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Which version

I am now wondering if my system is even good enough for P3D v5 (or even v4 for that matter) as my bottleneck seems to be my GPU. It passes the minimum requirements but does not meet the recommended levels (info from here: https://prepar3d.com/product-overview/system-requirements/#prepar3d-v5) . I am on a restricted budget (old age pensions) and while I can afford to purchase v4 or v5 I would also have to upgrade my full version of FSUIPC and Active Sky to P3D so a new GPU on top might break the proverbial camel's back! I know I can run P3D with the sliders pulled back and that is how I run FSX-SE anyway (mostly AI traffic, road traffic and ships dialed way back, water at 2x, etc,) but would that result in anything better than what I have now?

Here are my specs if anyone wants to make any suggestions/comments regarding functionality/performance of v4 or v5:

OS: Win 10 Pro 64 bit
CPU: AMD Ryzen 7 3800X (8 cores, 3.8 GHz, hyper-threaded)
RAM: 16 GB DDR4
GPU: Nvidia GeForce GTX 1660 (6 GB VRAM)

Drives:
C: 500 GB SSD with 284 GB free (Used for OS and general apps, FSX add-on scenery, FSX Tools (AS16, Little Nav Map, FSX/P3D SDKs, etc.)
E: 1 TB M2 SSD with 277 GB free (Used exclusively for currently installed Steam apps)
F: 4 TB HDD with 3.03 TB free (Used for general storage, downloads, FSX back-up hangars (i.e. aircraft that have been installed/used but are not currently in my active FSX build), non-Steam games, music files, etc.)

Any thoughts?
 
I'd say go for v5, since it is a bit faster if you install lots of sceneries. With fewer addon sceneries, v4 is also a very fast program. Regarding your hardware, the GTX1660 is DX12 but has only 6 GB VRAM. That's more than the minimum of 4 GB but when i see what I loaded into VRAM it's 5.7. A value you can't reach with 6GB. The program crashes before reaching the limit. So rather go for v4.5.
I found this post over at Avsim:
https://www.avsim.com/forums/topic/576251-p3dv45-v-5/
If you wanted v5 I would recommend to buy a gpu with more than 8 GB anyway, so you can estimate the price v5 had for you. So the academic licence is much less than a new gpu, should you later decide for v5.
 
Your system is better than my dev system that runs V4.5 without a major issue (as long as I don't have too much AI running).

It is about on par with my main system that runs both 4.5 and 5.4 fine.
The only major difference is that I have an i5-6600 overclocked to 4.2 Ghz and a GTX 1070 with 8 GB VRAM & 8 GB shared.

I just loaded V5.4 and started a flight in British Columbia using the freeware Avro Tutor, Orbx scenery and a standard weather scheme.
Sim runs smooth locked at 30 FPS (although P3D can still look smooth at lower fps than FSX) This is what it is taking in resources
CPU 37%
RAM used 7 GB
GPU RAM used 2.3 GB

OS and sim running on separate SSDs
 
Glad you went for v4 Cees - you will not regret it
As a fellow nav air addict you alway must be sure both aircraft and ship models are fsx native in order to show up in the sim
 
expat said:
Glad you went for v4 Cees - you will not regret it
As a fellow nav air addict you alway must be sure both aircraft and ship models are fsx native in order to show up in the sim
Click to expand...
With all the FSX addons I still have this is how FSX should be. :smile-new: Got some trapping to do! (y)

Cees
 
I have found that Wilco/Feelthere FSX payware does NOT work in P3D V4.5, it's a gauge issue. Also be careful of payware that says it's FSX and Prepar3D. This was Prepar3D V3, V2 and V1, NOT Prepar3D V4 or later. Again, I found that an email to the developer was always answered with that qualification in all cases. It will say what versions of Prepar3D are compatible at the etailer's site I found.

Almost all of my freeware FSX aircraft and scenery work great. My sceneries that I designed for FSX have all worked great in P3D V4.5 even NAS Alameda which was created back in 2016. Back then in FSX a lot of guys got bogged down because it was so fps intense. "I knew NOTHING, Coloned Hogan". LOL! When I loaded it into my V4.5, with the 64bit technology you can see a thread here with a few adds updating it, There are no problems at all even with a payware aircraft. Nothing fantastic, but for me fps's in the 20's fly just fine.

Also so generously, a number of developers who have moved over to MSFS exclusively like Aeroplane Heaven and Milviz made almost all of their FSX and P3D aircraft free downloads.

If P3D V4.5 does not give you the model after porting over the aircraft directly for FSX after installing it there, just upload the model into Model Converter X (FOR YOUR OWN PERSONAL USE ONLY!) create a Prepar3D V4.4 mdl after you have made a copy of the original mdl and saved it OUT of that model folder. If it shows and works, have fun flying it. IF the FSX aircraft is a port-over from FS9 then you have a problem because the interior and exterior is modeled as one model you will lose the VC though the 2D cockpit works and you can also lose some or all of the animation I found out. If it is a TRUE FSX there will be two models in the model folder: exterior and interior or multiple exterior models if the designer made more than one model like one with winglets and one without as in the case with B737's. Just test them out and if they work on your system and sim...have fun and FSX stuff is still alive and not wasted time by us ol' developers when flight simming was updated.

