Video card recommendation

[Wulf190]

A friend of mine wants to replace his 8800 GT with a more modern video card. He is running a E8400, with 8 GB of RAM and Vista 64 in a Shuttle cube.

What I have in mind is a GTX 650. It should provide a decent jump in video memory (2GB versus 512MB) and a healthy dose of image processing with out a big hit on the power supply. Form factor size, and power consumption are key here, because I doubt that the Shuttle's PSU can handle much more then a 650.

But what are your thoughts?

[Kiwikat]

I just got a 660 Ti and it made my 4 year old rig feel like new again. Whoever says graphics cards don't really matter for fsx don't know what they are talking about.

[RyanJames170]

i would second that to what Kiwikat said.. also try to get 1gb or more of memory on the card.. will help with cloud textures and such..

i went from a GTS250 to a GTX280 and i saw some improvement..

[ryanbatc]

Yeah that looks decent... I was going to mention PSU.. if it's any version made in the last three years it should be ok for a 650...

[fxsttcb]

The 8800GT required a 400w min PSU with 6 & 8 pin PCIe connectors.
The GTX 650 requires the same 400w min PSU, and only a single 6 pin PCIe connection, so, it looks like a good fit to me...Don

[Stefano Zibell]

Don't buy it. Get an older 60 series, like a gtx 560 or even a 460, they'll do better job.

[fsafranek]

Some discussion here...

http://www.sim-outhouse.com/sohforum...l=1#post754661
:ernae:

[Mach3DS]

I just upgraded to a new video card today! I've got a 1st gen quad core and ATM a build is not possible. But I wanted to repla e the Nvidia GeForce GT120 card in my machine. No laughing please! . I didn't want to spend very much as I'm saving for a new build but wanted to get something that would also work in my am nine as my power supply is only 400W. I went with a DDR3 Nvidia GeForce GT630 from P Y and for the 70$ it set me back works flawlessly in my machine! I've gone from not being able to load antigen to full antigen and almost full other bars with the exception of traffic and clouds. And I'm getting about 20 FPS locked in most places. This has given my machine a new lease on life! I'm very happy for what little I needed to invest. FSX has never looked or flown As good as it is right now for me. BTW my CPU is clocked at a meager 2.33ghz

edit: oh forgot to mention the card has 2gb of memory.