RealFlight G3 graphics card support

[Ryan Douglas]

The RealFlight G3 video card compatibility chart (http://www.knifeedge.com/rfvc_compatibility.php) is now available on our website. For each card, we indicate whether it is tested, whether or not it works with G3, and the year the card was introduced. Please refer to the key at the top of the chart for more information.

[mlm123]

Please make a bugfix for ATI 7500 Radeon both 64mb and 128 mb :-)

[damian]

Hello there,

Do you plan to test the RFG3 with the 32MB ATI Rage 128 Ultra? I have this card on my computer, it works great but I'm unable to run RFG3.

Any suggestion? :confused:

Thank's, Damian.

[Joe Teibel]

Hello there,

Do you plan to test the RFG3 with the 32MB ATI Rage 128 Ultra? I have this card on my computer, it works great but I'm unable to run RFG3.

Any suggestion? :confused:

Thank's, Damian.

Sorry to report this card is not sufficient to run RealFlight.

[FlyFast]

Of the listed ATI and Nvidia cards, is there once card that stands out performance wise?

[W99dey]

Buy a 6800 to get real performance.

Anything less is a compramise!

[FlyFast]

Thanks for the info, did you get the 256mb version or the 128mb? There's quite a difference in price between the two....

Kevin

[W99dey]

I got the 128mb. Works a treat.

Runs with nearly everything on full with 35+ fps usually 40+

Look at www.tomshardware.com

There is a real performance uplift with this generation of card.

Should drop in price after Christmas. I couldnt wait though!

[Doug]

I just tried to install and got " Error creating effect TerrainDecalAddSigned" error and others. I have the OEM DELL GEforce2 MMX-Mx with video out card is that my problem?

[timid1]

My system with current Radeon 8500 Drivers does not work. I had to purchase a new card that supports DirectX9+ fully, not partially.

[hobiewan]

Buy a 6800 to get real performance.

Anything less is a compramise!

Well, I just looked at the prices for a 6800 both 128 or 256m 8x type card and I guess that the rationale to have to spend anywhere between $300 to $600 for a new card to get G3 to run correctly with all the bells and whistles+ $200 for G3 has put me completely out of the market. I had a crummy experience with M$'s CFS3 that would never ever run smoothly and now is un-installed and sitting on a dusty shelf never to be used again unless I buy a top of the line 'puter when this one dies.
If I'm going to spend between $5-800 dollars I'm going to invest it in my Goldwing that I'm restoring.
Too bad KnifeEdge designed their software to be so much of a resource hog. I've truly enjoyed and will continue to enjoy the excellent G2 that I've had for almost 3 years. I don't fly real RC anymore so such is life.
I'm sad for the research and development team at KE but I can't understand releasing such an apparently buggy product. I realize we're only reading the dis-satisfied customers comments(except for the ever effervescent Slider :rolleyes: ) but frankly, I'm glad I didn't invest my hard earned cash for another buggy program, only to have to continuously have to tweak it and the computer to get it to run correctly.
I sincerely hope that this doesn't doom KnifeEdge because they've always been there for me back when I first got up and running. Seem like a bunch of nice folks and I hate to see the abuse that has been, right or wrong, doled out.
Just kinda had to get this off my chest.
I wish everyone a better New Year,
Hobiewan.......................out

[hobiewan]

Happy New Year Slider.
I knew you couldn't resist my not so obvious troll. :p
Yeah, I think that KE will keep on going, but it has been a little disconcerting that the program isn't as robust as I thought it would be.
Oh well.
I'll post some pics of my 'Wing after I get them back in my 'puter. Had a bad crash about a month ago and am rebuilding(computer, not bike :D ).
I'm going to wait until my 'ol computer kicks the bucket to upgrade anymore.
I've got a Ti4200 card, 350w powersupply, 1 GB of Ram(Rambus) and a stock Soundblaster sound system. Adequate for what I do in general.
My new interest is upgrading my '83 Goldwing Interstate, with 37000 miles on the clock. It's sweet and needs my attention. Even my ol' wife loves it :D
Have a good one folks. We're going to go out and enjoy a moderate amount of ADULT beverages. One tequila, Two tequila, Three tequila, FLOOOOOR!! :eek:
Hobiewan.......................................... .............out

[toddvan]

I have a Dell notebook with a ATI Radeon 7500 vedio card. Will this card work? I'v installed the software and do have the DirectX 9.0 but keep getting the error about creating grass or billboards.

[Joe Teibel]

Unfortunately, the Radeon 7500 is not compatible with G3. While you may have DirectX 9.0 installed, the hardware does not support DirectX 9.0.

[jhall]

So... exactly how many people are buying G3 and then realizing that their video hardware is not compatible? I have the ATI Radeon 7500 in my Compaq laptop and this is the first graphics application that won't work on it. Congratulations.

[Joe Teibel]

So... exactly how many people are buying G3 and then realizing that their video hardware is not compatible? I have the ATI Radeon 7500 in my Compaq laptop and this is the first graphics application that won't work on it. Congratulations.

The requirements state that the graphics card must be DirectX 9 compatible. While you may install DirectX 9, the fact is that the Radeon 7000 and 7500 hardware does not support DirectX 9 functionality that is integral to running G3.

[jhall]

Yes, and therein lies the confusion for some customers, I presume. By just saying "DirectX 9 compatible", most normal people would think that if they can install DirectX 9 without any problems that they are good to go. But hey, who am I to tell you guys how to market your product... the free market will tell you that soon enough.

This text is taken directly from the Tower Hobbies Tech Notes for G3:

LAPTOPS: The RealFlight software has been run successfully on many laptops.
Generally, laptops with the following video chipsets will run
RealFlight adequately under most conditions:
GeForce4 Go
ATI Radeon Mobility
Radeon 9000

So... I suppose I need to talk to Tower about returning G3 since they are the ones saying it will work with ATI Radeon Mobility, yes?

John

[Rick Delten]

I think most people know that installing Direct X9 and having Direct X9 compatable hardware are 2 entirely different things, at least anyone whos a gamer.

[jhall]

I think most people know that installing Direct X9 and having Direct X9 compatable hardware are 2 entirely different things, at least anyone whos a gamer.

Yeah, I'm sure most "gamers" know it. I thought this was software intended for RC Pilots looking to improve their skills... not gamers looking to try RC. I'm also sure that any RC Pilots that happen to also be gamers will not run into any system requirements issues... horray for that huge population.

[Hotdog44]

I have the RADEON X-300 Series and it runs it just fine. There is a couple of glitches right after startup but overall it is very good.

[nemo_uk]

Looks like Tower Hobbies have updated their tech notes …

LAPTOPS:
The RealFlight software has been run successfully on many laptops. Generally, laptops with the following video chipsets will run RealFlight adequately under most conditions:
Nvidia GeForce 5500 (or higher)
ATI Radeon 9600 (or higher)

For more information about laptop video and sound cards, as well
as any other laptop issues, please contact Great Planes Software
Support at (217) 398-8970, option #1 or rfsupport@greatplanes.com

jxs 9/21/04
ir/jxs
updt jxs 3/17/05#

BTW I think ATI Radeon Mobility is the name of a family of products, of which the 7500 Mobility is a member.

[bighead93]

I am about to buy G3 and want to know how my pc should run it! This is my system: Pent 4 running 2.6 Gz 512 ram 9200 radeon. What do you think?
Any help would be appreciated!
Thanks

[timid1]

Did you check to see if your card is listed?

[nemo_uk]

the 9200 is on the list of cards tested but its one of the slowest.

I'd recommend you pick up a 9600 pro (http://shopper.cnet.com/Sapphire_RADEON_9600_Atlantis_Pro_-_graphics_adapter_-_RADEON_9600_PRO_-_128_MB/4014-8902_9-30532367.html) ($77) at least then you will not be looking at a slide show :)

[timid1]

I had to upgrade from an 85 0r 86 series to the 9800 Pro

[bighead93]

I haven't had any problems with my pc yet....I run most games at the highest video settings, and they run fine. Do you guys think it will be fun at all the way my pc is right now??

[bighead93]

Also...what video card would anyone suggest? I don't want to spend over $200.
Thanks all....

[timid1]

My only regret is that I purchased the 128 instead of the 256 version for memory on the card.

[bighead93]

Anyone use this:BFG GeForce 6200 OC 256MB DDR AGP Graphics Card ? Thinking of upgrading to this....need some suggestions!

[nuspeed88]

I just purcase this at best buy will this thing work

PNY Verto GeForce FX 5500 128MB DDR AGP Graphics Card

[nuspeed88]

geeess no help here!!!!!!!!!!
any one any body

[hamflyer]

That card should work ok with G3. Thats the one i'm using. You just can't turn everything up all the way. Good luck and happy flying. Mines the PCI version but should work the same or better.

hamflyer

[thenewguy]

I just ordered a new laptop with a 256MB ATI Radeon x600 video card. Does anyone know if this card will work for G3?

Thanks

[wiredconcepts]

I got the new X600pro and it works just fine with it.

[Talamaine]

To answer your question bighead93. I would not recommend the 6200.

For you whinners out there who say you don't know anything about graphics cards, FINE! Then take a few minutes and ask people who do know and then read up on it. See what is right for you and your uses! Don't just believe the first person you talk to.

Here is some good reading:

Graphics Card Buyers Guide (http://graphics.tomshardware.com/graphic/20041110/index.html)

How much Graphics power do you need? (http://graphics.tomshardware.com/graphic/20050302/index.html)

Review of EXTREMELY low end graphics cards (http://graphics.tomshardware.com/graphic/20050208/index.html)

Spend some time before you spend some money. After all, that 30 mins you spent understanding your computer better may just be what saves you from a future headache.

Good flying!

[siraragon]

Anyone know about this card ? Looks like it would work OK with G3, nice price also.

http://www.tigerdirect.com/applications/SearchTools/item-details.asp?EdpNo=1428445&CatId=0

SirA.

[Slider]

Anyone know about this card ? Looks like it would work OK with G3, nice price also.

http://www.tigerdirect.com/applications/SearchTools/item-details.asp?EdpNo=1428445&CatId=0

SirA.

Siraragon,

Just be sure to check carefully into the performance statistics and reliabilility etc. of any card you check out. The more throughly you investigate, the less chance of you being dissappointed later. :)

I haven't checked out the stats for that 256mb agp3D card that your asking about.
But by just taking a fast look at it and its low price, I wouldn't be surprised at all that if after you took a while to check out some 128mb 8x agp 3D cards. That you'd be able to find a few or even more then a few that will actually be faster then that card. Of course the cost of those cards would most probably also be more.

You know the old saying, you get what you payed for. Usually holds true.

Also wanted to add. For anyone shopping for a 3D card. Check your cpu's manufacturers site to see if your computer has a 4x agp slot or a 8x agp slot or if it doesn't have one at all. If your computer has only a 4x agp slot, BUT you plan to purchase a new computer in the near future that has an 8x agp slot. Maybe purchasing a 8x agp slot type 3D card might be the better thing to do. If your computer only has a 4x agp slot and you use a 8x agp 3D card. The 3D card should still work, but it will only recognize that card as a 4x agp 3D card.
And who knows how long they will be making cpu's with 8x agp slots, maybe they might stop tomorrow, maybe never?
Also another type of 3D card besides the MUCH slower pci slot type of 3D cards that has come out, I believe is called a pci express 3D card. <check the net if you'd want to find out more about this type of 3D card. And computers with these types of slots for these types of 3D cards to the best of my knowledge should only be on "select few" and very recent computers.
Planning on purchasing a new computer? My suggestion>Stay away from any computer *desktop or laptop* that uses onboard video that can't be upgraded in any way to be able to have more video then what the cpu came with.
If you expect to run graphic intensive sims that are out now with being able to use decent resolutions and frame rate and some or most or all the goodies turned on. If you'd purchase a cpu that only could have a max 128mb's of video ram, I would would pretty much stay away from purchasing those types of computers, maybe a laptop that can handle only up to 128mb's might be passable. I myself actually would stay away from any cpu that couldn't be upgraded with a 256mb 8x agp 3D card.
PC Gaming Magazines come in real handy for information about computer setups, for running graphic intensive sims etc. They also have information about what computers manufacturer's might be cooking up in the future..etc.
But you of course should be able to find all the infromation you need on the internet.
Also of course don't forget to check the first post in this thread for the 3D cards that have been tested by KE and the numerous other threads in this disscusion board relating to 3D cards.

Adlai :)

[siraragon]

[QUOTE=Slider]Siraragon,
Also wanted to add. For anyone shopping for a 3D card. Check your cpu's manufacturers site to see if your computer has a 4x agp slot or a 8x agp slot

If your computer only has a 4x agp slot and you use a 8x agp 3D card. The 3D card should still work, but it will only recognize that card as a 4x agp 3D card.

Thanks I checked my motherboard manual and it only supports 4x AGP.
Oh well will keep looking for a good deal on a card in that range.
thanks again,
SirA.

[Slider]

Your welcome,

Adlai :)

[FlyingPenguin]

The motherboard of the only computer I have that can run G3 died last night and will no longer POST. I've been looking at new motherboards, and want to get away from the craptastic Intel on-board video. Several price/feature compaarisons (and checking budget) I come across the Raeon 9550 card. This is not listed in the series of supported cards, but it is listed to support DirectX 9. Does this card work for G3 or will it just cause headaches?

ATI says:
http://www.ati.com/products/radeon9550/index.html

Pricing example:
http://www.microcenter.com/single_product_results.phtml?product_id=0183843

Thank you.

[nemo_uk]

Hi,

did you see this tread ... http://12.156.2.54/forums/showthread.php?t=10008

It doesn’t mention any specific problems but the frame rate kind of sucks :eek:

(I've seen the 9800pro for about $150 ... its what I've got and it runs fine)

http://reviews.cnet.com/Sapphire_RADEON_9800_Atlantis_Pro_-_graphics_adapter_-_RADEON_9800_PRO_-_128_MB/4505-8902_7-30481361.html

amazon price $157 (http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/B00008ZPJP/qid=1122732344/sr=8-1/ref=pd_bbs_unbuck_1/104-2444499-5515102?v=glance&s=electronics&n=541966)


regards,

Tony.

[WeaponsHot]

Will there be any support for this card in my sony vaio laptop?

[Ryan Douglas]

Will there be any support for this card in my sony vaio laptop?
Please refer to my response here (http://12.156.2.54/forums/showthread.php?p=39536#post39536).

[swimwear1]

Costco has some pretty nice computers.
They seem to put in this card:
128MB PCI Express™x16 ATI™ Radeon™ X300 SE HyperMemory™
Does anyone know if this'll run the G3?
Thanks,
James

[vitek]

I believe that we have that exact card here. It doesn't get great frame rates with the default settings, but it works just fine. If you have this card, try lowering the quality settings as well as the terrain and tree density values.

Travis

[Breakstuff5050]

Card name: VISIONTEK Xtasy 9200SE PCI 128MB
Manufacturer: ATI Technologies Inc.
Chip type: RADEON 9200 SE (0x5964)
Display Memory: 128.0 MB

In case anyone is not sure about this card it does work, pretty good too. This is what i have been using.

