Prepar3 vs MFS Deluxe Edition

[Paul12 2]

Up to now I used FSX as my flight simulator program.Since I consider to switch to

Prepar3 but before doing so I wonder what the advantage is.

Can anybody explain in a few words what I gain ? Prepar3 is quite expensive.

Thank you 

Paul 12

[Nemo 1,305]

- more realistic weather (incl. fog) especially wit Active Sky for P3D

- 64bit which means no more OOMs

- Dynamic Lighting (depends also on add-ons)

- Better add-on management (xml system) - if the add-on developer  strictly follows P3D SDK

- Continuous development of the platform

just to name a few.

Edited March 15, 2019 by Nemo

[Bobsk8 12,686]

Like going from a Model T to a Modern auto. 

[kaha 205]

Also take a look at your hardware when going from FSX to P3DV4

[Bob Scott 7,720]

Also, P3D is a DirectX 11 application (FSX is DX9), which allows a great deal of the video rendering workload to be shifted to the GPU, in turn allowing you to take advantage of the tremendous increase in GPU technology.

Regards

[G-RFRY 1,711]

If you take the price of FSX Deluxe on release pre order like I did and compare that to todays price then P3Dv4 is not that expensive. 

 

 

 

[ailchim 206]

2 hours ago, kaha said:

Also take a look at your hardware when going from FSX to P3DV4

This is the answer to consider first.  P3D isn't expensive but the hardware to run it is. 

[Guest]

If you are reasonably satisfied with FSX then you might consider waiting for Prepar3D V5.V4 was released in May 2017 and the release cycle is approximately a new version every 2 years.

[jabloomf1230 2,445]

The primary benefit is that  many 3rd party developers have switched from FSX to P3d.

[ckyliu 1,749]

59 minutes ago, ailchim said:

P3D isn't expensive but the hardware to run it is. 

P3D will run as smooth as FSX on the same hardware for the same graphic quality. You only need to improve hardware if you want to improve graphic quality (although admittedly most users will). Repurchasing addons if you use A2A, CaptainSim, HiFi and PMDG products will be expensive as those developers offer no upgrade path.

Edited March 15, 2019 by ckyliu

[F737MAX 5,592]

1 hour ago, Avidean said:

If you are reasonably satisfied with FSX then you might consider waiting for Prepar3D V5.V4 was released in May 2017 and the release cycle is approximately a new version every 2 years.

If we go based on what Adam Breed (Prepar3d's Engineering Project Manager) said in a November interview, right before v4.4 was released:

Quote

Prepar3D v4 still has a lot of life left in it and it will likely be the longest active release we have done. Still, I think users are going to be very pleased where the platform is heading. No hints just yet!

It sounds like v5 is a way off yet. Better to upgrade now, than to wait 6 months.

Compared to FSX, Prepar3d has better support, better products, better use of your PC's resources, better visuals.
You need to decide if you're happy with what you already have or if you can justify investing in new aircraft and possibly new hardware.

[hockey_fan 0]

I upgraded from FSX to P3Dv4 a few months ago.  I would say there is a strong benefit to upgrading, especially if you have lots of add-ons. 

With FSX, I always had to tone down the add-ons from their original capability just to avoid OOMs.  Or I had to constantly adjust configuration files in the (usually futile) hope that lower settings would allow me to complete the flight without crashing.  This was true even with fast and expensive hardware.

With P3dV4, I can run the add-ons at or close to the limit of the hardware I have.  Even if I had to purchase some of the add-ons again (and often the upgrade was free), it was worth it, because essentially for FSX I had purchased add-ons without really being able to use them.  Now I use all add-ons at their capacity, and the difference is stunning and game-changing!

Also, I haven't yet had to edit a P3D configuration file by hand.  All the settings can be handled through normal P3D menus.  Some may still benefit from careful tweaking of configuration files, but I've had very satisfactory performance without having to worry about tweaking.  

The only way I would say not to upgrade, is if you have few add-ons and you are happy with the FSX performance as is. 

Bottom line, if you've invested a lot in flight simulation, you're going to get a great return on investment if you upgrade to P3D.  If your investment is smaller then the gains will also be smaller.