Help with VR

[Solmyr]

Hello guys, I'm more and more thinking about re-try the wonderful VR world, knowing I'm a simracing and flight sim enthusiast. I'm not likely to use VR for much other things..
The Quest 3 is looking at me, but could I even run it, could some owners/users/VR-experts help me understand and know what would be good or not please ?
My PC config is :
Asus Prime B550M-A (WI-FI)
AMD Ryzen 5 5600X
RTX 2060 Super
Corsair DDR4 16GB (2*8)

I have a Samsung Odyssey + right now, that I never used because I never felt comfortable, head or vision wise, also sweet spot, weight... I have a dedicated strap to improve the comfort but still didn't try. I more of anything else would need corrective lenses for it I'm afraid.

 

Any thought/input would be much appreciated 🙂

I hope I'm not making the topic skid too much, or I'll create a dedicated thread..

Edited July 16, 2024 by Solmyr

[Aapje]

There are people who are very happy with far lesser specs than yours and people for whom only way higher specs are good enough. Fact is that you will sacrifice visual quality compared to a flat screen, but you get some big benefits in return. Whether or not you will be happy is not something anyone can tell you, as it depends on your preferences..

 

For the Quest 3, you will need comfort upgrades. At least a new headstrap, but you may also want a new facial interface, depending on whether your face works with the default one. And I would strongly advise corrective lens inserts if you wear glasses.

 

Otherwise, it has a huge sweet spot and very good clarity. The weight is similar to the Odyssey. Using a counterweight can help with that a lot (the BoboVR headstraps with battery are nice for that, even if you don't or rarely use the battery). Having it balance well is more important than total weight.

 

Many people have to get used to the headset, so if you have vision or motion sickness issues, you need to give it some time to adjust. Especially for motion sickness, you can't force it, but need to stop when you feel it, and come back again later.

 

Elsewhere on this forum there is some good advice on tuning. A proper tune of your settings make a big difference to what quality you can achieve.

 

Quote

I'm not likely to use VR for much other things..

 

I thought the same, but I found standalone to be a great experience and absolutely loved Half-life Alyx. So you might want to give other things a shot as well.

[Solmyr]

1 hour ago, Aapje said:

There are people who are very happy with far lesser specs than yours and people for whom only way higher specs are good enough. Fact is that you will sacrifice visual quality compared to a flat screen, but you get some big benefits in return. Whether or not you will be happy is not something anyone can tell you, as it depends on your preferences..

 

For the Quest 3, you will need comfort upgrades. At least a new headstrap, but you may also want a new facial interface, depending on whether your face works with the default one. And I would strongly advise corrective lens inserts if you wear glasses.

 

Otherwise, it has a huge sweet spot and very good clarity. The weight is similar to the Odyssey. Using a counterweight can help with that a lot (the BoboVR headstraps with battery are nice for that, even if you don't or rarely use the battery). Having it balance well is more important than total weight.

 

Many people have to get used to the headset, so if you have vision or motion sickness issues, you need to give it some time to adjust. Especially for motion sickness, you can't force it, but need to stop when you feel it, and come back again later.

 

Elsewhere on this forum there is some good advice on tuning. A proper tune of your settings make a big difference to what quality you can achieve.

 

 

I thought the same, but I found standalone to be a great experience and absolutely loved Half-life Alyx. So you might want to give other things a shot as well.

 

Very useful inputs, thank you very much !

 

Indeed I remember my O+ being very nose-heavy, which became painful in no time.

 

The tuning part is what scares me the most (after the potential expenses) as from a newbie pov it looks like you're all some kind of hardware VR/PC engineers ! ^^

 

So I might have 2 strategies if I get things well :

 

1) Trying to get the most out of my yet realized investments in the Odyssey+ by buying the needed lens inserts ;

or

2) Going for more investments, potentially risky, in the 'damn good Quest 3' and the relatives.. being unsure that my PC will be able to run it @75fps, @90fps at a decent quality enough to obliterate the O+ ?