[pe_z]

Does the Intel extreme 2 works

[mipapa]

How does this card run with the RF G3? Does anyone use this?

http://www.tigerdirect.com/applications/SearchTools/item-details.asp?EdpNo=1212072&Sku=P450-6600

Specs include:
Supports DirectX 9
Shader model 3.0
AGP support
cineFX 3.0 Engine
UltraShadow II64 Bit Texture and Filering
Intellisample 3.0 technology
UDA
AGP 8XTV Our
Dual DVI
Digital Vibrance Control

Price $140 at TigerDirect

Thanks for any help
Bob

[RC_Soaring]

Anyone use the NVIDIA GeForce 6600 video card with G3?? What kind of performance can I expect from it? I would like to know if it will work before I go out and buy the sim.. Thanks in advance.

My System:

CPU: 3.0GHz
Memory: 1GB
Video Card: NVIDIA GeForce 6600
Bus: 533MHz front side bus
Cache: 256kb L2 Cache

[morth]

Has anyone tried of of these with G3? I've run dxdiag and it passes all tests for directx 9. Tom's hardware has run this card through tests with directx 9, so it would seem to be compatible with DX9 even though it originally shipped with DX 8.1. On paper, it would seem to have the specs to run G3. Are there other tests I can run?

The rest of my system should be fine. Win XP -Sp2, P4-2.8 ghz, 1 gig ram, ect...

Thanks,
Mike

[theShark]

Anyone use the NVIDIA GeForce 6600 video card with G3?? What kind of performance can I expect from it? I would like to know if it will work before I go out and buy the sim.. Thanks in advance.

My System:

CPU: 3.0GHz
Memory: 1GB
Video Card: NVIDIA GeForce 6600
Bus: 533MHz front side bus
Cache: 256kb L2 Cache

Performance is acceptable, I run in 1280x1024 32bit 2xAA mode and get 80-130fps with everything highest except for shadows at medium.

[Robert Willis]

Has anyone tried of of these with G3? I've run dxdiag and it passes all tests for directx 9. Tom's hardware has run this card through tests with directx 9, so it would seem to be compatible with DX9 even though it originally shipped with DX 8.1. On paper, it would seem to have the specs to run G3. Are there other tests I can run?

The rest of my system should be fine. Win XP -Sp2, P4-2.8 ghz, 1 gig ram, ect...

Thanks,
Mike




Realflight G3 typically requires that the graphic adapter have both hardware and software support for DX9.

You can download the Everest Home Edition diagnostic software for the website listed below to determine what hardware level your graphic card supports.



http://www.lavalys.hu/index.php

[morth]

Hi Robert,
Thanks for the link, that's the sort of thing I was looking for. Unfortunately, this card's hardware only suports Directx 8.1 :( . At least I had not just bought the card... It's a couple years old... Would not have been happy to have spent $450 on the card, then another $200 on G3 only to have it not work....

I might try to find G2 instead since it would run on my current desktop as well as my laptop... The features of G3 are certainly making me think about upgrading though... Decisions decisions. I'm mainly interested in learning Helicopters and there seems to be lots of opinions on which is better for that, but that's a topic for another forum...

Time to check the sales on video cards....

Thanks,
Mike

[Elio Vierma]

What is the ideal configuration of ge force 5200, in order to obtain the best perfomance running G3? for example the soft lines in the model or the highest frame rate. excuse my english, I am Venezuelan, thanks

[kenick2003]

Unfortunately, the Radeon 7500 is not compatible with G3. While you may have DirectX 9.0 installed, the hardware does not support DirectX 9.0.



Many of the Nvidia cards listed as being supported by G3 are not DirectX 9 compliant either. DirectX 9 was not fully supported by Nvidia until the release of the Geforce 6 series video cards. I belive the majority of us are sick of throwing away many hundreds of dollars on video cards and spending huge amounts of time fiddling with our systems or downloading 180MB software patches (we don't all have a broadband option you know) just to make this sim work the way it should have out of the box.

[navyav8tr]

I know this has been talked about to death but I just want to hear it from the horse's mouth before I go out and sink $200 bucks into G3. I have a Toshiba laptop with an NVida GeForce4 440 Go 32 MB video card. Of course my question is, is this a compatible video card to run G3 and if so what kind of performance can I expect? Thanks for any info.

[worpdrive]

Just my 2 cents, but I dont think your performance will be very good. 32Mb of video ram is not enought for this version of RF. I run an ATI 9800 with 128 and it could really use 256. Hope that helps

[smitty4]

GeForce4MX-How does this card work with g3? I am looking at buying a flight sim and I want some graphics if possible. Thanks in advance. Would g2 be better with it?

[ssrobzoom]

Can we please have a new recommended list of video cards!!

[Bucko]

ssrobzoom... Duhhh... you mean this?
http://12.156.2.54/forums/showthread.php?t=10753 :D

[Airmunn]

Please make a bugfix for ATI 7500 Radeon both 64mb and 128 mb :-)

I have the Radeon Mobility 7500C card on my laptop. Will the G3 work with this card?

Ken

[Airmunn]

I have a Dell notebook with a ATI Radeon 7500 vedio card. Will this card work? I'v installed the software and do have the DirectX 9.0 but keep getting the error about creating grass or billboards.

I have the save thing going for me.... Using a Dell with the 7500 Mobility Radeon and I have DirectX 9.0

Let me know if you find a solution to it all.

KEN

[southern9999]

Hi,

I had the same thing on my laptop until I downloaded the update version of G3. I just bought this, but there was some revisions and it works great now.

I was getting the same errors before I did this.

Scot.

[HighlanderN245H]

So you say that G3 will work on Mobility Radeon 7500C if you have the updated version? Is this update downloadable of the internet, or did they come out with a whole new updated product? I am about to purchase G3 and I'm wondering how to tell if it is a later edition if there is one.

Thanks,
Chad

[Highflyer]

You will have to buy the software, load it, then upgrade to the latest version. The store version can never be the latest update. The update might have come out yesterday, but the boxed CD might have been there 6 months. Goodluck.

[smitty4]

Ok I never got an answer to my quesiton so I looked around and found that my graphics card will work w/o shadows. Ok next set of questions not really a graphics card but it will have a little to do with it.

Here is my setup
1.4 ghz amd processor
mx 440 graphics card
330?? mbs of ram
and no sound card whatsoever, my comp wouldnt support it for some reason, so i have some junk something.

so will my comp run g3 at all? I will possibly have a new computer soon but i want to be able to run g3 or atleast a couple of months i am running 70 hertz refresh rate on my graphics. Thanks in advance

[Dave Eames]

I have just purchased G3 (graduating from G2) and want to drive my 65" widescreen HDTV. What graphics card do you recommend? I am wanting to achieve the sort of quality that was displayed at the Toledo Model Show. My TV has component video or s-video inputs. Can I pick any of the recommended graphics cards, or do I need to purchase a HDTV graphics card?

[samstar]

I've been told G3 might not run very well on an integrated graphics chip. I have a P4 with integrated SIS 650 64mb 3D graphics card with DirectX compatibility and 706MB RAM. It runs G2 with full optimum graphics, but will it run G3 with a decent frame rate? Does anyone have a similar setup?
Thanks

[GimbalFan]

My flaptop has the same SIS 650 integrated graphics setup and G3 wouldn't run on it even with 1gB sys ram. You'll probably have the same problem. I believe that even though your puter will show that you've installed DirectX 9, that some components of D9 will not work on SIS because the chipset was designed and finalized before the final spec of D9 was released.

[Sammy Yousef]

I'm thinking of purchasing a Dell Inspiron 9300 with go6800, while Dell's running an AUD1000 off special. One of the main uses I intend this machine will get is Realflight. If I can, I will be running both G2 and G3 on it. Has anyone had any experience with this

My old laptop broke and its going to take time to see whether my VISA goldcard extended warranty will cover it. It only had a go5200 so I had to run with some settings turned down, but I miss my G3 on my commutes to and from work.

[SabreFlyr]

I'm hoping to configure our new machine to run G3 at some reasonable level (heli's). It's a Dell Dimension 3000 w/3.0 GB P4. The graphics card I add will have to be a PCI (not PCIe) card which I know severely limits me. Knife Edge's graphics card lists the 9200 as compatible. I'm looking at the 9250 w/256MB. However, ATi's specs say that the 9250 supports DirectX 8.1 while G3 requires 9.0. Will this still work? Is there a better PCI graphics card available?

[Japhet]

I'm looking at the 9250 w/256MB. However, ATi's specs say that the 9250 supports DirectX 8.1 while G3 requires 9.0. Will this still work?
I don't think that card will perform very well if at all. Any one of the AGP cards listed as working according to this compatibility chart (http://www.knifeedge.com/rfvc_compatibility.php) that comes in PCI format will work

[SabreFlyr]

I don't think that card will perform very well if at all. Any one of the AGP cards listed as working according to this compatibility chart (http://www.knifeedge.com/rfvc_compatibility.php) that comes in PCI format will work


Okay, now I really need help! I guess I'm more ignorant than I thought. I thought AGP cards went into AGP slots and PCI cards only worked in PCI slots. I've scanned the ATi and CNet websites and haven't figured out how to identify an AGP card in PCI format.

[vitek]

http://www.newegg.com/ProductSort/SubCategory.asp?SubCategory=48

Search on cards with a PCI interface. You'll find a few. Stay away from the GeForce 2, 3 and 4 MX cards as well as the Radeon 9200 and below. You won't get shadows with those cards.

[vitek]

If you use cnet, finding PCI cards is easy...


browse to cnet (http://www.cnet.com).
click components (http://reviews.cnet.com/Components/2001-3001_7-0.html?tag=cnetfd.dir) on the reviews column on the left.
click graphics cards (http://reviews.cnet.com/4566-8902_7-0.html?tag=dir) in the product finder column on the left.
click Interface type (http://reviews.cnet.com/4566-8902_7-0.html?sa=500240&tag=dir) from the Or find by column near the middle of the page.
click PCI (http://reviews.cnet.com/4566-8902_7-0.html?filter=500240_5000318_&tag=dir) in the interface type list near the top of the page.

[smokymountainrc]

what is the cheapest possible video card i could buy to run G3

[Japhet]

The cheapest? I'm guessing the Radeon 7000 for probably $30 max, but you'd only find a used one now.

[go_slowfly]

i just ordered a radeon 9250 but I didn't see it on the vedio card list. Does it fall under the 9200 series or will it not work at all??

[Japhet]

I'd like to be able to say yes, but unfortunately we haven't tested that exact card. I'm pretty sure it will work though, since it is very similar to the 9200.

[rightflyer]

I am considering G3, but I am concerned about my hardware. I am using 2 GHz Athlon with 512mb ram. I have GeForce Ti4600 ith 128mb of Ram. Can I realisticalyl run G3 smoothly at a high resolution? If not, will a new video card make a difference?

[bob_nj]

This is quoted from post #54 of this thread;

"You can download the Everest Home Edition diagnostic software for the website listed below to determine what hardware level your graphic card supports."


Does anyone know of a working link to Everest, or a comparible utility?
This link seems to be dead ->Everest (http://www.lavalys.hu/index.php)

[vitek]

Google found this http://www.lavalys.com.

[bob_nj]

I'll take a look at it_bob

[opjose]

I am considering G3, but I am concerned about my hardware. I am using 2 GHz Athlon with 512mb ram. I have GeForce Ti4600 ith 128mb of Ram. Can I realisticalyl run G3 smoothly at a high resolution? If not, will a new video card make a difference?

Realistically, with everything turned up to the max?

No, not a chance.

You'll need a fast processor, faster ram, faster hard drive, & faster video.


Will a new video card make a difference?

Nope because it will be processor & memory bandwidth bound.


Now if you DO NOT try maxing everything out, and set textures to medium, you'll find that G3 will run very well indeed.

But things like smoke particle effects, etc. will kill FPS so you may want to minimize those, or edit the planes/helis to reduce the amount of "smoke time".

[evilo]

I have a new HP machine with a P4 running 3 GHz with 2 Gig of RAM and SATA-150 drives. This machine has a PCI video bus (not AGP), I guess this limits my video card choices somewhat.

I would like to buy G3 and run it at high screen resolution (1600x1200 if that is feasible) with a Sony LCD DVI monitor.

What video card do you recommend? I don't mind spending a bit if necessary to get the performance.

thanks,

-erik

[tangentx]

If you have a new machine like that it is very likely that when you are mentioning PCI you're referring to PCIe x8 or x16 slot. If this is the case, then your choices for new and capable video cards has significantly increased. Here is an article that may help.

http://www.viaarena.com/default.aspx?PageID=5&ArticleID=86&P=2

If you do have a PCIe slot, you might want to consider a more cost effective yet very well performing NVIDIA 6800GS(~$200-220).


Dustin

[JChastain]

I just installed RealFlight G3 and while it works, I am getting quite a bit of screen flicker and delay in repainting the screen at times. My graphics card may be a bit behind the times, but I wanted to try to verify that this was where the issue was before spending the money on a new one. My system specs are as follows ...

Pentium 4 2.6 GHz
1.0 GB RAM
ATI Radeon 9200 w/ 128 MB RAM
Creative SB Audigy

Thanks

[ccameselle]

Hey Guys I went looking for the chipest video card with 256MB that I could fins and that works witht he simmuator. I found thisIt is a BFG Asylum GeForce FX 5200 256MB (http://www.pcdirect.com//product.asp?promo=pricewatch&PID=1&Sku=VIBFGFX52256) My question is does the manufacture matters? the chipset is from Nvidia and it is the model that you guys recomend. Can you guys let me know if this will work.

Thank you
CC :)

[kolban]

I have an nVidia GeForce 6800 Ultra with 256 MBytes of Ram running on a Dell 24" monitor (native resolution 1920 x 1200). I am getting 45 frames/sec. It looks awesome.

I did notice some jaggies on the edges of the plane .... see this screen shot.

JaggyPlane (http://www.kolban.com/images/PlaneJaggy.jpg)

Does anyone know if there are card, driver, software or DirectX settings to improve antialiasing?

Neil

[Japhet]

It is a BFG Asylum GeForce FX 5200 256MBThat card should work just fine.

did notice some jaggies on the edges
Find the NVIDIA control panel in your system tray. You can change the anti-aliasing settings from there.

[kolban]

I did just that and WOW ... what a difference ...

here is the before

Before (http://www.kolban.com/images/PlaneJaggy.jpg)

and after

After (http://www.kolban.com/images/PlaneSmooth.jpg)

This is fantastic!!

Neil

[realflight111]

mooooooooooooooooooooooooooo

[ohman]

Hi there,
I'm considering buying G3, and also upgrade my laptop to Dell E1705. According to the spec of Dell E1705, its graphics chipset is 256MB DDR Nvidia GeForce Go 7800. Have you tested this chipset yet?? Will this chipset/laptop run G3 with smooth graphics?? many thanks!

[mike]

i keep getting ERROR CREATING EFFECT PROP DISK ive updated, uninstalled re installed cussed ect. ive got a laptop 2.20meghz 20 gig left over on c: and a but load of ram it has an intregrated video and sound card that when i called dell and read off the sys requirements they assured me that my sys would run it .the video and sound is a SIS650 please help :confused:

[Joe Teibel]

i keep getting ERROR CREATING EFFECT PROP DISK ive updated, uninstalled re installed cussed ect. ive got a laptop 2.20meghz 20 gig left over on c: and a but load of ram it has an intregrated video and sound card that when i called dell and read off the sys requirements they assured me that my sys would run it .the video and sound is a SIS650 please help :confused:

More than likely your video card is not supported. Here is a link to the video card compatibility chart link (http://www.knifeedge.com/rfvc_compatibility.php)

[derrick]

i am new to r/c planes so i bought the g3 program to help me to better my flying but it dont work with my compaq presario 700 with a s3 twister-k integrated card can anyone help me

[opjose]

i am new to r/c planes so i bought the g3 program to help me to better my flying but it dont work with my compaq presario 700 with a s3 twister-k integrated card can anyone help me

You'll need to upgrade the video.

