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severniae

Old FSX user, looking to re-setup my sim...

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Hi guys,

 

Been away from the flight sim world for a few years owing to other persuits. However recently got the pang to get back into it, especially after using my Oculus Rift on other sims and really enjoying it.

 

I left the simming world before P3D had really matured, and long before the FSX Steam version came out. So now I'm left with a little of an issue, which is 'THE' flightsim I should set myself back up with?

 

One thing that bears heavy on my mind is that I have spent many hundreds (Maybe even a thousand) on add-ons for FSX, especially the P3d and A2A offerings - I'd rather not lose access to those...

 

I'm especially interested in which version is having less OOM issues these days, smoothness of course is also a big factor.... I have a powerful PC that should be able to run everything fine (i7, 770GTX etc...)

 

Many thanks in advance...


James W

 

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What were those add-ons that you spent on?  Mainly or mostly FSX?  If so FSX-SE is the best choice.  If you go P3D route, the latest is V3 which has very good VAS management if you like to cram on complex scenery and flying PMDG aircraft.  Be aware that you will need to buy the P3D versions of your aircraft again.  Only few shops that offers free upgrade, Carenado and Majestic are two.  I recently discovered that FSX-SE with all the latest update/fixes is actually best for ORBX given my HW, so if you like VFR/ORBX and A2A that is a good combination.  I have both P3D and FSX-SE.  My P3D is bare bone now, mainly for PMDG aircrafts and major airport sceneries, which these aircrafts get to.  P3D also offer graphic enhancements, some like them, some don't.  FSX-SE with the DX10 Fixer (payware) is also a popular choice.  If cost is a major concern, stick with FSX-SE, but that is just my opinion.  


Vu Pham

i7-10700K 5.2 GHz OC, 64 GB RAM, GTX4070Ti, SSD for Sim, SSD for system. MSFS2020

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Cost isn't a Major concern. To be honest I like your idea of P3D for the heavies and FSX:SE for VFR etc...

 

Does FSX:SE have any memory management fixes over FSX?

 

Also, does anyone know if the likes of PMDG have an 'upgrade' option to get the P3D version cheaper if you already own the FSX version?

 

Edit: Further question, if I buy a v3 P3d license, and then in 6 months, P3d upgrades to their 64-Bit version, would I have to spent circa $200 again?


James W

 

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Be aware that you will need to buy the P3D versions of your aircraft again.

 

I just bought P3D (I also have a fairly powerful computer) and am so blown away of how good it is.  I think that it's use of DX11 compared to DX9 is so much better.

 

As for the airplanes, what I did is copy my gauges directory from FSX to P3D, making sure to not override any files in the P3D directory.  ALSO MAKE SURE TO MAKE A BACKUP gauges directory first.  I then copied my FSX airplane directories from the simobjects\airplanes directory.  Almost all of the planes worked just great in P3D.  Saved a lot of money and hard work this way.  Also, changes that I spent a lot of time working on (aircraft.cfg and panel.cfg files) came over to P3D.  

 

http://www.prepar3d.com/add-ons/

 

Happy Flying! 

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As for the airplanes, what I did is copy my gauges directory from FSX to P3D

This technique does not work with PMDG products and many others, also depending on vendor violate EULA.

 

 

Does FSX:SE have any memory management fixes over FSX?

 

Also, does anyone know if the likes of PMDG have an 'upgrade' option to get the P3D version cheaper if you already own the FSX version?

 

Edit: Further question, if I buy a v3 P3d license, and then in 6 months, P3d upgrades to their 64-Bit version, would I have to spent circa $200 again?

There is no upgrade pricing for PMDG, you need to buy full price again.  As for P3D license, there is also no upgrade pricing for major version release either.  However, the minor release says 3.1 to 3.9 are free update.  So six months down the road if LM release version 4.0 and it's a 64bit version, you will need to pay 200$ again.

 

As for better memory management with FSX-SE, some have reported less OOM error, but since I don't use PMDG aircrafts with it, I can't tell.  A Google search may yield more answers.  There are plenty of people still use FSX/FSX-SE, plus Dovetail recently leaks info that there is a new sim being developed that is geared toward the entertainment market.  

 

You are patient enough, you eventually will be able to get FSX-SE for 5$ during the Steam sale (I got mine years ago for 9.99$ introductory price).  You can start with P3D and have 60 days to toy with it worry free as LM will issue a refund if you are not happy within 60 days.

