know a few people running 8800GT's in SLi. That means it IS an option. And check it out: you can still buy last gen cards everywhere. The 8800GT JUST came out. As in a few weeks ago. Cards from 2 years ago are still available. Give me one shred of evidence that the 8800GT will not be available in a few months.

@OP: Yes, you should upgrade to the 8800GT. It will definitely help your performance. Also, keep in mind that SLi does not double the memory on the card so you only have 256MB available now.

However, don't expect to be able to crank everything through the roof and have the game run better smooth. FSX is CPU-bound so you should be able to turn up pure graphics settings such as textures and stuff, but scenery and air-traffic will be limited more by your CPU than GPU.

To SEALBoy
I actually started off my post in the same vain as you have posted but realised the guy was new so decided to go back and edit the harshness out of it.
If it was a regular posting that kind of stuff as fact i wouldn't have changed it but lets cut new people some slack eh
obviously just badly misinformed.
Mactronix

I thought about editing my post to be more polite until I came across this: post #7 here. He's a diehard AMD fanboi. Fanbois don't deserve slack.

To SEALBoy
Hmm see what you mean does seem to either have a bought of tunnel vision. Either that or a website with a decidedly AMD/ATI biased view has got his/her ear.

To JerseyGamer
Just a note to say that its a bad idea to post something as fact or in a way to make it seem as though it has been presented as fact unless you have personal experiance of what you are talking about or you can provide links/proof to back op what you are saying.
Most of us have done it in the past, some of the sources i thought were rock solid and had proved right time and time again have been known to drop the ball.
Im not a Mod or anything just giving advice which you can accept or ignore.  
Hope you dont take it the wrong way
Mactronix

I was hoping someone would mention that.

-mcg

OP, what res are you running at?

Well if ur still reading on this "YOUR CPU IS ALOT OF BLAME!!!!!!" ms flight sim x is a cpu game for the most part its on that end of spectrum if u got a 775socket for the lose of god upgrade your cpu for $100-200 dolars that will increase overall perfomance instead of upgrading ur gpu ,witch will jsut perform better in top of the line games, just yet.

Thanks for all of your input! The response I received was so much more than I expected.
I am going to purchase the GeForce 8800GT tomorrow.

I realize FSX is a CPU hog, but replacing the unit will cause more grief than I have time for right now.

Before buying Dell computers, I built every system myself.
As our company grew, I became time limited on building computers. We have had 26 Dell computers and never had any problems.
Early on I replaced the CPU in a Dell system. I didn't have time to research and debug the issues the install caused.

So, a new CPU is out and I will need to make the best of it until I buy a new system.

Thanks again for your help.

Philip

rofl... good luck finding an 8800gt  

What resolution are you running Flight Simulator at? If you're running it at a low resolution, the CPU would be to blame for the bad performance since at low resolutions, the game becomes CPU intensive. Try running it at a higher resolution and see if you notice any difference.

A.) 256 in sli doesnt = 512, it equals 256.
B.) MS Flight Sim is CPU bound game. Get a quad core and SP1. Gfx card doesnt really make a diff.

Just do some homeowrk and check the benches, thg included.

 

Mrmez: My error on the memory statement. A rookie mistake, I know better, no excuse.
On the CPU, when I purchased the system, dual core was the "latest and greatest." Funny thing, this technology stuff.  

Skittle: Earlier today Best Buy advertised the cards in stock. That was earlier. Later was a whole different story.  

Nightscope: I'm running 1280X1024.

All things considered, the current 7900GS's I have are a far cry from the single GeForce 5200 I had in my previous system.

One other thought: I have read a lot about the ATI rival (can't remember the actual number) to the 8800GT in other posts in this forum. The two issues that stand out are cooling and picture quality. As I'm upgrading from the 7900GS, either card will be a better than what I have now. Hey..anyone want to buy two 7900GS's? Just kidding.  

Philip

1st chart will show a single 8800Gt vs a single 7900 GS.

http://www23.tomshardware.com/graphics_2007.html?modelx...

2nd chart will show you a SLI 7900GT(They do not have the GS in SLI on the charts) compared to everything else SLI and Crossfire.

http://www23.tomshardware.com/graphics_sli2007.html?mod...

Really is no difference, as you can see on the charts FSX is limited by the CPU, not the GPU.

Dooyas:

Amazing!
Thanks so much for the input. The numbers really put things into perspective.
No GeForce8800GT for me.
Although I knew FSX was CPU limited, I didn't realize how much!
Could you imagine my frustration if I had purchased the card, only to see no change in performance?
I'm sure nobody here has ever done that.  

Since this system is my primary work computer and packed to the gills with professional software, introducing a new CPU is out of the question.

Now let's see...Dell has a new XPS720 gaming system...

Thanks all for your help.

Philip