Best Video Card for FSX?

[JordanS]

Hi everyone, I would like to upgrade my video card so I can play Microsoft Flight Simulator X, with a decent frame rate, and on mostly high settings. My maximum price is about $150. Preferably lower. I posted my PC specs below.




Computer:
Operating System Windows 7 Ultimate Media Center Edition
OS Service Pack -
DirectX 4.09.00.0904 (DirectX 9.0c)
Computer Name JORDAN-PC
User Name Jordan

Motherboard:
CPU Type DualCore Intel Pentium D, 2800 MHz
Motherboard Name Dell Dell DM051
Motherboard Chipset Unknown
System Memory 3072 MB
BIOS Type Phoenix (01/08/07)

Display:
Video Adapter Radeon X1650 Series (512 MB)
Video Adapter Radeon X1650 Series (512 MB)
Monitor Dell 1800FP (Digital) [18" LCD] (7R4774170HPG)

Multimedia:
Audio Adapter High Definition Audio Controller [NoDB]

Storage:
IDE Controller Intel(R) 82801G (ICH7 Family) Ultra ATA Storage Controllers - 27DF
IDE Controller Intel(R) 82801GB/GR/GH (ICH7 Family) Serial ATA Storage Controller - 27C0
SCSI/RAID Controller A12ICA0F IDE Controller
Disk Drive SAMSUNG HD080HJ/P ATA Device (80 GB, 7200 RPM, SATA-II)
Disk Drive WDC WD2500JS-00MHB0 ATA Device
Optical Drive HL-DT-ST DVDRAM GSA-H44L ATA Device
Optical Drive PIHMLSV DAFKTE3W92J SCSI CdRom Device
Optical Drive SONY CDRWDVD CRX310EE ATA Device
SMART Hard Disks Status Unknown

Partitions:
C: (NTFS) 73163 MB (1421 MB free)
D: (NTFS) 238472 MB (217136 MB free)
Total Size 304.3 GB (213.4 GB free)

Input:
Keyboard HID Keyboard Device
Mouse HID-compliant mouse
Game Controller Microsoft PC-joystick driver

Network:
Network Adapter Intel(R) PRO/100 VE Network Connection (192.168.0.66)
Modem Conexant D850 56K V.90 DFVc Modem

Peripherals:
Printer Dell Photo AIO Printer 924
Printer Fax
Printer Microsoft XPS Document Writer
USB1 Controller Intel(R) 82801G (ICH7 Family) USB Universal Host Controller - 27C8 [NoDB]
USB1 Controller Intel(R) 82801G (ICH7 Family) USB Universal Host Controller - 27C9 [NoDB]
USB1 Controller Intel(R) 82801G (ICH7 Family) USB Universal Host Controller - 27CA [NoDB]
USB1 Controller Intel(R) 82801G (ICH7 Family) USB Universal Host Controller - 27CB [NoDB]
USB2 Controller Intel(R) 82801G (ICH7 Family) USB2 Enhanced Host Controller - 27CC [NoDB]
USB Device Dell Photo AIO Printer 924
USB Device USB Composite Device
USB Device USB Input Device
USB Device USB Input Device
USB Device USB Input Device
USB Device USB Input Device
USB Device USB Printing Support

 

[Maziar]

Hello and welcome to the forums
Well FSX is a CPU limited game,so it will benefit from a faster CPU and quad cores, so IMO first upgrade your CPU(to something like a Q8400/Q9550), then upgrade your VGA.

 

[wa1]

don't waste your money buying a new card, like Maziar said above, get a new CPU first, after that upgrade your card...

 

[losing_altitude]

Ok so lets say you are building a new system and want the best (reasonably priced) video card for FSX. What is it? The old posts say that nvidia works better than ATI but does it matter anymore. Do you go with a HD5850 or a GTX470?