I'm Buying one of the just released iMac's

Question

and I want to put my money into the features that will most benefit smooth operation, frame rate, and rendering of xPlane 11. Is the priority the Video Card, Processor Speed, Ram, or Storage Speed (SSD or Fusion Drive)? Anyone willing to rate which are most important in what order will be helping me immensely.

2nd question. I want to do a full uninstall of XPlane 10  on the old machine before migrating the HD and User Accounts to the new iMac. Is there an uninstall available, or does trashing the XPlane folder do it? Are there any components in the System or Library that need to be removed manually.

Thank you

Answer 1

I just got a 27” newest model iMac with the i7 processor 32g Ram, 8gb Super Video card and 2 T memory.

I asked this question to the X plane developers before and there answer is X plane is just a sim that requires power in all areas and it runs best with a good balance. That is the most accurate answer. Different parts of the program stress GPU & CPU more than the other while any process requires a good ram memory to process faster. They all work together for the final fps etc video quality performance so it’s impossible to pin point it or consider one thing way more important than the other. Iv seen many complaints online of people that have massive setups and still encounter fps problems and etc, most of it is due to imbalance and going of beliefs that doubling down on just one thing will make it better. They all work as a team the three musketeers.

1. For CPU, You need anything above the i5 CPU in macs to run low-medium load & graphics and resolution and modding. Anything above that If your going to play with extra heavy mods/scenery additions and etc super custom plugins you will need better CPU definitely need a dual core like what I have the i7 chip or better. That will handle much more stress and make all aspects of the whole rendering process of fps efficient and optimal performance.

2. The Ram is extremely important it’s the short term memory so to speak of the whole process. 8gb for minimal performance, 16 for medium and 32+ for best performance I’d say.

3. GPU is obviously vital. 2gb won’t even run the program past the startup or load a bird. 4gb will run minimum performance (iv tested with a 4gb GPU) on a older Mac. And 8gb stronger GPUs will run incredible things combined with the Ram and good CPU. And anything above 8gb will be even better like people buy massive external stationary GPU units and use those and they can be a dam 12gb system. And what’s cool is you can do this even if your computer has a weaker GPU when you use the external one it entirely switches the computers GPU off and uses the External one which could be 800x faster. They can be convenient because you can keep the same computer but they are spendy a 8gb set will run up to 850 and 12gb is like 1300-1500 around there.

Anyways I wish you the best that’s just my knowledge and experience combined with advice from a X plane Programming director I talked to directly a while back. Hope this helps.

Comments

Thank you. This is very helpful.

Answer 2

Hi David,

I am not from Laminar Research; just a flight simmer from downunder.

I am not a Mac user but what I do know is what you will pay for a mid-range mac system will purchase a top of the range windows based system.  Many experienced and recognised flight simmers and information providers are using windows based purpose built systems.  A windows based system will allow individual components of your system to be upgraded, as and when you deem they need upgrading, far easier.

What you need to ensure is your new system has adequate cooling.  X-Plane 11 more so than X-Plane 10 is resource hungry and generates heat.  So you need good cooling for your CPU and GPU.  If you don't then you may have a system crash where the screen will go blue and will not be usable until everything has cooled.

X-plane 10 is a totally different package to X-Plane 11.  They don't mix and match so no point in trying to integrate.  You can run both systems on the same drive/machine.

My following comments are based on the fact you are running a genuine Laminar Research version of X-Plane and not steam.  Steam is a 3rd party hybrid that installs differently to the laminar version.

XP10 and XP11 can be installed on as many computers as you want but can only run one legal copy of that version at any one time.  If you have a digital download then you have to be connected to the internet at all times as the software will perform a silent background check on the legality of your version.  With a disc version you need disc one in your dvd drive at all times.

If you have installed XP correctly ie on the desktop or into a dedicated directory or even a dedicated drive all you need to do is   delete the software as you would for a file or program.  If you want to transfer XP10 to your new system then find a storage device (USB stick or portable drive) and just cut and paste and then cut and paste onto your drive of choice.       

If your version is a digital download then reinstall your files and provide the 24 digit product key.  For a disc version just reinstall the discs in the directory of choice and then insert disc 1 to run the software.

Hope this helps.  Any further queries send me a personal message.

Good luck with your purchase.

Glenn 

Comments

Thanks Glenn,

If I was buying a dedicated machine it would be a PC, but I do a lot of work on Mac's and XPlane is for fun, even if it's possibly the most demanding thing I run.  Appreciate the feedback.

David