An Impossible Question - Maybe!

[tweedy]

I remember the day when the choice of sim was relatively easy depending on what had just been published! Now of course it's a whole different ball game and if you believe what you read there may even be new sims on the horizon.

 

As a big sysem update is looming for me I've got so many balls in the air and to be honest after reading, reading, viewing and more reading, I'm even more confused about what if any changes I should make in terms of the choice of simulator.

 

Like many here I've been flight simming for over 10 years and have basically stuck with FS2004/FSX and dare I say 'and before'. I guess what I'm trying to say is I've always been reluctant to change because I've invested so much time and cash into FSX which now stands at about 130gb. I know its 'old' now but it has served me well over time. But it's getting to the point where I need to look for a better engine....maybe. Better experts than me have expressed opinion on the benefits and pitfalls of the new sim variations currently available and not unexpectedly various comments have been expressed, all of which were balanced in my opinion or nearly all.

 

Now here's the impossible question, for those who have experienced more than I have with flight sim models and have tried the different sims, what would you recommend?

 

What am I looking for? Well, without being technical.....I aint no technician, my apologies.....a stable and reliable engine which has a more efficient relationship with the computer's hardware. There's nothing I like more than to see a high end study aircraft operating to its fullest potential without placing unobtainable demands on either system or the simulator......if that makes any sense. Scenery too is important for me and the ability to fly the heavies one day and bush fly the next.

 

Compatibility with my FSX software addons is also relevant if it means I can save a bit more cash although I appreciate that in many of the new sims, the jury is still out with a lot of fsx software.

 

I'd really value any advice on the way to go. Thanks

[lnuss]

From what I read in your post, I'd suggest Lockheed-Martin's Prepar3d which is compatible with a lot of FSX stuff, but makes heavy use of the graphics card, with better shadows (even cloud shadows) and better clouds, among other graphics improvements, and smoother operation, even at the same frame rate (though fps is usually higher in P3D), and more.

 

As an example, I have a 5 1/2 year-old machine with an I-7 processor and (had) a GTX570 card. Going from FSX to P3D (no other changes) gave me a boost of a few fps, plus overall smoother operation -- all this with the sliders set somewhat higher (not maxed). I was very pleased.

 

Then I replaced the GTX 570 with a GTX 970 (no other changes) and got another 2-4 fps (depending on where I was) with most sliders maxed. Of course in the very dense areas (Seattle, New York, So. Cal) I have to go more to mid-range settings, and even there performance got better.

 

My only add-ons are ORBX (pretty much all NA regions) and UT USA/UT Alaska, so hopefully that gives some perspective.

 

But you won't do this with a Pentium -- needs to be a relatively recent chip and graphics card.