Hey guys, I have a few questions that will probably seem very basic to all of you that are in the "know" but I have been solely an FSX user period.

 

I have come all the way from FS2000 to now. I work part time in the IT industry, I am very familiar with the famous and not so famous tweaks that made FSX what it was today. Never felt uncomfortable tweaking, changing files, building new systems, upgrading and so forth.

 

I would like to preface this that if any of this has been discussed before, I apologize in advance. As I feel very late to the game and it appears like there's LOADS to get caught up with.

 

 

Now on to the point. As I said all I ever use is FSX retail (No Steam). I have many many 3rd party addons. I am aware PMDG and certain products must be re-purchased. I want to entertain the idea of switching solely for the VAS handling being improved.

 

Questions:

 

1. Will ORBX Global, FS Global 2012, FSDT, FlightBeam, UTX, REX, EZDOK, Ultimate Traffic II, Latin VFR KSAN KSNA, Vpilot, Active Sky Next, VA pilot (CDU on iPad) all work in P3D WITHOUT needing to repurchase?

 

A:  Yes.  Most have issued new installers for P3D.  Some have not.  None of the products you listed have to be repurchased if you had them for v2.5.

 

2. Can FSX remain on my SSD? or would it be wise to remove it prior to any P3D install?

 

A:  For sure!  If will not affect your installation of P3Dv3 whatsoever.  P3Dv3 is a new sim (i.e., the same as upgrading from FS9 to FSX).

 

3. Are there any differences with the Student and Pro versions? I am a student now, but will not be one very soon.\

 

A:  Absolutely no difference whatsoever except for a watermark in the upper right hand corner that tells you that you own the Academic version.

 

4. Windows 10 64 bit is my OS, are there any known problems with this?

 

A:  There are absolutely no problems or issues with Windows 10.  AVSIM has a Windows 10 forum and you might look there too but if you see any problems shown in that forum with P3Dv3, then consider it an isolated issue inherent to the individual who indicates he/she has a problem. 

 

5. Do the same tweaks from FSX carry over / required to be inserted into the .cfg? (HIGHMEM, BufferPools, etc.)

 

A:  You should never tweak any simulator if you have a system built after Sandy Bridge (a couple of years ago).  The highmemfix is not a tweak but an actual fix for FSX users and a requirement.  P3Dv3 users do not need to incorporate this fix in the P3D.cfg.  In the P3D main folder there is a link to the Learning Center.  Under Performance, there is a list of "tweaks" you can try to employ but you do so at your own risk.  If they worked really, really good, you can bet LM would have put them in the P3D.cfg as the default.  Most users of P3D who have employed tweaks in their configs have reported crashes/freezes.  They remove the tweaks (by rebuilding their P3D.cfg) and the crashes/freezes stop.  Virtual Address Space (VAS) is handled differently and more efficient with v3 over previous versions of P3D.

 

6. Is Nvidia inspector still better to use / set settings then in game?

 

A:  You do not need the NI for P3D.  Settings in game are the best for graphics.  This is one of the neat things about P3D over FSX.  They made it easier for everyone to immediately start using this new simulator.

 

7. Any other oddities / suggestions to be known when moving to this? (UIAutomationcore.dll) comes to mind.

 

A:  The uiautomationcore.dll is part of the Microsoft.net packages.  Some members had success by placing a certain really old version of the uiautomationcore.dll in their main FSX folder.  This should NOT be done with P3D or your P3D will crash or freeze up.  Another suggestion would be to play with the P3D settings to see what is best for YOUR computer system and not what has been successful for others.  Some people have overclocked and/or upgraded to the latest and greatest CPU/GPU.  Never max out your settings.  This is not a game like those recently released around the world that were made to handle max settings.  P3D still uses some of the old technology employed with Microsoft's FSX but has been significantly optimized where it can be optimized.  FSX used Microsoft Visual C++ 2005 w/SP1 for installation; P3D uses Microsoft Visual C++ 2012, a significant upgrade (you can't do that to FSX!).  FSX uses Microsoft.net 2.0 for running the application including memory management - old, old technology; P3D uses Microsoft.net 4.0 and above (you cannot do that with FSX!!).  They have done something that causes P3D to handle VAS better and now, the chances for running out of 4GB's of memory during operation of P3D, is significantly reduced but it can still happen.

