What next after 8800GT?

[Taz]

I'll soon be looking to upgrade my 8800GT video card. Which cards should I be looking at that are very good value for money and will allow me to play games (like Flight Sim X) at 1920x1200 in 32-bit colour? Cost-wise, I don't want to spend much more than £200 but the upgrade should be a significant improvement over my current 8800GT.

[SSK]

ati 4870 imo

[Taz]

ati 4870 imo

Does this just have 512MB? If so, would it be able to perform well in DX10 mode at 1920x1200 at 32-bit colour depths?

[2Cold Scorpio]

Does this just have 512MB? If so, would it be able to perform well in DX10 mode at 1920x1200 at 32-bit colour depths?

Yes, its 512MB of DDR5 DRAM, IIRC. It should perform well to your needs, but I can't say for sure as I still have an 8800GT myself. If you need a card with more VRAM, look at either the GTX 260 and GTX 280. I believe the 260 has 896MBs of DDR3 memory, and the 280 has 1GB of DDR3 RAM. The GTX 260 can be had for about the same price as the HD4870; the 4870 outperforms it slightly, I think, but if you need more VRAM, you might look at the 260. The GTX 280 is a bit more than either of the two, but has more VRAM and outperforms them both; the GTX 280 is the best single card right now (excluding the '2 chips on the same card' such as the new HD4870x2). Hope that helps.

[Webby]

The will be a 1GB version of the 4870 coming along shortly if you think the extra memory will be important, I was always under the impression that FSX was CPU bound rather than GPU bound may be wrong of course, but more GPU grunt never hurts

[2Cold Scorpio]

The will be a 1GB version of the 4870 coming along shortly if you think the extra memory will be important, I was always under the impression that FSX was CPU bound rather than GPU bound may be wrong of course, but more GPU grunt never hurts

Some, if not all, of the 4870x2s might actually have 1 GB already (A true 1GB, not dual 512s; NewEgg seemed to be saying they were 2GB models, meaning each 4870 on the card had 1GB...).

If *that's* the case, I know what I want for Christmas.

Edit: D'oh; looks like my PSU isn't stout enough for one of these. >.<

[DratUK]

The will be a 1GB version of the 4870 coming along shortly if you think the extra memory will be important, I was always under the impression that FSX was CPU bound rather than GPU bound may be wrong of course, but more GPU grunt never hurts

Webby is right FSX is CPU bound, however when you get to high res ie 1920 x 1200 then the graphics card will come into play.

CPU service pack 1 introduced support for multi core cpu and aided the higher resolution screens.

Its a difficult call as opinion is varied but bearing in mind that Vista OS is demanding enough on your GPU card a shift to a next gen card might be beneficial.
There is a comparison here
Various cards tested and this is the system used
* Asus P5E3 Deluxe (Intel X38)
* Intel Core 2 Quad QX6850 (3 GHz)
* Crucial 2 x 1 GB DDR3 1333 MHz 7-7-7-20
* Western Digital WD5000AAKS

It appears the old 8 series did the best with the 9800 GTX doing good frames as well.

That can be had for £129 from Scan.
Or the 8800 GTX for £234 can be OC to Ultra. Based those results a 900GTX is a bargin.