FSX-SE FSX STEAM OR WAIT FOR P3D 64BIT?

[charleslee201 19]

2.6GB free VAS ifly737 at KLAX spot view FSX-SE testing install, sliders maxed DX9 ( will be using DX10 once I perm mover to SE) 4096 and LOD 5.0 World of AI copied over from FSX Deluxe.

If anybody is interested

Hi 1.6 gb free at CYUL fly Tampa to Ktpa Fly Tampa FTX Global , vector ,fspilot mesch , LOD 6.5, rex 7 1024 texture cs 777 on VASF5 dx 9 VAS stable FSX side by side fsx-se , THIS IS ABOUT 1 GB more the P3D

[PIC007 82]

 

 

I just haven't seen any compelling reasons why I should install another near-identical version of something I already have that works fine with all my existing addons.

 

Ditto, so far for me no compelling reason to add Steam, my MS FSX works just fine and has for years, without having to be a programmer to get addons to work. Actually Oturra has my attention more than Steam or P3D...just waiting to see how it develops

[gtrbarbarian 1]

Fortunately for LM; a P3D entertainment market doesn't exist, so no loss of sales whatsoever.

THIS. If LM and MS had worked out their (ridiculous) licensing...I would have moved a while ago, but no I don't provide flight instruction for a k-12 program, I'm not going to violate terms and I'm not willing to buy a professional license, when 3rd party devs will be charging more for the professional license of their product. If LM would get _real_ with who their passionate future customer base is (unless their main customer is Uncle $am) and revise their licensing, I'd be all over a future with P3D. 

 

I don't see that happening. So DTG is like Obi Wan....my only hope 

[JRBarrett 3,080]

2.6GB free VAS ifly737 at KLAX spot view FSX-SE testing install, sliders maxed DX9 ( will be using DX10 once I perm mover to SE) 4096 and LOD 5.0 World of AI copied over from FSX Deluxe.

If anybody is interested

Ah! You are doing the very kind of test I would like to do as soon as I get home from a road trip and can download SE. In addition to the very real advantage of recompiling the source code with a much newer version of Visual Studio (as Pete Dowson pointed out in another post in this thread), DTG apparently made a couple of improvements in the graphics engine code - one of which relates to fully flushing the texture cache. This was either an outright "bug" in the original code - or an optimization that got overlooked before MS disbanded the FSX programming team and ceased making further improvements/SPs for the software.

 

OOM issues have been an increasing problem in FSX, as more and more complex add-ons have come to market.

 

I certainly understand that there are limits to what can be done in terms of VAS optimization with the 4GB limit that all 32-bit apps face. But, one thing that has always struck me as being the sign of a possible bug in the original FSX coding is the fact that once VAS consumption rises to a certain point, it never seems to get any smaller - even if the aircraft if flown away from a VAS-intensive environment, (like a complex airport, with heavy AI and ground traffic) - to a less intensive environment, i.e. out over the ocean, far away from hi-res terrain, far away, from AI etc.

 

It has always seemed to me that the fact that VAS consumption never decreases even when the graphical environment goes from "intense" to "light" is an indication that resources are not being released by the program once they are no longer needed.

 

The texture cache "compete flushing" fix that DTG has implemented may - possibly - address this problem. The question I have at the moment is this: Does the amount of VAS in use in FSX-SE decrease once the aircraft moves from a graphically complex environment to an area that is less complex?

 

In RTM FSX, the answer to that question is "no". With minor exceptions, once VAS is gone, it's gone. Free VAS remaining never gets bigger - it only gets smaller with time, which is a big reason why OOMs are so common on longer flights with complex add-ons.

 

If the answer in FSX-SE is "yes", then that would indeed be a significant improvement, which might well mean that SE will be much less subject to OOM problems. If that is the case, it would be a major reason to consider moving exclusively to SE - especially when PMDG is able to make the 777 and NGX fully compatible.

[Guest]

DTG apparently made a couple of improvements in the graphics engine code - one of which relates to fully flushing the texture cache.

