Deadbug

Airline life: ATP; Type rated in B737 200/300/400, Airbus 319/320/321, Embraer E190 USAF: C-141B, T38A Gen Aviation: Pretty much most production single-engine airplanes; owned a Mooney M20J for 16 years Retired--just flying RC planes now...;-)

UPDATE (so you know what I wound up doing--and yes I listened to and remembered all your advice...thanks!) Well, I have now fully configured my son's new PC with a 4K Acer Predator monitor and have installed BOTH P3Dv4.1 (waiting out 4.2) AND XP11. P3Dv4.1 with: orbx FTX Global, Global Vector, open LC NA, Trees HD, Northern Cal, Southern Cal, Global Airport pack, NZ South Island, Queenstown and Milford Sound Airports. UT Live (updated AAL AI--tons of work), GSX, Better Pushback, FSDT Airports: KCLT KDFW KLAX; Flight Beam Airports: KSFO HD, KPHX; SunskyJet KPHL FSL A320x, Milviz T-38, a few freeware ultralights and light aircraft plus all default and extra aircraft. XP11 with: a few tiles of limited orho4XP mesh/scenery Aerosoft KDFW (awesome) many libraries freeware (IIRC) airports: KLAS KSAN KLAX KSFO KPHX OpenSceneryX Love both simulators--my son is really excited, but it will be difficult at first for him. We'll have to have a lot of "dual" instruction for a while till we're both confident with his ability. My opinion so far is both platforms as configured with the add-ons are very realistic on-screen...so much more than FSX. The 32" 4K monitor makes it even more immersive and graphically stunning.Surprising to say this, but I think I may actually like XP11 better--it seems to run smoother, better performance and excellent graphics. and as far as difficult operation for my son...I don't think that XPlane is more difficult to operate for him, but we'll see. Wow, that FSL Airbus 320x on the ramp at LAX sitting still with frame rates of 17-19 from the cockpit view (23-30 external circle) made my jaw drop. Between that very complex aircraft and equally complex airport scenery...sure seemed to bog down a bit. Okay...just wanted to give y'all a final update; I know I don't like to see a question asked, lots of great advice given...and...the OP never gets back with closure. Thanks again guys! Bill

Michael, darn it—I thought that would've been the problem. Best of luck in solving the issue. Best Regards, Bill

Got it working and displaying fine real time OSD constantly in both P3Dv4 and XP11. I have to tweak the info and the display columns a little better for usability, but the OSD is displaying properly throughout the flight. PMB, check your settings (the gear icon) in Afterburner, in the monitoring section, you have to make sure you individually list each item you want to monitor and make sure the box is checked to show in On Screen Display. Then both Afterburner and Riva Tuner have to be running in the background (see icons in the system tray). Click on the Riva to format the position, size, color, etc of the displayed data and it should work fine. The first time I programmed it, I didn't see it either, it wasn't until I figured (duh) both apps had to be running in the background that it worked as I had hoped. Hope that helps!

HOLD EVERYTHING!! Tokitaumelie, you were right on the money--I researched Afterburner a bit more and also found a YouTube video that demonstrates what it can do--it is more than just a GPU monitor, you can configure a ton of variables from BOTH the GPU and CPU. This is exactly what I wanted! This forum is great--thanks again! Best Regards,

Tokitaumelie, That's really close to what I I was trying to describe--I didn't know Afterburner could do that on screen--but it still isn't quite what I was looking for, as Afterburner just is limited to displaying GPU performance, I believe. But the format is exactly what I was talking about. Thanks. The one I saw was almost identical, except it had CPU processer voltage, temp, stats on all 6 cores--in addition to all the graphics card info. Thanks for that input--very useful.

