FSX Play Graphics Card

[Dwil3000]

Hello all,
Apologies if this has been covered elsewhere...
To say I'm ignorant to computer components, including graphics cards, would be an understatement.
I'm thinking of upgrading my card to better use FSX Play and hiring someone to install it.
When I'm looking up the NVIDIA RTX 3060 online I see that there are versions from ASUS, Gigabyte, MSI, etc.
Is there much difference between these, or am I pretty safe to go with whichever so long as its a NVIDIA card?
These may be very dumb questions.

Thanks for the help.

[Instron4204]

Not a dumb question at all. Asus, Gigabyte, MSI and Zotac are all manufacturers of the Nvidia cards. Some people have their favorites but essentially they will all be the same 3060 card. Safe to choose any of them. Enjoy the upgrade.

[vrpunk]

I prefer ASUS. If your budget can push to a ti version, it’s worth it.

[preludesam]

Agree, they are about the same with a few minor differences. If you plan on going 4K I would also agree to move to a 3060ti.

[StanMI]

I had a similar question. This is what I gat back from Foresight.

System Requirements:

(minimum spec)

• Operating System: Windows 10 or greater (64 Bit Required)
• Processor: Min Spec: Intel i5 or i7 processors (AMD processors not recommended)
• Memory: Min Spec: 8GB system memory
  Recommended: 16GB for best performance and Swing Camera Users
• Video Card: Min Spec: Nvidia GTX 1660 Ti or greater (AMD GPUs Not Supported)
  Recommended: RTX 2060, RTX 2070, or RTX 2080

If you would like to future-proof as you mentioned I would go with an i7 Processor, 16-32 GB of Ram, and an RTX 2080.

Kindest regards,



They have always answered my questions in detail with quick information

[Baller]

To add to the above answers, those are the CARD manufacturers. It's my understanding that Nvidia makes some of the gpu chips, and then the gpu design is Nvidia. All pretty confusing, I agree. I think Jasonreg posted a good link to a gpu comparison list that compared card by card which is nice. Should be able to google like "3060 benchmark comparison" or something and find one.

[bubbtubbs]

GPUs have been made like this for nearly 20y.

[preludesam]

Nvidia designs the chip and contracts Samsung or TSMC to make the silicon. They keep the best chips (very small percentage) for reference cards and the rest they partner with board manufacturers like Asus, EVGA, GIgabyte etc. Nvidia gives them all the specs and the partners design their own boards and GPUs.

[Dwil3000]

This is great, thank you all for the help. Much appreciated.

[preludesam]

The GPU comparison website

https://gpu.userbenchmark.com/Compare/Nvidia-RTX-3060-vs-Group-/4105vs10

It would be best if you link us to your current PC or list the specs. Your PC is like a chain, it’s only as strong as it’s weakest link. We can take a look at your specs and see if it’s smart to upgrade your GPU.

[vrpunk]

The more powerful GPU you have the more power it needs, when upgrading make sure your PSU (power supply unit) firstly can handle it and secondly has the actual connectors / ports for the more powerful cards

[SCDrJ]

As others mentioned make sure the power supply can handle the new card, and also they come in different physical dimensions, some are very long and might not fit your case!

[Dwil3000]

It's an Alienware computer (only mention that because as a gaming computer, perhaps it will be more likely to fit these types of graphics cards? and has an i7 processor and 32GB of RAM. Based on what I've read, I think that should suffice?

[preludesam]

It doesn’t tell us enough information to make an informed decision. You basically told you have a sports car with an engine. If it’s a sports car from the 1950s then you have an issue and you need to replace it.

Again a link would be best.

[sinkingputts]

I have a 2022 Alienware 17 with a 3070 chip and there FSXPlay still it super laggy on some course. I don’t have all the course that are out now but here’s what i found. On a scale of 1-10. 1 being no noticeable frame rate drop and 10 being you’d never turn if on if you had friends over here’s the scores

Torrey- 9
Blue bayou- 3
Butterfield -7
Colonial-2
Del monte -8.5
Kinsale-8.5
Linfield-5
Pitch and putt- 1
Teton pines- 2
Willow Crest-5

Seems like all the courses that came with the upgrade work great but the ones that are possibly being rushed to get out are horrible.

[Surfthing Computers]

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[SCDrJ]

It's an Alienware computer (only mention that because as a gaming computer, perhaps it will be more likely to fit these types of graphics cards? and has an i7 processor and 32GB of RAM. Based on what I've read, I think that should suffice?

Can you post the specs on the computer? CPU-Z is a cool free program to check specs

You have an Alienware with i7 and 32GB of RAM, your GPU (graphics card) may already be sufficient. It can be confusing, but for example RTX 2080 is a higher-performance GPU than 3060 even though the 3060 is newer.

What type of display/projector are you using?

A lot of what you need for graphics depends on the resolution of the display. You are probably set on CPU.

[Dwil3000]

The current graphics card is a NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1060 6 GB.
I've run FSX play with the current graphics card, but it is fairly choppy.
I'll have to check what kind of projector I have, I believe from watching movies on it, it should be sufficient resolution-wise.

[SCDrJ]

Yeah, 1060 is a bit behind the curve. I just bought the upgrade, waiting to see how it does with my 1660 Ti in the HP PC that came with my SIAB package, 1080p projector, although my card only performs maybe 10% better than yours!

Sometimes you are limited in prebuilt PCs as to what size of card you can put in there. GPUs as recent as 3060 are available in “dual fan” models that are shorter than the triple fan models that dominate the high end space. There are even OEM cards available on eBay that can be smaller, like 3060 from HP builds.

This website shows relative performance of graphics cards
its a good reference:

https://www.videocardbenchmark.net/high_end_gpus.html

It’s also worth noting that the graphics settings can be tweaked to match your card some, make sure all the settings aren’t at max performance.