Hi everyone,

 

I recently just joined and I'm planning on getting back to flight sim. I usually fly on fsx steam edition but I want to move to p3d because of that shadow and what not. However there are several things that I wanted to know before actually purchasing p3d.

 

Is now a good time to buy p3d 3.4 since it cost money to upgrade, I don't want to pay now and then have a newer version coming out a few months later and have to pay for the update.

 

I am running on i5-4690K OC to 4.4 GHz and GTX 970, how smooth would I be able to run it? I know I'm getting about 20 FPS on max settings in fsx on the aerosoft a320.

 

Thanks

You could buy the monthly subscription license if you are concerned about a new version coming out soon. The subscription is $9.95 a month, and if a new version comes out, you just end your subscription to v3 and go with the new version.

 

As far as how smooth you would be able to run, it's hard to give a definitive answer to this question, because it depends too much on graphics settings and scenery used. Note that maximum settings in P3D are much more demanding on the GPU than in FSX. Overall, I have the same CPU as you and a weaker GPU, and I have been satisfied with the performance (better overall than in FSX).

 

In doubt, I would just go ahead, buy Prepar3D and test. If you decide to buy the professional version, you have a 30-day return period if you don't like the sim.

You can actually buy any version, & get a 30 day return period.

You can actually buy any version, & get a 30 day return period.

Is it 30 day or do you have 60 days to get a refund if it does not work as expected on your system?

 

 

Is it 30 day or do you have 60 days to get a refund if it does not work as expected on your system?

 

Sorry, it is 60 days.

Lockheed Martin Prepar3D® Software License 60-Day Refund Policy What Software Licenses Are Eligible for a Refund?

All Lockheed Martin Prepar3D® software licenses that are purchased come with a Lockheed Martin 60-Day Money-Back Guarantee. Lockheed Martin will refund your purchase price subject to policy guidelines and license agreement provisions.

How Can I Request a Refund?

• Refunds must be requested within 60 days of purchase date.

P3D performs significantly better than FSX-SE with graphic settings being equal. That said, there is even more eye candy in P3D, so be careful not to go bananas!

I am running the new P3Dv3 and its great, smoother that my FSX.

My performance of the sim is excellent.

 

The unfortunate part is that not everything works in P3Dv3 like many planes need to be reinstalled not just copied over.  And then there are things like the GTN750 which you will need to by the upgrade.

 

So yes you will spend some money, but the most recent version sure is good.

It makes for a more immersive simulation, I think it runs smoother than FSX Acceleration and it seems to handle more complex add-ons better.  It looks better in sim to me.

 

I have a 4790K stock, GTX 970, Win 7 Pro and 8 GB RAM.  My machine runs P3D very well and your FPS will depend on your add-ons and settings.

 

I suggest if you are using a lot of add-ons (weather, textures, scenery, aircraft, airports), you do not want to run max settings, but you can experiment with your settings that will give you a fairly instructional experience.

 

Poppet has posted a lot of excellent articles about installing P3D, Rob Ainscough has also posted a guide to P3D here on AVSIM.

 

FWIW, I am running PMDG, Aerosoft Airbus, FSDT and Flightbeam airports, AS16 +ASCA, FTX Global and some FTX regions.  I do notice some FPS drops when on approach to KSFO HD and using ORBX NorCal, but no OOM's.

My 2 cents, My FSX-SE runs a lot smoother in my system then P3D,  I don't run clouds shadows, is FPS killer and so AS2016. I run FSX-SE and P3D Professional on the same PC's

my LOD in FSX-SE is 7.5 on P3D is 5.5 otherwise I get OOM.  Now was it worth? I am still trying to find a justification.

Thanks for the reply everyone, I just bought it and i am enjoying it a ton. Took me awhile to get everything set up but it was worth it in my opinion. Also, when does orbx sceneries go on sale if anyone know? P3d is not very good for my wallet ;-;

I came over to Prepar3.3 and love it. It is far more stable than FSX. Everything about it is better. I don't spen 80% of my time tweaking or repairing. You won't regret switching.

 

Bill W

P3D compared to FSX is a major step forward, no doubt about  it. 

Same. Although I use straight FSX without issues or OOM's. I couldn't justify the tweaking to get P3D to run well. Especially when it looks identical.

 

Understandable, since tweaking P3D will make it run worse. Install and fly. 

 

As for FSX looking identical to P3D, I'd really like to know how you were able to make FSX look anything close to P3D. Please share your screenshots. 

Same. Although I use straight FSX without issues or OOM's. I couldn't justify the tweaking to get P3D to run well. Especially when it looks identical.

Yes FSX-SE has to a better VAS management,  can handle larger LOD, Nvidia Inspector  works a lot better for FSX  when comes to AA,  Never gets blurry as P3D does  and with DX10 fixer it looks very close to P3D.

I will make a video comparison and post here.   

As suggested by BuddyDog above, make sure you check out the AVSIM P3D Guide by Rob Ainscough!!  It provides a lot of great advice on setting P3D up.

 

Best regards,

Jim