 

Be aware that many popular planes in FSX don't have a version for P3D yet and may never have one (e.g. F1 Mustang).


Vu Pham

i7-10700K 5.2 GHz OC, 64 GB RAM, GTX4070Ti, SSD for Sim, SSD for system. MSFS2020

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Cost isn't a Major concern. To be honest I like your idea of P3D for the heavies and FSX:SE for VFR etc...

 

Does FSX:SE have any memory management fixes over FSX?

 

Also, does anyone know if the likes of PMDG have an 'upgrade' option to get the P3D version cheaper if you already own the FSX version?

 

Edit: Further question, if I buy a v3 P3d license, and then in 6 months, P3d upgrades to their 64-Bit version, would I have to spent circa $200 again?

 

I'd use P3D for the VFR work and FSX for the tubeliners. The big advantage, for me, is that P3D just looks so much better.

 

I don't think the memory management with Steam is any better. I had a short fling with Steam before going back to the boxed edition and didn't see any difference at all.

 

PMDG does not have an upgrade option.

 

I doubt that LM will ever come up with a 64-bit version of P3D. But I also have no doubt that if I'm wrong you can be sure you'll have to pay the full price again. 

 

Doug


Intel 10700K @ 5.1Ghz, Asus Hero Maximus motherboard, Noctua NH-U12A cooler, Corsair Vengeance Pro 32GB 3200 MHz RAM, RTX 2060 Super GPU, Cooler Master HAF 932 Tower, Thermaltake 1000W Toughpower PSU, Windows 10 Professional 64-Bit, 100TB of disk storage. Klaatu barada nickto.

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I should have qualified my approach to transferring planes from FSX to P3D.  The method seems to work the majority of times on the GA planes that I own.  I have used the technique on Carenado, Albeao, RealAir, Ants, etc.  No it doesn't work 100% of the time, but I figure about 85% has saved me a lot of work in that it brought forward my repaints, and changes to the aircraft.cfg and panel.cfg files.

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Cost isn't a Major concern. To be honest I like your idea of P3D for the heavies and FSX:SE for VFR etc...

 

Does FSX:SE have any memory management fixes over FSX?

 

Also, does anyone know if the likes of PMDG have an 'upgrade' option to get the P3D version cheaper if you already own the FSX version?

 

Edit: Further question, if I buy a v3 P3d license, and then in 6 months, P3d upgrades to their 64-Bit version, would I have to spent circa $200 again?

I do the exact opposite FSX steam for heavies (better fps) and p3dv3 for VFR way better graphics. Also you can just buy the acedemic and save yourself money

ATP MEL,CFI,CFII,MEI.

 

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I use both P3D and FSX and P3D it much better in terms of frame rates, smoothness, VAS management (so OOM's are extremely rare), visual fidelity, feature set, and the ability to take advantage of modern hardware to optimize performance. To add, the product is supported by a strong development team and receives performance and feature enhancements 3-4 times per year. Also, most of the leading third party producers have P3D versions. 

 

For me I fly low and slow in P3D and tubeliners in both P3D and FSX, but to be honest usually in P3D due to performance. I am really trying to hold on to FSX but it keeps getting more difficult with every P3D point release. 

 

Just make sure you have a good graphics card if you do go with P3D as the software directs the GPU to process more than the CPU.


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REX Simulations

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Just make sure you have a good graphics card if you do go with P3D as the software directs the GPU to process more than the CPU.

Correct.  I also find that P3D behavior and performance varies considerably with HW configuration.  On my modest setup (read 4 years old ) i7-2700K 4.8 Ghz, GTX980, 16 GB of RAM, P3D is better suited for tube liners.  For my OBRX stuffs, I found that they are much better in FSX-SE, as ORBX in P3D on my setup has stutters, despite high FPS count, P3D v3 with the unloading of sceneries also cause slight, noticeable pause with my setup, hence I fly low and slow in FSX-SE.  Note that FSX-SE performs best as is, i.e. don't use NI tweaks and such, so if you do use FSX-SE leave the FSX tweaks where they are in FSX.


Vu Pham

i7-10700K 5.2 GHz OC, 64 GB RAM, GTX4070Ti, SSD for Sim, SSD for system. MSFS2020

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