Is the digital download platform independent?

Question

I would like to purchase the X-Plane 10/11 combo digital download. Currently I'm running on a 2013 Macbook Pro, but as I'm not sure if X-Plane 11 will run properly on this system I'm considering purchasing a high-specs Windows system specifically for running X-Plane.

My question: if I purchase the digital download, can I download both the Mac as the Windows version?

Answer 1

Yes, one product key will allow you to download and use either version. The key is good for one household, not just one computer.

Comments

Thanks, just bought the combo pack :)

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And feel free to shoot us those computer specs when you get the chance! It is exciting when one buys a new one.

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I'm currently eying an i5 6500 @3.6GHz with 32GB RAM, GeForce GTX1070 8GB and 250GB SSD. Hope that'll be enough to run ortophoto textures :)

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We'll I'm running an i7 4790K @ 4.0 GHz, 16 GB RAM, with a GTX 960 SSC... so overall a little less than your system, yet I achieve around 32 to 35 FPS with HD mesh and high to very high settings... you should be fine. Are you planning on using Windows 7 or Windows 10?

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Wow, I'm surprised you're only getting 32-35 FPS. Especially considering that X-Plane 11 is expected the raise the bar even more. Your CPU is significantly more powerful than the one I'm looking at, why do you think your system is "a little less"? Is the graphics card and memory that much more important than the CPU? Should I look at a different setup? (tbh: I'm not familiair with game setups at all, I'm just getting this to run X-Plane)

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I have my texture resolution, HDR, Anti-Aliasing, water reflections set pretty high, with a little bit of weather. This primarily chokes my GPU, pushing it to around full usage all the time. Thus, I have already determined my GPU to be the "bottleneck" if there were to be any, because my CPU is not running near 100%, which technically means I still have room for drawing more objects, cars, and a higher Field of View without (in theory) losing FPS.

 

And yes, my GPU is DEFINITELY less than your 1070 8GB VRAM. Let these links do the talking:

- http://gpuboss.com/gpus/GeForce-GTX-960-vs-GeForce-GTX-1070

- http://gpu.userbenchmark.com/Compare/Nvidia-GTX-960-vs-Nvidia-GTX-1070/3165vs3609

Plain and simple, the GRX 1070 is one of the best on the market for its price. Scratch that. It is THE best card on the market for the price. I would be excited about it.

 

As for your actual concerns... the CPU should pull along just fine. Now, it is just a quad core with no multi-threading at a maximum of around 3.6 GHz, which should be fine SOLELY depending on the settings you have for "Rendering Options". Thus, if you experience problems with it, you would have to compensate accordingly... and here's a great link for that:

- http://developer.x-plane.com/2007/04/cpu-or-gpu/

Now, I don't expect that GTX 1070 to have problems running X-Plane. If it does... than you can blame X-Plane lol.

As for my situation, I have been hoping to overclock my CPU to around 4.4 GHz or 4.5 GHz, and maybe in another year or so I want something from the GTX 10XX series.

 

(lol meanwhile I know people with like 8 multi-threaded cores on an AMD chip).

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While I still have you, you said that new computer only comes with a 250GB SSD? I recommend installing Windows, X-Plane, and any other necessary things on there (in terms of applications), but make sure you look into getting extra storage (even if it is an external drive), because in my personal experience, the average computer user needs much more than 250 GB of space. A large amount of users I know of typically get the 250 GB SSD, and then a 1 TB HDD or SSHD hybrid drive.

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Thanks for sharing, very interesting resources! Especially that dev blog article was useful for understanding when the CPU is the bottleneck and when it's the GPU.

As for the disk space: the system also comes with a 1TB SATA disk installed. I didn't mention it because it's not related to the system performance (I would install X-Plane only on the SSD-disk, perhaps using the extra storage for swapping in and out big scenery files).

There's a second configuration I'm considering, which has the following specs: i7 6700 @4.0GHz, 32GB DDR4, NVIDIA GeForce GTX1080 8GB, 250GB SSD. So basically the differences are (much) faster CPU and a bit faster GPU. The price difference is $259 dollar. I don't mind spending this extra money on the machine, but from your point-of-view: would it be worth it?

Thanks again for helping out. Very much appreciated. Like I said I'm a total newb in this area :)

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PS: I would like to use two monitors for X-Plane aligned on top of each other. One for instruments and one for "window views".

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@vincent.io

If you are okay with spending $259, that is great; I think with the hardware upgrades mentioned, $259 is a pretty good deal. Might I ask the total price or a direct link to this setup (for my own future reference)?

I want to get a few more opinions on this one (I don't handle well under pressure, lol).

I mean, that second computer you mentioned sounds like an absolute beast in the most beautiful respects; I think it would handle AWESOMELY not only with X-Plane, but with other applications as well. If you are in to PC gaming in general (or even making animations and renderings), I think the first laptop you mentioned would do great (really well), but of course, the second laptop could do it even better. It comes down to your pricing preferences and what you intend to do with the computer overall. They both give you a good buffer in terms of variety.

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To be clear: these are not laptops I'm talking about, just regular PCs. Here are the two options:

1. https://www.alza.cz/alzapc/alza-gamebox-neo-gtx1070-w10-d4304764.htm
2. https://www.alza.cz/alzapc/alza-gamebox-neo-gtx1080-d4518244.htm

Note that all prices are listed in Czech Crowns (CZK) and that I was referring to prices excluding VAT.

 

I don't intent to run any other games or applications on the system, only X-Plane. I'm about to start my PPL training, so I want the sim to render as realistically as possible :)

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Thanks for the links. In the second one, I actually see there is a hike in the CPU hertz *3.6 GHz to 4.0 GHz), on top of an upgrade to the GTX 1080.

In my opinion and experience, $1500 - $1600 USD (around 39 990 CZK) is a great deal for that PC, as is $1200 - $1300 USD (31 990 CZK) for the previously mentioned PC. It is up to you. If you want faster computing power (for $300 USD, 8 000 CZK more), then go for it. X-Plane 11 does not need it, but could certainly benefit, especially with X-Plane 11, which is already on track to be quite the performance hog so far. :-)

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Alright, makes sense. I'll probably go for the more powerful of the two then. Thank you very much for your input here, very much appreciated!