Best VR laptop for Sim

[Pikestance]

Hey, I need some advice/ clarification.

 

I travel a bit so, a desktop is not really an option. In the sim, I am limited to a 17-inch screen. So my thought is to go VR; thinking that this would "break" me out of my limited screen size. I am not sure how VR works. It seems gaming laptops are 15 or 17 inches. Does it matter the size of the screen with you use VR? 

 

So what is the best recommendation for a laptop for use with this sim, and what are the best options for VR headset? 

 

Thanks in advance

[1Sascha]

13 hours ago, ACG_Pike said:

Does it matter the size of the screen with you use VR? 

Not for VR it doesn't. You won't be seeing that screen once you have the VR-set on your head.

 

Going to get pretty expensive though if you absolutely need a laptop. VR is quite demanding when it comes to the GPU.

 

Plus you better make sure it has enough USB-ports for your needs. I reckon you'll need at least a throttle and stick (with a twisty-axis - I'd 100% recommend pedals though, especially in VR) so that's at least 2 USB ports gone - plus your VR-set will need a USB connection (USB-C on some of the newer ones) and DP-connection. Plus probably a mouse and an external keyboard. One way to cut down on this might be the TM 16000 set where you can daisy-chain stick, throttle and pedals together and then connect the whole shebang to the PC via a single USB plug (AFAIK).

 

Re controls: Don't forget that once that thing is on your head, you won't be able to use your keyboard for anything - other than maybe very prominently placed and seldom used keys like ESC, Space-Bar, Cursor-Keys. Using individual keys or even key-combos in VR? Forget about it.

 

So for VR I would absolutely recommend the best HOTAS you can afford - or at least the one with the most functions that you can/want to afford.

 

S.

 

 

 

Edited June 28, 2022 by 1Sascha

[Pikestance]

3 hours ago, 1Sascha said:

Not for VR it do<snip>

 

S.

 

 

Thanks for your response

I started my search by looking up Gaming laptops that are VR ready (capable). 

 

FYI, I have a VKB Gladiator stick. There are ports for pedals and throttle on the back of it. 

 

This is what I have looked at thus far

Alienware m17 R5 Gaming Laptop

2 Type-A USB 3.2 Gen 1 Port
1 Type-A USB 3.2 Gen 1 Port with PowerShare
1 USB 3.2 Gen 2 Type-C™ port with DisplayPort®
 

Alienware x17 R2 Gaming Laptop

2 USB 3.2 Gen 1 ports with PowerShare
1 USB 3.2 Gen 2 Type-C^® port with DisplayPort™ and Power Delivery
1 Thunderbolt™ 4 port with Power Delivery
1 Universal Audio Jack

 

MSI GE76 Raiders

They all seem to have the following

1x USB3.2 Gen 2; 2x USB3.2 Gen 1

1x Thunderbolt™ 4; 1x USB 3.2 Gen 2/DP

 

Razer Blade is a bit out of the range I am willing to spend. 

Asus is the only one listed that I have not looked at yet. 

 

 

[1Sascha]

Only checked the "cheapest" MSI one, and... holy crap... $4000? You might want to also look at some sort of mini/micro ATX gaming system.  These things aren't much less portable than a full blown gaming laptop... which are usually pretty bulky and heavy for a laptop.

 

I mean... starting with the GPU, you'll "only" get the equivalent of a desktop 3060 TI with that laptop 3080 Ti - which would probably be fine for something like the Rift-S but might struggle with higher res VR sets like the HP Reverb G2.

 

If you can get the smallest form factor case and RTX 3070 or 3080, you'd have a lot  more CPU and GPU power available for way less money and without whole lot more weight and bulk.

 

Something like a Phanteks Evolv Shift XT perhaps as a starting point?

 

https://geizhals.de/phanteks-enthoo-evolv-shift-xt-silber-ph-es121xt-dgs01-a2678461.html?hloc=at&hloc=de

 

 

^ Vid gives a good sense of just how compact that case is.

 

S.