I believe that the S3 twister is not on the supported list as it lacks sufficient hardware 3D.

[rightflyer]

IS it a big advantage to buy the same video card with 256mb of ram versus 128mb? Sometimes there is significant price difference!

[rich the newbie]

I am new to this, how ever, it seems that there are quite a few people with the same issue on the video cards. I am no different, I meet the min. requirements according to the packaging but I can not run this program either. I keep getting the error that states " Error creating shadowreceivedirectionalgrass" just as printed. It is very discouraging. So this means $200.00 for a useless box and plastic controller or spend more to make it work? I should have just bought a trainer heli instead.

[opjose]

Rich, most of these "errors" are because people don't understand the minimum requirements.

A lot of people have cards that they BELIEVE are in spec, but actually are not.

In some cases they cannot believe that theirs is outside the specifications, and like you resort to bashing the program, even though G3 has nothing to do with it.

See this thread for a case in point:

http://www.knifeedge.com/forums/showthread.php?t=12033

In any event post the diagnostics dump when asking for help so we can have a look.

[opjose]

IS it a big advantage to buy the same video card with 256mb of ram versus 128mb? Sometimes there is significant price difference!

The larger texture RAM produces a significant advantage when utilizing large texture sizes.

It's normally worth doing.

[gk54]

Good afternoon to all

I have a problem and maybe you can help me

I have a P4 computer with 1 Gb RAM and ATI X600 Graphics card with 128 MB memory.

It works fine with G3 except one problem: It seems that there is a small delay when I push the stick until the control surface of the model moves on the screen!

It is a small delay, but is very annoying and -in any case- it is not like the behavior of the real model.

Is it also my idea, or it really happens? When I turn off Norton Internet Sequrity and Norton Antivirus, it seems that the delay is smaller!

Any idea will be much appreciated

Thank you in advance!

George

[opjose]

Make sure that there is nothing else plugged into the PC's USB port.

Make sure that the Interlink is plugged directly into the PC.

Usually high latency on the native USB bus, indicates that something else is generating too many IRQ's... like a LAN card.

At worst, try switching the cards around into different slots inside of the PC.

[Zelatio]

gk54 - Same thing happens to me on my laptop. I found out that when you load a plane of field or G3 itself, the mouse appears for a couple moments on the screen. Well, when the mouse disapears from inactivity, the lag disapears also! This only is on my laptop, so see if this happens. It sounds like you have played with tehg ame enough that the mouse icon would have disappeard. Maybe not though, just wait it out and see.

[Flyinfool]

I have a HP Pavilion zv6000 laptop with 768 meg ram and a 128 meg ATI Mobility Radeon Xpress 200m video card, and a AMD Athlon 64 processor 3200+ 1.99GHz.
Will this run G3 or do I need a whole new computer? I can increase the ram to 1G if that will help.

I am not a gamer or a computer wiz, just a poor old RC flyer. :o

Thanks
Jeff

[jam30]

does anyone know if this card is compatible I did'nt see it on the list what does that mean if anything.

[jam30]

does anyone know if my computer will run g3 here are my specs amd athlon 64 x2 dual- core processor 3800+ 2.0 ghz,2000mhzfsb,512kb l2 cache per core, 1024 MB DDR dual-channel memory, nvidia geforce 6100

[Zelatio]

does anyone know if my computer will run g3 here are my specs amd athlon 64 x2 dual- core processor 3800+ 2.0 ghz,2000mhzfsb,512kb l2 cache per core, 1024 MB DDR dual-channel memory, nvidia geforce 6100


Haha, that's funny....Oh, you really want to know...OF Course! It will run G3 with flying colors. I have a 5 year old PC that runs G3 quite well. 1.4 GHz Intel P4, 128 RAM, that kinda old. I am in process of building new PC, will have that same processor.

[TAILHOOK]

Help!---i'm Running G3 W/all Add-ons On My Dell 4600,2.8 Gig,pentium 4,1280 Mb Of Ram,1/2 Of My 60 Gig Hard Drive Open,19"lcd Monitor+ A Radeon 9550 256mb Card,agp 8x.i Have To Scale Back On The Options To Run Smooth.with Everything Maxed-out,it Looks Good,but Hesitates.i'm A Newbee To This Computer Stuff+am Looking For Advise To Get This G3 Screaming.i'm Looking For Reccomendations On A New Video Card With Out Breaking The Bank <200$.i'm Also Wondering If My Processor Speed Is Holding Me Back[2.8 Gig]?------thanks-------

[Flyinfool]

Anyone know about laptops like mine? Post#105

[Boytoys]

Thank you for the fast response from the Support at Great Planes/Realflight.. I was building a working demo at our hobby store and needed to upgrade a card. So i sent a message to the email account for support, and inquire about a specific card, I received the response same day, and I was able to make a sound decision on purchasing the ATI Radeon 9600 Pro (256 MB).

This card is value for money ! and works like a charm. My PC is only P4 1.7 Ghz and currently only 256 MB memory; but the G3 works very well. sometimes hesitates, but with the expansion to 1 Gig RAM, that should all go away....

Thank you for the support !!

ATI RADEON 9600 PRO is recommended.

[almsy]

Flyinfool,
I bought G3 about 6 weeks ago and loaded it on my 3 1/2 year old HP Pavilion ze4125 while waiting for my new Dell to arrive I had ordered. The HP is 1.4Gz and 256MB ram I think. I was amazed at how well G3 performs on it. It slows some with clouds and such, but with photo fields, which I understand don't use all the CPU capacity to run, it is great, especially for such an old machine. I couldn't expect it to run any better, frame rates are fine, no hesitation at all. I use the laptop almost more than the Dell as I can do it from the comfort of the couch .. lol.
Trying to decide what I'm going to buy now to get the 'real' experience now that spring is almost here ... maybe this will be the year I can get into the sport that has interested me for over 30 years. G3 was the first step and I WILL move forward. I was at the E-Fest in Champaign, IL last month, and can't wait to get my first foamy too!!

[BatGirl]

Greetings:

We are going to purchase a new Dell notebook and will be running G3. This is not the only determining factor in selection but the two models we are looking at are the new M90 (released a few days ago) and the XPS 170. These two computers have different architectures, including the graphics cards. Since these are relatively recent releases we would appreciate input from you with graphics compatibility with G3 and CPU architecture; will it run on a Duo? Obviously we're looking for maximum performance, given that these are notebooks. The critical differences are as follows

XPS 170 - CPU is an Intel Pentium M (2 GHz/2MB Cache/533MHz FSB)
- Graphics card is 256MB NVIDIA® GeForce™ Go 7800 GTX

M90 - CPU is Intel® Core™ Duo processor T2600 (2.16GHz/667Mhz)
- Graphics is NVIDIA® Quadro FX 2500M, 512MB (dedicated), OpenGL

We've looked for info on DirectX9.0 re: the new Quadro and can't find anything; just pinged NVIDIA also. Thank you.

[Clinto]

Hi im very keen on purchasing Realflight G3.
However i do have a few questions before i race out and spent my cold hard cash.
I have spent a couple of hours looking through this site but cant seem to find what im looking for. So if anyone could help it would be greatly appreciated.

I want to know if G3 will work on my laptop; and if so how well.

Here goes: I have
Dell Inspiron 6000 laptop
60G hard drive
512 ram
Windows XP professional

Im not much of a computer person and i think the graphics card is:

Mobile Intel(R) 915GM/GSM, 910GML Express Chipset Family

The rest is just copied and pasted from my info display:

Intel(R) Graphics Media Accelerator Driver for Mobile Report

Report Date: 05/03/2006
Report Time[hr:mm:ss]: 22:08:34
Driver Version: 6.14.10.3929
Operating System: Windows NT* 5.1.2600 Service Pack 2
Default Language: English
DirectX* Version: 9.0
Physical Memory: 503 MB
Min. Graphics Memory: 8 MB
Max. Graphics Memory: 128 MB
Graphics Memory in use: 10 MB
Processor: x86 family 6 Model 13 Stepping 8
Processor Speed: 1595 MHZ
Vendor ID: 0x8086
Device ID: 0x2592
Device Revision: 3

I also had a look through the compatiable graphics card list and found
Intel 82915G/GV/910GL
It says it works but has Editor Issues, No Shadows, No terrain. Im not sure if this is my card or not however.

Also why im at it can you please confirm weather or not i can use other controllers other than the one supplied.(i.e JRXVII and Futaba 9CHP)
Thanks in advance and it is much appreciated.
Clint

[opjose]

While some people are running G3 with similiar Shared Memory/Integrated adapters, performance tends to be abysmal compared to dedicated video processor computers with dedicated Video RAM.

With the configuration on that laptop, you should be able to run G3 in photofield mode, as this uses far fewer resources.

However full 3D fields will require that you turn off a lot of the neater features.


The systems that are capable of running video/memory intensive programs such as Doom3, Half Life 2, etc. will have no problems running G3 in all of it's glory.

For laptops, "gaming" laptops work best, but they are more expensive due to the added hardware cost.

[Clinto]

Cool thanks for that.
I realise that it is not the greatest system to run it on but just wanted to know.
Thanks again.
Clint

[Pretender]

I'm running a XFX GeForce 6200 AGP 8X 256MB DDR2 DVI Version A.3 card dated 12/05 on an AGP 4X slot as well as the following:

Processor
Model : Intel(R) Pentium(R) 4 CPU 1400MHz
Speed : 1.40GHz
Performance Rating : PR1537 (estimated)
Type : Standard
L2 On-board Cache : 256kB ECC Synchronous ATC (8-way sectored, 64 byte line size)

Mainboard
Bus(es) : X-Bus AGP PCI USB i2c/SMBus
MP Support : No
MP APIC : No
System BIOS : Intel Corp. GB85010A.15A.0046.P13.0108201551
System : Gateway E-4600
Mainboard : Intel Corporation D850GB
Total Memory : 1023MB RDRAM

Chipset 1
Model : Intel Corporation 82850 Host-Hub Interface Bridge Device (A2-step)
Front Side Bus Speed : 4x 100MHz (400MHz data rate)
Total Memory : 1024MB RDRAM
Memory Bus Speed : 2x 400MHz (800MHz data rate)

Video System
Monitor/Panel : Gateway EV700B
Adapter : NVIDIA GeForce 6200

Physical Storage Devices
Removable Drive : Floppy disk drive
Hard Disk : WDC WD200EB-11BHF0
CD-ROM/DVD : LG CD-RW CED-8120B (CD 32X Rd, 12X Wr)

Logical Storage Devices
1.44MB 3.5" (A:) : N/A
(C:) : 18.6GB (9.1GB, 49% Free) (NTFS)
CD-ROM/DVD (D:) : N/A

Peripherals
Serial/Parallel Port(s) : 1 COM / 1 LPT
USB Controller/Hub : Intel(r) 82801BA/BAM USB Universal Host Controller - 2442
USB Controller/Hub : Intel(r) 82801BA/BAM USB Universal Host Controller - 2444
USB Controller/Hub : USB Root Hub
USB Controller/Hub : USB Root Hub
USB Controller/Hub : USB Printing Support
Keyboard : Standard 101/102-Key or Microsoft Natural PS/2 Keyboard
Mouse : Microsoft PS/2 Mouse

MultiMedia Device(s)
Device : Creative Sound Blaster AudioPCI 128D (WDM)

Communication Device(s)
Device : 56K PCI Voice Modem SF-1156IV R9A

Operating System(s)
Windows System : Microsoft Windows XP/2002 Home (Win32 x86) 5.01.2600 (Service Pack 2)

Network Services
Adapter : Linksys LNE100TX Fast Ethernet Adapter(LNE100TX v4)

G3 appears to be working fine on my system. Am curious about how one finds out how many fps one is achieving? I just loaded G3 a couple days ago and haven't had much time to experiment yet.

bob

[almsy]

G3 frames/ second - Hit #1 key, nav guide window comes up giving you altitude, heading airspeed, frames/second. Photo fields give more fps as they take up less resources

[Niceez]

Would like to know Pretender checks out his new XFX GeForce 6200 card. I'm building a computer now for the Local EAA specifically to run G3 and want to make sure there are no issues.

Thanks in Advance :)

[opjose]

Would like to know Pretender checks out his new XFX GeForce 6200 card. I'm building a computer now for the Local EAA specifically to run G3 and want to make sure there are no issues.

Thanks in Advance :)

The XFX 6200 is a standard Nvidia 6200 card, which works with G3.

Note that this is not a great performing video card, compared to newer units.

As such G3 will work best with "medium" settings.

[Pretender]

The XFX 6200 is a standard Nvidia 6200 card, which works with G3.

Note that this is not a great performing video card, compared to newer units.

As such G3 will work best with "medium" settings.


Could be that turbocache is the extra provided with the XFX 6200. The card appears to be working fine with the default settings in G3. Perhaps you are not exactlly right on this one maybe? As stated.....the card is dated 12/05. I admit that I don't know that much about video cards and that I may not be exactly right that this card is different than a standard 6200, but it does seem to work ok.

bob

[opjose]

Could be that turbocache is the extra provided with the XFX 6200. The card appears to be working fine with the default settings in G3. Perhaps you are not exactlly right on this one maybe? As stated.....the card is dated 12/05. I admit that I don't know that much about video cards and that I may not be exactly right that this card is different than a standard 6200, but it does seem to work ok.

bob

No...

Turbocache is a misnomer for shared memory scheme. Something which is NOT preferable for G3.

Shared memory borrows slower main RAM memory from the system for video use.

A card with dedicated memory is preferable and produces far better performance with larger texture sizes.

If anything "turbocache" is something to be avoided... it's a marketing ploy.

The 6200 is a DX8 compliant card, so you are getting "ok" performance because many of the advanced features are being disabled by the drivers to compensate.

[Pretender]

No...

Turbocache is a misnomer for shared memory scheme. Something which is NOT preferable for G3.

Shared memory borrows slower main RAM memory from the system for video use.

A card with dedicated memory is preferable and produces far better performance with larger texture sizes.

If anything "turbocache" is something to be avoided... it's a marketing ploy.

The 6200 is a DX8 compliant card, so you are getting "ok" performance because many of the advanced features are being disabled by the drivers to compensate.

Would you be willing to tell me what card would be best for my system? Say one of these?

http://www.compusa.com/products/products.asp?in_dim_search=1&N=%2D872&credir=1

[Pretender]

Would the following system tower run G3 at its Optimum?

-Asus A8V-E Mainboard w/
Gigabit LAN/ SATA RAID/Wireless 802.11g
-AMD Athlon 64 3000+CPU w/1GHz FSB
-Nvidia GeForce 7600 GT/256MB/PCIe TVOUT
-1GB Corsair XMS 400Mhz. Memory
-WD Caviar SE 160GB SATA Hard Drive
-52X CDR/RW/16x DVD Rom Combo Drive
-Sony 3 1/2" Floppy Drive
-Realtek ALC850 8-CH Audio
-Microsoft Windows XP Professional OS
-E-Trust E-Z Antivirus

I appreciate your imput. Please help as I get frustrated when I have no idea what I'm dealing with.

bob

[opjose]

Would you be willing to tell me what card would be best for my system? Say one of these?

http://www.compusa.com/products/products.asp?in_dim_search=1&N=%2D872&credir=1

Of those listed the Ultras or the GT will do the best job.