I haven't justified MSFS yet though I am working on a new computer that will run it (the one writing this won't though it runs Prepar3D V4.5 great). Ok, I'm through with my "tuppence".
 
Thanks for the info guys, I think I am going to go with v5.4 and see how it runs. If I need be I can always dial it back a bit and I bet it will still be better than FSX-SE plus 'Sale Season' will be coming up in a couple of months so I can always pick up a lower cost 8 or 12 GB card then.

As I said to my wife last night (a fellow simmer, but not flight sims!) if I bought v4.5 I would probably end up kicking myself for not buying v5.4 in the first place. From what you've all said the most likely aircraft I'd want to bring over from FSX-SE will probably work OK (just no PBR stuff). I have been checking payware sites for P3D equivalents/upgrades but not finding a lot of info regarding interchangeability/upgrades so I guess it will be a case of 'suck it and see'! While checking I was amazed at how much Virtualcol stuff I have but I guess I got a lot of that during the Covid sales/freebie period. I know their installers select the sim type on installation but not sure if they would see v5 (I think they might only see up to v4).

EDIT: I just went to the retailer I got all my Virtualcol stuff from and was pleased to see that I could download all the 64-bit installers at no extra cost! Thanks for that SimMarket! (y):)
 
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I'm happy with v4.5. As said before, most FX stuff works & it looks great.
I also installed v5, however, with same settings, v4.5 gave me better & more natural colors.
I also found that it was less compatible with FSX.
The aircraft with an 'interior' model mostly work with v4.5.
Dangerous Beans said it all!(y)
 
I did notice on some YouTube comparison videos I've watched that v5 always seems a bit 'washed out' and 'colour reduced' when compared to v4 for some reason. Hmmm, decisions, decisions! :unsure:
 
It's worth remembering that graphics settings make a huge difference with v4, 5 and 6, as will the monitor. P3DV6 seems to have much more intense colour than 4 & 5. Like others though, I find 5.3 works best for me but, bottom line, visuals are very subjective.

DaveQ
 
Well, I stopped gnashing my teeth and just bought v4.5 based on the better compatibility with FSX aircraft, the look based on YT videos and the lower requirements on my current GPU. Now to get it all installed along with all the updated stuff (FSUIPC, Active Sky, Virtualcol aircraft, etc.) I downloaded too (I'm just glad I have fiber internet now)!
 
I can see why developers switched to MSFS - I didn't and I've only sold a handful of Blackbirds in the two years since release.

I think P3D V5.4 is the best so far. V6 has issues with my latest product that even after contact with P3D have not been resolved - nor indeed replied to in four months, and they wonder why most developers abandoned it!
 
Tako_Kichi said:
Thanks for the info guys, I think I am going to go with v5.4 and see how it runs. If I need be I can always dial it back a bit and I bet it will still be better than FSX-SE plus 'Sale Season' will be coming up in a couple of months so I can always pick up a lower cost 8 or 12 GB card then.

As I said to my wife last night (a fellow simmer, but not flight sims!) if I bought v4.5 I would probably end up kicking myself for not buying v5.4 in the first place. From what you've all said the most likely aircraft I'd want to bring over from FSX-SE will probably work OK (just no PBR stuff). I have been checking payware sites for P3D equivalents/upgrades but not finding a lot of info regarding interchangeability/upgrades so I guess it will be a case of 'suck it and see'! While checking I was amazed at how much Virtualcol stuff I have but I guess I got a lot of that during the Covid sales/freebie period. I know their installers select the sim type on installation but not sure if they would see v5 (I think they might only see up to v4).

EDIT: I just went to the retailer I got all my Virtualcol stuff from and was pleased to see that I could download all the 64-bit installers at no extra cost! Thanks for that SimMarket! (y):)
Click to expand...
Aren't both Virtuacol and SimMarket great people!
 
Tako_Kichi said:
Well, I stopped gnashing my teeth and just bought v4.5 based on the better compatibility with FSX aircraft, the look based on YT videos and the lower requirements on my current GPU. Now to get it all installed along with all the updated stuff (FSUIPC, Active Sky, Virtualcol aircraft, etc.) I downloaded too (I'm just glad I have fiber internet now)!
Click to expand...
Good decision.
 
