Hi

I have had FSX SE installed on my high end pc for many years. It's getting buggy to the point where it's not enjoyable anymore. CTDs, stuttering, endless loading times. I've tried reinstalling, deleting big scenerry addons to free up space on my C drive, etc. I fly with a VA, but because of CTDs, cannot log my hours. So I'm thinking of P3D as an alternative. Thing is, there are so many versions, 3,4,5,6 that I'm not sure which one would work with my important addons, which are listed below, without which simming wouldn't be immersive and realistic.

Aerosoft Mega airports

ActiveSky2016

Majestic Flight Q400

ProATCX

UK2000 scenery

Switzerland X scenery

ORBX replacement ground textures

Flight1 Pilatus PC-12

So I'd appreciate your opinions.

Ethan Ornstein

What hardware do you have?

Sceneries, probably would work in all P3D versions. Aircraft, I'm sure you'll need a new version of the Q400 feel anything between v4 and v6. Maybe V3 will work with your FSX license. I don't know about the PC-12, sorry.

Your ATC would work. Active Sky, I'm not sure.

Are older versions still available for sale? Or just the latest one?

Ethan

1 hour ago, misgav said:

older versions still available for sale?

Here you will find from version 3 of P3D to the latest version6.

https://www.prepar3d.com/prepar3d-store/

V3 is still available but you don't want to go any lower then V4 because of the 64 bit.  IMHO version 5 is the best middle ground as far as addon compatibility and visuals. You need at least an 8GB VRAM graphics card for V5. 

Thinking pure stability, v4.5 is probably the best option as it's less prone to using up all your VRAM than v5 is, otherwise I would recommend v5 for giving better performance and slightly better visuals.

10 hours ago, misgav said:

Hi

I have had FSX SE installed on my high end pc for many years. It's getting buggy to the point where it's not enjoyable anymore. CTDs, stuttering, endless loading times. I've tried reinstalling, deleting big scenerry addons to free up space on my C drive, etc. I fly with a VA, but because of CTDs, cannot log my hours. So I'm thinking of P3D as an alternative. Thing is, there are so many versions, 3,4,5,6 that I'm not sure which one would work with my important addons, which are listed below, without which simming wouldn't be immersive and realistic.

Aerosoft Mega airports

ActiveSky2016

Majestic Flight Q400

ProATCX

UK2000 scenery

Switzerland X scenery

ORBX replacement ground textures

Flight1 Pilatus PC-12

So I'd appreciate your opinions.

Ethan Ornstein

Hi Ethan,

Yes I too made the move from FSX-SE to P3D some years ago, initially to P3D v3 (for testing and comparision) being 32 bit like FSX.

Then to P3D v4 64 bit once I'd gained an understanding of P3D.

I personally have P3D v4.5 and P3D v5.3 currently installed, however I use v4.5 as my daily drive and v5.3 for testing for pros and cons between the 2 versions, haven't bothered with v6 as it's quite different and has very limited 3rd party support atm.

Most scenery shouldn't be an issue, other than maybe changing some windows registry path pointers so the scenery installers can find the chosen version of P3D, or you could manually install the scenery, Orbx will be fine up to P3D v5, for v6 you'd need to perform some path trickery as the Orbx Central app doesn't yet support P3D v6.

Any aircraft or addon that's of the 32bit variety would need an update to a 64 bit supporting version, this would include the Majestic Q400, also I don't see any P3D options for the Flight1 Pilatus PC-12 assuming it's this one ?

If it's the Carenado PC-12 you can move forward to 64 bit P3D v4 & v5, plus there is a nice improvement package discussed here.

Active Sky has a version supporting both P3D v4 and v5, with a separate version for P3D v6, you'll also need to create an Active Sky Account for ActiveSky to connect to their serves for weather.

You can see what I'm using on my v4.5 install here

Performance with P3D v4.5, is good as long as your hardware it up to it (see my sig), I vsync @ 30Hz for a very smooth 30 fps covering  almost all situations, note my monitors are 30 Hz capable being something most quality UHD TV's should support.

I certainly am enjoying my flying in P3D v4.5, plus there are a lot of freebees for this version as well.

Cheers

A couple of my tuned v4.5 pics.

Combo Gibson/Orbx Aust2 over NSW Autralia

Custom cloud shader in action.

Carenado Phenom 100, currently a wip for bug fixing.

 

Edited March 10, 20242 yr by Rogen
Spelling

13 hours ago, misgav said:

I have had FSX SE installed on my high end pc for many years. It's getting buggy to the point where it's not enjoyable anymore

why ..... no one asks that simple question

Good question! It's just that after the computer shop installed the latest graphic card, an SS hard drive and more RAM, FSX SE still behaves poorly. I cannot figure out why, and I'm not so computer literate to get the bottom of the problem.

Ethan

https://secure.prepar3d.com/solo/products/Cart.aspx?action=add&actiondata0=1130,1,0,0,,0

BTW, The P3D store only offers V6. I can't see options to purchase earlier versions.

Ethan

1 hour ago, misgav said:

BTW, The P3D store only offers V6. I can't see options to purchase earlier versions.

You would need to look in the right place.
Store – Prepar3D

Edited March 10, 20242 yr by Reader

Gotcha, Thanks!

