The magic recipe to tame P3D v5 : zero crash certified!

[David Roch 1,982]

Ladies and gentlemen,

Don't laugh, I will give you today the magic recipe to enjoy P3Dv5 without fear of CTDs, BSODs and other DGXI errors!!!
100% certified, tested by our international laboratories!!!
No chloroquine was used during the tests.
😄

Are you ready?
Let's go!

🦜RULE 1
Forget P3D v1 / 2/3/4, you are dealing with another beast, which eats DirectX12 for breakfast.
P3DV5 HATES UNSTABLE MACHINES!
Check that yours is stable with IntelBurnTest (high or very high stress levels are enough).
You might be surprised and realize that your PC is not that stable.
This is why you will first reduce your CPU OC (between 5% and 8%) and put HT back to ON, for those like me who had so far preferred not to use hyperthreading.
Reducing the CPU speed will compensate for the HT ON and you will have no problem with overheating.
(My 9900k was running @5.1 with HT OFF, now running @HT ON@4.9, small heat's increase but very acceptable)
Reduce your RAM OC if they are over their factory default settings.
If you had overclocked the GPU, reset it also to the default values.

🦜RULE 2
Install the Windows 10 2004 update.
Half of the problems encountered with P3Dv5 will disappear, this new Win10 version dealing much better with VRAM and DX12.
To get and install the update, you can wait for MS to propose it or you can do it the "warriors way" (actually very easy) and download the latest builds (AMD64 for Intel and AMD) from UUP Dump, a great site.
Once the chosen version has been downloaded, click on the aria2_download_windows.cmd file to start loading the latest Windows version. The process lasts a few minutes until an ISO file is obtained which you can then mount on a USB key (I recommend using rufus-3.10, portable version, super efficient and fast).
Once the version is mounted, click on the setup file on your USB key from Windows (and not from the BIOS!) in order to start the update. That way you will keep all your files and programs and you will find the same desktop once the update is finished.
Warning! Only update if you have a recent graphics card (from GTX980, 1080 to RTX2080) because Win10 2004 sometimes encounters some problems with old cards.

 🦜RULE 3
Don't use EA together with 4096x4096 textures until LM releases next HF.
It will put your machine on its knees and if you choose 2048 textures, you won't see a big difference.

🦜RULE 4
If you use EA (I personally love it even in beta stage), never use Ultra High Cloud resolution at this stage.
High resolution is ok.

🦜RULE 5
Don't blame LM, blame yourself or any third party addons!
I know I'm not just going to make friends by saying that... but it's true.
P3Dv5HF1 vanilla install does not crash.
It is the stability of your computer or that of certain badly coded addons that is responsible for crashes.
If P3D was until now very tolerant with overheating, approximate OCs and addons programmed for FSX, this is no longer the case for version 5.

 

The Self-proclaimed GuruP3D
🥳

Edited May 31, 2020 by David Roch

[mtr75 653]

Huh. I’m completely stock and have only installed updated add-ons, and haven’t had a CTD since the hotfix came out. I’ve also used 4096 textures and ultra-high cloud resolutions with EA. 

Maybe just stop experimenting with homebrew changes to the program and your PC?

[David Roch 1,982]

Of course this humorous thread is intended only for those who have stability problems with P3Dv5 and the number of subjects on this forum shows that they are several.
Hoping that it helps them, because I struggled for 2 months.
Is your P3Dv5 in good health?
Awesome! No need for Dr. David's magic potion!
⛱️

[GEKtheReaper 364]

I do believe that all your points are valid, those are indeed real good and pertinent advices, with a small but...

2 hours ago, David Roch said:

Don't blame LM, blame yourself or any third party addons!

I do blame LM for making the unsmoothest release ever since the beginning of P3D (and also for the quiet release of v4.5 HF3).

And I do blame LM as for the first time they release a part of ehancement in BETA.

And I also blame LM for eating 6+ Gig of VRAM with HD textures (when other more complex SW handle everything with half of that.

 

I don't blame LM for crashes due to Video card drivers, OC, and other not LM related stuff (which is a lot!)

[GSalden 4,656]

Mmmm...

1 No HT and heavily OC’d

2 No W10 2004 update

3 1024x1024

4 EA at High, but using regular mode ( because of the mini sun )

5 Yep, I am to blame 

😄

Both pc’s superstable  🤠

[micstatic 4,319]

45 minutes ago, GSalden said:

Mmmm...

