My findings on a hardware change...

[ryanbatcund 4,536]

I'd like to start off this post by saying a big thanks to some members here that have given me the opportunity to own some really nice hardware for very low cost.  And also some background: Especially the point that I don't frequently upgrade my PC to new parts....even though I am very blessed with a nice salary, my wife and I are very responsible with our finances and a big PC upgrade isn't usually in the battle plan LOL.

This summer I did a mobo/cpu/ram change from my trusty 2011 build P67A/2500k/16GB ram/GTX 980 (originally a GTX 570) to a Z97/4790K/32GB ram/GTX 980.  I also "finally" caved and went with Windows 10 Pro (from Win7 x64 Pro).  There were some headaches at first (actually you can read some of my hardware forum posts here) - I had issues with boot, CTD's, and recently video card issues.  After a lot of youtubing, general googling, and advice from users here I was able to have a very stable 4790K system with my GTX 980 FTW.  I ran that setup until very recently when another generous member offered me his GTX 1080 Ti for a lot less than it is worth.

I had also changed my OS drive to a SSD and at present am running this setup:

Asus Z97 Pro Wifi * i7 4790K * 32GB ddr3 ram * GTX 1080 Ti SC * Seasonic X750 PSU (from 2011) * Windows 10 Pro * 1TB SSD for "games" 500GB ssd for Win10 and a "traditional" 1TB 7200rpm HDD for software.

Clearly in our FSX/ESP/P3D/XP world a faster CPU always helps...  I did notice a difference with the CPU change for sure (I don't have any numbers but it was pleasant).  More importantly, and the main point of this post is to write how surprised I am at the stark contrast between my GTX 980 FTW to GTX 1080 Ti.  In XP11 and P3D v4.

I'm still running at 1080P (and a second monitor with a VGA cable - well not anymore I've got to get an HDMI - I guess the 1080 ti doesn't like my 3 way vga->dvi->hdmi adapter combo LOL).  Anyway I'm using a myriad of addons in the screenshots that follow.  I sort of picked a known situation that I typically fly with to get a "feel" for what the new GPU will do.  I also turned up a lot of the GPU hungry settings like DL, shadows, reflections, terrain rendering (tess enabled).  I also cranked the AA to 8xSSAA (before I really could NOT run that setting).

And seen here are:

P3D v4.5 latest hotfix, FlightBeam KMSP with all settings, ENVTEX/DIR, ASP4/ASCA with a thick overcast, A2A Bonanza with DL enabled (along with dual RXP GNS).  In the VC I'm averaging 33-36 fps.  In the external I get 41-48 fps.

And while I don't have numbers from the previous GPU to scientifically compare, they were approximately 30% less!  To me that is a massive gain in image quality, and increased rendering capability from the 980 to 1080ti.  Needless to say I am very satisfied with the results of the GPU change.  I wasn't sure that the change would be that much.  In XP11 the change is very noticeable again...I can run max texture compression with my ZL16 Ortho for Socal, and some of the texture hungry addons like HotStart TBM900 (the best out there) and the AFL King air 350 with dual RXP GTN's does just fine....  I'm easily into the 30-40 fps range where previously my 4GB video ram the 980 was just overrun....so I believe the vram may page out to RAM not sure on that....but I was getting a lot of stutters....and now nearly none!

Anyway the pics of P3D v4.5:

1080ti_ext by ryan b, on Flickr

1080ti_int by ryan b, on Flickr

[bbuckley 99]

Awesome Ryan! 

[TechguyMaxC 516]

Looking good!

[pgde 248]

Hey Ryan: Please check your PMs.

Thanks!

[micstatic 1,061]

nice.  Just curious why the pro version of win 10?

[Mace 617]

I have been really happy with my 1080ti.  It's good times, because 10-15 years ago if you had upgraded the GPU like that, you'd be getting 2 more fps.  ha ha.

[ryanbatcund 4,536]

On 10/23/2019 at 12:27 PM, micstatic said:

nice.  Just curious why the pro version of win 10?

I had Win7 Pro and just changed to win10 pro.  I think I had 7 pro because of remote desktop or something with that....I used to help my grandparents via remote.

[westman 212]

Locking good Ryan

[Wobbie 930]

Hi Ryan,

You say that you have 32GB RAM.

How much RAM is P3D actually using?

Regards, Robin

[micstatic 1,061]

I've gone over 16gb with P3d, SF, AS, map program, tons of chrome tabs etc open.  

[ryanbatcund 4,536]

On 10/28/2019 at 6:46 AM, Wobbie said:

Hi Ryan,

You say that you have 32GB RAM.

How much RAM is P3D actually using?

Regards, Robin

I haven't looked recently.  Xp11 will use much more than p3d though.