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flyinion

What's the Sim everyone is using now?

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7 hours ago, flyinion said:

I'm going to assume if I want to use my PDMG stuff it requires a straight up separate purchase correct? 

Correct. 

Concerning your initial question: don't ask yourself what sim everyone is using but ask yourself which sims suits your needs the most. 😉 After reading this topic I think going for P3D would be a clever move for you, specially because you seem to like that PMDG plane. But things have changed considerably compared to some 4 years ago...! First of all XP has become a lot more popular since the release of v11, secondly there is an interesting new sim, Aerofly FS2 (though probably not of interest to you), and third: unlike before hardware has a longer life span when it comes to flight sims. I also have a 4 year old PC but I don't really feel the need to get a new one. Well, also because I upgraded it with an GTX 1080 LOL but still, the CPU and the RAM etc. is working just fine with the current sims. In the past going from a 4 year old top off the line PC to a new top off the line one meant a huge difference: that has changed a bit, also because newer sims seem to use the hardware better. 

But well, since you also are reaching a limit with other games building a new PC will of course help you but don't expect miracles: keep your expectations low. 😉 

I myself have only been flying in Aerofly FS 2 lately because of its superb performance and its simplicity (when it comes to installing and maintaining it but also when it comes to flying): it simply suits my current needs perfectly. It is a very limited som though. Which is why I said you should go for the sim that suits your needs the most. All current sims are great and have their pro's and con's: none of them is perfect and everyone would like to see all sims combined into one super sim but well, that won't happen. 😉 

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2 hours ago, J van E said:

Correct. 

Concerning your initial question: don't ask yourself what sim everyone is using but ask yourself which sims suits your needs the most. 😉 After reading this topic I think going for P3D would be a clever move for you, specially because you seem to like that PMDG plane. But things have changed considerably compared to some 4 years ago...! First of all XP has become a lot more popular since the release of v11, secondly there is an interesting new sim, Aerofly FS2 (though probably not of interest to you), and third: unlike before hardware has a longer life span when it comes to flight sims. I also have a 4 year old PC but I don't really feel the need to get a new one. Well, also because I upgraded it with an GTX 1080 LOL but still, the CPU and the RAM etc. is working just fine with the current sims. In the past going from a 4 year old top off the line PC to a new top off the line one meant a huge difference: that has changed a bit, also because newer sims seem to use the hardware better. 

But well, since you also are reaching a limit with other games building a new PC will of course help you but don't expect miracles: keep your expectations low. 😉 

 

Thanks for the reply!  Yeah I should definitely see if XP has a demo available then.  I did play with the version 9 demo a few years ago when they were really close to putting out version 10 but it just wasn't what I was after exactly so I didn't pick up the full version.  Good to know about the hardware with the newer sims.  On my current system 4790K with all cores at 4.4Ghz under load and a 1070 SC (superclocked) from EVGA I still get some pretty low FPS in FSX:SE with OrbX scenery and the PMDG type aircraft in the dense city type areas.  Since I like eye candy I don't like have to turn down scenery to "brown blob" levels just to fly that stuff :)  Not that I do, but I definitely have it dialed in to the minimum usable FPS. 

 

I'm guessing the newer hardware really isn't going to help that much still due to various reasons, though I'm sure it will help some.  Part of it now is I'm on a 1440 resolution vs 1080 and it's been a noticeable jump in performance hit in FSX:SE.  I think I'll just look into both sims and see what will work.  I'm not tied to PMDG or anything, I only have one plane from them and I know people are making stuff for XP as well. 

 

Also, I'm not actually getting rid of my old hardware.  I'm actually keeping it as a second system this time for an as yet undetermined use.  So I suppose it could even be repurposed down the road for one or more sims.  It won't be immediate because I'm going to steal the video card from it for the new system and I doubt the sims are going to be happy about using the Intel integrated graphics on a 4000 series Haswell chip lol.


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3 hours ago, charliearon said:

Folks, let's stay on topic and not bash each other's Sim.  I have just removed one post and hope no more need to be.

Yes please guys.  I didn't create this thread to start a flame war.  Just trying to get some direction on what's popular now and potentially confirming my hardware choices.


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For kicks I measured my fps in Xplane11, over photoreal scenery, in a copter because I had never really paid attention before.  They averaged 42 fps in spot and internal views on my rig, and that is with full settings, and I believe that is what one should expect with my specs, so a newbie can extrapolate from there.

More important than fps is fluidity, and both Xplane11 and P3D4.4 are fluid sims, more so than FSX was on my old system, Xplane11 and P3D4.4 are fluid like FS9, which I helped beta way back in the day and I wrote a freeware add-on called Soft Horizons with the back then secret blessings from Microsoft I am now revealing, Microsoft (I cannot remember the name of the team member, the email is long gone) gave me a good understanding of how to change the environment mapping to my tastes knowing that Soft Horizons would probably stimulate interest in the sim, so I slaved at it over the course of a day using some tools including Microsoft Paint and another freeware tool I cannot recall, and I had the horizons that made FS9 look homey to me.

It was the most popular thing I ever did here, after Landclass Assistant which still works for P3DV4, and my FAR 103 trike which still works for P3DV4.