The GS has fewer pipelines. If you are going to spend the money on a good graphics card, don't miss going those extra few yards.

These are DX9 compliant with Pixel shaders 2.x AFAIK.

Performance on the newer 7800's or higher end ATI offerings will be better though, albeit at an increased cost.

[opjose]

Would the following system tower run G3 at its Optimum?

-Asus A8V-E Mainboard w/
Gigabit LAN/ SATA RAID/Wireless 802.11g
-AMD Athlon 64 3000+CPU w/1GHz FSB
-Nvidia GeForce 7600 GT/256MB/PCIe TVOUT
-1GB Corsair XMS 400Mhz. Memory
-WD Caviar SE 160GB SATA Hard Drive
-52X CDR/RW/16x DVD Rom Combo Drive
-Sony 3 1/2" Floppy Drive
-Realtek ALC850 8-CH Audio
-Microsoft Windows XP Professional OS
-E-Trust E-Z Antivirus

I appreciate your imput. Please help as I get frustrated when I have no idea what I'm dealing with.

bob

That should do fine, but you may not be able to crank EVERYTHING up fully.

But even on my 3.6gHz machine I cannot max out all of the settings either.

BTW: Consider adding a dedicated audio card like the SoundBlaster X-Fi.

With the right drivers the Realtec Integrated does a decent job, but it places more of an audio workload on the CPU than the discreet cards.

[RickyD77]

hi i just wonder if this setup will work great

CPU Intel Celeron D 2.3GHz
ATI Radeon 9800
512 ram


thx...

[opjose]

This should work with Medium settings.

The video card is fine, but you need more RAM and ideally a faster processor with more on board cache... to get maximum performance and video effects...

e.g. no Celery's.

[zaapa]

so? what must i do?

im planing to buy an acer 5622 it got an ati x1300

in http://www.knifeedge.com/rfvc_compatibility.php
it sais:

ATI Radeon X1300 2005 Tested?.No. Work?.No. Texture problem (unconfirmed)

but the x300 is tested and work, x1300 is just the same version improved, i dont understand why it shouldn't work.

any one can help me? or explain me why they think that x1300 do a testure problem?

[opjose]

so? what must i do?

im planing to buy an acer 5622 it got an ati x1300

in http://www.knifeedge.com/rfvc_compatibility.php
it sais:

ATI Radeon X1300 2005 Tested?.No. Work?.No. Texture problem (unconfirmed)

but the x300 is tested and work, x1300 is just the same version improved, i dont understand why it shouldn't work.

any one can help me? or explain me why they think that x1300 do a testure problem?

Try to get a different card if possible...

There are several problems with the 1300.

First there are DIFFERENT versions of the 1300, some use dedicated video memory, others use a shared memory scheme (the Turbo Cache ones...).

The chipsets also seem to vary.

Second it may be that the 1300 is not fully DX9 compliant, even though it states it is.

If you already own it, run one of the 3D benchmark tests for DX9 and make sure that the card runs ALL of the DX9 tests. Since these stress thest all functions lack of full compatibility usually means that the program will skip a test or two, where the card cannot perform it.


If the card is not DX9 compatible, COMPLAIN to ATI.

All of that said, be sure that you run G3 initially at no more than 1024x768 until you are sure that it works with your card.

Some of the higher desktop resolutions take too much video RAM away from the 3D applications.

[zaapa]

i didnt bought the acer 5622 so i cant perform test's.

that's a shi*t bcos all acer's core duo got an ati x1300/x1400/x1600

Will i be able to run the Reflex Simulator? or thats not the perfect forum to ask about the simulators of other companys?

Thnks any way,

PD: In the list the cards x600/x700 are not present :P

thnks ,

[zaapa]

there is the latop acer 1652 too with x300

in the list they say it works fine...

i will get a Pentium M then... =(

[opjose]

i didnt bought the acer 5622 so i cant perform test's.

that's a shi*t bcos all acer's core duo got an ati x1300/x1400/x1600

Will i be able to run the Reflex Simulator? or thats not the perfect forum to ask about the simulators of other companys?

Thnks any way,

PD: In the list the cards x600/x700 are not present :P

thnks ,

There are reports that the x1400's and x1600's do work.

Search the threads.

And see:

http://www.knifeedge.com/forums/showthread.php?t=11396&highlight=X1600

[zaapa]

thnks opjose

Just the last question: (bcos i didnt found ny thread about it)

Will a Nvidia GeForceGo 7300 work?

It's not listed on the compatibility list, but i think it should work right? all nvidia are marked as "Y" or "P".

And in nvidia.com they say:

Supporting the latest games
With support for Microsoft® DirectX® 9.0 Shader Model 3.0 and High Dynamic-Range Lighting (HDR), GeForce Go 7400 and 7300 lets you rip through all of today’s most advanced and cutting-edge games and applications.

It should work right? now my questions is if its better x300 or better 7300...

on google and forums some people say better x300 and some other say better 7300... =(

thnks

[opjose]

thnks opjose

Just the last question: (bcos i didnt found ny thread about it)

Will a Nvidia GeForceGo 7300 work?

It's not listed on the compatibility list, but i think it should work right? all nvidia are marked as "Y" or "P".

And in nvidia.com they say:

Supporting the latest games
With support for Microsoft® DirectX® 9.0 Shader Model 3.0 and High Dynamic-Range Lighting (HDR), GeForce Go 7400 and 7300 lets you rip through all of today’s most advanced and cutting-edge games and applications.

It should work right? now my questions is if its better x300 or better 7300...

on google and forums some people say better x300 and some other say better 7300... =(

thnks

The link I posted above above talks about the x1600 working.

This thread talks about the x1400 working...

http://www.knifeedge.com/forums/showthread.php?t=12820

"Go" cards indicate "mobility" products. These are subsets of the larger cards found on good desktop system.

There are usually some limitations on the mobility products so you have to be a bit careful.

Basically a good gaming Laptop will have no problems with G3.

The problem is that most laptops are not gaming machines.

[skypix]

A couple of posts a ways back asked if the geforce 6600 card works.

I just installed mine (XFX geforce 6600 DDR 256MB, $105 @ Page Computers) and after some problems, mostly getting my dual dvi monitor setup worked out, I got G3 to run and seems to work fine.

I did have a crash the first time I ran it, rebooted, updated the nvidia driver to the latest and it works fine.

I got some good help from calling tech support at realflight. Those guys are awesome, they'll work through it with you if they possibly can. Reading threads, doing the basic detective work, seems to help.

Get the latest direct X (9.0C), run the directx diagnostic, check your monitor/monitors to make sure they're both functioning properly with directx, and you should be okay.

Also, I think, based on my experience, Athlon chips just get funky with some configs...and who knows what those hardware configs might end up being?

I have this rig: Pentium 3.06C, 2 GB DDR 3200 ram, Asus P4PE mainboard, 4X AGP slot, 400 watt power supply, two Samsung 19" monitors, both with DVI connections. oh, windows 2000, latest service packs. Very stable system for 2+ years now.

The XFX card has it's own power plug port, but a pigtail splicer comes with it so you can tap off your power supply harness. Make sure you plug in that power or you'll probably not get G3 to run...I couldn't until I plugged it in...at first I couldn't find the port, though it's right there on the card. :p

The tech guys at Realflight told me that Radeon cards in general have problems with G3. He said get any geforce card 5600 or above, I think that was the number, and it should work.

Personally, the tech guys are great, but I think it's unconscionable that a software company has the gall to charge this much money for a program that has such limited hardware ease of use. I'm thinking of the network multiplayer problems I read earlier and the number of cards, the vast majority in fact, that won't run. Pretty lame responses from the company too, they ought to be busting butt to make this thing as user friendly as possible.

The poster who said "we're not gamers, we're rc pilots who want to train" said it right on the button.

still, the program runs great...once you get it running.

[opjose]

but I think it's unconscionable that a software company has the gall to charge this much money for a program that has such limited hardware ease of use.


I dunno...

It's unfair to say that it has "limited hardware ease of use".

I've installed G3 under various configurations including ATI and Nvidia boards and different Intel processors... all have run flawlessly.

In all cases thought these are machines that I know can run the latest software and have fully DX9 compliant video cards.

The number of different configurations posted here contradicts the "limited hardware" statement.

As far as cost, I was initially put off by it too, but then after realizing how much G3 saved me in training, parts, and frustration, it's been a bargain and a half.

At the moment G3 is the premier RC simulator. Others charge just as much but give you far less.

Price out Reflex for one... oops no 3D fields, no dynamic environments, etc.
Aerofly (same price)... lousy heli modeling, horrid environments.

Hmmm... G3 is a bargain by comparison.

[skypix]

I appreciate your points. It is indeed a fabulous program, no question about it. I'm not dismayed at the accomplishment of the programmers, but the marketers who could be a little more forthcoming about the fact this is not a program that fits even a majority of the hardware systems out there.

The complexity of designing such a comprehensive program across many many hardware varieties must have been enough to make the programmers want to chew their fingernails down to the elbows.

I've been getting to know the program and it's truly awesome. I can tell it's going to make me a much less damage-prone pilot very soon. I'm already zooming around with the L-39 and the Sabre Jet, occasionally doing deliberate smoking-crater auger ins as well as having fun with retracts and flaps and stuff. Soaring in the Sierras is really realistic...much like flying a hang glider, and I know personally about that having been a hang glider pilot since the 70s. The simulation is truly awesome.

I was voicing the justifiable, I think, frustration of many like myself who felt they had to go to far more trouble than they should have to get it working. Of course "should" is a relative concept. One man's no-sweat should is another's technical apocalypse.

I think the RealFlight tech support dept. is marvelous, maybe the best I've come across in 23 years of computing. I also believe a person shouldn't have to go out and buy a card from a fairly limited list (by my quick count: around 200 cards listed. 27 are "yes" - about 12% - and another 82 - about 40% are "probably") just to get it running, especially when he's got a good system already working that runs advanced games well.

It's not the yesses that are intimidating, but those probables...you're requiring a lot of your customers to be willing to take a risk or make a change in their hardware. My risk, buying a new XFX dual-head DVI geforce 6600 card, worked out. But you can't deny someone who's hardware works for everything they run, but won't run G3, from feeling let down and bummed out. It's a human thing: here's this great restaurant that offers wonderful baked goods in the front window for all to drool over, only you have to wear a plaid pair of pants, carry a mini-ipod in your left shirt pocket, wear black horn rimmed glasses, white buck shoes and have an Exxon credit card in your wallet before they'll let you in.

Well, I'm getting a little silly now, but maybe you can see my point...it's mostly frustrating to get what seems to be an off the shelf program, especially for that money, then have to jump through, potentially, a lot of stressful and time-consuming hoops to get the thing running. Software engineering shouldn't be the pin-the-tail-on-the-donkey game that it was 10 years ago. There's that "should" again. :p

Nonetheless, time to move on: now that I'm one of the lucky ones who's got a running program with wind in the trees, sound, shadows, the full enchilada, I am happy with it and will recommend it, with the appropriate caveats: this is not a slam-dunk install like many other programs, so doublecheck that video card list and hardware-up, cowboy; and also be prepared to spend time with tech support if you have problems.

Fortunately, guys like Mike and Alex on the tech support phone line do a really great job, and they'll help you work it out, if it's workable.

[opjose]

One man's no-sweat is another's technical apocalypse.

That's pretty good, I'll have to remember that quote...


I think the RealFlight tech support dept. is marvelous, maybe the best I've come across in 23 years of computing. I also believe a person shouldn't have to go out and buy a card from a fairly limited list (by my quick count: around 200 cards listed. 27 are "yes" - about 12% - and another 82 - about 40% are "probably") just to get it running, especially when he's got a good system already working that runs advanced games well.

It's not the yesses that are intimidating, but those probables...you're requiring a lot of your customers to be willing to take a risk or make a change in their hardware.

This is not G3's fault.

It's the nature of computers and programming in general.

( I've heard this about sooo many different programs... )

Programmers who are right now writing the next version of G3 (G4) or other software MUST write for the machines that will be out a year AFTER their new software's release.

e.g. given a year or more developement time, they are writing for machines 2-4 years from now.

If they don't do this, they'll come out with a program that is technologically "dated" and will not sell.

Nor would I buy it!

In effect you purchased a state of the art piece of software. Your machine has to be up to the projected minimums.


No you DO NOT, -NEED- to go buy a new card if your computer met those minimums already, but then you will not get best performance.

You do not -NEED- to buy a new card if your computer met the recommended specs or exceeds them.

Unfortunately your computer needed a new card.



You would have faced this problem with other software sooner or later. It just bit you when you tried to run G3.

You would have had the same problem with Doom3, Half Life 2, MSFlight Sim 2004, or any other program with DirectX9 compatability requirements.

Any computer that can run those other programs flawlessly has NO problems with G3.... (with the exception of the known AMD/Nvidia issue.... and even that has a workaround)

The list of supported cards are only those that were tested. Other cards based upon the same chipsets as those tested SHOULD run fine, so the list is indeed larger than the 200 mentioned... (though I find 200 pretty impressive...).


No one is requiring anyone to make a change in their hardware (you can always return it if it doesn't work right?).

I ended up with a new machine to run Half Life 2 and other new programs... that is just the nature of the moving computer/hardware target.

We WANT the latest and greatest....

hmmm... Xbox 360's, PS/3's,etc... all bank upon this constantly moving target.

Yes it can be frustrating at times.... but at least with the computer you can SOMETIMES replace one part as opposed to the whole unit... that's a big plus in my book....


Now if I can just rationalize that new 7800 Ultra SLI setup to the significant other....



:D :D :D :D

[FlyGuy]

Just wanted to throw my 2 cents in with a little perspective. I recently purchased a new PC for my 10 year old daughter and just for fun installed G3 and updated it to .430 Did it run?? Oh yeah runs pretty good actually and with the photofields and setting on about medium across the board FPS are in the 70's. Why am I telling you this? Because her new PC cost $190 (from Best Buy) and I have the reciept to prove it. Its an eMachine w/AMD cpu and Ati card and it was the cheapest PC in the store :D

[zaapa]

The link I posted above above talks about the x1600 working.

This thread talks about the x1400 working...

http://www.knifeedge.com/forums/showthread.php?t=12820

"Go" cards indicate "mobility" products. These are subsets of the larger cards found on good desktop system.

There are usually some limitations on the mobility products so you have to be a bit careful.

Basically a good gaming Laptop will have no problems with G3.

The problem is that most laptops are not gaming machines.

On that link the guy say that x1400 work fine, so why u got a msg of: Texture problem (unconfirmed)
on the video card list? :s

[zaapa]

There are reports that the x1400's and x1600's do work.

Search the threads.

And see:

http://www.knifeedge.com/forums/showthread.php?t=11396&highlight=X1600


same question: X1400 and x1600 do work, probably x1300 too, so why u got the msg of texture problem? :?

[opjose]

As I said in prior posts, there are different versions of the 1400.

Some use dedicated video ram others do not.

It could be this, or a driver issue.

It's not really a G3 problem.