 

[paul_leonard]

Soooooo….. you want to jump into the deep end.  I have a Dell G15 2060 and an Alienware  R10 5950x/3090.  Said I was going back and forth to cottage to justify the G15 then ended up with the R10 with a big bag, SUV, HOTAS at both ends (very happy with end choice by the way).  People are right, HOTAS counts as does budget as does travel destination(s).  Bulk, travel type, gamestyle, BUDGET.  You sound like you can make some choices.  What do you think your choices are?  Can give “free” advice (for what is it worth) after some more info.
 

 

Soooooo….. you want to jump into the deep end.  I have a Dell G15 2060 and an Alienware  R10 5950x/3090.  Said I was going back and forth to cottage to justify the G15 then ended up with the R10 with a big bag, SUV, HOTAS at both ends (very happy with end choice by the way).  People are right, HOTAS counts as does budget as does travel destination(s).  Bulk, travel type, gamestyle, BUDGET.  You sound like you can make some choices.  What do you think your choices are?  Can give “free” advice (for what is it worth) after some more info.

 

Reverb G2 fits in the big bag.
 

 

[1Sascha]

Forgot to mention: There are cases that are even smaller than the one I linked to up there, but those usually will need an external PSU and I'm not sure they'd support 3-slot GPUs.

 

 

 

 

Akasa Max MT.

 

 

This one is a bit larger than the Akasa, but might be smaller than the Phanteks - while still featuring an internal 650W PSU and supporting desktop-sized GPUs:

 

CoolerMaster Mastercase NC100:

 

 

 

 

S.

[Pikestance]

I really want to know which laptop to buy and which features to focus on in order for the VR to work best. 

[1Sascha]

12 hours ago, ACG_Pike said:

I really want to know which laptop to buy and which features to focus on in order for the VR to work best. 

Then I'd probably focus on GPU performance and make sure I'd have enough connections to plug in all of my peripherals and the VR-set. As a general rule, I'd stay away from Alienware, since they have a reputation of being vastly overpriced and over-hyped.

 

That said: What sort of VR-set do you have/plan to use? It's just like with monitors and comes down to the number of pixels, I suppose. You won't need a 3080 Ti or 3090 to game in 1080p, but you'll definitely need one of the more high-end cards to drive a 4k monitor. Only that with VR-sets, the demands are even higher because you're basically driving two high res monitors/displays (one per eye).

 

Just keep in mind that with any laptop, you'll be kinda limited WRT available GPU power. Like I stated further up: That "3080 Ti Laptop" isn't anywhere near the desktop 3080 Ti's performance - from what I can tell, it sits somewhere between the desktop 3060 and 3060 Ti - though it seems closer to the Ti in performance.

 

I run a Rift-S with a (desktop) RTX 2070 Super and that works well enough in IL-2 with some of the bells and whistles turned off. So with this sort of lower res VR-set (1280 x 1440 per eye @80 Hz ), a high-end gaming laptop should be fine. I know for a fact that the 2070 Super will not be enough for the HP Reverb G2 (2160 x 2160 per eye, or 2.5 times the Rift-S' pixel count/res) - I bought my card from a buddy who got rid of that 2070 and upgraded to a RX 6800 XT precisely because he switched from a Rift-S to a Reverb G2.

 

 

Reviewers seem to like the Asus Zephyrus Duo 16:

 

https://www.ultrabookreview.com/55954-asus-rog-zephyrus-duo-16-review/

 

Laptop weighs just under 2kg and power-brick/PSU is around 1kg. Price is up there, but I guess you were expecting that. ~$4,000 + on newegg and between €3,500 and €5,000 (depending on the specs) from German HW-vendors I checked.

 

 

 

 

S.

Edited June 30, 2022 by 1Sascha

[chiliwili69]

On 6/29/2022 at 10:58 PM, ACG_Pike said:

which features to focus on in order for the VR to work best.

For IL-2 VR (either Desktop or Laptop) people should focus in two things:

 

Best CPU single-threaded performance. Go to the page https://www.cpubenchmark.net/CPU_mega_page.html and filter by Desktop or Laptop and then short it by single-threaded:

 

For GPU do the same and look at G3D mark but here:https://www.videocardbenchmark.net/GPU_mega_page.html

 

Then compare available models of CPUvsGPU and prices.

The MSI laptops are always one step ahead. I like them.

Edited July 1, 2022 by chiliwili69