The best GPU for FSX?

[handscombmp]

http://www.tomshardware.co.uk/charts...X-SP2,782.html
Interstingly enough a 8800GTS 512mb comes out on top

[collettnj]

I read that their tests were done with beta drivers for the newer cards, which adversely affected the FPS. Reading forum threads about performance with the GTX280, people appear to deem it a 'beast'. There are less opinions on the 4870X2, the majority focussing on the vanilla 4870.

[Pob255]

http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/...2,2073-22.html

One thing to note looks like you need sp1 for fsx for sli & crossfire support, if you don't have fsx sp1 then it's a real no go.

looks like there are some really odd things happening with fsx and high end cards

I take it back there's not much info out there about fsx and graphics cards, quite a few people with the same questions as you though.

really odd resaults on tomshardware which is the only place I can find numbers for fsx
http://www.tomshardware.com/charts/g...X-SP2,785.html

best card is the 8800gt 1024mb ??? all sli and crossfire giveing lower resaults, wtf is going on?

a 2nd hand 8800gtx might be your best bet from thoes numbers

EDIT:
Looking at thoes numbers seems like you really need lots of graphics card memory, so the 4870 1gb (1024mb) may do well
or the gtx280 as that also has 1gb memory
or a 9800gt 1gb (that's basically a 8800gt)
or maybe a 9800gtx+ 1gb (gigabyte are bring out one soon http://www.scan.co.uk/Product.aspx?WebProductId=901978 )

[collettnj]

Given forum posts that i've seen, those tomshardware benchmarks for FSX aren't to be trusted, as they were done on old, out of date drivers. People seem to think the situation has improved with the GTX 280 now.As for SP1, it's a free update accessible to everyone, so that's no problem.

I guess I'll be looking at a GTX 280 then...

[GoNz0]

FSX doesn't support quad core, so I'd have to be spending a lot of money to get a quad core at a speed that would match the E8500 (3.16GHz)...

I've only just bought the 8500 as well (well, I actually bought it in July but haven't used it yet due to issues I had with the motherboard), so a new CPU isn't an option for me..

EDIT: sorry Pob we posted at the same time...as far as I'm aware FSX doesn't get any great benefit from SLI. Would you therefore recommend the 280 over the 4870X2?

its does support quad core, the SP1 performace pack (or the add on they sell as that contains sp1)

it assigns various parts of the game engine to various cores to spread the load, it wont automatically use 100% of each core as some threads use more cpu than others.

Multi-core Performance Work

13. moved DEM loading to threads,

14. moved terrain texture synthesis ( the process itself is documented in Adams' "Global Terrain Technology for Flight sim paper at http://fsinsider.com/Community/Devel...+Simulator.htm, see the bit about the layers and texture synthesis ) to threads,

15. moved Autogen batch rebuilds to threads

the original game didnt though.

Multi-core Performance Work



Intel is using FSX as one of their prime examples at IDF, we had a lot of engineering time from one of their threading guys. Intel doesn’t do that lightly. We used the time to good benefit.



During loading, we run the DEM loader on threads. You'll see good balanced usage across all cores; as well as about 1/3 faster load times on average.



During flight we spawn threads for Autogen batch rebuilds as well as the terrain texture synthesis. The terrain texture work tends to be a bit bursty; as an area gets generated the load reduces true. But as you fly forward, as you bank, and as the terrain is lighted ( once a minute ) threads are spawned. The terrain grid system is radial around the current viewpoint, and, depending on level of detail radius can be up to 4.5 tiles in either direction, something like 64 tiles. So there is plenty of work to go around. Autogen is more constant, with a 2km extent being batched.



Even given the bursty nature of the core usage when flying; when there is load, its pretty balanced across the cores. And we got rid of as much of the stutters as we could by going to a lock-free synchronization style. Its solid work that we are deservedly proud of.



As far as practical limits on number of usable cores; currently SetThreadAffinityMask only allows explicit scheduling of threads on 32 cores ( the mask is a dword ) on Win32. So thats our effective limit on number of cores. But as soon as there is a way to explicitly schedule them, we can handle 256 cores.

as it stands it could make full use of 4 i7 cpus with 4 cores + hyperthreading

[collettnj]

As far as I can tell from my research:

- FSX does not get a decent benefit from multiple graphics cards
- People seem to think that it agrees more with Nvidia products than ATI
- Peoples' performance with GTX280s has changed substantially as new drivers have been released

Upgrading to a quad really isn't an option for me im afriad gonzo - I'll have to make do with my E8500, with an overclock if that is necessary.

Edit: on the quad core subject, this thread is very interesting: http://www.ocforums.com/showthread.php?t=583409&page=2

People seem to think that speed is the key for high FPS, while an extra 2 cores speeds the deblurring of terrain etc..quite a few mixed opinions there though!

I currently run a 600W PSU, which I will probably have to replace if I go for a GTX280...am I right there? I've had freezing issues in the past in FSX with my current setup, which has NOT been RAM related, as I have had the freezing issues with 2 different motherboards, 2 different graphics cards, several sets of RAM, different hard drives, and safe temps. The PSU seems to be the only thing left that might be causing the problems - my voltages have dropped sometimes after the game has frozen.

[Pob255]

Depends on the make and model of the PSU, it's not so much about numbers but who makes them as to how trust worthy the numbers are.

[collettnj]

Depends on the make and model of the PSU, it's not so much about numbers but who makes them as to how trust worthy the numbers are.

Very good point there..sorry I've made a bit of a mess of this; there are now two threads debating about PSUs lol