Hello Folks;

So I am finally thinking of taking the plunge to P3D V4, and had a few questions, and hoping that I can get some help before purchasing it.

1.       Do you have to pay and or purchase upgrades i.e when (and I am assuming it will) new versions are released (v5)? How often do they normally come out with updates?

2.       Will it run fine on Win 7 or do I have to upgrade to 10 to perform the way it should? I am currently running Win 7 and don’t intend to upgrade until I purchase a new rig a year from now.

I few things to know is with FSX and all my add-ons I never never get OOM, since I carefully tweak my settings so I do get a smooth flight with all of my add-on since I also have a pretty good rid.

The only reason I am thinking of switching is I am hoping the get performance better (smoother) with higher settings. That’s it. If I get OOM (or have to apply those same tweaks like fsx) then I will certainly go back to FSX and wait for the new MS 20.

Since some of my FSX aircraft add-ons (iFLY and QW, not PMDG ☹️) do have the P3D version then I can use those to test it out. Fortunately all of my add-on airports have the P3D version so no upgraded necessary at lease for now.

So basically I am about to pay $200.00 US to get rid of DX10 Fixer in FSX and not have to worry about tweaking headaches whenever I add a new product.

I will appreciate any info to 2 question above.

Hope the little information on my expectations helps, not looking for a miracle just slightly better performance with higher settings. I’ll also take higher FPS if it is part of the package😊

Thanks very much.

Kindest Regards.

Forshaw.

Thanks again.

Kindest Regards.

Forshaw.

Hi Forshaw,

1. We need to pay for major versions (2,3,4...) Minor updates 4.2; 4.3; 4.4... are free. Very approximately a major version lasts 2-3 years. During each version lifespan there are like 4-5 updates.

2. P3Dv4 runs fine on Windows 7. It does for me. But of course sometimes in the future I know I'll have to move to Win 10.

Good luck mate.

Generally speaking, there is much less tweaking with P3D than with FSX.

I would reconsider if I were you..

If FSX runs well for you, there may be no reason to switch, unless you enjoy experimenting with new software and re purchasing some of your addons..

P3D is amazing in many ways.. better shadowing, no autogen popping, and other visual delights.. but it still depends on a fast CPU to run well, and the visual delights use the GPU way more than FSX ever did.. so be careful what you wish for..

 

7 minutes ago, Bert Pieke said:

no autogen popping

Only if Autogen draw and scenery draw distance slider is no higher than medium/high? 😉

16 minutes ago, Simicro said:

Hi Forshaw,

1. We need to pay for major versions (2,3,4...) Minor updates 4.2; 4.3; 4.4... are free. Very approximately a major version lasts 2-3 years. During each version lifespan there are like 4-5 updates.

2. P3Dv4 runs fine on Windows 7. It does for me. But of course sometimes in the future I know I'll have to move to Win 10.

Good luck mate.

HI Tony;

Thanks very much for providing the information, it does help and I appreciate it.

Forshaw.

 

10 minutes ago, Simicro said:

Only if Autogen draw and scenery draw distance slider is no higher than medium/high? 😉

Correct.. and whoever said that P3D requires no tweaking was lying..

12 minutes ago, Bert Pieke said:

I would reconsider if I were you..

If FSX runs well for you, there may be no reason to switch, unless you enjoy experimenting with new software and re purchasing some of your addons..

P3D is amazing in many ways.. better shadowing, no autogen popping, and other visual delights.. but it still depends on a fast CPU to run well, and the visual delights use the GPU way more than FSX ever did.. so be careful what you wish for..

 

Hi Bert;

Thanks. Yeah, the concern is I see individuals posting issues such as OOM and interesting some of the same issues others experiencing with FSX, so I am hesitant. I didn't realize that it was still so much dependent on the fast CPU My CPU is a " i7-4790K Processor (4x 4.0GHz/8MB L3 Cache Over Clock to 4.4Ghz" and does struggle with FSX. 

Yes I do like experiencing with new things and finding the 'sweep spot,' but not something so close to what I already have.

Jury is still out

Thanks again for your valuable input Bert.

Forshaw.

7 minutes ago, Bert Pieke said:

Correct.. and whoever said that P3D requires no tweaking was lying..

Yeah, that is the concern. i currently play with my Autogen and Scenery draw distance slider now with FSX and they are currently to the far right with good performance. Seems I will be doing similar settings with P3D, not that different😏

Thanks again.

Forshaw.

3 minutes ago, forshaw said:

Yeah, that is the concern. i currently play with my Autogen and Scenery draw distance slider now with FSX and they are currently to the far right with good performance. Seems I will be doing similar settings with P3D, not that different😏

Thanks again.

Forshaw.

You have not mentioned your GPU, but you need a GTX 1070 or better for P3D..

@Bert Pieke : I think it's by reading you in another thread that I became aware of the 'trick' with the Autogen draw and scenery draw distance slider 🙂

 

@forshaw : yes P3D is still very dependant on the CPU but you  i7-4790K 4.4Ghz is still competitive IMHO. I moved to P3D last november (see specs in my signature) and I think that overall I had a little bit better performance. With high settings but no AI I achieve 30-40 fps in flight with the PMDG 777 and 20-30 fps on ground at big addons airports. With an A2A aicraft, I get 40-50 fps most of the time. Regarding OOM on P3D, I've never read about that. Maybe it happens but it is very rare.

