Upgrading from FSX to P3D V4.1

[PaulCankaya 0]

Hi all,

I realise this has most like been asked multiple times by several people, however, those are outdated questions.

Currently I'm running FSX on my PC. I want to upgrade to P3D V4 to take advantage of the 64 bit environment and visuals. My only concern is whether my system will allow me to run it to the 'smoothness' I want. I'm not looking for crazy FPS like 40 to 50. I'm looking for something that feels fine and smooth, probably 25-30 fps.  I know I can go to the Lockheed Martin website and look at the recommended specs, however I want a first hand account from people who sim regularly.

These are my PC specs:

Intel Core i5 4690K Processor 3.50 GHz (Overclocked to up to 4.3GHz)

NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1060 6GB Graphics Card

16 GB (2 x 8GB) DDR3 1600MHz RAM

Seagate 1000GB SSHD Hybrid Drive

Windows 7 Home Premium 64 bit

 

Anyone else use a system similar? What are your thoughts?

Kind Regards

Paul

[MikeT707 1,181]

I have a similar system and mine seems to run well. It really depends on how you configure your visual settings (of which there are many) that increase or decrease performance to meet your personal needs in the sim. Honestly, the best way to answer your question is for you to try the platform as you have a 60 day return policy with Lockheed Martin. This gives you more than ample time to try it, configure a bunch of different settings, and judge performance. I am sure you will like the platform when you do try it. FSX is so 2006. 

[sunjunkiesi 4]

I'm slightly lower than your specs and it is, as Mike says, like stepping forward a decade.  I get slowdowns over heavily populated areas, but then again I did with FSX as well.  If you're anything like me, you will leave FSX on your machine "just in case" and then never touch it again.

[Boomer 1,619]

Similar specs as well..gpu only a 960 4mb but still very good performance with p3dv4.

Make the move, brother, you will not regret it and never go back to crappy 32bit but FSuX.

[Zuendholz 50]

You should be able to run it like you want with your hardware. Core thing is, not to max out everything and take your time to find your right spot between the best performance together with the best visuals.

[PaulCankaya 0]

55 minutes ago, MikeT707 said:

I have a similar system and mine seems to run well. It really depends on how you configure your visual settings (of which there are many) that increase or decrease performance to meet your personal needs in the sim. Honestly, the best way to answer your question is for you to try the platform as you have a 60 day return policy with Lockheed Martin. This gives you more than ample time to try it, configure a bunch of different settings, and judge performance. I am sure you will like the platform when you do try it. FSX is so 2006. 

Haha "So 2006" - you're right, it is. However, it's expensive upgrading to P3D with all the addons I have. Need to purchase it over time....

[Chock 17,769]

It'll run a lot better than FSX on that machine, that I can pretty much guarantee. However, P3D V4.1 is not a magic bullet, as with FSX, the temptation to start shoving every slider over to the right and picking every graphic whistle and bell will have to be resisted if you want it to remain smooth.

[PaulCankaya 0]

38 minutes ago, sunjunkiesi said:

I'm slightly lower than your specs and it is, as Mike says, like stepping forward a decade.  I get slowdowns over heavily populated areas, but then again I did with FSX as well.  If you're anything like me, you will leave FSX on your machine "just in case" and then never touch it again.

I hope that I don't have to touch it again!  Looks and feels so outdated! Thanks for your reply

[PaulCankaya 0]

27 minutes ago, Boomer said:

Similar specs as well..gpu only a 960 4mb but still very good performance with p3dv4.

Make the move, brother, you will not regret it and never go back to crappy 32bit but FSuX.

I will brother ;) haha

[PaulCankaya 0]

1 minute ago, Chock said:

It'll run a lot better than FSX on that machine, that I can pretty much guarantee.

Really? Because it spreads the computational 'load' over all the cores? So I perhaps should see an improved FPS over my current FSX FPS (obviously with the correct settings)? 

Cheers

[PaulCankaya 0]

24 minutes ago, Zuendholz said:

You should be able to run it like you want with your hardware. Core thing is, not to max out everything and take your time to find your right spot between the best performance together with the best visuals.

Yeah I don't plan on maxing out, I never felt the need even with FSX. I assume P3D's lowest settings will still be an improvement over FSX? haha

[Chock 17,769]

6 minutes ago, PaulCankaya said:

I hope that I don't have to touch it again! It's word not allowed! Looks and feels so outdated! Thanks for your reply

Be aware that this is not true in every respect, for example, FSX has the basic capability to download realtime weather in there, and P3D does not, you'll have to get your hand in your pocket to make that happen. And yes to your other question, I'd put money on it getting better FPS than FSX on the same basic settings, I think you will be pleasantly surprised. Where the FPS problems start to occur is that from this solid foundation, it's just tempting to start throwing everything including the kitchen sink at it in terms of add-ons because you know it won't start pinging a VAS warning, but it still has to draw all that pretty stuff you add to it.

But you won't regret the switch, although you might initially be a bit miffed at having to buy a bunch of add-ons you could have sworn you'd already paid for lol.

[PaulCankaya 0]

Just now, Chock said:

Be aware that this is not true in every respect, for example, FSX has the basic capability to download realtime weather in there, and P3D does not, you'll have to get your hand in your pocket to make that happen.

Yeah, I do plan on having the 'essential' addons - FTX global, Active Sky, Rex, PMDG etc

 

[scottb613 1,186]

Hi Folks,

I made the jump straight from FS9 to P3Dv3.2 when it came out (not sorry I missed FSX at all) - - - big jump - just updated to v4 yesterday and it seems I'm doing even better on v4 than v3... I'm running an old Sandy i2700K @ 4.7Ghz and a top end GTX970... Loaded up my addons (the usual suspects) and still very good performance... You should have no trouble...

Regards,

Scott 

[PaulCankaya 0]

4 minutes ago, scottb613 said:

Hi Folks,

I made the jump straight from FS9 to P3Dv3.2 when it came out (not sorry I missed FSX at all) - - - big jump - just updated to v4 yesterday and it seems I'm doing even better on v4 than v3... I'm running an old Sandy i2700K @ 4.7Ghz and a top end GTX970... Loaded up my addons (the usual suspects) and still very good performance... You should have no trouble...

Regards,

Scott 

Nice one! Definitely time to move on and 'get with the times'!! Feel like FSX is prehistoric now haha