 

8. Is SLI something to be looking at now? I have a EVGA 980Ti 6gb card now. IS that enough to run a 21:9 screen at 1440p?

 

A:  I would stay away from SLI.  For one, too costly.  Another reason not to go SLI is that it will not significantly increase performance.  I have the EVGA GTX 780 super-overclocked video card and have no problems running my 3440 x 1440 monitor resolution.  I also use a secondary monitor for running applications such as ProATC-X during a flight.  The EVGA 980Ti video card is one of the best cards, if not the best, in the Universe!

 

Sorry guys I do apologize for the long list, I'm sure most of these questions are already well known by you guys by now but like I said I am just trying to catch up now as I thought I was going to remain on FSX for a while. P3D seems too good to remain uneducated on any longer. 

 

I thank everyone for any and all answers you provide. Any insight, suggestions, tips, hints are much appreciated. I know V3 just released and there probably will be a few bugs for a while but I think I will be making the switch once I know more from the community here. 

 

Thanks everyone, eager to learn what I have shielded myself from for a while now.

 

Angelo Cosma

My responses in RED above.  I do not know of any bugs in v3 so far if you run P3D without addons.  It works great!  No crashes, freezes, and high fps standing alone but, if you decide to add an addon, like in FSX things start to go down hill fast if you are not careful with the installation and use of the addon.  Almost every addon developed was made to create some eye-candy for P3D users and this causes members to increase their P3D settings to the max to get the best graphics and immersion possible.  This only causes a lot of frustrations as members then see stuttering, shimmering, and other anomalies associated with high settings.  Many of the addons made for v2.5 were tested for compatibility before v3 was released but there is no guarantee of complete compatibility and LM does not guarantee compatibility that a product will work properly in v3 (as I stated earlier, v3 is a new simulator).  There have been a lot of new features and enhancements with v3.  Here is a quote from the learning center guide:

 

"The Prepar3D v3 update brings all new features to the platform, rendering and performance, SimDirector, and the SDK. The platform has been overhauled to take advantage of the latest development tools to increase performance and stability while streamlining future development. Optimizations and visual improvements to the rendering engine increase immersion to a whole new level. New development features, including the Scaleform SDK, provide developers even more flexibility to create new and exciting content for Prepar3D's ever increasing user base. A completely new way to interact with the platform has been added with the addition of Avatar mode. Avatar mode opens up endless new training possibilities including vehicle inspection, maintenance, and safety scenarios. Prepar3D's scenario creation tool SimDirector has also been enhanced with a new scripting system opening up possibilities to create more complex training scenarios."

 

I hope this helps.

 

Best regards,

Thanks so much Jim for that very detailed answer! I have many who are on the fence, I will show them you post I very much appreciate it!

 

My System:

 

Intel 6700K 4.80Ghz

ASUS MAXIMUS VIII ROG Hero

GSKILL DDR4 16Gb 3200Mhz

EVGA 980Ti 6Gb

Samsung 850 Evo 500Gb SSD

Win 10 64

 

That should be ample for P3D as sometimes FSX can still bog down on that setup.

 

May I ask for a bit of clarification, forgive me if I am asking in the wrong place. The aforementioned "Watermark" is that up the entire time in the Sim? Or just in the launch screen?

 

If it is up 24/7 then I will fork over the higher price just so that's gone. 

All the time. It's why I went Pro. Well one reason.

These so many questions make me remember a fundamental question: life is hard?, please tell me, because I'm born!!!