Is it a trial version for a limited period until you decide to buy?

Ethan

Edited March 10, 20242 yr by misgav

You have to buy it but you can refund it.

 

What software licenses are eligible for a refund?

Lockheed Martin Prepar3D ^® Academic, Personal, Professional and Professional Plus software licenses come with a Lockheed Martin 14 Day Money-Back Guarantee. Lockheed Martin will refund your total purchase price subject to policy guidelines and license agreement provisions. Developer Licenses are not eligible for a refund.

All validated refund requests will be processed within 1–2 weeks of receipt. A refund invoice will be emailed to the purchaser and a credit will appear on the purchaser’s credit card. Failure to include all the required information may result in a denial of your request or a delay in the processing of your refund.

Contact the refund center at  [email protected]

 

Refund Request Process

• Refunds must be requested within 14 days of purchase date.
• Uninstall the software license(s) from your computer and any storage devices and delete any backup copies.
• Send an email to [email protected] requesting a refund. In the email include the invoice number, license ID, the purchaser’s first and last name, and a brief explanation of why the refund is being requested.
• Delete all related media and manuals.

 

 

Refund Exclusions

• Software licenses that are purchased as Developer Licenses.
• Software licenses for the same product/version for which a refund was already processed for that customer. Only one refund per license type per customer.
• Software licenses obtained through volume licensing or subscription.
• Software licenses acquired for free or as categorized as Not For Resale.
• Software licenses obtained through a Value Added Reseller.
• Software licenses obtained through a non-Lockheed Martin Marketplace Vendor.

@misgav, before you buy please post your hardware info. CPU, GPU, RAM and power supply.

A "high-end" PC a few years ago may be middle of the road these days.

I would concur with others that v5 is the best option. Many third-party software developers have updated their products for it. Not many for v6.

You'll need to buy ASP3D but everything else on your list should be fine with v5.4.

19 hours ago, misgav said:

Hi

I have had FSX SE installed on my high end pc for many years. It's getting buggy to the point where it's not enjoyable anymore. CTDs, stuttering, endless loading times. I've tried reinstalling, deleting big scenerry addons to free up space on my C drive, etc. I fly with a VA, but because of CTDs, cannot log my hours. So I'm thinking of P3D as an alternative. Thing is, there are so many versions, 3,4,5,6 that I'm not sure which one would work with my important addons, which are listed below, without which simming wouldn't be immersive and realistic.

Aerosoft Mega airports

ActiveSky2016

Majestic Flight Q400

ProATCX

UK2000 scenery

Switzerland X scenery

ORBX replacement ground textures

Flight1 Pilatus PC-12

So I'd appreciate your opinions.

Ethan Ornstein

Most of the Aerosoft "mega" airports have P3D versions, but not all.  Many have "Pro" versions that are a separate or upgrade purchase from the FSX version.

AS2016 will not work in P3D--you'll need to buy AS P3D, which works with both v4.5 and v5.4

The Majestik Q400 has a separate 64-bit version--you'll need to buy that as the FSX version does not work in P3D v4 or v5.  Their website says v5 or v6 only...I ran it in v4.5 once upon a time, but not sure if current versions will not run in v4 or will run but are just no longer officially supported.

ProATCX will probably work just as poorly in P3D as it does in any other sim.

If you've kept up with upgrades on UK2000 scenery, most of the most recent versions that work in FSX also work in P3D.  If you have older versions, you may need to buy the upgrades.

ORBX FTX Global works with FSX and P3D versions 3.x through 5.x

I am not aware that there is or ever was a Flight1 Pilatus PC-12...the only PC-12 I'm aware of that works in P3D is the Carenado version.  I have a Frankensteined version of that running in P3D v4.5 with Bert Pieke's mod to accomodate the RealityXP Garmin GTN750.

I use P3D v5 for airliner flying into busy airports, as it is better optimized and performs better, at least on a high-end PC.  I use P3D v4.5 for GA flying away from dense scenery and traffic, and for flying some airplanes that were never made v5.x compatible.  The stock vector scenery (roads, water bodies etc) in v5 looks better (I use UTX in v4 for that), and I use FTX Global for terrain textures in both v4/v5.  I also use ORBX OpenLC landclass products in both P3Dv4 and v5.  There are also a whole slew of nice ORBX freeware airports that come with FTX Global that all work fine in 4.5, but many are not 5.x compatible.  Milviz released their entire catalog of P3D aircraft add-ons as freeware, so there are a whole bunch of really nice sophisticated and free P3Dv4 aircraft add-ons, some of which work or kinda-sorta work in v5.  And if you're into Alaska flying, the free Return to Misty Moorings scenery is another great scenery addition for v4.

v5 changed the global elevation model, so a fair number of FSX and v4-compatible airports need base elevation modifications to work in v5, and some just don't work at all.  If you fly into default airports, the default v5 airports have re-worked AFCADs that are missing many (most?) of the parking spots. 

As mentioned above, running P3D v5, which uses DX12, can be problematic if you're running a modest video card without a lot of VRAM, especially at high resolutions.

So, that said, the best choice really depends on what kind of flying you do, what sort of hardware you have, and how important backwards-compatibility to your existing software is to you.  It's not a simple slam-dunk one-size-fits-all call.