[WingsWest328]

Just wanted to throw my 2 cents in with a little perspective. I recently purchased a new PC for my 10 year old daughter and just for fun installed G3 and updated it to .430 Did it run?? Oh yeah runs pretty good actually and with the photofields and setting on about medium across the board FPS are in the 70's. Why am I telling you this? Because her new PC cost $190 (from Best Buy) and I have the reciept to prove it. Its an eMachine w/AMD cpu and Ati card and it was the cheapest PC in the store

That is amazing. Do you what kind of graphics card and CPU it is running..specifics..and I know one reason its running that good is cuz it has an AMD processor ;)

[morrie]

My new Pentium motherboard will accomodate two video cards and the XFX GeForce 6800 Xtreme seems to have a connector on the top to "bridge" cards. G3 seems to run a little glitchy but usually in ordinary circumstances it does well. Is anyone running this setup and is there an improvement or would my money be better spent on more memory?

[3d_wanna_b]

I checked the new video card chart and found the card I have... It is listed not being tested and not working. Just wanted to let you know It's working fine for me..

Blake

[M Flores]

I'm trying to install G3 and get the error message "Error creating effect shadowReceiveDirectionalGrass" My computer is several years old (HP Pavillion) and based on the video card compatability chart my video card is Not tested and not works. Below are my system specs......any recommendations on what I need , i.e. what type of video card I should get? Thanks!

System: Windows XP Home Edition (5.1, Build 2600) Service Pack 1 (2600.xpsp1.020828-1920)
Processor: AMD Athlon(tm) Processor, ~1.0GHz
Memory: 256MB RAM
DX Version: DirectX 9.0c (4.09.0000.0904)
Video Card: NVIDIA RIVA TNT2/TNT2 Pro (Microsoft Corporation)
MFR: NVIDIA
Version: 6.13.0010.2958 (English)
Date: 8/29/2002 03:41:10, 3494303 bytes
CD-ROM (?:\) MITSUMI CR-48X5TE (?)
CD-ROM (?:\) PIONEER DVD-ROM DVD-116 (?)
Installed in: C:\Program Files\RealFlightG3
Free Disk Space (C:\): 106305 mb free
Launcher Version: 1.00.153
RealFlight G3: 3.00.430
:confused:

[morrie]

Processor: AMD Athlon(tm) Processor, ~1.0GHz
Memory: 256MB RAM[/I]
[/B]

1gig or more of memory may fix it

[maxchao]

I know X1600 has no problem with G3, unless it is the bad memory chipset, but I still want to make sure, because I'm buying a laptop, and the only game I will play is G3. This laptop has a little different X1600.
So this is the description of the graphic card on this laptop:
ATI MOBILITY™ RADEON™ PCI-E X1600 w/256MB embedded VRAM - up to 512MB with Hyper Memory

I'm not sure if the "Hyper Memory" is a good thing in this case. I hope I can get some help from here. Thanks a lot!

Josh

[maxchao]

and Asus laptop W3V?
They have a X600 on it, 64MB Ram with Hyper Memory 128MB.
Will that be able to run G3?
this laptop is a little cheaper than W3J, and fits my budget.
Many thanks!

[opjose]

Processor: AMD Athlon(tm) Processor, ~1.0GHz
Memory: 256MB RAM[/I]
[/B]

1gig or more of memory may fix it

No, this machine does not have an adecuate video processor.

It's another brain damaged shared memory laptop.

[opjose]

I know X1600 has no problem with G3, unless it is the bad memory chipset, but I still want to make sure, because I'm buying a laptop, and the only game I will play is G3. This laptop has a little different X1600.
So this is the description of the graphic card on this laptop:
ATI MOBILITY™ RADEON™ PCI-E X1600 w/256MB embedded VRAM - up to 512MB with Hyper Memory

I'm not sure if the "Hyper Memory" is a good thing in this case. I hope I can get some help from here. Thanks a lot!

Josh

"Embedded VRAM" = VERY GOOD!

Hyper Memory = shared memory.... however due to the dedicated vram this will not be a problem.

[opjose]

and Asus laptop W3V?
They have a X600 on it, 64MB Ram with Hyper Memory 128MB.
Will that be able to run G3?
this laptop is a little cheaper than W3J, and fits my budget.
Many thanks!

Nope, no hope at all of running it well.

64MB dedicated ram doesn't cut it. This is about a DX7 standard amount!

That 128MB hyper memory is "shared memory", see prior posts about this.

[maxchao]

Thanks a lot!
At least now I can get rid of W3V, the one with X600 Mobility, out of my options..
But...I just found another Asus...A6Jm, this one uses a GeForce Card, and I need help on this again, really appreciate it!
A6Jm uses NVIDIA Geforce Go 7600, will that run G3?
It seems all good Geforce has no problem with G3, but I still want to make sure...
Thanks

[GregH]

I just bought G3. It doesn't work very well, so I have decided to replace my video card. I have a 16x PCIe slot for the card. Any suggestions?

[opjose]

Thanks a lot!
At least now I can get rid of W3V, the one with X600 Mobility, out of my options..
But...I just found another Asus...A6Jm, this one uses a GeForce Card, and I need help on this again, really appreciate it!
A6Jm uses NVIDIA Geforce Go 7600, will that run G3?
It seems all good Geforce has no problem with G3, but I still want to make sure...
Thanks

I haven't had problems with the "Go".

[GregH]

I installed a GeForce 7600GS card in Dell E510. Reloaded G3 and it is fantastic. I can run graphics at high quality without degarding performance. Now I need to optimize to reduce jagging at distance.

[opjose]

Yeah, nice card.

Go into the Nvidia control panel applet, and set anti-aliasing to 2xQ.

That causes all anti-aliasing to be done in hardware with no load on the CPU at all.

[Eval95]

Ok can someone tell me WHY I get every damn error possible after I install this? After reading I would assume its something to do with the video card?

I got mine at HobbyPeople and he asked me about the memory requirements to which I met..nothing about a video card though

I did it all and when I launch it I get the error making all those billboards etc and it never launches. THen asks if i want to send the report and I say yes and I cant play the damn thing...whats going on? Here are the specs for me I guess

System: Windows XP Professional (5.1, Build 2600) (2600.xpclnt_qfe.021108-2107)
Processor: AMD Athlon(tm) XP, ~1.1GHz
Memory: 2304MB RAM
DX Version: DirectX 9.0c (4.09.0000.0904)
Video Card: ATI Technologies Inc. RAGE 128 PRO AGP 4X TMDS
MFR: ATI Technologies Inc.
Version: 5.10.0000.0108 (English)
Date: 8/17/2001 07:55:58, 266368 bytes
CD-ROM (?:\) SAMSUNG CD-R/RW SW-224B (?)
Installed in: C:\Program Files\RealFlightG3
Free Disk Space (C:\): 663 mb free
Launcher Version: 1.00.158
RealFlight G3: 3.00.448

[Eval95]

Hopefully someone can help bc this $200 program is pissing me off now

[Rob777]

X1600 XT works fine, but I decided to up my card to a X1900 XT for Ghost Recon Advanced Warfighter(GRAW) to run it on high settings and X-FI Sound is extreme on settings for GRAW. The card runs G3 depending on aircraft max settings on photofields at 1280 x 1024 32 bit around 125-200 fps on the X1900 XT. The X1900 XTX will get you about 6 fps on games for an extra $100, but it is the same card as the X1900 XT. It is just overclock a little more than the XT, but the XT can reach the standard XTX clock. Sapphire does the best job on ATI overclock scores. I bought both cards from ZIPZOOMFLY.

System 3800 AMD DUALCORE 3.0 GB RAM 2000 MHz FSB

[guest_jo]

@eval95
If I learned anything in life it is : Never believe a salesman if he´s talking about technical details, inform yourself from reliable sources !

Sorry but the system-requirements specify a directx 9 compatible graphics adapter.
Your card is over 7 years old and definitely not up to date with modern 3D applications, the RAGE 128 Pro is directX 6, so better forget it.

Depending on the money you can spend there are some cheaper cards that would do it e.g. ATI Radeon 9800 ; Nvidia FX 5200 ; Nvidia GF6600GT ...
But make sure you buy a card that supports the AGP 4x from your Motherboard !

[opjose]

Hopefully someone can help bc this $200 program is pissing me off now

The $200.00 program is not at fault here.

[SassKwatch]

I've been putting off purchasing a new system for too long and it looks like G3 is going to provide the impetus to start throwing the plastic around.

One aspect in particular I'm curious about. Would G3 take advantage of an SLI based graphics setup?

Thanks!

[Zelatio]

Yes, but I believe SLI is a little overkill. but if you ask r1der he would disagree. I would just get a 7900GTX if you've got the money. 4GB of RAM also woulde help.

[JSamJr]

I'm planning in buying a new Mac Pro desktop with Two 2.66GHz Dual-Core Intel Xeon processors so it will run XP. This new computer has a 16-lane, double-wide PCI Express interface for up to 4 GBps throughput and up to 300 watts of power. This platform should be more than enough to run G3 but which graphics card to choose?The choices Apple gives for graphics cards are:

GeForce 7300GT 256MB;
Radeon X1900 XT 512MB or
NVIDIA Quadro FX 4500 512MB, Stereo 3D

Which would be best for running G3?

[opjose]

If you can run the respective drivers for all of those cards under bootcamp consider the following...

The 7300 is a scalled down "low end" 7x00 series Nvidia card...

IMHO either the Quadro or the ATI might be better choices.

[GregH]

Yeah, nice card.

Go into the Nvidia control panel applet, and set anti-aliasing to 2xQ.

That causes all anti-aliasing to be done in hardware with no load on the CPU at all.

I can't find a switch for anti-aliasing. Maybe I'm looking in the wrong place. Exactly how do you get to this option?

[opjose]

Don't use the Web Based Nvidia Control Panel (You can turn it off).

Then you'll find all of the settings in Control Panel/Display/Advanced.

Under Global Settins you'll see anti-aliasing... with a slider that permits you to adjust the amount of anti-aliasing.

The "Q" entries are done completely in hardware.

[vanpilot]

Here is the deal. I bought G3 after flying it at the local hobby shop. I am a pilot fullsize and RC, not a computer whizz. I have spent countless hours reading up on video cards operating systems MB, RAM and every other acronym out there. All I wish to know is simply this.... what computer is the average population using to fly this sim. I have a sony Vaio lappie and desktop. Is there a computer off the shelf that will run this sim without getting upgrades, cancelling errors, slowing down and adjusting gizmos and gadgets.....All I want to do is fly the sim not join NASA as a computer Technician,

Any comments??
Jonathan

[opjose]

Already answered here:

http://www.knifeedge.com/forums/showpost.php?p=58478&postcount=14





You have to have a fairly adecuate machine. A Vaio simply doesn't cut it.

Laptops in general are problematic because the vendors are purposely taking many shortcuts.

So here is what you need:

- Machine/CPU SPEED. Nowadays 3.2gHz should be considered a minimum. However more is better.

- Main system RAM. 2 gigabytes is a good number for G3 and standard for all machines that I put out for employees.

- A fast hard drive with space. A modern 200 Gigabyte 7200 RPM Sata drive or better is ideal.

- An Optical Drive. Modern Combo DVD-/+/RW drives are cheap.

- A dedicated sound card, such as the SBlaster line. This offloads the CPU from having to deal with audio.

On board audio is usually lacking and causes problems. Get a dedicated audio card.

- And lastly and very important... a DECENT video processor (GPU) such as ATI or Nvidia, that has DEDICATED Video Memory, of at least 128 megs or more.

This is the thing that trips most people up, as they assume that their newly purchased machine has a decent video card.

Often the manufacturers utilize cheap "on board" video chips that have little to no 3D processing power. Think of the GPU as being it's own computer that only handles putting things up on the screen.

This computer requires MEMORY to run. Cheap video controllers use main SYSTEM RAM (that 2 gigs from above) to act as a "buffer" for anything related to video.

This is an abysmally slow mechanism that is often used in laptops to avoid additional costs and hardware.

What you need is a seperate "board" or "card" that has descreet components that do all of this. This "card" has it's own higher speed memory (128 megs or more) that the GPU uses.

In this memory all of those nice pretty textures that G3 puts up, are temporarily stored as the airport loads up.

Once done the computer (CPU) is then free to deal with physics computation, and your inputs, while the GPU and AUDIO processors handle graphics and sound respectively.


----

Basically any decent "gaming machine" has all of this.

[SigVicious]

I'm considering a laptop that comes with nVidia Geforce Go 6100. I don't see it listed on the compatibility chart. Anyone know if it is supported?


Sig

[guest_jo]

It´s a chip with shared memory that is said to be especially good for special video formats but I wouldn´t call it a good choice for realtime 3D-rendering.

It supports direct x9 but it won´t have much performance, and the memory it uses is taken from system memory so you will loose that memory for main processor tasks. :(

[SigVicious]

Thanks for the reply.

[babycub1970]

Well, I have read this post and the official supported graphics cards list and have to say I am confused.

My dad wants to run G3 on a laptop, and this one (see link below) was the best price point I could find that appears to have a dedicated graphics card (Radeon X1600 Mobility) .

http://www.pcnextday.co.uk/products/ProductDetail.asp?ProductCode=3382-6301

and it passed COmputer Shopper magazines 3D gaming test with flying colours.

However, the official supported graphics card list for G3 says it doesn't work yet you guys say it does.

As far as I can see, the 256Mb for the X1600 mobility on the laptop seems to be dedicated memory.

What is you guys opinion on the machine? Will G3 run on it? and if so will it run like a dog with no legs?

[opjose]

Reports are that it WILL run with updated graphics drivers.

[nemo_uk]

I've ran G3 maxed out with no problems on a Asus W3J (http://www.trustedreviews.com/article.aspx?art=3031) (same card/chip)

[peewee]

I installed G3 today and I'am running a "Navidia Geforce mx440 with agp8x". I lauched the program and it showed that the card didn't fit the bill and some features won't function properly. However I'm able to use the program and fly the aircraft. My question is what am I missing? Special effects? or? I really don't want to go out and buy a $100+ card if I don't need to. Thanks

[opjose]

You are probably missing many particle effects, specular highlights, etc.

Also have you tried running a complex 3D airfield?

You'll find that G3 will slow down quite a bit with that card.

[peewee]

Do you think I would still be okay to learn to fly with it? Or will it hamper the learning process? thanks for the reply..

[lakepilot]

Well I must say I was frustrated will my old PC not handling G3. I went out and bought my parts and built a new one. I got the Intel Dual core E6600 processor with 2 Gigs of ram and an GeForce 7900 GT OC. Now G3 works fine. I can finally concentrate on flying. It's a shame it takes so much PC power to run this thing. The graphics are awesome though. :D

[hammerheadz]

How do you determine what kind of frame rate you are getting?
Thx

[freakyreef]

Under navguides, enable FPS setting.

[Jollyroger]

Ok, I bought G3 installed it on this computer, but like everyone else, my video card wouldn't support. Well, now i'm getting a new computer, please tell me if it will work or if i'm screwed again.

Intel Core 2 Duo processor E6400 (2.13GHZ 1066 FSB)
Windows XP Media Center 2005 Edition
1GB Dual Channel DDR2 SDRAM @ 667 Mhz - 2 Dimms
250GB Serial ATA 3GB/s Hard Drive (7200 Rpms) W/data burst Cache
256MB nVida GeForce 7300LE TurboCache

Will this do?

[freakyreef]

No...

Turbocache is a misnomer for shared memory scheme. Something which is NOT preferable for G3.

Shared memory borrows slower main RAM memory from the system for video use.

