Here is a list of the video cards that we currently recommend for running RealFlight G2 at best performance. I will list them beginning with the least expensive models up to the latest and most expensive. Before reviewing this list I would strongly recommend two things:

1. Before you spend any of your hard earned money on a new video card, please tell your PC manufacturer what you are intending to do so they can advise you on how easy or how hard it will be to upgrade your video card to a more powerful model. They are the best ones to advise you in that area since they are the ones who built your PC for you.

2. Review all your other system hardware for how up-to-date their power and performance capability is and how up-to-date the latest drivers available for those devices are. If you find that too many of your system's hardware components are too outdated to reliably support newer 3D accelerated software, I would recommend you weigh the cost effectiveness of all the upgrades you will need to do for your PC versus simply replacing it with a more up-to-date model all together. Ultimately, the choice is yours, and I strongly encourage you to shop around as much as you can to get the best prices and customer support that you can, regardless of what you choose to do. This will ensure you get the best products, at the best price, with the best customer support available.

Here is the list of the video cards we currently recommend for running RealFlight G2 at best performance:

1. Nvidia GeForce 2 with 32 MB of video memory. This is by far the least expensive option, and was the original graphics accelerator we recommended for running RealFlight G2 at best performance. 32 MB of video memory is more than sufficient for supporting all the available options and features in RealFlight G2 with good reliability. The GeForce 2 with 32 MB of video memory has been out for a while now however, and is becoming increasingly harder to find, especially with the recent release of the GeForce 4 chipset. If you can find a GeForce 2 with 32 MB of video memory, this will be you most inexpensive option.

2. Nvidia GeForce 2 with 64 MB of video memory. Somewhat more expensive than the GeForce 2 with 32 MB of video memory, but still a good buy. This chipset is also getting increasingly harder to find.

3. Nvidia GeForce 3 with 64 MB of video memory. Greater performance capability and data transfer rates than the GeForce 3 with 64 MB of video memory. A top performer, and the price has dropped fairly dramatically since the release of the GeForce 4 chipsets.

4. Nvidia GeForce 4 with 64 MB of video memory. Some improvements in power and performance over the GeForce 3 with 64 MB of video memory. Still a "pricy" model even after the release of the GeForce 4 with 128 MB of video memory.

5. Nvidia GeForce 4 with 128 MB of video memory. The "latest and greatest" from the folks at Nvidia. Arguably the most powerful graphics accelerator yet available. As of now, I do not know of ANY applications that would fully utilize 128 MB of video RAM or the available performance on this card, but when such applications do become available we should see some REALLY realistic graphics and pictures. The GeForce 4 with 128 MB of video memory is by far the most expensive option on the list. The 128 MB of video memory and the power and performance capabilities of this card far exceed what is necessary for running RealFlight G2 at best performance, but if you would like to buy ahead of the power curve (and your pockets are deep enough to afford the "latest and greatest") then RealFlight G2 should run with no problem on this card too.

While shopping for a new video card you may also encounter another brand of graphics accelerators out there that I though might be worth mentioning. The company is called ATI Technologies and they have been number two in the video card market for quite some time. While many of their middle to high end video cards have similar power and performance capabilities to the Nvidia GeForce chipsets, the ATI brand graphics accelerators regrettably do not provide the same reliable DirectX support that the Nvidia cards do. Because of this typical lack of full DirectX support from this brand of graphics accelerator, fully DirectX dependent applications like RealFlight G2 are not very well supported with these video cards. We do NOT recommend them for running G2 at best performance. While you can run RealFlight G2 on an ATI brand video card, some of the feature in RealFlight are not well supported by them and you may get performance problems. Nvidia brand graphics accelerator cards provide full DirectX support and are the brand we overwhelmingly recommend.
flygirl1