Video card for Flight simulator 2004

[retrochoir]

My system is as follows:
ECS KZV7A m/b, Duron 750, 512mb SDRAM, NVIDIA GeForce2 MX400, Audigy s/c, Monitor capable of 1600x1200 resolution.

I'm looking to buy a used video card on Ebay which will have enough power to run MS Flight Simulator 2004 with all graphic effects swithed on.

Does anyone have any Suggestions.

Thanks in advance,

Jeff

 

[Enkrypted]

Just to note a couple things:

1. I really wouldn't buy any computer parts off eBay because you never know whether or no tthe item you are getting truely works or not and the hassle of trying to get something exchanged or returned through eBay is a nightmare. You can go to places like Pricewatch.com or Newegg.com and find a decent card there.

2. How much are you willing to spend on a new video card so recommendations can be made?

Enkrypted
A+

 

[ftechguy]

I had FS2002 and played around a lot to get smooth frame rates. WIth an Athlon XP 2000+, 512mb ram and a radeon 9500 pro, it ran well at 1024x768 and high detail.

I didn't get to try 2004 too much but wIth a Duron 750, no video card you get will run FS2004 with even low details well. You really need a full CPU/motherboard upgrade too, especially if you want to game at 1600x1200.

 

[retrochoir]

Thanks guys,

I suspected I may need to upgrade my mobo, CPU and RAM. Thanks for the help anyway.

Cheers,

Jeff

 

[paparazi]

retrochoir
Well if your motherboard is a PCB version 3.0 it supports up to Athlon XP2.2+ CPU speed.
That together with a second user Radeon 9800Pro/Nvidia 5900ultra should sort you out but as ftechguy points out you need a pretty powerful system to max out settings like you are proposing.
If you are prepared to accept reasonanle frame rates and medium quality settings then the above will work fine.
Earlier PCB motherboard versions support much lower CPU's so if yours is one of these the upgrade path is your only option.
PS I've had very good experiences with ebay just as long as you except nothing but the highest feedback ratings for sellers.
Martin

We like members to GIVE and not just TAKE.
Participate and help others.

 

[pmonett]

Flight Simulator has a history of bad performance. There is not one version of that that does not run like a lame dog.
No one component is going to make things better, you need to have PC that is powerful in every area to make it run well if you want all the bells and whistles.
FS is not like Quake or Unreal Tournament, or even IL2 Sturmovik. With games like that, a good graphics card can indeed improve performance noticeably. Of course, no graphics card is going to be able to improve above what the CPU can do, and a Duron is not really in the performance league any more.

Pascal.