New PC - FSX or Prepar3d?

[jclay13]

Just got a new PC and trying to decide if I should install FSX Steam or buy Prepar3d and make the switch. Lately I've only been flying a few A2A aircraft so that's not a factor in my decision. Same goes for other addons like scenery. I'm also factoring in the new Microsoft Flight Simulator being released in the future so at some point really don't want to mess around with three simulators on my new PC. My choice would be FSX Steam/New MS Flight Simulator or Prepar3d/New MS Flight Simulator. I supposed I could install all three but seems like overkill if Prepar3d is better then FSX Steam, especially since it's 64-bit. I wasn't sure how FSX Steam and Prepar3d played well with each other with both installed on the same PC especially when you start piling on the addons that are compatible with both. Any advice from folks that have done both is appreciated.

Jon

[Hook]

FSX has a lot of activities for the new flight simmer. If you've already gone past the usefulness of these activities, then Prepar3D is a much better choice. It just doesn't have a lot of activities for newcomers. FSX also has a larger variety of stock aircraft if that is important to you.

P3Dv4 has a major advantage of being 64 bit, which means you won't have to worry about out of memory errors. When I upgraded from P3Dv2 to P3Dv4 the biggest change I saw was that autogen went MUCH farther out. And no OOMs.

P3Dv5 has a few advantages and a few disadvantages, but it's probably a better choice than P3Dv4 if you don't have either yet. Parts of v5 are still in beta, but that shouldn't be a problem for long. One major thing is that v5 is better optimized and gives slightly better frame rates.

Add-on aircraft made for FSX probably won't work in P3Dv4+ due to the latter being 64 bit, but almost everything has been updated with versions which work in v4 and v5.

When I bought a new computer, I didn't install FSX, only P3Dv2. Later I got P3Dv4. If I were starting with only the FSX disks and a new computer, I'd go with P3dv5 and not bother with FSX, but that's up to you. MSFS should be available by the end of the year and that will probably end up being my primary sim, but I'll keep P3Dv4 around for those aircraft I don't want to give up flying that may take a long time to get MSFS versions, if ever.

One reason to keep FSX right now is that there are a few A2A aircraft that don't have P3D versions yet. Unless you are short of disk space, FSX doesn't take up *that* much.

Good luck.

Hook

[bullfox]

I have all the components for a new top end computer sitting in my computer room. My son was coming up this weekend and we were going to build it together. But due to the virus we decided to put it off til later. I was going to install P3D5 but they seem to still be hot fixing it. I have been thinking about also installing FSX and may do so. However depending on what and where you like to fly with a high end computer you can push the FSX sliders full to the right and then you are likely to get OOM errors. So if I had to choose I would go with P3D5, I will still have to wait a bit however.

[Dan M]

I think if you've never been on P3D yet or only older versions, v4.5 plus the hotfixes is the way to go for now. When I bought my new PC and made the switch from FSX I never looked back; the difference is night and day. You should know that the cheaper version of v4 comes with a permanent watermark on the top right of the screen. The expensive version has no watermark (but it ain't cheap lol).

I've seen mixed reviews on P3D v5 and developer support isn't all there yet. However, if someone is determined to move to that you just want to be aware it might not be all you expect. And that could be for some time yet. No matter how good the PC it's likely you won't be able to have every setting on full in P3D v4 or v5. Personally I haven't made the switch and will stay with v4.5 for now. I'll have a look at MSFS 2020 when a stable release becomes available to the public.

[kopolla]

I recently made the switch from FSX SE to P3D V5. It's honestly great, yes it has some problems, but not more than FSX does, also it certainly runs a lot more stable on my system than FSX.

I get a lot better performance and better visuals so I am not looking back. One thing was that I had to rebuy my A2A fleet as I only had the FSX versions prior, but apart from that most Orbx scenery (that's the only ones I use) are compatible.
Especially with a high-end system like you said you will be getting a lot more out of P3D than FSX

[bladerunner900]

At the moment I have FSX Steam and P3D v4 installed, but on separate drives. They both play nice with each other and always have done. Being 64 bit P3D runs better and v5 is reported to run better again, but with some problems.

Like you, I am toying with the idea of the new MSFS so am holding off of getting P3D v5. Although, I am a bit tired of the constant wait while products get 'upgraded', if at all. All my favourites have been converted for v5 by now, but who knows when or if they will get the same treatment for the new Microsoft sim. Another factor is I'm not getting any younger, so I may end up with v5 after all.

TLDR:
If you have FSX and are interested in the new one from Microsoft, install FSX and wait for it. Save your money. Something tells me that when, or if the new sim gets finished and is all it's said to be, interest in the other sims will disappear. Everyone will be wanting to make their products work in it.

Steve

[socalf1fan]

I think it is bad advice to sit on FSX. Everyone is looking forward to MSFS 2020 or whatever year gets appended to the end there. BUT....we don't have an actual release date, and who knows if it will actually deliver everything it promises besides pretty screenshots.

I say drop in on V5 as it will be the actively developed P3D platform for the next 3 years instead of going to 4.5

4.5 is pretty stable...but it is also the same price as V5, and with the swap to DX12 and some other changes, developers will start to take advantage of things specific to v5 vs the legacy clients.

Now is it cheap? That is relative...most of us have some discretionary income which allows us to afford a gaming pc, yokes, rudder pedals, track ir, vr setups etc etc etc. Cost is anywhere from $60 bucks (almost the price of a retail console game mind you...which if the latest madden or mortal combat or final fantasy etc etc etc comes out no one balks at) to $200 for the professional license which may be a bit more but once again...I am going to spend that money on stogies and whiskey or something else stupid over a month or two...not like you are actively going to set $60 or $100 or whatever FS2020 ends up costing aside in a jar saving your pennies for it until it comes out...

Buy V5 and enjoy simming now instead of waiting for the next greatest snake oil to come along...there is always something new and better coming...

[bladerunner900]

If you can afford it definitely get P3D v5 and not v4. v4 has no future. It's all on v5 now. Then, when it comes out look at the new MSFS and get it if it looks interesting to you.

I mentioned that I would probably get P3D v5, well I did today. So far I have yet to see this "huge improvement in performance" everyone keeps on about. In fact it was a huge stutter fest at first. Until I noticed WE (Windows Explorer) was hogging resources in Task Manager. It can happen after a long session of Photoshop/music editing etc. A restart would fix it but this time I just re-started the WE process and all was fine after that. Performance seems fine, but then it was with v4. No doubt my system spec. helps there.

All I need now is some form of environment tweaking software again.

Steve.