rec.autos.simulators

> > I did the same upgrade some time back, and I thought it was worth it.

> > It wasn't so much for a huge increase in fps (it was a good upgrade, but
> not
> > mind-blowing), but a much, much improved _stability_ in frame rate.  In
> > other words, frame rates remained far more consistent in various
> conditions.

> > Although I've just recently started using it, nView was also a major
> bonus.

> > -Larry

> > > >Thanks to all.  Installation was a breeze (knock on wood).
Uninstalled
> > old
> > > >drivers, swapped cards, booted VGA, installed 30.82's and smooth
> sailing
> > so
> > > >far after testing CFS3, IL2, Tiger Woods 2003 Demo, and FS2002.
> > > Hi,

> > > Glad to hear of your success.

> > > Is this a worthwhile upgrade?  I like to have a substantial leap in
> > > performance when I upgrade CPU, videocard, whatever.
> > > Hardware is pretty expensive in South Africa, so I tend to upgrade in
> > > nearly 2 year intervals.

> > > Where is the biggest benefit in upgrading with regard to gameplay
> > > issues, framerates etc. I don't mean benchmarks, but actual gameplay
> > > benefits. People love to tell me what a card can do, but half the time
> > > the features aren't enabled because of side effects.

> > > Regards all,
> > > istoff

> > I did the same upgrade some time back, and I thought it was worth it.

> > It wasn't so much for a huge increase in fps (it was a good upgrade, but
> not
> > mind-blowing), but a much, much improved _stability_ in frame rate.  In
> > other words, frame rates remained far more consistent in various
> conditions.

> > Although I've just recently started using it, nView was also a major
> bonus.

> > -Larry

> > > >Thanks to all.  Installation was a breeze (knock on wood).
Uninstalled
> > old
> > > >drivers, swapped cards, booted VGA, installed 30.82's and smooth
> sailing
> > so
> > > >far after testing CFS3, IL2, Tiger Woods 2003 Demo, and FS2002.
> > > Hi,

> > > Glad to hear of your success.

> > > Is this a worthwhile upgrade?  I like to have a substantial leap in
> > > performance when I upgrade CPU, videocard, whatever.
> > > Hardware is pretty expensive in South Africa, so I tend to upgrade in
> > > nearly 2 year intervals.

> > > Where is the biggest benefit in upgrading with regard to gameplay
> > > issues, framerates etc. I don't mean benchmarks, but actual gameplay
> > > benefits. People love to tell me what a card can do, but half the time
> > > the features aren't enabled because of side effects.

> > > Regards all,
> > > istoff

> --
> Joe M.

> > Thus making it valuable for variable-fps sims like MS's CFS3, huh?

> > > I did the same upgrade some time back, and I thought it was worth it.

> > > It wasn't so much for a huge increase in fps (it was a good upgrade,
but
> > not
> > > mind-blowing), but a much, much improved _stability_ in frame rate.
In
> > > other words, frame rates remained far more consistent in various
> > conditions.

> > > Although I've just recently started using it, nView was also a major
> > bonus.

> > > -Larry

> > > > On Fri, 1 Nov 2002 17:26:34 -0500, "Joe M."

> > > > >Thanks to all.  Installation was a breeze (knock on wood).
> Uninstalled
> > > old
> > > > >drivers, swapped cards, booted VGA, installed 30.82's and smooth
> > sailing
> > > so
> > > > >far after testing CFS3, IL2, Tiger Woods 2003 Demo, and FS2002.
> > > > Hi,

> > > > Glad to hear of your success.

> > > > Is this a worthwhile upgrade?  I like to have a substantial leap in
> > > > performance when I upgrade CPU, videocard, whatever.
> > > > Hardware is pretty expensive in South Africa, so I tend to upgrade
in
> > > > nearly 2 year intervals.

> > > > Where is the biggest benefit in upgrading with regard to gameplay
> > > > issues, framerates etc. I don't mean benchmarks, but actual gameplay
> > > > benefits. People love to tell me what a card can do, but half the
time
> > > > the features aren't enabled because of side effects.

> > > > Regards all,
> > > > istoff

> > It varies from a high of abt. 24 fps (I'm running a GF2 GTS on a 1.3
> T'bird)
> > to a low of abt. zero fps (the whole show just stutters to a halt for a
> > second or so).  I'm not ready to upgrade the CPU (saving my dimes &
> nickels,
> > tho), but am planning to replace the vid with either a GF4-4400 or an
ATI
> > 9500 Pro.  Any recommendations?

> Steve,

> The GF4 4400 was a free upgrade (long story short - a friend couldn't use
> it) but I wouldn't have bought it since it's not THAT much better than my
> GF3 Ti 500.   I'm actually DROOLING for an ATI 9700 Pro (waiting to due a
> dynamic duo upgrade: AMD 2200XP and ATI 9700) so I imagine a slightly less
> powerful version would be terrific as well.

> I'm an old V5 5500 FSAA fan, especially for flight sims, and the guys in
the
> flight-sim group claim that ATI has finally exceeded the FSAA mastery of
> 3dfx.  If you value FSAA then you should absolutely look real hard at ATI.
> If not, the 4400 overclocked to 4600 levels is a great value (I have a
> gainward golden sample that is practically guaranteed to overclock),
> especially in a few more months.  BTW, driver support has been
surprisingly
> good for ATI given their less than impressive support reputation.

> --
> Joe

> Not even a GF4-4600 is much improvement over a GF2 Ultra...if it's only
GPL
> yer playing.  But since I am now getting into next-gen (DX9) games like
> NOLF2, the 4400 should do fine there.  On my other 'puta, I'm starting to
do
> a lot of graphics processing (incl., eventually, DV), so I figure the 9500
> Pro will be okay...for now.  When, as, and if I upgrade the OS to XP and
the
> CPU to a 2.8 P4 (which is the plan), I'll probably want better graphics
h/w
> (like the GF5 or ATI's equiv.).

> Thx for the discuss.

> --Steve

> > > Joe,

> > > It varies from a high of abt. 24 fps (I'm running a GF2 GTS on a 1.3
> > T'bird)
> > > to a low of abt. zero fps (the whole show just stutters to a halt for
a
> > > second or so).  I'm not ready to upgrade the CPU (saving my dimes &
> > nickels,
> > > tho), but am planning to replace the vid with either a GF4-4400 or an
> ATI
> > > 9500 Pro.  Any recommendations?

> > Steve,

> > The GF4 4400 was a free upgrade (long story short - a friend couldn't
use
> > it) but I wouldn't have bought it since it's not THAT much better than
my
> > GF3 Ti 500.   I'm actually DROOLING for an ATI 9700 Pro (waiting to due
a
> > dynamic duo upgrade: AMD 2200XP and ATI 9700) so I imagine a slightly
less
> > powerful version would be terrific as well.

> > I'm an old V5 5500 FSAA fan, especially for flight sims, and the guys in
> the
> > flight-sim group claim that ATI has finally exceeded the FSAA mastery of
> > 3dfx.  If you value FSAA then you should absolutely look real hard at
ATI.
> > If not, the 4400 overclocked to 4600 levels is a great value (I have a
> > gainward golden sample that is practically guaranteed to overclock),
> > especially in a few more months.  BTW, driver support has been
> surprisingly
> > good for ATI given their less than impressive support reputation.

> > --
> > Joe