Mitch,

 

FSX water in DX10 mode was a big disappointment to me, and not much better than it is in P3D. In fact, FSX in DX10 mode was (in my experience) rubbish in most departments when I tried it on my old PC (even with Steve's DX10 Fixer). The water was worse, the AA was worse, small sections of the more distant terrain textures exhibited annoying white flashes, and I had the same problem with missing navigation and strobe lights on the AI planes that I do in P3D. Frankly, I never understood what all the fuss was about. FSX in DX9 mode was FAR better for me. The only advantage I had in DX10 mode was with the VAS management (which I admit was a significant improvement).

 

Hi Christopher,

 

I don't know when you tried the fixer but I recently purchased the latest version and although it took a bit of experimentation to setup and get the shadows working, and fix the missing lights etc, it's all sorted now and with most aircraft and scenery the performance is just about on a par with DX9 but with the self shadowing (which I have to say is better than P3d's).

 

I have no flashing runways or lights, nothing is "missing" and except for just a few aircraft addons, DX10 works better than DX9. You do have to be very careful however setting up SGSS which is really the only kind of supersampling that works properly in DX10.

 

The current fixer allows you to adjust about everything including bloom, water saturation and ambience, shadow contrast, strength of lighting. In fact it is an object lesson in user choice, all done with convenient sliders and switches. Very nicely done.

 

I'd also recommend using DSR which can be used perfectly well with older Nvidia cards.

Mitch,

 

FSX water in DX10 mode was a big disappointment to me, and not much better than it is in P3D. In fact, FSX in DX10 mode was (in my experience) rubbish in most departments when I tried it on my old PC (even with Steve's DX10 Fixer). The water was worse, the AA was worse, small sections of the more distant terrain textures exhibited annoying white flashes, and I had the same problem with missing navigation and strobe lights on the AI planes that I do in P3D. Frankly, I never understood what all the fuss was about. FSX in DX9 mode was FAR better for me. The only advantage I had in DX10 mode was with the VAS management (which I admit was a significant improvement).

Chris,  with DX10, the Fixer, and REX 4 Direct,  in FSX:MS, I have waves that roll...in animation with the wind direction (this is a proprietary feature set of the DX10 Fixer)...I see swells..and almost lost my flight...when first seeing this animation just off-shore of Boston, Mass.

 

I have that in FSX:MS/DX10/Fixer, but not in P3D.  Nothing to sweat about..but...I also agree with a few others...if you have the room, why in the world, divest oneself of a mature FSX:MS/SE JUST because you also happen to enjoy the benefits and usage of any version of P3D?!?!?!?   Why?   I fly all of them...truly depending on what aspect of a flight I wish to highlight.  P3D can do things that FSX can't. FSX can do things that P3D can't. XPX.35 can do things (HDR and the 'night life') that neither of those sims can....blah, blah, and blah. The depiction of water bodies is such one example of running them all, for what you wish to see/enjoy on that flight!!!

 

While others spend energy 'camping' out in one sim franchise...I simply run to each camp out, pull up a chair, and enjoy the fire that is there.  Marshmallows, anyone?    :rolleyes:

Hi Christopher,

 

I don't know when you tried the fixer but I recently purchased the latest version and although it took a bit of experimentation to setup and get the shadows working, and fix the missing lights etc, it's all sorted now and with most aircraft and scenery the performance is just about on a par with DX9 but with the self shadowing (which I have to say is better than P3d's).

 

I have no flashing runways or lights, nothing is "missing" and except for just a few aircraft addons, DX10 works better than DX9. You do have to be very careful however setting up SGSS which is really the only kind of supersampling that works properly in DX10.

 

The current fixer allows you to adjust about everything including bloom, water saturation and ambience, shadow contrast, strength of lighting. In fact it is an object lesson in user choice, all done with convenient sliders and switches. Very nicely done.

 

I'd also recommend using DSR which can be used perfectly well with older Nvidia cards.

"...what he said!"

I haven't used FSX for flying (only for a quick install test) since my old PC failed in July last year, but up to that point DX10 mode was nowhere near as good as DX9 mode. I have since switched exclusively to P3D.

 

As for DSR, I have this active in 2x mode on my 1280x1024 resolution monitor, and this gives me a resolution of 1810x1448. It seems to work very well.

I paid for it when it first came out. It was an absolute nightmare. I couldn't figure out why I had to pay 60 bucks to be a beta tester. It was nothing but a crash test, I gave up after 2.2 as the AA is still garbage.

 

Let me know if Nvidia ever makes an NI profile for it and I'll try it again. Till then NO THANKYOU!

I paid for it when it first came out. It was an absolute nightmare. I couldn't figure out why I had to pay 60 bucks to be a beta tester. It was nothing but a crash test, I gave up after 2.2 as the AA is still garbage.

