FSX or P3D v4

[Rizalini]

Guys I have a real conundrum and I know the great minds here can help me figure it out (or at least give me some knowledge and guidance). Right now I am using FSX SE with a TON of payware addons like the PMDG 737s (which I love), ORBX scenery, GSX, Rex4, Active Sky and Cloud Art. As of just recently I have been getting the dreaded OOM exclamation sound and eventually crashing. My system is an i5 3570k 3.4ghz, 32GB DDR3 RAM and a Radeon RX460  GPU. 

My question is would I be better off getting a new rig completely or just making the switch to P3d and rebuying all of the payware that I know and love for FSX? I guess another question would be if I do just splurge and spend $1500 on a gaming rig, will that fix the OOM problem I am experiencing? I have never used anything other than FSX and am scared to have to relearn a whole new system, but if it really is leaps and bounds better than FSX, I'd love to hear why.

 

I appreciate all the info and insight, thanks all.

Cheers

[Ian S]

Whilst you stay with a 32bit platform, you are prone to OOMs, regardless of your rig, due to the high demand add-ons. P3Dv4 will put an end to OOMS.

You won't need to re-purchase all of your add-ons. I'd save the $1500, spend it on P3D and buying whatever addons you need. I think you'll have plenty of change left over.

[virtuali]

If you buy a better system, which will likely have a better graphic card with more memory, your frustration with OOMs will increase even more, because under DX9 (which FSX uses), the more memory the graphic card has, the more it will "steal" from the already limited amount of 4GB available to a single 32 app, since in DX9 a copy of allocated VRAM gets copied into the regular RAM. DX10 and above (P3D4 is DX11) don't have this issue.

So, not only your nice 32GB of RAM is already wasted right now, but you'll risk ending up having even *more* OOMs, just because of that DX9 limitation.

So, the way better solution, is to save your money and upgrade to P3D4 now. If you really want to upgrade your hardware, don't build a new system: you already got 32GB and that's nice so, If I were you, I'd consider upgrading *just* the video card, maybe something like the new RTX 2060/2070, that have a smarter price tag than the top tiers, or maybe an used GTX 1080 or possibly 1080ti, which is still a great card for P3D4.

[Rizalini]

See this is why I love this forum! well explained answers with no BS. Both of your answers are very similar, so I guess the answer if obvious. Time to upgrade to P3D.

That being said, can you answer a couple questions about the program, since I have zero experience with it?

1) How is the FPS compared to FSX? I was currently getting 9-12 FPS at graphics heavy airports and about 20 in the air.

2) Will I need to repurchase EZ Dok again, or does the program have good standard camera options?

3) Where can I go to find a users guide on how to operate the program? (ie contact the tower, program my yolk, etc)

 

Again thanks for all the insight and help. I appreciate you guys

 

 

[LesOReilly]

On 3/5/2019 at 6:04 PM, Rizalini said:

See this is why I love this forum! well explained answers with no BS. Both of your answers are very similar, so I guess the answer if obvious. Time to upgrade to P3D.

That being said, can you answer a couple questions about the program, since I have zero experience with it?

1) How is the FPS compared to FSX? I was currently getting 9-12 FPS at graphics heavy airports and about 20 in the air.

2) Will I need to repurchase EZ Dok again, or does the program have good standard camera options?

3) Where can I go to find a users guide on how to operate the program? (ie contact the tower, program my yolk, etc)

 

Again thanks for all the insight and help. I appreciate you guys

 

 

P3Dv4 is based on the same Core (ESP) as FSX....Everything you do now is basically the same 🙂 

I use ChasePlane so if you need to replace any of your payware (check with the developer....Some like Active Sky require that you buy a new license or an upgrade).

ORBX does not -- those can be used in both with the same license (though you will have newer options since they now have P3Dv4 only titles).

Frame rate will improve but not as drastically as one would hope when you don't have a the higher end Processor and something in the 980ti/1070/1660ti range.  

As others have pointed out -- the ability to have more RAM for the APPS will help with that.  Plus then the GFX cards can also start to help with the huge VRAM with blazing speeds.

That said -- it is still based on a very very old platform...There are Stutters and pauses when crossing over the invisible region sections that then pull in a ton of data for the Scenery and Terrain.....The more high end stuff you add the longer they last.

[thecanarian]

I'm now facing the same dilemma, especially as some new sexy aircraft (DA62) are being released in P3Dv4 only (I've happened on this thread as part of my research before the big bang). However as a temporary workaround to the OOM issue in FSX for longer flights, or when I just start to see blurries, I go into the menu system World/Scenery and just click on OK. It takes a few minutes to reload the scenery but you can continue your flight.

[udidwht]

Even with P3Dv3.4.22.19868 your miles ahead of FSX. While still 32bit it is DirectX 11 and shifts a lot over to VRAM. I've yet to have an OOM with v3. And I have a slew of add-ons. Not jumping to P3D4 given then soon to release FS 2020.