Should I finally switch to P3D

[Piper_EEWL]

Hey guys,

the new features shown of in the Bonanza promo video like the dynamic lighting and the rain effects make me think that it might finally be time to switch and leave good old FSX behind. The only problem I have is that my system is rather old and I'm wondering if it can run P3D well enough. At the moment I'm running FSX:SE and in Orbx regions like Germany South I get around 25-30fps with some clouds and around 35fps with clear skies. The only really annoying thing is the OOM's in the Orbx regions. That's why I would like to switch but I'm hestitant due to my systems. Here's my current specs:

Windows 10 64bit
Intel I3-4130 @ 3,40Ghz
16GB RAM
500GB Samsung SSD
Nvidia Geforce GT730 2GB

I think the graphics card is the real problem here but unfortunately no budget at the moment to upgrade (especially with those prices). So I understand that I probably won't be able to up the eyecandy but do you guys think that if I set P3D to the same visuals that I get in FSX that my system would be able to run it with the same frame rates? I really would like to get rid of the stupid OOM's.

Thanks for any thoughts.

[guenseli]

I would highly recommend a switch to P3D in any case.
P3D is much more efficient and will run smoother on your system, even with an older card.


In the end, you can buy it and test it for 60 days, which should be enough testing time. There's no problem to run both sims next to each other for testing. And if you are not satisfied, you can ask for a refund without any problem.

[Blitzer]

I just had a quick look at the requirements to run P3D and it would seem to me you would meet the minimum requirements - I am assuming your current graphics cards supports Full DirectX 11?

Taking the view that I assume you would be able to attain a similar performance from P3D whilst accepting it may be necessary to turn off certain features (e.g. dynamic lighting, cloud shadows) even to the point where the visual experience between FSX & P3D are similar you would still surely benefit from other improvements P3D would bring (lack of OOM). Not forgetting of course you could regard switching to P3D as the first "upgrade" for future investment in your flight-sim expenditure if that is a long term plan.

A few other point to consider and worth looking into...

• * What other addons do you use with FSX? Are they compatible with P3D, or potentially are you facing paying a upgrade fee or new purchase? (You can of course have both FSX & P3D installed!)

• * What P3D license is applicable to you circumstances - this obviously impacts upon the purchase cost.

• * Would you be willing to pay again for P3D if/when it is taken to V5 and/or beyond, perhaps having the latest version is not really a consideration?

• * Do you have a long term plan to invest in a system upgrade that would enable you to utilise P3D options that further enhance the experience? Worth noting that FSX is very unlikely to ever see further improvements and therefore make use of current/newer hardware. P3D in contrast does/will.

HTH.

Paul

[Blitzer]

Thought I would put this into a separate post, but this is an outline of why I decided to switch to P3D...

• 1. I had never really been too concerned with switching as all I could really see was the expense of doing so for what appeared to be minimal gain. However, with the introduction of P3Dv4 and 64bit finally negating the OOM issue it started to become as much higher consideration.
  
  2. Whilst my previous system performed ok, with detailed city scenery and decent add-on aircraft it was not particular immersive with regards to lack of performance. Note, I could never be bothered with constantly changing settings for the area I was flying, much more a case of finding a performance balance - the same is still true today with P3D.
  
  3. After a good number years of good service the graphics card on my old system died. As I had had the machine so long finding a decent compatible card was not an option so I took the view it was time to invest in a pretty much complete upgrade/replacement build, as per my signature below.
  
  4. The new system was more than capable of enabling me to increase slider settings to a point where FSX finally looked how I had always wanted with an overall acceptable performance. However, I soon found the OOM's were far too frequent and had to dial back settings and quite frankly not bother to fly in ORBX UK, OOM's were just a given!
  
  5. I soon realised that I had now invested in decent/current hardware (at the time) primarily for flight sim use, but it was not possible to utilise this hardware effectively. Namely because FSX being a 2005 piece of software that was not able to make use of the hardware. It would be a bit like buying a new performance car then putting old worn narrow tyres on it; guess what when you push it hard on a track day you are liable to end up in the gravel!

While I realised switching to P3D was going to involve further financial investment, it was nonetheless the only sensible way forward (to me). I took the plunge, grudgingly in some instance re-purchased some add-ons (decided some I could not justify through lack of FSX use) but quite honestly it was a very smart move.
OOM's are a thing of the past, I can set options to point of balancing available system performance with visual/environmental enhancements that really do improve the emersion. Cloud and cockpit shadows sound so meaningless but do make the sim environment that step closer to feeling more realistic.
When you consider developers like A2A are now able and starting to push things further (rain droplets are a good visual example) you have to wonder why as a consumer you would continue to support a 2005 flight sim?

I hope this is helpful - I realised I was starting to become a bit to Pro P3D and negative toward FSX so have left this what I hope is balanced reason for me switching. I do not want to distract from Piper_EEWL's original request and would not want this to become a FSX/P3D debate!

Paul

[LZ-WIL]

Hi,

In my opinion you should move, P3D is the future and version 4 is a 64-bit sim already. Don't forget that you can have both FSX and P3D installed simultaneously and use which one you like, until you upgrade your video in example.

Cheerz,
Will

[Buffy Foster]

Other ppl gave great detailed info, so I'll just add my happy "Yes!!" to the thread.

[Piper_EEWL]

Thanks for the replies so far everyone. I'm very well aware of the advantages P3Dv4 has over FSX. I actually might go with guenseli's recommendation and just give it a try.

As far as addons I mostly run Orbx and A2A these days so I'll have to repurchase most of my A2A addons but I'm fine with Orbx.

Does anyone have any experience with a low end graphics card though?

[Killratio]

Mate, I have a system which is 7 years old and runs P3D just fine at near full settings. It is definitely inferior to your system.

I upgraded to P3D for one reason and one alone. I like flying, not endlessly tweaking a "fully developed" piece of software like FSX JUST to get it to run decently. I have not made a single adjustment to P3D cfg.

I do not chase the "newest and best" either.

P3D 1 offered stability.

P3D 2 offered fixes to the very few problems/shortfalls. I encountered.

P3d 3 offered nothing significant FOR ME that I could see so I skipped it .

P3D 4 offered 64 Bit and the overall increase in capacity and some nice eye candy that that entails.

"5" will have to be pretty special for me to buy it as I am totally happy with 4. I do spend the money on the professional version each time, as I use it for A2A testing and my Spitfire Sim.

At 60 days money back, you can't loose really, except having to re-buy A2A. But even that is worth every penny IMHO. Hope that helps.

[Piper_EEWL]

Thanks for the replies everyone. I really appreciate the input. I guess I'll give P3D a try especially since I purchased the Bonanza in a bundle

Will report back how it goes if anyone is interested.

[Jacques]

Hey Sebastian, I waited a long time as well! I installed P3D on Thursday last week. You won’t miss FSX. The only item I’m confused about is where add-on aircraft and sceneries are installed! But the smoothness....amazing!


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