 

Let me know if Nvidia ever makes an NI profile for it and I'll try it again. Till then NO THANKYOU!

Sorry to read that.  I decided to stay with a fully invested P3D v2.4.  I have to say, that the visuals, are pretty fabulous, to say the least.  With that Optimize Parts=1 setting in the .cfg file, I am getting 25 percent better FPS output, than FSX:MS!  It's also quite smooth, post tweak.  Perhaps, you need to tweak and twack just a little more...but you can certainly get a very satisfying flight session out of v2.4 (I can't speak obviously for v2.5)

 

 

(I can't speak obviously for v2.5)

I use 2.5.  No problem here.  Everything is smooth.

 

 

While others spend energy 'camping' out in one sim franchise...I simply run to each camp out, pull up a chair, and enjoy the fire that is there.  Marshmallows, anyone?

Me too, but I now only camp with XPX and P3D.  Once you have tasted the pop up free autogen, you can't go back.  I miss a few of my favorite add-ons, hint to DT: fix the autogen pop up, if there is only one to fix.  

 

 

...I simply run to each camp out, pull up a chair, and enjoy the fire that is there.

 

Sounds like a lot of smoke to me.

I've been on the fence about switching ever since PMDG released P3d versions of their products. To be honest after reading this entire thread I am still on the fence. I have no doubt that P3d is the future but to me it just seems like a situation where "if it ain't broke don't fix it" applies. I am happy with my fsx installation and performance so for now it seems like I will stick with it until something fails at which point I will start fresh with P3d.

I paid for it when it first came out. It was an absolute nightmare. I couldn't figure out why I had to pay 60 bucks to be a beta tester. It was nothing but a crash test, I gave up after 2.2 as the AA is still garbage.

 

Let me know if Nvidia ever makes an NI profile for it and I'll try it again. Till then NO THANKYOU!

 

I'm using the one that comes in this package:

 

http://simtweak.com/

 

I was stunned at the picture quality. I'm using their profile in X as well only with Transparency SS at 2X without SweetFX (ENB). Running 2.4 btw.

I find it ridiculous to see people discussing this on pure speculation that have not even tried P3D...  

 

Why don't you just get it, try it, and if it's not for you you can just get a refund... you have two full months to test it, isn't that enough??  

 

without having tried both I find those types of comments have absolutely 0 value...

Sounds like a lot of smoke to me.

If the smoke comes...you only have to shift your chair...lol.  You can enjoy all of the campfires...and not limit yourself to only one!

There are distinct advantages to both. 

 

AA in FSX DX9 simply can't be matched by DX10 or P3D without using so much SGSSAA that your computer spontaneously combusts. Water in both FSX modes is much better then P3D. Clouds are better in FSX for whatever reason even though you'd think they were the same. I see less spikes and smoother loading in FSX. The UI is much better in FSX. 

 

P3D has much better autogen loading, all manner of different shadowing options not in FSX, better atmospherics, better terrain loading (in my experience), HDR, and requires less tweaking (or none at all). But you better have a really nice GPU to take advantage of it. 

 

There's no right answer. 

 

I agree with everything you said. One of my biggest peeves with P3D is the UI. Everything from the scenario setup screen to the ATC interface looks, feels, and operates like a clunky alpha version thrown hastily together. Thankfully we only need to interact with it relatively little when compared to time spent actually flying, but still, it bugs me considering how "professional" of a product P3D is supposed to be. The FSX interface is prettier, slicker, and easier to use. This should be a no-brainer for the P3D team when they have a direct model to compare to and build from.

 

There are a couple of rendering bugs (major ones) that have been in P3D since 2.0, and I'm really surprised I've never seen mention of it. Sometimes the fog/atmospheric blending of cirrus layers and clouds is completely broken. They don't always "fade out" into the distance to match current visibility. This results in the clouds standing out in stark contrast to the rest of the environment. Now apparently this is somewhat of an "artistic" issue and some don't seem to notice it (I'll often see it right in my face in screenshots made in praise of P3D's graphics) and I'm confused as to how the user doesn't see this... but nevertheless it is one of the reasons I *still* go back to FSX despite the many positive areas in P3D.

I have to own up to being one of the P3D knockers and insisting that FSX with DX10 was super until I bought it the other day.

 

Now I can see why so many have been trying to persuade us.

 

I still can't believe how smooth it is!

 

I am annoyed that PMDG hasn't bothered to offer all of us that already have the B777 and NGX a deal and expect full price!   I have loaded all my Aerosoft Airbus as they are provided with a dual installer.

Aerosoft deserve our full praise for looking after us and they know how to treat their valued customers.

i would like to try it but do not meet the licensing rules. Not prepared to cheat.

Not prepared to cheat.

 

You would not be cheating, whatever makes you think that?, you will be using it for simulation

 

This is straight from the LM site

 

"Acceptable uses of Prepar3D include Simulation, Learning, and Training"