 

Just to clarify the technical side of this ... a Texture Cache is all GPU ... the only time it'll be a VAS consumer is if your GPU doesn't have sufficient VRAM ... and if that becomes the case you will see significant performance slow downs.  The purpose of a Cache is for rapid retrieval of data ... this is done for performance benefits.  I'm not sure I'd call this a "bug".  

 

Cheers, Rob.

 

 

So DTG is like Obi Wan....my only hope 

 

Yes, I sense that despair in many ... may the force be with you.

 

 

I'm not going to violate terms and I'm not willing to buy a professional license, when 3rd party devs will be charging more for the professional license of their product.

 

Not all 3rd party devs charge higher prices ... in fact, only a small minority do.

 

Cheers, Rob.

[TheFamilyMan 280]

If LM would get _real_ with who their passionate future customer base is (unless their main customer is Uncle $am) and revise their licensing, I'd be all over a future with P3D.

Most aerospace or defence contractors use far more modern and capable simulation visualization platforms such as http://www.diamondvi...ts/genesis-rtx/ and http://www.agi.com/products/stk/.  P3D is way out of league in comparision to these products and seems to be catering to the shoe-string budgeted commercial (and enthusiest) simulation market segment, for which we should be grateful that we've been invited.

[charleslee201 19]

I juste made a trip from CYUL to KTPA (fly tampa ) with global, vect fsglobal mesh , lod 6.5 rex 4 texture and now I am heading to Palm spring (orbx) with 1.2 gb free and growing never reseted the sim ...

 

cs 777

[KingGhidorah 209]

GSalden, I thought that P3D was still waiting for a proper Nvidia SLI profile?  You are saying that the SLI does provide large improvements in the current version of P3D, better than it does in FSX,  just that it's not as good as it could be right now?  If so, then I might not wait to get P3D too much longer. 

[ZKOKQ 984]

 

 

f the answer in FSX-SE is "yes", then that would indeed be a significant improvement, which might well mean that SE will be much less subject to OOM problems. If that is the case, it would be a major reason to consider moving exclusively to SE - especially when PMDG is able to make the 777 and NGX fully compatible.

That is what I am hoping Jim. My test was not very scientific, it was quite rough and ready, and no Orbx installed, and of course no PMDG or ASN weather.

One noticeable change, was the free VAS stayed at 2.6gb. Did not go below that after leaving it to it's own devices for about an hour.

[shivers9 1,174]

Well all I know is after just reading about this new wonder product for 3 days now it has just about cured the Wart that has been on my right hand for years. It may be worth the 5 bucks.

[n4gix 4,947]

Has anyone tried to install any of their existing addons onto FSX Steam?

Only a few thousand have done so thus far. Give it another week or two for developers to update their installers for dual (side-by-side) installations.

 

Good grief, simmers are by and large pretty inventive and industrious sorts, so yes virtually everything will eventually work.

 

The one known exception being the abandoned Reality XP GPS units...

[JimmiG 244]

FSX on Steam is just FSX with compatibility problems. Sure most stuff will probably work, and workarounds will be found for most, but why bother when you already have that exact same piece of software on your FSX DVD's?

 

Keep enjoying FSX, and give X-Plane or P3D a try if you want something new.

[Jonahbird 8]

Well I just stuck my toe in. UK Scenery's London City has installed without any apparent problem.  So I've joined those thousands.

There'll be a few more licks on the lollipop methinks!

 

Maybe it's this computer, which has never tasted FS before, but Stream certainly seems to flow smoother and steadier without tweaking, and FSX performs better than I have seen before.  All sliders are maxxed too.

 

Frank

[turner112 52]

Bought steam for a few reasons:

 

1) Support the company(ies) that could act as a catalyst to keep some FS "internal" development alive

2) Hedge bets (low cost...)

3) Possible improvements in performance

4) Curiosity

 

Unscientifically... FWIW default install of FSX seems to load and run faster - in fact, run smoother - than my original / patched CD-Based copy. 

 

It may be my imagination.

[Ian S 214]

If still in doubt, why not try a free trial of P3D - no commitment, then decide.