1 hour ago, forshaw said:

Hello Folks;

So I am finally thinking of taking the plunge to P3D V4, and had a few questions, and hoping that I can get some help before purchasing it.

1.       Do you have to pay and or purchase upgrades i.e when (and I am assuming it will) new versions are released (v5)? How often do they normally come out with updates?

2.       Will it run fine on Win 7 or do I have to upgrade to 10 to perform the way it should? I am currently running Win 7 and don’t intend to upgrade until I purchase a new rig a year from now.

 

 

As good as FSX-SE was in the day - P3D v4.5.12 is better by a long shot, and I did the same thing myself - migrated from FSX-SE to P3D.

That's not to say it's perfect but with every release it gets better where as FSX-SE is in limbo land.

P3D does run fine on Windows 7, and a multicore processor with upwards of 4 Ghz and a 1070 vid card are about the min for nice flying.

One thing quite different about P3D is its GPU use. Where FSX-SE will drive the CPU to 100% and use minimal GPU, P3D is the opposite, and will easily drive the GPU to 100% but will rarely drive the CPU to 100% and no more OOM's because P3D v4 is 64bit compared to FSX-SE being 32bit.

Of note the single hardware item I've purchased that helped the most towards really smooth flying was a monitor that could sync to 30 Hz.

This is because P3D includes a vsync option with triple buffering that makes flying super smooth, however in order for the vsync to have an effect the P3D frame rate output has to be somewhat higher than the monitor sync rate, (a 60 Hz monitor would need in excess of 60 fps output).

Once you'e a few addins, orbx scenery and a complex plane (for example) it's rare for P3D to be able to pump out 60 fps, but 30 fps is typically consistanly achievable and will vsync with a 30 Hz capable monitor, and a further plus is you can then pump up those sliders for a better looking sim without going to 100% of GPU use (which will endup killing the frame rate due to overloading).

There are options for vsync @ half monitor Hz rates (seach for threads regarding RiaTuner Statistics Server), however IMHO a 30 Hz capable monitor works better.

Also tweeking is not dead in P3D as there are many very useful tweeks that will improve both the look and performance.

Finally I made a vid of @ Orbx's Milford Sound AP of FSX-SE and P3D as a comparison, same machine with almost the exact same addins.

https://www.avsim.com/forums/topic/554991-comparison-of-fsx-se-and-p3d-flying-the-same-scenario/

Cheers

 

 

I just jumped in to P3dv4 the last two weeks.  Super thrilled so far.  But question.  Do the updates (both minor and major) require a reinstall of the sim and all addons every time?  Just curious. 

58 minutes ago, micstatic said:

I just jumped in to P3dv4 the last two weeks.  Super thrilled so far.  But question.  Do the updates (both minor and major) require a reinstall of the sim and all addons every time?  Just curious. 

For the last few iterations, I have simply reinstalled the P3D Client (only)..

Most addons were unaffected, but some had to be updated.. so it depends..

5 hours ago, forshaw said:

Hello Folks;

So I am finally thinking of taking the plunge to P3D V4, and had a few questions, and hoping that I can get some help before purchasing it.

1.       Do you have to pay and or purchase upgrades i.e when (and I am assuming it will) new versions are released (v5)? How often do they normally come out with updates?

2.       Will it run fine on Win 7 or do I have to upgrade to 10 to perform the way it should? I am currently running Win 7 and don’t intend to upgrade until I purchase a new rig a year from now.

I few things to know is with FSX and all my add-ons I never never get OOM, since I carefully tweak my settings so I do get a smooth flight with all of my add-on since I also have a pretty good rid.

The only reason I am thinking of switching is I am hoping the get performance better (smoother) with higher settings. That’s it. If I get OOM (or have to apply those same tweaks like fsx) then I will certainly go back to FSX and wait for the new MS 20.

Since some of my FSX aircraft add-ons (iFLY and QW, not PMDG ☹️) do have the P3D version then I can use those to test it out. Fortunately all of my add-on airports have the P3D version so no upgraded necessary at lease for now.

So basically I am about to pay $200.00 US to get rid of DX10 Fixer in FSX and not have to worry about tweaking headaches whenever I add a new product.

I will appreciate any info to 2 question above.

Hope the little information on my expectations helps, not looking for a miracle just slightly better performance with higher settings. I’ll also take higher FPS if it is part of the package😊

Thanks very much.

Kindest Regards.

Forshaw.

Thanks again.

Kindest Regards.

Forshaw.

I don't know if mentioned before, but please remember that FSX is a 32-bit application, and this makes it prone to Out-Of-Memory errors (OOM). P3Dv4.x is a 64-bit application and that makes it a lot more stable and you can forget about those hateful OOMs. To me FSX is a thing of the past. If you think your CPU/GPU are not strong enough to handle P3Dv4, I would recommend you to upgrade your hardware, that will always be IMHO better than to keep working with and old sim.

Good luck and Cheers, Ed