I need a computer for playing flight sim x on a 40" lcd 1920x1080. What graphics card is best for that resolution?

FSX is a CPU limited game at the high end. so get the fastest cpu you can and overclock it for good measure.

at that rez on that game the difference from a 7900GTX to a 8800 Ultra is only ~2 fps. Multi card does noting to help either unless there have been some changes.

So get your self whatever card you want for other games. It does have a bit of a preference for Nvidia cards or Nvidia has done more driver work, but when you are talking 23.2 FPS you are not going to get lost in the game. With some settings tweaking i am sure you can smooth it out. The point is, Get the fastest most overclockable cpu you can.

http://www.tomshardware.com/charts [...] 605%2C1584

Thanks, thats going to save me a lot of money on the graphics card. Does duo or quad make any difference?

i never understood simulators...

You'll probably want a quad for that one.

Nuke is absolutely correct. I've been a Flight Simulator enthusiast since 4.0, so I've always designed my rigs especially to run Flight Simulator. No "games", just the "simulation". FSX SP1 & SP2 are coded for multiple cores, so FSX will use as much raw CPU horsepower as you can afford to throw at it.

Frame rates scale nearly 1:1 with CPU clock speed, so if you overclock from 2.4 Ghz to 3.6 Ghz, frame rate will increase nearly 50%. Additionally, I've tested FSX at 3.6 Ghz on an E6600, and at 3.6 Ghz on a Q6600. The increase in frame rate is nothing less than an astonishing 80%.

A quad with a high-end cooler and a high overclock is essential for the highest frame rates in FSX. Google the Flight Simulator websites for the best fsx.cfg file tweaks to achieve the best balance between frame rate and image quality.

For graphics, I recommend the 8800 GTS 512. It's under $200.00, has enough memory for high resolutions, and enough horsepower for running GPU bound "games" beyond running the CPU bound "simulation". Equally important, the 8800 GTS has dual slot rear exhaust which maintains low case temperatures to keep an overclocked quad running cool.

Comp

80% is a huge difference. I'm glad I asked. Thanks

Is the 8800 GTS 512 better then 9800gtx+? its the same price.

9800GTX+ is better. I would recommend a 4850, but since you play flight sim, it shouldnt matter too much.

It does matter. FSX doesn't achieve the highest frame rates with ATI cards / drivers. Check out Tom's VGA Charts and see for yourself, as nukemaster has already pointed out this fact.

Although the 9800 GTX and the 8800 GTS are close in "game" performance, it depends upon your "game" needs beyond the "simulator". However, computer case size also matters. Since the 9800 GTX has the longest dimensions of graphics cards, like the 8800 GTX and the 8800 Ultra, it may not fit in your case.

gtx280 tri sli

gtx280 tri sli ???

Again, FSX is not a "game", so forget what you know about how GPU performance typically affects frame rates. FSX is a heavily CPU bound "simulator", and respond very little to high-end graphics cards, SLI or otherwise. It's the most CPU bound title you can run. As nukemaster has already stated, the difference in frame rate between a 7900 GTX and an 8800 Ultra is ~ 2 FPS at ANY resolution. Check out Tom's VGA Charts and see for yourself.

I run FSX on high settings just fine with a Core 2 Quad Q9300 and a ATI Radeon 4870, nothing overclocked. This also keeps my PC very quiet, because not much cooling is needed.

+1 for quads. At what frame rates?