In a childish rage I once asked for these things to be pulled from Avsim.  Too much Sake.  I recovered and left my add-ons here and stayed here.  I admit I have problems due to PTSD, having lost a brother to a gunshot wound some years ago, just before my mother passed on, both were very close.  Add to that my recently being run over by a Chevy Silverado and you have one cuckoo simmer, lol

Seriously though, my point is whatever sim the original poster chooses, as long as modern computer equipment is involved, will work wonderfully.  I use two sims because of my suite of add-ons, I am neither a P3D or Xplane geek, just a flight sim geek and I would not have it any other way, because it helped me learn to fly in real life just as they said it could.  I do not fly as often as I would like, and when I fly I always rent a CFI, simply because in real life I do not like to fly alone because there is no moment to share with someone, and CFI's love sharing flights with flight enthusiasts.

John

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Well, as far as the hardware goes, after learning a little more about the possible specs/etc. of the new upcoming Ryzen stuff I've decided to suck it up and wait and see there.  In the mean time I'm probably going to reinstall windows on my current rig and maybe test drive XP 11 demo and if money allows since it's not cheap, pick up Prepar3d.

Edited by flyinion

AMD Ryzen 5950X |  Asus Crosshair VIII Hero | Gigabyte Gaming OC 4090 w/EK waterblock | Full Custom Loop Cooling | GSkill Trident Z Neo 2x16GB DDR4-3600 | Samsung 970 EVO Plus 500GB | Samsung 860 Evo 2TB | Phanteks Enthoo 719 | Seasonic Prime Ultra Gold 1000W | Steelseries M750 TKL | SteelSeries Prime Wireless | Honeycomb Alpha and Bravo | Logitech Pro Flight Pedals | LG 34GN850 | Asus PG279Q | Win 11 Pro

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None of the present day flight sims exhibit any significant performance advantage despite what is being stated in this thread. Run them out of the box (no add-ons) with a high end computer that is a couple of years old or less and performance will be impressive. They will all run okay on a 4 or 5 year old mid-range PC, with reduced settings. But buyer beware, load the sim up at 4K resolution with a complex aircraft, a ton of detailed scenery, a weather add-on, AI traffic, an ATC add-on and all will barely creep along at 30 fps, even on a high end, brand new computer. And don't even think of doing that on any computer that's based on legacy hardware as you may be disappointed even at low image quality settings.

I suspect that the reason that some people seem to believe that one flight sim has a performance advantage over another is they have never tried to run various sims fully loaded with add-ons as I have described above.

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8 minutes ago, jabloomf1230 said:

None of the present day flight sims exhibit any significant performance advantage despite what is being stated in this thread. Run them out of the box (no add-ons) with a high end computer that is a couple of years old or less and performance will be impressive. They will all run okay on a 4 or 5 year old mid-range PC, with reduced settings. But buyer beware, load the sim up at 4K resolution with a complex aircraft, a ton of detailed scenery, a weather add-on, AI traffic, an ATC add-on and all will barely creep along at 30 fps, even on a high end, brand new computer. And don't even think of doing that on any computer that's based on legacy hardware as you may be disappointed even at low image quality settings.

I suspect that the reason that some people seem to believe that one flight sim has a performance advantage over another is they have never tried to run various sims fully loaded with add-ons as I have described above.

I disagree, to some extent.  P3DV4.4 and Xplane11 do not require Crays to run.  And 30 fps is nothing to whine about, although in Xplane11 with everything maxed I get around 43-44 fps in the most complex aircraft.  In P3DV4.4 my fps even exceeds that but as you do say, AI can choke it, but it could also choke FSX.  In FS9 AI ran fine.  I would rather have the outstanding graphics that the two sims offer today vs. FSX or FS9 or their other competitors.  And both sims support much higher res photoreal scenery which used to cause OOM errors in FSX and stutters galore.  Granted my system is faster but it is still slower than a new system purchased today, which many buyers are doing before they take the P3D plunge. 

One thing that also works is disabling the default AI in P3D for lower res AI, but I can slide by with AI at about 50 pct and I find that perfectly alright.  I still have landed with AI on SFO's parallel runway, for example, which I find quite real.  In real life one does not see the skies saturated with jets, on every flight I have ever taken in the flight levels I see jets going at angles to my path, or opposite, or parallel with me once in a blue moon in real life.  In GA flight the same is true, what I do see however is static ground aircraft of which there are not enough of in P3D but there are plenty in Xplane11 and they do not hobble performance.

I am not sure what the obsession is with "faster than 30 fps" for me it is fluidity, stutter free flight that I enjoy.  I also do not have to run at 4K, in real life (just look at high def youtube videos) the ground is never that sharp except at low altitude, and my photoreal scenery is fine for conveying that.  Autogen in P3D and Xplane11 work well.

Me, I encourage people to upgrade if they have specs like or better than mine, holding on to an older system is OK if one is content with FSX.  Complex add-ons do not choke my sims, even those with heavy systems, but I seldom fly the complex cockpits as it takes the challenge from where I have flown as PIC in real life, Light Sport and Light Aircraft no larger than a C172.

John

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