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captain420

Is having P3D/X-Plane on SSD vs HDD a HUGE improvement?

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I would like to know if there's a big noticeable difference in performance and speed by having games, or flight sims such as P3D and X-Plane on SSD vs traditional HDD.

 

If there's a big and noticeable difference then I will look into purchasing a 1TB SSD for both Xplane and P3D. Right now, the only SSD I have is 128GB, and that's for my main Windows 7 operating system.

 

I am also upgrading my system memory from 16GB to 32GB, primarily for X-Plane so I can use UHD Mesh and extended DSF. Don't think it would make any difference for P3D though.

 

And lastly, I think I will also be upgrading to a GTX 1080 card to replace my GTX 680. I really want the best performance I can get for P3D/X-Plane. 

 

Out of these upgrades that I've just mentioned. What would be the most beneficial in seeing results? I can't afford to buy all 3 at the moment, so I want to invest my money wisely on what will give me the biggest performance boost from highest to lowest. Need some advice from the community. Thanks guys.

 

1TB SSD is about $420

GTX 1080 is $679

16GB Memory $70


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Certainly I noticed little to no difference in x-plane. I would say (surprisingly) not worth it.


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I would like to know if there's a big noticeable difference in performance and speed by having games, or flight sims such as P3D and X-Plane on SSD vs traditional HDD.

Depends how you define "performance". Frame rate increase no, faster scenery loading maybe, Windows loading faster yes. PC snappier, yes.

 

I would guess that the 1080 upgrade would be most noticeable. RAM, doubt you would notice any diference. But I'm no X Plane expert.

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The loading time is reduced quite noticeably. Once the sim has loaded, there's no difference. This was true for both X-Plane and P3D on my system. Since you're already running the OS from an SSD, it's not a huge benefit. An SSD for the OS is essential these days, but for games and sims, not so much.

 

X-Plane can probably take advantage of 32 GB RAM if you really push it. P3D is still 32-bit, so it can only ever user 4 GB RAM (actually Virtual Address Space), no matter how much you have in your system.

 

The GTX 1080 will help when running higher levels of AA and when turning up the sliders for shadows, clouds etc. in P3D.

 

So I'd say:

1. GTX 1080 is $679

2. 16GB Memory $70

3. 1TB SSD is about $420


Asus Prime X370 Pro / Ryzen 7 3800X / 32 GB DDR4 3600 MHz / Gainward Ghost RTX 3060 Ti
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Just load times...  it really won't affect much else.

 

I have all my high end "games" on my 500GB evo SSD.

 

If you google SSD vs HDD load times you'll find a lot of comparisons - SSD's really make a huge difference in that department.


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