A card with dedicated memory is preferable and produces far better performance with larger texture sizes.

If anything "turbocache" is something to be avoided... it's a marketing ploy.

The 6200 is a DX8 compliant card, so you are getting "ok" performance because many of the advanced features are being disabled by the drivers to compensate.

It should run, but as stated, not ideal to have shared memory.

[Beezer]

I am looking for a new video card to replace my current "MSI FX5200 128MB DDR" card and could use some input.
My current card works ok with G3 but I have noticed some hesitation in the graphics, even when using the Photo Fields, since I installed Expansion Pack #1. I would like to be able to increase the graphic settings in G3 from their current settings.
I am running a P4 2.4GHz HT CPU on a MSI 865PE Neo2 motherboard with 1 Gig of PC3200 DDR 400 ram (dual channel I think but not sure).

I plan on adding another Gig of system ram once I am sure that I am running a single Dimm or a pair. I am trying to stay within a $200 budget for the video card and staying with a nVida chipset. Not going ATI. I am not a serious gamer and G3 is the only thing that I run that pushes my system, so I don't need a super $300-$500 video card.

I have found a few cards that I am currently considering and would like some input from those that have tried these or similar cards. I will post links to the cards so you can view the specs for yourself.


256MB Cards

BFG GeForce 6800 GS OC / 256MB GDDR3 / AGP 8x / DVI / VGA / TV Out (http://www.tigerdirect.ca/applications/SearchTools/item-details.asp?EdpNo=1779348&Tab=2&NoMapp=0)

XFX GeForce 6800 Xtreme / 256MB GDDR3 / AGP 8x / Dual DVI / HDTV / Video Card (http://www.tigerdirect.ca/applications/SearchTools/item-details.asp?EdpNo=2201323&Tab=2&NoMapp=0)

512MB Cards

XFX GeForce 7600 GS / 512MB GDDR2 / AGP 8x / DVI / VGA / HDTV (http://www.tigerdirect.ca/applications/SearchTools/item-details.asp?EdpNo=2412161&Tab=2&NoMapp=0)

BFG GeForce 7600 GS OC / 512MB GDDR2 / AGP 8x / DVI / VGA / TV Out (http://www.tigerdirect.ca/applications/SearchTools/item-details.asp?EdpNo=2427400&CatId=0)


Thanks,
Carl :)

[freakyreef]

At Newegg, you have a choice of 7900GS boards for under 200 bucks. Quite a bit faster than a 7600GT, way faster than a 7600 GS or 6800 series.
I chose the Leadtek card, VERY pleased. Easy to overclock and get close to stock 7900GT performance. Runs at full settings with AA and AF at a good framerate. (On my AMD 64 3800+ (2.9 ghz), getting over 100 FPS on photofields, in the 50's for 3d fields)

[Beezer]

Unfortunately Newegg is in the US and I'm in Canada. I haven't been able to find any 7900GS cards from any of the Canadian online stores yet. Found a couple 7800GS cards but they are all over $300 Cnd. I am also limited to an AGP card.

Something will come up eventually. :D

[opjose]

At Newegg, you have a choice of 7900GS boards for under 200 bucks. Quite a bit faster than a 7600GT, way faster than a 7600 GS or 6800 series.
I chose the Leadtek card, VERY pleased. Easy to overclock and get close to stock 7900GT performance. Runs at full settings with AA and AF at a good framerate. (On my AMD 64 3800+ (2.9 ghz), getting over 100 FPS on photofields, in the 50's for 3d fields)


Yes very nice cards!

[JohnRB]

I just finished rebuilding a pc and would like to know what video card would give the best operation for RealFlight G-3. In this pc I updated mobo, cpu, memory & power supply:

Giga-Byte K8 Triton series AGP8X Mobo GA-K8U w/ 2.40 gig. AMD Athlon 64
(128 kb primary mem. cache, 256 secondary me3m. cache)

2048 gig installed memory (DDR 400) can update 1 gig more.
Buss Clock 200 meg (memory may be running only 333 due to type
modules used.

Win XP w/sp2 and all patches (build 2600)

Viewswonic VA902b monitor

Realtek AC 97 Audio (probably need to replace this also)

The current video card is not compatable with G-3, this is why I am looking for a card that will work with this system and show good operation. If more info is needed, please ask. thanks for any help anyone can give. I am not tooooo concerned about cost, not rich, but would like a good card. I am currently running Realflight on a second system right now, but would like to use the new one.

John RB

[Beezer]

Out of these two types of cards which is a better buy?

Nvidia 6800 GT / 256mb / GDDR3 ---- (mfg. MSI) This one is used and they want around $240 Cnd for it.

or

Nvidia 7600 GS OC / 512mb / GDDR2 ---- (mfg. BFG) This one is new and is under $200 Cnd.


Carl

[El Chupacabura]

The Nvidia Geforce 7300 GT was not listed on the spreadsheet of compatible video cards does that it wont work with Real Flight ?

[freakyreef]

Beezer, out of the 2 mentioned, I would go with the 7600 GS. Price for a used 6800 card seems pretty high, even for Canada. I just did a quick check and found a 7600 GT XXX edition at Tiger direct Cananda for under $200.00 Faster than either of the 2 you mentioned.

[kevin g]

So... exactly how many people are buying G3 and then realizing that their video hardware is not compatible? I have the ATI Radeon 7500 in my Compaq laptop and this is the first graphics application that won't work on it. Congratulations.


Yeah....and your automobile doesn't eat hay....how sad :)

Cheers.

[hilleyja]

Ok, I bought G3 installed it on this computer, but like everyone else, my video card wouldn't support. Well, now i'm getting a new computer, please tell me if it will work or if i'm screwed again.

Intel Core 2 Duo processor E6400 (2.13GHZ 1066 FSB)
Windows XP Media Center 2005 Edition
1GB Dual Channel DDR2 SDRAM @ 667 Mhz - 2 Dimms
250GB Serial ATA 3GB/s Hard Drive (7200 Rpms) W/data burst Cache
256MB nVida GeForce 7300LE TurboCache

Will this do?

In a word -- it will work but you won't be happy with it.

I have virtually an identical system:
Intel Core 2 Duo processor E6400 (2.13GHZ 1066 FSB)
Windows XP Media Center 2005 Edition
2GB Dual Channel DDR2 SDRAM - PC2 4200
(2)250GB Serial ATA 3GB/s Hard Drive (7200 Rpms) W/data burst Cache
256MB nVida GeForce 7300LE TurboCache -- actually this is a 64MB on board card, it shares upto 256MB of system memory.

I had to do 2 things to bring my BRAND NEW, Latest and Greatest, HP computer upto optimum level for Realflight G3.

1) Replaced the lame Nvidia GeForce 7300LE with a Coolpower Radeon X800 GT 256 PCIe card.
2) I also had to replace the lame 300watt power supply HP installed in this high-end computer with an Antec 480watt power supply.


Now I have many :) :) :) :) :) :)

[Kaos]

I'm currently running G2 on my 4 year old Dell 8200. G2 works great, but I'm wondering if G3 or G3.5 will work. The video card is an nVidia Ti4200 64MB, which I think is a pretty good card (although a bit dated). Other specs: 2.53 Ghz Pentium 4; 512 MB RAM.

Kaos

[opjose]

You may be able to run it with Medium settings.

That video card is fairly dated and lacks video RAM forgetting the particle effects.

G3 REQUIRES a DX9 card and I believe the 4200 was a DX7 card brought out at the transition to DX8 (it's not really DX 8 compliant!).

Also your machine needs more memory...

[Kaos]

That's kind of what I was afraid of. Unfortunately, I bought my Dell Dimension 8200 right at the time when RAMBUS RAM (RIMM's) were thought to be the up and coming great new memory. Since it eventually gave way to DDR RAM, RAMBUS RAM is very, very expensive. It would cost me about $560.00 (Crucial.com) to add just 512 MB of RAM, not to mention probably another $200.00 or so for an adequate video card. For twice that total cost, I could buy a pretty decent new computer system. Oh well, I got 4 years out of the 8200 without spending a dime on it for upgrades or repairs.

Kaos

[Brian8474]

That's kind of what I was afraid of. Unfortunately, I bought my Dell Dimension 8200 right at the time when RAMBUS RAM (RIMM's) were thought to be the up and coming great new memory. Since it eventually gave way to DDR RAM, RAMBUS RAM is very, very expensive. It would cost me about $560.00 (Crucial.com) to add just 512 MB of RAM, not to mention probably another $200.00 or so for an adequate video card. For twice that total cost, I could buy a pretty decent new computer system. Oh well, I got 4 years out of the 8200 without spending a dime on it for upgrades or repairs.

Kaos
Is your ram 184 pin? My daughter's Pc is a dimension 3000 and i put the original 256mb chip out of my HP pc in her computer and it automatically recognized it and it sped her pc up very noticeably, Don't get fooled by all those dell ram modules, If it will fit,Try it..I learned this because my mother was wanting to speed up her dell and i started looking for ram online and the prices were rediculous! For some reason Dell is very deceiving about their ram from my experience, Which is why i would not buy another one ,My daughter's is fine,But all she does is music and email.I just get scared off easy when a company is deceiving like that. You might check into this..

[Kaos]

Is your ram 184 pin? My daughter's Pc is a dimension 3000 and i put the original 256mb chip out of my HP pc in her computer and it automatically recognized it and it sped her pc up very noticeably, Don't get fooled by all those dell ram modules, If it will fit,Try it..I learned this because my mother was wanting to speed up her dell and i started looking for ram online and the prices were rediculous! For some reason Dell is very deceiving about their ram from my experience, Which is why i would not buy another one ,My daughter's is fine,But all she does is music and email.I just get scared off easy when a company is deceiving like that. You might check into this..

Yes, they are 184-pin, but they are RIMM's, not DIMM's. RIMM's (RAMBUS RAM) are not interchangeable with DIMM's, unfortunately. Dell (and others) offered RIMM's in 2002 as the next generation of RAM advancement, but after a few months it became apparent the 184-pin DDR DIMM's were the hot ticket and RIMM's faded away. And since they are now a very low volume sales item, they are very expensive.

Kaos

[opjose]

On non-proprietary systems a motherboard upgrade fixes this for you.

[magicaxeman]

The Inno3D 7600GT video card works fine with G3, Im running everything at high and all detail on. 1280 x 1024 res without issues..

The card is pcie (express) with 256MB of onboard ram

My pc is :
Amd semperon 64 XP 3400+
1 GB pc 2700 ram

I hope this helps someone when choosing cards.. it can be picked up here in the uk for around £90 from ebuyer.com

[Bob1936]

Hi everyone

Haven't posted in awhile but want to pass on some good information. I've had G3 for about a year and it was just chugging along so so on my old EMachine with a NVIDIA Ge Force FX5500 128MB video card.

I recently upgraded my computer to a new HP Pavilion Media Center a1540n Desktop PC with a 2006 Nvidia Ge Force 7300 GS 256MB PCI Express video card. Wow what a difference. This card works super smooth. I recommend it . You should add it to your list of video cards that work 100%. Here is the specs on my computer.

System: Windows XP Professional (5.1, Build 2600) Service Pack 2 (2600.xpsp_sp2_gdr.050301-1519)
Processor: AMD Athlon(tm) 64 X2 Dual Core Processor 4200+, MMX, 3DNow (2 CPUs), ~2.2GHz
Memory: 2046MB RAM
DX Version: DirectX 9.0c (4.09.0000.0904)
Video Card: NVIDIA GeForce 7300 GS
MFR: NVIDIA
Version: 6.14.0010.9131 (English)
Date: 6/1/2006 14:22:00, 4529408 bytes
CD-ROM (?:\) DVDRW IDE 16X (?)
CD-ROM (?:\) LITE-ON DVDRW SHW-160H6S (?)
CD-ROM (?:\) PHILIPS DVD8421 (?)
Installed in: C:\Program Files\RealFlightG3
Free Disk Space (C:\): 197073 mb free
Launcher Version: 1.00.158
RealFlight G3: 3.00.448


Finally One Happy Flyer

Bob

[torkboy]

Nvidia 7300LE shadows?? and will it work?? :confused:

[opjose]

The 7300LE (L)ight card missing (E)xtras you want. will produce shadows, but it is quite poor at it.

It's basically a slightly upgraded from the 6200/7200 series of cards.

The LOWEST you want to look at would be the x6xx series, but I'd warn you to stay away and look for higher numbers... e.g. the 7800 series.

The GT's are pretty good for the price.

[Greg Cothern]

I am running a Nvidia GeForce 7300LE 256 MB and seems to be fine, however I have been having a problem with the software just freezing up with an error.
Says "An unexpected error has occurred. Would you like to send an error report to Knife Edge Software" Yes or No. When you hit either button it shuts the program off completely. Have un-installed and re-installed and deleted the .ADJ files as suggested by support tech, but to no avail!!!
It was suggested that my video card was the culprit, however no problems or glitching while playing the simulator just this, not even a flicker of the screen.
I sure hate to have to replace a 2 week old video card in a 2 week old computer!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! :mad: :mad: :( :(
If I have to what would be a card that would be similar but WORK?

[Jollyroger]

I am running a Nvidia GeForce 7300LE 256 MB and seems to be fine, however I have been having a problem with the software just freezing up with an error.
Says "An unexpected error has occurred. Would you like to send an error report to Knife Edge Software" Yes or No. When you hit either button it shuts the program off completely. Have un-installed and re-installed and deleted the .ADJ files as suggested by support tech, but to no avail!!!
It was suggested that my video card was the culprit, however no problems or glitching while playing the simulator just this, not even a flicker of the screen.
I sure hate to have to replace a 2 week old video card in a 2 week old computer!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! :mad: :mad: :( :(
If I have to what would be a card that would be similar but WORK?

I have the same video card with the same problem. dell, huh??? However, I havn't had that problem in weeks, don't know why, but it just went away. :confused:

[Greg Cothern]

Do anything different with the settings that might have made it go away??? I have turned off all sorts of settings trying to easy up the load on the video card but does no good whatsoever.
I dont get it I have great graphics, flys great, everything looks like a PIC but all of a sudden BOINK up pops the error message and you have to shut it down. :confused: :confused:

[Jollyroger]

yea, thats exactly what happened to me. I know what your talking about. I have no idea why mine went away. I don't remember changing anything..... :confused:

[Greg Cothern]

I have tried turning down my desktop from 32bit color to 16, turned down the sound, in the software turned down or off features, nothing seems to effect it whatsoever.
Matter of fact this morning first thing out of the box I fired up the sim, and before it could completely open it shuts down.
I DO NOT BELIEVE my video card is getting hot and kicking it off if I had this just happen. :mad:

[Greg Cothern]

Believe we got it working now, found a just released driver for my NVidia card and seems have worked, time will tell.
Kudos to the support staff that have been so patient with me in trying to cure my issues.
My system said it was all up to date, however when checking the video cards site there was indeed a newer version. Go to www.nvidia.com click on download drivers, there will be 3 boxes in the middle of the screen, first click on graphics drivers, then Geforce TNT2, then your windows version.

[DAG]

I am running a Nvidia GeForce 7300LE 256 MB and seems to be fine, however I have been having a problem with the software just freezing up with an error.
Says "An unexpected error has occurred. Would you like to send an error report to Knife Edge Software" Yes or No. When you hit either button it shuts the program off completely. Have un-installed and re-installed and deleted the .ADJ files as suggested by support tech, but to no avail!!!
It was suggested that my video card was the culprit, however no problems or glitching while playing the simulator just this, not even a flicker of the screen.
I sure hate to have to replace a 2 week old video card in a 2 week old computer!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! :mad: :mad: :( :(
If I have to what would be a card that would be similar but WORK?