Really appreciate the ideas everyone--I have afterburner--like all the others mentioned, it takes up a lot of opaque screen real estate (I only have the one monitor--but it's a beauty..4K Acer Predator 32"). Not going the multi-monitor route. I don't want a pop-up window overlaying the cockpit or other views. I wish I could find a screen shot of a video I saw posted somewhere--it showed yellow-colored text ONLY (no GUI), somewhat transparent, compact, and every parameter you could want...all neatly tucked in the upper left corner of the screen in a very small footprint. That is what I'm hoping somebody will mention. Thanks, Bill

Well, I received my new 17 8700K, DDR43200Mhz 32GB, NVidia GTX 1080Ti 11GB system yesterday. I was wondering what is the best program/utility that you experienced Sim drivers use to display all the important real-time performance details on-screen as you are experimenting with sim variables while flying and the their effects on GPU and CPU? I've seen GPU-Z mentioned and I have MSI afterburner, but that just shows graphics card performance details, but not the CPU. I've seen simulator video clips where all these details (percentage of each core usage, temps, voltage, FPS, etc..) are all displayed in the upper left or right of the screen in small colored text that doesn't distract, Can anybody point me to the best options? Thanks! Bill

Yup...I'm thinking far down the road; I may not need it now, but later, I might as the simulation s/w evolves. I'm jumping in with both feet on a top-end gaming PC, why go cheep on the monitor, right? As a matter of fact, it is that Acer Predator 32" with gsync on sale for $900 that I am about ready to pull the trigger on. My son's room is small; his current monitor is 24". Anything larger than 32" or so would be too big for his desk and the room. Thanks, Bill

Filou, beautiful! I sent you a PM yesterday. Pls check yur messages. Thanks! Bill

Pete and Julietsierrappl, thanks for clearing that up. Maybe I should have used the word “want” instead of “need” gsync. Re the 30hz, I have been researching in several other forums in addition as Pete mentioned; I mistakenly came away with the impression that I needed gsync or freesync to optimize the 4K monitor/tv experience at 30hz. Bill

Looking for some expert help.... Re my situation (pls see my newbie post): I've taken a big step forward and have my new system in the works and expect to have it within 9-12 days: X-6 - THE XIDAX X-6 Motherboard ASROCK Z370 KILLER SLI AC Intel® Six Core™ i7-8700K Processor DDR4 3200MHz G.SKILL Trident Z- 32GB Corsair CX750M Semi-Modular Power Supply 12X BD-RW Combo MSI GTX 1080Ti GAMING X (NVidia chipset) XIDAX Performance NVME M.2 512GB SSD Western Digital Blue 1TB - 7200RPM 3.5" HDD Premium Red LED Fans Xidax 570LX CPU Cooler Windows 10 Home Premium 64-Bit $2900 out the door w/free shipping Now I need to find a 4K UHD 32" monitor (to be used on my son's desktop). I've searched through the hardware forums and I wound up with more questions/less answers and now completely uncertain about the best choice for us. I had initially settled on an ASUS and Acer monitors in the $4-500 range until I came upon a forum thread (thank you!) that mentioned that gsync and freesync are not cross-compatible. That meant with my NVidia chipset, I couldn't use a 4K monitor that had freesync...and could only use the gsync feature. So now if I look for monitors in that size that have gsync, I'm up near $800-1,000 or more. Do I really need to have a "sync" capability in the 4K monitor I choose? (I have decided to install P3Dv4 AND X-Plane 11) Your advice is appreciated... Bill

Ted, you nailed it there--it is a quicksand pit, but I have really appreciated all of the differing opinions and advice. I am getting a better picture of things than I had when I started down this rabbit hole, so it's all good. I have been trying to scour YouTube videos of flights on each of the latest platforms with the aircraft I'm looking for to be able to compare somewhat. But yeah, you can really go crazy with all this stuff. About FlightSimWorld, it really wouldn't work for my son as he really is in to the airline world about 90%...the terminals, the airports, the local scenery--it is what he likes along with seeing all of the AI traffic on the ground. But thanks for the suggestion! Bill

Tony, thanks for your kind reply. I have to admit that thought did cross my mind...which is why I wanted to upgrade to a top-end system to handle any or multiple options.... ...Then I started adding up the potential cost, considering all the software add-ons I would want for him...and oh, a 4K larger monitor maybe...well, you know how it goes. I want to stay realistic, and not go overboard ;-) Bill

Thiago, I agree...I should try the demo. Don't know if it will work on my son's old system, but if not, when I put the new system in place, I'll give it a whirl. One of the big advantages that I thought P3Dv4 would have for our situation was the functionality of the old FSX add-ons I've installed years ago that according to a sticky in the P3D forum IIRC, may now NOT work under the 64-bit architecture of P3Dv4. Still keeping an open mind. Bill