1 No HT and heavily OC’d

2 No W10 2004 update

3 1024x1024

4 EA at High, but using regular mode ( because of the mini sun )

5 Yep, I am to blame 

😄

Both pc’s superstable  🤠

Do you run 4k?  I'm just wondering if setting the texture that low (1024) is something that makes the quality poor.  

[David Roch 1,982]

1 hour ago, GEKtheReaper said:

I do believe that all your points are valid, those are indeed real good and pertinent advices, with a small but...

I do blame LM for making the unsmoothest release ever since the beginning of P3D (and also for the quiet release of v4.5 HF3).

And I do blame LM as for the first time they release a part of ehancement in BETA.

And I also blame LM for eating 6+ Gig of VRAM with HD textures (when other more complex SW handle everything with half of that.

 

I don't blame LM for crashes due to Video card drivers, OC, and other not LM related stuff (which is a lot!)

Only talking about crashes here 😉
I respect all your other points, but they are subjective.
Do you remember when MS released the "DX10 Preview" for FSX? It was also kind of beta.
And do you remember P3Dv4 at the beginning? Not really better than this release.

44 minutes ago, GSalden said:

Mmmm...

1 No HT and heavily OC’d

2 No W10 2004 update

3 1024x1024

4 EA at High, but using regular mode ( because of the mini sun )

5 Yep, I am to blame 

😄

Both pc’s superstable  🤠

Yes Gerard but you use 1024 textures and not EA (even though you call it "EA with regular mode").
And that makes a BIG difference.

[chapstick 2,757]

4 minutes ago, micstatic said:

Do you run 4k?  I'm just wondering if setting the texture that low (1024) is something that makes the quality poor.  

Running at 4K won't make 1024 textures appear any better, and they look really bad. Having to use them is one of my biggest gripes with V5 right now, because it's a significant step backward from what I could achieve in V4.

[westman 257]

2 hours ago, David Roch said:

Of course this humorous thread is intended only for those who have stability problems with P3Dv5 and the number of subjects on this forum shows that they are several.
Hoping that it helps them, because I struggled for 2 months.
Is your P3Dv5 in good health?
Awesome! No need for Dr. David's magic potion!
⛱️

Rule 1. yes 

I run my 9900k at 5.2 ht on ( binned CPU )

Rule 2. yes 

 

[G-RFRY 1,711]

1024 V5 4K no windows 2004.

https://www.flickr.com/photos/154944674@N05/49956068312/in/dateposted-public/

https://www.flickr.com/photos/154944674@N05/49956067547/in/dateposted-public/

https://www.flickr.com/photos/154944674@N05/49925490068/in/dateposted-public/

I run a clapped out 3 year old PC.

 

Edited May 31, 2020 by G-RFRY

[David Roch 1,982]

These few tips are for those who have a recent PC, powerful enough to run P3Dv5 with EA (Enhanced Atmospherics) and high graphics settings.
Otherwise, they will be of no use to you.

 

Edited May 31, 2020 by David Roch

[westman 257]

30 minutes ago, David Roch said:

These few tips are for those who have a recent PC, powerful enough to run P3Dv5 with EA (Enhanced Atmospherics) and high graphics settings.
Otherwise, they will be of no use to you.

 

agree, what i did was enabled HT and downclocked 200mhz with EA

and be sure to have a 100% stable  system

[chapstick 2,757]

5 hours ago, David Roch said:

I know I'm not just going to make friends by saying that... but it's true.
P3Dv5HF1 vanilla install does not crash.

This is wrong, especially if you ask anyone with an AMD graphics card.

[flycln 435]

Randomly telling people to reduce their OC and at the same time turning hyperthreading back on (thus increasing temps again) is kinda absurd. I hope people don't just blindly follow the OP.

Edited May 31, 2020 by flycln

[chapstick 2,757]

12 minutes ago, flycln said:

Randomly telling people to reduce their OC and at the same time turning hyperthreading back on (thus increasing temps again) is kinda absurd. I hope people don't just blindly follow the OP.

Just add him to the handful of people on this forum (we all know to whom I'm referring) who jump on here with clickbait subject lines to share their wisdom. It always ends up being flat-out wrong, painfully obvious, or highly circumstantial advice.

"Magic," "zero-crash certified." Please.