Edited July 16, 2024 by Solmyr

[Aapje]

The Odyssey+ has much better blacks, which some people really, really care for, but the resolution is way worse. So the Quest 3 is going to be sharper. Although you can't maximally take advantage of that with the 2060 Super.

 

But like I said, it is extremely personal. I've seen people be disappointed after switching from the Odyssey+ to the Quest 3 and people who were very happy with the upgrade. It depends a lot on what matters to you personally.

 

It's just really hard to give advice when people differ so much.

[1PL-Husar-1Esk]

I had O+, then G2, IMHO Q3 is better in all , the fresnel can't beat quest pancakes quality optics 

Edited July 16, 2024 by 1PL-Husar-1Esk

[eggbornson]

Those specs would absolutely rock a Quest 2 or Reverb G2. I have had both. Despite being PCVR and sharper, I can't recommend a G2 due to being on death row with support announced to be ending soon. You don't want to be left holding the hot potato when a windows update eventually bricks it. The Quest 2 is really good value right now dropping in price since the Quest 3 came out. I could get fairly consistent 45FPS with almost everything at max settings on a laptop with a GTX1080. Compared to the Q3 the resolution is slightly lower and sweet spot is small but it's the previous gen lenses that dates it. And that might be enough reason to go with the Q3 which has excellent lenses. That said, IL2 does look really good in a Quest 2. The Quest does some amazing things with compression, somehow pumping 2-3x the resolution that the either the cable or wireless bandwidths rating.

 

While I haven't personally used the Quest 3 it retains all the advantages of the Q2 but adds higher resolution, edge to edge clarity with pancake lenses and mixed reality (some cool things might be coming in the future). I have a Pimax Crystal Light on order (it just shipped!) but might still get a Q3 down the road, unless something else exciting comes out, for the things the Pimax doesn't do. Bear in mind you will likely need to spend at least $100+ on aftermarket accessories with the Quest 3, so factor that into the decision. I was all set to buy the Q3 earlier this year, it was in my cart and everything. Right before I clicked "purchase" I got a notification announcing the PCL. I realised that after accessories the PCL was only $200 more so I cancelled my cart and preordered the Pimax. Whether I should have stuck with the Q3 remains to be seen, there are definitely those that have tried both who prefer the Q3. But there are many factors that go into what makes good VR experience, even the shape of your face. So not every headset is for everyone.

 

In argument for the Q3, your system will not limit the Quest 3s standalone capabilities at all. To get the most of out of it as a PCVR you would likely only need a GPU upgrade. Having the choice of cable or wireless is a good quality of life feature and like I said, Quest has an excellent compression algorithm to overcome the bandwidth issues. With your current system you will probably have to dial down some settings but the 2080S is still just in touch. Luckily as flight sims go, IL2 is the less demanding one for VR and easier to get stable usable FPS compared to MSFS/DCS, where even with a 4090 you have to turn some settings down. You won't need a 4090 for the Q3. A higher sku RTX30 series such as 3080/3090 have come down in price and can even handle the more demanding DCS/MSFS, just. Otherwise wait it out until the RTX50 series launches and get either a low sku 50 if they have enough VRAM and perform well, or see what happens to the prices in the 30/40 series.

 

The only other one I'd recommend on paper is the PCL. It's advantages are PCVR (no compression), great screens, glass lenses (reportedly not as good as Q3) and that's about it. The only important thing it is missing from the OG crystal is the DFR (which IL2 doesn't currently support). I wouldn't choose it for anything but sims. You would definitely be wanting a GPU upgrade, 10-12GB VRAM at a minimum. I have a 3080 12GB and while it is has been demonstrated to be capable of running the PCL in MSFS and DCS at medium settings I will likely be upgrading when the RTX50 series comes out. It's also going to be months on the waiting list so in your shoes I'd realistically be choosing between the Q2 and Q3. I think you'd be happy with the Q2 but happier with Q3 as its current gen. The only reason to choose the Q2 is the lower cost entry point if you're not sure you'll stick with it. Both will be easy to resell if you want to upgrade later.