The Dell XPS410 with a 7900GS card works fine with 3.0448. Everything turned up too!

[navy47]

Hi, Does anybody know if the Nvidea FX 5600 Uitra 128 MG AGP Vido will work with The G-3?
Thanks Tom :confused: :)

[navy47]

Hi, Does anybody know if the Nvidea FX 5600 Uitra 128 MG AGP Vido will work with The G-3?
Thanks Tom :confused: :)

[dukewing]

I can assure you the ATI 9800 XT with 256K of RAM will work just fine with RealFlight. Just got mine working today....WoW..... What a difference from my ATI Radion AllInWonder TV card! Now, I can watch the leaves move, actually see the 3D effect of the obsticle course, and scare the crap out of myself with the Cockpit vew!

[JohnRB]

I see that Nvidia has another card. has anybody had any experiance with it. Geforce 7300GT 256MB PCI-Express graphice Card. Runs abor $130 and on sale about $90. This is at Best buy. I've seen some remarks about a sister card, the 7300GS 256 and it was liked. Does anyone know what the difference is?

[opjose]

Look at the digit in the hundreds place... e.g. the x200, the x300, the x400, etc.

Those low numbers mean that it's a LOW END card..

The 7300/6300 are pretty similiar.

They WORK with G3, but these cards have fewer rendering pipelines, etc. than their more expensive brethern.

The manufacturers purposely tier their offerings based upon price.

You pretty much get what you pay for.

[surjer]

I have the 7900GS and there is absolutely NO LAG whatesoever... Around 70+ FPS...

[opjose]

I have the 7900GS and there is absolutely NO LAG whatesoever... Around 70+ FPS...


That's a killer card.

[St8kout]

I'm happy to report that G3.5 works great on my Dell Inspiron w/ ATI Radeon Mobility 9000 even though while loading it gave a message that this card was inadequate.

The reason I bought this sim is because the demo ran smoothly, while the other sims could only manage about a 3 frames per second rate. I couldn't justify buying another computer just to run a sim.

[herc40]

I posted a tread earlier. and they said I need to post it here. There is a slight problem with my game, there are no shadows under my aircraft. I have an Integrated Intel Graphic Media Accelerator 900, graphic card, 80 gig harddrive, with XP home service pack 2. Please help if you can.

[jeffpn]

I doubt seriously that graphic ard is capable of rendering shadows. Integrated cards are generally not designed for 3d applications

[herc40]

It is no big thing really, if you download any one of my recording you'll see I find the ground just fine. It would just look better with the shadows, thats all. Thanks again.

[WreckRman2]

Just adding my results... I just got a GeForce 7900 GS 256MB PCI Express card and it rocks!

$179 at Best Buy

[2BQ]

I couldn't justify buying another computer just to run a sim.


...which is exactly what I did. It was time, and the G3.5 is what pushed me over the edge. I purposely bought something that I knew would run ANYTHING I could throw at it. This new puter is awesome and G3.5 is as well...shadows, details, scenery...it's all good!

Intel Pentium D 3.4Ghz Dual Core
2 GB DDR2 Memory
256 MB nVidia Ge-Force 7300GT PCI Express Video Card
250 GB Hard Drive
Windows XP Home (My Preference)

I found a company in Cleveland that puts these things together per your specs. Cost was 765.00 for PC, mouse, keyboard and shipping. Killer Puter!!!

[opjose]

...
Intel Pentium D 3.4Ghz Dual Core
!

No such animal.

A Pentium D is not a Core Dual processor.

See: http://www.bcchardware.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=2869&Itemid=40

[2BQ]

No such animal.

A Pentium D is not a Core Dual processor.


I only know what I read...and the fact that it runs G3.5 flawlessly!

Read up... http://www.ewiz.com/detail.php?name=PD-945BOX

Product Info:

Specification
* Mfr Part Number: BX80553945,BX80553945R
* Process Type: Intel Pentium D processor 945
* Frequency: 3.40 GHz
* FSB: 800 MHz
* Cache: 4 MB
* Process: 65 nm
* Socket: Socket 775
* Power Consumption: 95 W
* Package: Retail
* This processor is a Dual-Core processor
* This processor supports Intel Extended Memory 64 Technology (EM64T)
* This processor supports Enhanced Intel Speedstep Technology
* This processor supports Execute Disable Bit Technology

[DAG]

Glad you are having good luck with that config. Indeed, Intel says that your processor is,

"Revved up multitasking
With an Intel Pentium D processor-based PC featuring two full processing cores, you get the flexibility and performance to handle multimedia entertainment, digital photo editing, even multiple users, simultaneously."
and
"The Intel Pentium D processor-based PC with Intel dual-core processing technology provides the performance to take advantage of sophisticated gaming software which can result in realistic game environments and challenging game play."

They clearly state the fact that it has two full processing cores in multiple places on their web pages.

Just goes to show that G3.5 does not require the most modern processor and high end video card to run great.

Enjoy!

[opjose]

The "Core 2 Duo" processors and the "Pentium D" processors are completely different beasts.

e.g. a Core 2 Duo 1.86ghz processor will run faster than a 3.4gHz Pentium D.

At the moment no 3.4gHz Core 2 Duo processor exists.

[DAG]

The "Core 2 Duo" processors and the "Pentium D" processors are completely different beasts.

e.g. a Core 2 Duo 1.86ghz processor will run faster than a 3.4gHz Pentium D.

At the moment no 3.4gHz Core 2 Duo processor exists.

Semantics. He never said he had a Core 2 Duo processor. He said he had a "dual core" which is exactly what he has. This is, as you say, entirely different from a Core 2 Duo chip and you can not compare chip processor speeds between the two.

No need to discuss further.

[wig]

System: Windows XP Professional (5.1, Build 2600) Service Pack 2 (2600.xpsp_sp2_gdr.070227-2254)
Processor: Intel(R) Pentium(R) 4 CPU 2.60GHz (2 CPUs)
Memory: 510MB RAM
DX Version: DirectX 9.0c (4.09.0000.0904)
Video Card: NVIDIA GeForce4 MX 440 with AGP8X (Microsoft Corporation)
MFR: NVIDIA
Version: 6.14.0010.5673 (English)
Date: 8/4/2004 08:56:44, 4274816 bytes
CD-ROM (?:\) HL-DT-ST CD-RW GCE-8483B (?)
CD-ROM (?:\) HL-DT-ST DVD-ROM GDR8162B (?)
Installed in: C:\Program Files\RealFlightG3
Free Disk Space (C:\): 94277 mb free
Launcher Version: 1.00.192
RealFlight G3: 3.50.060


Guys,

Can anyone recommend a good video card upgrade for my Dell
and where to purchase one?

Thanks,
Wig :)

[cjshaker]

The compatibility list has not been updated for a couple of years. Most of the cards that I'm interested in purchasing, high end graphics cards with HDMI interfaces, don't appear to be supported in your list.

Also, my Sapphire X1600 Pro HDMI interface *used* to work with Real Flight G3.5 until very recently. Now, my whole computer crawls once I run RealFlight. It seems to hose my computer. I read somewhere that my card is not supported on RealFlight G3.

How are we supposed to buy the correct card? I'm not a gamer, so I read 'support for Direct X 9.0' on the box, I expect it to work.

Frustrated as hell by the state of the video card industry,
Chris Shaker



The RealFlight G3 video card compatibility chart (http://www.knifeedge.com/rfvc_compatibility.php) is now available on our website. For each card, we indicate whether it is tested, whether or not it works with G3, and the year the card was introduced. Please refer to the key at the top of the chart for more information.

[opjose]

How are we supposed to buy the correct card? I'm not a gamer, so I read 'support for Direct X 9.0' on the box, I expect it to work.

Frustrated as hell by the state of the video card industry,
Chris Shaker

Most (if not all) fully compliant DX9 or DX10 cards work just fine with G3.

The problem is that most video cards manufacturers *cough*misrepresent*cough* DX9 compliance or the end users make the mistake of assuming that if they have DX9 installed, that their card is DX9 compliant.

Your Sapphire may need updated ( or older ) revision drivers to work properly with G3.

If it ran before, and now seems to crawl, you may have a video device setting issue... caused by a driver update or even a Windows Update...

It may also be something that may not be readitly apparent to you.

e.g. turning OFF V-sync on your video card is known to improve performance GREATLY.


The problem is that often some of these settings are hidden from the end user.

You may want to try downloading some of the video card tweak utilities to help...

e.g. the ATI video tweakers, etc.

Turn off V-Sync and choose "performance" features for your card.

[cjshaker]

First off, thank you for replying, and suggesting solutions. I appreciate it.

The problem was that it took about 2 seconds to draw each frame. Loading airport objects at startup was really slow, too.

After reading another post talking about how on-board sound interfaces can be a problem, I went into town and got a new Creative X-Fi sound card. Did not help.

I reloaded the June version of Direct X 9. Didn't help.

I updated the Catalyst drivers for the ATI card to the latest version, 7.10. Did not help. Ensured that the VGA card is *not* overheating, ie - fan is working, and Catlyst software says that temp is ok.

I used the RealFlight launcher to reload the latest version of G3.5 over top of my install, and it did not help.

After reading your note, I just updated the RealFlight G3.5 graphics settings to turn off Vertical Sync. Did not help.

Went into Catalyst and set everything for 'performance'. Did not help.

However, finally tried 'full screen' mode, and everything is working fine that way. I can even run in 1920x1080 32 bit mode, and it works fine. So, at least I can fly again on this PC.

Does that mean that the drivers and Direct X have a problem talking to each other?

Thank you,
Chris Shaker



Most (if not all) fully compliant DX9 or DX10 cards work just fine with G3.

The problem is that most video cards manufacturers *cough*misrepresent*cough* DX9 compliance or the end users make the mistake of assuming that if they have DX9 installed, that their card is DX9 compliant.

Your Sapphire may need updated ( or older ) revision drivers to work properly with G3.

If it ran before, and now seems to crawl, you may have a video device setting issue... caused by a driver update or even a Windows Update...

It may also be something that may not be readitly apparent to you.

e.g. turning OFF V-sync on your video card is known to improve performance GREATLY.


The problem is that often some of these settings are hidden from the end user.

You may want to try downloading some of the video card tweak utilities to help...

e.g. the ATI video tweakers, etc.

Turn off V-Sync and choose "performance" features for your card.

[opjose]

However, finally tried 'full screen' mode, and everything is working fine that way. I can even run in 1920x1080 32 bit mode, and it works fine. So, at least I can fly again on this PC.

Does that mean that the drivers and Direct X have a problem talking to each other?




You didn't mention you desktop resolution nor the amount of video RAM available.

Windows is able to "save" the desktop off into a main memory buffer when it goes into "full screen" mode.

It sounds like you had the default desktop resolution so high that you are using all of the available vram.

The graphics card did/does not have enough memory for the next few frames it must render...

You could try lowering your desktop resolution. I'll bet you'll find that G3 will run faster this way.

[cjshaker]

My WinXP desktop resolution is 1360x768 at 32 bits. My Sapphire has 256 MB of RAM.

I just tried reducing it to 1024x768, and it still had the 2 seconds per frame (or more) problem.

Thank you!
Chris Shaker


You didn't mention you desktop resolution nor the amount of video RAM available.

Windows is able to "save" the desktop off into a main memory buffer when it goes into "full screen" mode.

It sounds like you had the default desktop resolution so high that you are using all of the available vram.

The graphics card did/does not have enough memory for the next few frames it must render...

You could try lowering your desktop resolution. I'll bet you'll find that G3 will run faster this way.

[opjose]

My WinXP desktop resolution is 1360x768 at 32 bits. My Sapphire has 256 MB of RAM.

I just tried reducing it to 1024x768, and it still had the 2 seconds per frame (or more) problem.

Thank you!
Chris Shaker

Then there is a DX9 problem...

The card is not rendering in 3D when the system is running in Windowed mode, only in full screen mode.

You may want to try re-installing the video card drivers ( preferably the latest ones available! ), rebooting and then going to Microsoft's site and downloading the DX9c "redistributable" file.

Run the file to re-install DX9c, reboot again, then try G3.

[cjshaker]

I've done those steps yesterday, but I'll try them again.

I've tried the June and August 2007 versions of DirectX
'redristributable', and the latest version of drivers for my
card.

I have *not* yet tried older versions of the drivers for my
card. Probably I should bug ATI or Microsoft about this problem...

I picked up a new Nvidia based ASUS EN8600GT card at
the local computer shop as a spare. If I am willing to burn
another WinXP activation, I could try swapping video cards
out.

Thank you,
Chris Shaker



Then there is a DX9 problem...

The card is not rendering in 3D when the system is running in Windowed mode, only in full screen mode.

You may want to try re-installing the video card drivers ( preferably the latest ones available! ), rebooting and then going to Microsoft's site and downloading the DX9c "redistributable" file.

Run the file to re-install DX9c, reboot again, then try G3.

[opjose]

I've done those steps yesterday, but I'll try them again.

I've tried the June and August 2007 versions of DirectX
'redristributable', and the latest version of drivers for my
card.

I have *not* yet tried older versions of the drivers for my
card. Probably I should bug ATI or Microsoft about this problem...

I picked up a new Nvidia based ASUS EN8600GT card at
the local computer shop as a spare. If I am willing to burn
another WinXP activation, I could try swapping video cards
out.

Thank you,
Chris Shaker

Swapping cards should not require a new activation, as you are not changing the motherboard or MAC address of your system.

Before swapping the cards, download the latest drivers for your new card, UNINSTALL the current video drivers. then shut down and swap the cards.

Skip the wizard dialog when the system comes up and install the downloaded drivers.

[cjshaker]

After WinXP updates a couple of weeks ago, and some change I made to BIOS, my machine burned up another activation. For some reason, the BIOS decided to remap devices in memory. That caused windows to think that my hardware had changed. I'm not sure how I caused it to do that. I learned about the device addresses changing from the Windows system log. Wanted to know what WinXP was complaining about.

Is there some BIOS setting that I could have screwed up which could cause the graphics to run slow in Windows, yet be fast when full screen?

Sounds good. I'll try the Nvidia card soon, if I can't find a problem in my BIOS config.

Thank you for the help,
Chris Shaker



Swapping cards should not require a new activation, as you are not changing the motherboard or MAC address of your system.

Before swapping the cards, download the latest drivers for your new card, UNINSTALL the current video drivers. then shut down and swap the cards.

Skip the wizard dialog when the system comes up and install the downloaded drivers.

[opjose]

After WinXP updates a couple of weeks ago, and some change I made to BIOS, my machine burned up another activation. For some reason, the BIOS decided to remap devices in memory. That caused windows to think that my hardware had changed. I'm not sure how I caused it to do that. I learned about the device addresses changing from the Windows system log. Wanted to know what WinXP was complaining about.



It really should have not done that.

AFAIK the OOBE code only looks for major changes to the system, e.g. MAC address or motherboard serialization.

I've re-imaged a windows install to a new hard drive, then put the new drive into the old system along with a new video card.

Xp came up, found the new drive ( to install the drivers ), asked for the new video drivers, rebooted and all was well with the world.

I wonder if there was a large change to one of the hardware keys, causing the system to assume it was newly installed...