I spent all weekend adding aircraft and deleting unwanted paints, re-configuring aircraft CFG files and updating tools (AS for P3D, FSUIPC, Orbx, etc,) and finally I got to fly a couple of legs today and boy was I surprised! 😲

I decided to fly a couple of legs on my Kiwikat Round The World Hoplist which I have been flying for years now (it circumnavigates the globe in 900+ hops!) and it used to live on our multiplayer servers (various ones as we moved servers) and people logged into the server and flew the hoplist online. A few years back we lost that ability but I was able to DL the route and convert it into a FSX flight plan so that I could fly it offline. I am currently back in North America and only have 101 legs left! I started out on the east coast of Mexico and flew two legs to end up just into the mountainous central regions. The aircraft for the first leg was the now freeware Iris Global Express and the aircraft for the second leg was the Virtualcol Dornier 328 Jet. I had set the frame rate to locked at 30 FPS for my original testing and things were very smooth but for these flights I decided go unlimited to see how well my system performed given that I was originally a bit skeptical about my GPU to handle the load. I was amazed at the numbers I saw.

Leg 1: The leg went north-ish up the east coast and the WX (real weather from Active Sky for P3D v4) was broken 'puffies' for the most part. FPS varied between high 50s to high 60s and at one point into the low 70s! I was amazed to say the least as those numbers were way beyond what I expected and the flight was super smooth with no glitches.

Leg 2: The leg turned to the west and started climbing into the mountains and the WX turned to heavy t-storms the further I went. Initially I was getting mid to high 50 FPS but as the weather got worse and the clouds got thicker and the lightning and turbulence got worse the numbers started to drop into the mid 40s. Then the rain started and boy was I surprised! As it started to get worse I began to notice rain on the windshield, something I had not seen since my FS2004 days! The rain got thicker and the visibility got worse and I decided to turn on the wipers never expecting them to work (they never did in FSX, at least they moved but didn't clean) but work they did and I could see again! I was astounded! By this time the FPS was down to high 20s to low 30s but still super smooth with no glitching. The airport had no nav-aids so I had to hand fly her in during the t-storm into an airport at 5,100+ ft elevation and I greased it! :greenbounce:

Bottom line, it was an amazing experience and I am now wondering if I can up some settings if the GPU did that well! I have put the key settings I currently have below:

Traffic: Airline = 20, GA = 30, Airport vehicle traffic = Minimum, Cars = 15, Ships = 10, Leisure boats = 10
Realism: All sliders full right except for crash tolerance (I never have crashes on during testing)
Graphics: FXAA - Off, AA - 4xMSAA, Text, Filt. - Aniso. 16x, Tex. Res. - 2048 x 2048, V-Sync - On triple buffering
Terrain: LOD Radius - Ultra, Tess. Factor - High, Mesh Res. - 2m, Texture Res. - 7cm, using High res terrain textures
Scenery Objects: Scenery complexity - Extremely Dense, Autogen and draw distance - High, Autogen Vegetation - Very Dense, Autogen Buildings - Normal
Water Details: High, Reflections - User vehicle only
Special Effects: SE Detail - Medium, SE Distance - Medium
Lighting: HDR Enabled - Brightness 0.95, Bloom 0.35, Saturation 0.95, Dynamic Reflections - Medium, Dynamic Lighting - On, Landing Lights Illuminate Ground - On
Shadows: Shadow Quality - Medium, Shadow Draw Dist, - High
Casting and Receiving: Internal Vehicle - On and On, External Vehicle - On and On, Buildings - On, Clouds - On
Weather: Cloud Draw Dist. - 60 mi, Cloud Coverage - Max., Detailed Clouds - On, Vol. Fog - On, Detailed Precip. - On, Windshield Effects - On, Thermal Visualization - Natural
Sim. Settings: Enable turbulence and thermal effects - On

In addition to the above I had ASP3D providing live weather and I was running Orbx Global and Vector with openLC for NA.

To say I was impressed would be an understatement, the visuals were amazing, the flight was smooth (apart from the turbulence ;)) and the numbers speak for themselves! Now I wonder just where to tweak to make it even better! :devilish:

I am already eyeing up enhancements like the TOGA project stuff! 😁
 
I agree with you 100%! This is an amazing sim! Naval flying has never been better for me than in this sim. Smooth as butter, great framerates.

Cees
 
I've enjoyed v4.5 very much although I don't get a chance to fly to often. I have quite a bit of aircraft, scenery, etc. that works well. I hope that I'll be able to find some more time to get back to flying.
 
I got stuck at P3Dv4.5 and this seems to be my final sim. I own almost all aircraft I am interested in, same with sceneries and I have a perfectly running system without any crash within last 5 years.
With adding some paths I also can use most of my FSX stuff right out of it without installing aircraft and sceneries again.
Even if MSFS looks far better and more realistic, I am satisfied with P3Dv4.5, especially if you use ORBX TrueEarth addons or addon sceneries made with Google/VirtualEarth ground, the difference isn't that big.
Another big advantage is P3D is usable completely offline. No trouble with any internet issues or Microsoft fails.
You will not regret your decision. Have fun (y)
 
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