I've been looking at this recently and have been trying to decide if going to p3d would be better for the performance gains. Does anyone here have both and noticed a serious Increase in performance or should I stick with fsx? My pc can handle fsx but with near full graphics, depending on scenery at hand I get jumps that go from 17-70 fps. I've set limit to 60 now and even then I only get a consistent 40ish sometimes. Issue isn't the amount of FPS however, it's the stutters similar to DCS or the noticeable drop and pick up of fps. P3D is being constantly tweaked so I'm wondering if it's worth switching too, despite the price tag.

I'm going to e-mail somebody I know for a comparison on them, on your behalf. He has used, worked with and adapted both sims extensively in an A320 simpit project, which is currently being used as a PCATD at a flight school in Guayaquil.

Note the following possible clue, however; since changing to P3D, he has never looked back.

Standby.

Awesome thanks bud! I've read a few forums about it now but no one has a definitive answer. I can't figure out why my game runs choppy, maybe its time to overclock the CPU ahha

There are those saying FSXSE actually is on par or close to P3D, while others say it's not even close. I'm not entirely sure who's right but I wish P3D had a demo that I could run or something to kind of see. Oh well I guess, mods also cost a bit more too. From what I know since it's still based on FSX, I'd doubt helos are any different. I tried flying a helo and was quite surprised at how easy it really was to fly. I don't think they model much of it to be honest.

Yah I'd be looking to fly 737's and other airliners myself haha, not much of a helo guy outside of DCS personally. I always though helos were off in fsx even when I was really young haha

Nick,

Okay, where to start with this...?

My friend called me up today and we had a chat about the P3D vs. FSX issue. It was quite a long chat, actually, plus he said he had sent me an e-mail with some more details. However, I do not seem to have got the e-mail, so I have asked him to re-send it. When I get that I'll Google translate it and post it. 'Kay? I'll try and cover some of the main points we talked about right here and now...

First, confirmed what you already said about P3D being a face-lifted FSX. The directory structure is the same, but that installation of add ons is a breeze in comparison. Apparently, there's no need to do any of that area creation niff-naffy trivia stuff with your scenery libraries; just install your add on scenery and away you go. However, not all add ons will work, as he says models must be GMax created. Anything made with any other 3D model creator will not work.

Graphics performance. Apparently, this is much, much better on P3D than FSX. We also got to the bottom, we think, of your FPS issue on FSX:SE. From some chats we've had on TS, I know you run quite a high resolution monitor. It seems that FSX cannot do anything about taxing FPS the higher you set your resolution, no matter what card you have (strange, eh?). Overall improvements with massive graphics card upgrades are at best, marginal, so he says. Some data on his setup; his simpit uses 3 projectors, at a resolution of 3,200 x 2,400 each. The graphics card he uses is an nVidia GTX 950. He has Orbx textures and vector installed, plus a perspective fixing tool to adequately match up the edges of the projected image on the screens (forget the name of that, though). With all that, he says he was getting around 20-25 FPS on FSX. With P3D, he informs me he gets between 45-60 FPS no problem, even with all the above mentioned add ons, plus REX environment enhancement .

There's some credence to all that; remember last night I was getting ridiculous FPS capability on my rig (the lowest I saw was 57 FPS)? I run a 1440 x 900 monitor.

FSX is DX10, while P3D is DX11.

His discussion also focuses quite heavily on add on hardware for the simpit. He's got several external panels and display units interfaced to the sim, including a complete overhead panel, all switches and buttons, six DU's, two MCDU's and the rest of the stuff on the pedestal. The integration of these into the sim is identical on P3D as on FSX (he said, personally he found P3D easier, but he thinks that is an illusion because he already knew his way around after learning on FSX how to do it the first time). He also uses this JeeHellWare A320 FMGS "expansion" for the A320, to enable him to complete all the systems functions that are missing on the Aerosoft A-320 (and there are quite a few missing). With all that extra work coded in, he's still getting good frame rates on P3D.

Recommended, if you're going to get it, is the Academic license. There is absolutely nothing advantageous about the Pro license. And finally, the biggest con is that every time a new version comes out, you apparently have to get the license all over again (eg; P3D v2 to P3D v3).

That's all I remember, hope it helps.

PS: Personally, I'm sticking with FSX, as it suits my needs, runs OK on my rig, and I ain't looking to build no sim-pit, lol!

So after reading Cygon's reply as well as a PM from him and a bit more research, I decided to jump into P3D, I mean why not? 60 day money back which is nice in case it doesn't work out. I fired it up, maxed out and I was hitting 60fps no problem. Added a couple of FPS eating addons and flew again, same FPS as FSX, however it's noticeably smoother. It's much better than what I thought it would be. Also none of the drawbacks of FSX, such as lack of alt tabbing, or switching full screen to windowed (which is pretty much instant). I can still see myself flying FSX for things that haven't been moved to P3D yet, however the performance gained with P3D makes it even more compelling to use.

Yah you bet, orbx was a bit confusing as I had to add KTEX in the scenery library manually but that was simple once I had looked around the inter webs for info. Also helped that I used to add freeware scenery using the library

re: Message #3 this thread

Re: P3D vs FSX : SE
Post #2 by Cygon_Parrot » Tue Sep 27, 2016 10:25 pm
I'm going to e-mail somebody I know for a comparison on them, on your behalf. He has used, worked with and adapted both sims extensively in an A320 simpit project, which is currently being used as a PCATD at a flight school in Guayaquil.

Note the following possible clue, however; since changing to P3D, he has never looked back.

Standby.

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I flew for awhile with these guys with the VRS SuperBug F-18:

vcw-8.com/index.php

These guys switched to P3D. Look up POP, he is former Navy pilot, real life, he taught at Pensacola. Want to fly the Navy way? He is the guy!

Technical troubleshooting forum:
www.vcw-8.com/phpBB3/viewforum.php?f=3&a...abd246baef295223ca9c


(I am not much of a joiner, more a loner type, though I did do Navy Seabees 1974 to 1980. I was 22 when I enlisted. I beat the draft in 1971, then enlisted... Go figure!)

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Yes, DCS is my favorite. Aces High III out of Texas, USA is my alternate (WWII era) and quite active online Multiplayer. I tried FSX quite awhile and Dino Cattaneo's mods.


You guys' MP F99th server I fly the Ka-50 or Ground Commander with Combined Arms. I am usually RED side. I like the challenge.

How about that, sometime? DCS, get your finger out with that F-18, please, then we can all congregate and descend upon this man for procedures training, lol!

On the P3D subject; I spent this morning down in Guayaquil. I visited my friend who had given us the advice on P3D. Here's his simpit at the Sky Ecuador flight school...

The rest of this post I have moved to a F-99th member thread ...

wow Looks awesome. I've been thinking of getting P3d once I'm out of this damn desert!! Plus I wonder if I will get a discount being a Lockheed employee!