Is there some BIOS setting that I could have screwed up which could cause the graphics to run slow in Windows, yet be fast when full screen?


Not really, other than the AGP aperture size, everything is controlled by Windows itself.

Even the motherboard bios and video bios is replaced by a "virtual" one as the system boots.



Sounds good. I'll try the Nvidia card soon, if I can't find a problem in my BIOS config.



Good luck!

[cjshaker]

It really should have not done that.

AFAIK the OOBE code only looks for major changes to the system, e.g. MAC address or motherboard serialization.

I've re-imaged a windows install to a new hard drive, then put the new drive into the old system along with a new video card.

Xp came up, found the new drive ( to install the drivers ), asked for the new video drivers, rebooted and all was well with the world.

I wonder if there was a large change to one of the hardware keys, causing the system to assume it was newly installed...



Not really, other than the AGP aperture size, everything is controlled by Windows itself.

Even the motherboard bios and video bios is replaced by a "virtual" one as the system boots.



Good luck!



Thank you again for the help.

Yes, I've also replaced hard disks and restored Windows using Acronis True Image, without burning up an activation. However, I've also changed the graphics card and had WinXP say that my hardware had changed too much since it was activated, and must be reactivated.

Here is the list of hardware changes that I got out of the Windows System log just after WinXP made me reactivate the system. I keep wondering if any of these changes could be causing the slow performance that I'm seeing?

Chris


System Information report written at: 10/10/07 21:02:02

System Name: CJSHAKER-AMD64

[Hardware Resources]



Time Change Name Details Resource Type

10/10/2007 9:00:30 PM CHANGED System board Property "StartingAddress" changed from "1048576" to "0". Device Memory Address

10/10/2007 9:00:30 PM CHANGED Silicon Image SiI 3132 SATALink Controller Property "StartingAddress" changed from "3754949632" to "3754917888". Device Memory Address

10/10/2007 9:00:30 PM CHANGED PCI standard PCI-to-PCI bridge Property "StartingAddress" changed from "3755999232" to "3221225472". Device Memory Address

10/10/2007 9:00:30 PM CHANGED Radeon X1600 Series Property "StartingAddress" changed from "3756916736" to "3221225472". Device Memory Address

10/10/2007 9:00:30 PM CHANGED Texas Instruments OHCI Compliant IEEE 1394 Host Controller Property "StartingAddress" changed from "3758086144" to "3758063616". Device Memory Address

10/10/2007 9:00:30 PM CHANGED Motherboard resources Property "StartingAddress" changed from "4276092928" to "4273995776". Device Memory Address

10/10/2007 9:00:30 PM CHANGED Motherboard resources Property "StartingAddress" changed from "4278185984" to "4276097024". Device Memory Address

10/10/2007 9:00:30 PM CHANGED Motherboard resources Property "StartingAddress" changed from "4289724416" to "4278185984". Device Memory Address

10/10/2007 9:00:30 PM CHANGED Motherboard resources Property "StartingAddress" changed from "4293918720" to "4289724416". Device Memory Address

10/10/2007 9:00:30 PM CHANGED PCI bus Property "StartingAddress" changed from "655360" to "2147483648". Device Memory Address

10/10/2007 9:00:30 PM CHANGED Radeon X1600 Series Property "StartingAddress" changed from "655360" to "3756916736". Device Memory Address

10/10/2007 9:00:30 PM CHANGED PCI standard PCI-to-PCI bridge Property "StartingAddress" changed from "655360" to "3755999232". Device Memory Address

10/10/2007 9:00:30 PM CHANGED System board Property "StartingAddress" changed from "786432" to "1048576". Device Memory Address

10/10/2007 9:00:30 PM CHANGED PCI bus Property "StartingAddress" changed from "851968" to "655360". Device Memory Address

10/10/2007 9:00:30 PM CHANGED System board Property "StartingAddress" changed from "917504" to "786432". Device Memory Address

10/10/2007 9:00:30 PM CHANGED Standard floppy disk controller Property "StartingAddress" changed from "1015" to "1008". Port Resource

10/10/2007 9:00:30 PM CHANGED Motherboard resources Property "StartingAddress" changed from "114" to "101". Port Resource

10/10/2007 9:00:30 PM CHANGED Motherboard resources Property "StartingAddress" changed from "1232" to "114". Port Resource

10/10/2007 9:00:30 PM CHANGED Motherboard resources Property "StartingAddress" changed from "128" to "1232". Port Resource

10/10/2007 9:00:30 PM CHANGED Motherboard resources Property "StartingAddress" changed from "1280" to "128". Port Resource

10/10/2007 9:00:30 PM CHANGED Direct memory access controller Property "StartingAddress" changed from "129" to "0". Port Resource

10/10/2007 9:00:30 PM CHANGED Motherboard resources Property "StartingAddress" changed from "132" to "1280". Port Resource

10/10/2007 9:00:30 PM CHANGED Direct memory access controller Property "StartingAddress" changed from "135" to "129". Port Resource

10/10/2007 9:00:30 PM CHANGED Motherboard resources Property "StartingAddress" changed from "136" to "132". Port Resource

10/10/2007 9:00:30 PM CHANGED Direct memory access controller Property "StartingAddress" changed from "137" to "135". Port Resource

10/10/2007 9:00:30 PM CHANGED Motherboard resources Property "StartingAddress" changed from "140" to "136". Port Resource

10/10/2007 9:00:30 PM CHANGED Motherboard resources Property "StartingAddress" changed from "1408" to "140". Port Resource

10/10/2007 9:00:30 PM CHANGED Direct memory access controller Property "StartingAddress" changed from "143" to "137". Port Resource

10/10/2007 9:00:30 PM CHANGED Motherboard resources Property "StartingAddress" changed from "144" to "1408". Port Resource

10/10/2007 9:00:30 PM CHANGED Motherboard resources Property "StartingAddress" changed from "16" to "144". Port Resource

10/10/2007 9:00:30 PM CHANGED Motherboard resources Property "StartingAddress" changed from "162" to "16". Port Resource

10/10/2007 9:00:30 PM CHANGED NVIDIA nForce PCI System Management Property "StartingAddress" changed from "1792" to "1536". Port Resource

10/10/2007 9:00:30 PM CHANGED Direct memory access controller Property "StartingAddress" changed from "192" to "143". Port Resource

10/10/2007 9:00:30 PM CHANGED Motherboard resources Property "StartingAddress" changed from "2048" to "162". Port Resource

10/10/2007 9:00:30 PM CHANGED Motherboard resources Property "StartingAddress" changed from "2176" to "2048". Port Resource

10/10/2007 9:00:30 PM CHANGED Motherboard resources Property "StartingAddress" changed from "224" to "2176". Port Resource

10/10/2007 9:00:30 PM CHANGED Motherboard resources Property "StartingAddress" changed from "2304" to "224". Port Resource

10/10/2007 9:00:30 PM CHANGED Motherboard resources Property "StartingAddress" changed from "2432" to "2304". Port Resource

10/10/2007 9:00:30 PM CHANGED Motherboard resources Property "StartingAddress" changed from "2608" to "2592". Port Resource

10/10/2007 9:00:30 PM CHANGED Motherboard resources Property "StartingAddress" changed from "3072" to "2608". Port Resource

10/10/2007 9:00:30 PM CHANGED Programmable interrupt controller Property "StartingAddress" changed from "32" to "160". Port Resource

10/10/2007 9:00:30 PM CHANGED PCI bus Property "StartingAddress" changed from "3328" to "0". Port Resource

10/10/2007 9:00:30 PM CHANGED Motherboard resources Property "StartingAddress" changed from "3328" to "3072". Port Resource

10/10/2007 9:00:30 PM CHANGED Motherboard resources Property "StartingAddress" changed from "34" to "2432". Port Resource

10/10/2007 9:00:30 PM CHANGED Standard Dual Channel PCI IDE Controller Property "StartingAddress" changed from "34944" to "34816". Port Resource

10/10/2007 9:00:30 PM CHANGED Standard Dual Channel PCI IDE Controller Property "StartingAddress" changed from "35840" to "34944". Port Resource

10/10/2007 9:00:30 PM CHANGED Standard Dual Channel PCI IDE Controller Property "StartingAddress" changed from "36864" to "35840". Port Resource

10/10/2007 9:00:30 PM CHANGED Standard Dual Channel PCI IDE Controller Property "StartingAddress" changed from "36992" to "36864". Port Resource

10/10/2007 9:00:30 PM CHANGED Standard Dual Channel PCI IDE Controller Property "StartingAddress" changed from "38016" to "37888". Port Resource

10/10/2007 9:00:30 PM CHANGED Standard Dual Channel PCI IDE Controller Property "StartingAddress" changed from "38912" to "38016". Port Resource

10/10/2007 9:00:30 PM CHANGED Standard Dual Channel PCI IDE Controller Property "StartingAddress" changed from "39040" to "38912". Port Resource

10/10/2007 9:00:30 PM CHANGED Standard Dual Channel PCI IDE Controller Property "StartingAddress" changed from "39936" to "39040". Port Resource

10/10/2007 9:00:30 PM CHANGED Realtek AC'97 Audio Property "StartingAddress" changed from "41984" to "40960". Port Resource

10/10/2007 9:00:30 PM CHANGED NVIDIA nForce PCI System Management Property "StartingAddress" changed from "44032" to "1792". Port Resource

10/10/2007 9:00:30 PM CHANGED Primary IDE Channel Property "StartingAddress" changed from "496" to "1014". Port Resource

10/10/2007 9:00:30 PM CHANGED Broadcom RAIDCore(tm) Controller Property "StartingAddress" changed from "58496" to "58368". Port Resource

10/10/2007 9:00:30 PM CHANGED Broadcom RAIDCore(tm) Controller Property "StartingAddress" changed from "59392" to "58496". Port Resource

10/10/2007 9:00:30 PM CHANGED Broadcom RAIDCore(tm) Controller Property "StartingAddress" changed from "59520" to "59392". Port Resource

10/10/2007 9:00:30 PM CHANGED Broadcom RAIDCore(tm) Controller Property "StartingAddress" changed from "60416" to "59520". Port Resource

10/10/2007 9:00:30 PM CHANGED ISAPNP Read Data Port Property "StartingAddress" changed from "628" to "2681". Port Resource

10/10/2007 9:00:30 PM CHANGED ISAPNP Read Data Port Property "StartingAddress" changed from "633" to "628". Port Resource

10/10/2007 9:00:30 PM CHANGED Motherboard resources Property "StartingAddress" changed from "68" to "34". Port Resource

10/10/2007 9:00:30 PM CHANGED Secondary IDE Channel Property "StartingAddress" changed from "886" to "368". Port Resource

10/10/2007 9:00:30 PM CHANGED Radeon X1600 Series Property "StartingAddress" changed from "944" to "53248". Port Resource

10/10/2007 9:00:30 PM CHANGED PCI standard PCI-to-PCI bridge Property "StartingAddress" changed from "944" to "53248". Port Resource

10/10/2007 9:00:30 PM CHANGED Radeon X1600 Series Property "StartingAddress" changed from "960" to "944". Port Resource

10/10/2007 9:00:30 PM CHANGED PCI standard PCI-to-PCI bridge Property "StartingAddress" changed from "960" to "944". Port Resource

10/10/2007 9:00:30 PM CHANGED Motherboard resources Property "StartingAddress" changed from "98" to "68". Port Resource

[opjose]

Thank you again for the help.

Here is the list of hardware changes that I got out of the Windows System log just after WinXP made me reactivate the system. I keep wondering if any of these changes could be causing the slow performance that I'm seeing?

Chris


System Information report written at: 10/10/07 21:02:02

System Name: CJSHAKER-AMD64




Wow, it seems that Windows performed an almost complete rediscovery of the hardware resources.

Almost as if SYSPREP was run to "re-seal" your computer.

In spite of this OOBE should not have burned a validation... unless something corrupted both the primary and backup hardware registy hiearchy.

e.g. a memory fault?


There was a lot of shifting of I/O memory mapping, so it is quite conceivable that you may have an undiscovered overlap, causing slow performance of the video card.

You would have to force a smaller "reshift"...

In this case I would yank the video card and let windows come up with any on board adapters.

If this is not present, I put in a PCI card temporarily to let the system boot.

Then I remove the existing ATI drivers, reboot, then shut down.

( at worst I've gone through the registry at this point and have removed references to the now "phantom" hardware if possible... )

Install the card back in, and re-install the drivers.

[cjshaker]

I don't know quite what triggered the change.

I checked the address map configuration items in the BIOS, and they appear to be set to their defaults, according to the ASUS A8N32-SLI Deluxe manual. Thought maybe I had played with one of them.

I'll try to report the problem to Microsoft...

Chris



Wow, it seems that Windows performed an almost complete rediscovery of the hardware resources.

Almost as if SYSPREP was run to "re-seal" your computer.

In spite of this OOBE should not have burned a validation... unless something corrupted both the primary and backup hardware registy hiearchy.

e.g. a memory fault?


There was a lot of shifting of I/O memory mapping, so it is quite conceivable that you may have an undiscovered overlap, causing slow performance of the video card.

You would have to force a smaller "reshift"...

In this case I would yank the video card and let windows come up with any on board adapters.

If this is not present, I put in a PCI card temporarily to let the system boot.

Then I remove the existing ATI drivers, reboot, then shut down.

( at worst I've gone through the registry at this point and have removed references to the now "phantom" hardware if possible... )

Install the card back in, and re-install the drivers.

[cjshaker]

I submitted a problem report to the Microsoft DirectX team, and opened a trouble ticket with the ATI/AMD support people as well.

Chris Shaker

[cjshaker]

The AMD/ATI people responded to my trouble ticket this morning with:

3D processing is DISABLED when running a 3D application in Window Mode.
This is as per design.

Am I dreaming when thinking that it used to work for me? Is the above true for Nvidia cards?

Chris Shaker



I submitted a problem report to the Microsoft DirectX team, and opened a trouble ticket with the ATI/AMD support people as well.

Chris Shaker

[RickyD77]

Hi all,

i have a brand new mac pro with a NVIDIA GeForce 7300 GT

and i always received a error creating shadow error, is there a way to fix that


Thx all

[opjose]

The AMD/ATI people responded to my trouble ticket this morning with:

3D processing is DISABLED when running a 3D application in Window Mode.
This is as per design.

Am I dreaming when thinking that it used to work for me? Is the above true for Nvidia cards?

Chris Shaker

What a crock! Someone is really giving you a bunch of B.S.

That violates the DX specifications.

Many of us run G3 in "windowed" mode on many different 3D cards.

Many games would not work otherwise nor would many of the 3D screensavers, etc.

I've run G3 and many other programs in windowed mode on my ATI All-in-one 9700 which is not a fantastic 3D card and only has 128 megs.

If what they told you were true, they would have NO market as everyone would purchase fully compliant cards.

Typical crapola.

[pplace]

Can anyone help with any information dealing with this card:

HIS Hightech H155HMF256EL1N (http://www.newegg.com:80/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814161197)

My computer has a PCI slot and a PCIe 1X dhk79 has been helping me find a card (which there seem to be very few for the PCIe 1x style slot)

My question is: Will the ATI Radeon X1550 chipset work with G3.5 or more importantly G4?? Or will there be "texture problems" like the:

Radeon X1300
Radeon X1600
Radeon X1800

Thanks for any information

[guest_jo]

And you also don´t have AGP slot ?
What cpu do you have ?