That wasn't cheap but it's made a big difference.

[Panzerlang]

I bit the bullet (after learning NVidia were about to reduce 5090 production by 30%, to "prevent prices going too low", WTF) and upgraded to the 98003XD and an Asus Astral 5090.
8 vs 8 in QM at 90fps, smooth as silk, no ghosting. I don't expect a similar improvement in DCS, I think most of us know by now that its code is long gone off the reservation. Lol. But looking good for Korea I reckon.

[chiliwili69]

7 hours ago, Panzerlang said:

8 vs 8 in QM at 90fps, smooth as silk, no ghosting

congrats for your new PC.

What VR device? at what rendered resolution? 

[Panzerlang]

16 hours ago, chiliwili69 said:

congrats for your new PC.

What VR device? at what rendered resolution? 

The OG Crystal. The rez is set at 1.0 on the Pimax slider.

The game has crashed in two out of three sessions, I guess I'm expecting that to be a 5090 and/or AMD thing.

Edited July 15 by Panzerlang

[chiliwili69]

7 hours ago, Panzerlang said:

The OG Crystal. The rez is set at 1.0 on the Pimax slider

That´s 44 million pixels at 90Hz, about 4Gpixels/second. Good to know the 5090 can handle that without any upscaling or FFR/Quadviews technique.

 

BTW, some year ago I discovered that the crashes I had was due to the amps peak loads in the GPU:

 

 

[Panzerlang]

I fitted a Strix 1200w PSU, 3.1 something or other that's supposed to give a huge overhead for GPU power spikes.

I have Pimax's own quadviews enabled.

[Aapje]

9 hours ago, Panzerlang said:

The game has crashed in two out of three sessions, I guess I'm expecting that to be a 5090 and/or AMD thing.

 

Nvidia has much worse drivers recently, I guess that they moved most of the competent people to the AI side. I would first try a different driver version. Assuming that you are on the latest motherboard drivers.

[chiliwili69]

14 hours ago, Panzerlang said:

I have Pimax's own quadviews enabled.

ahh, that should help.

[Panzerlang]

15 hours ago, Aapje said:

 

Nvidia has much worse drivers recently, I guess that they moved most of the competent people to the AI side. I would first try a different driver version. Assuming that you are on the latest motherboard drivers.

I'm still faffing around with various setup gack. Just getting into the BIOS has been murders. I've managed to turn off Fast Boot (seems to have fixed BIOS access) and enabled AMD's version of XMP but waking the PC from sleep this morning gave me a monitor image with the bottom half of the screen all messed up. A restart cleared that.

My FFB-Beast has also lost all its profiles somehow. That's now updated to the latest firmware etc but I'm still messing with it.

Next on the test list, DCS.

[Panzerlang]

Well, DCS crashes too but it's the same as IL2, graphical only (freeze), the games continue to run in the background. IL2's requires a PC reboot to get out, DCS's error-report allows me to exit after submitting the report. I've heard/read enough to assume it's NVidia's sht 5090 drivers (or the way they interact with the 50-series cards, because the 4090 was rock solid). It could be an AMD thing. Funny how much money one can spend, only to be left shafted by the corporations that are taking the money.

[Aapje]

If it's just the graphics that is freezing, then the GPU driver is almost certainly the culprit.

[1PL-Husar-1Esk]

Try undervolt GPU together with decrease max GPU clock. If you are using one particular brand of rtx card and monitor with more than 120Hz (even if you are using VR ) games would freeze. You lose few fps maybe and decrease power consumption but game would not freeze in 2D or in VR.

[Aapje]

A GPU should not freeze with the default voltages and clocks, unless you have no airflow to it or such. I would not start undervolting and such until it is stable with the default voltage.

[ST_Catchov]

Tweaking pc's is a lotta fun. Their smashed corpses lie just outside my window.

[Panzerlang]

6 hours ago, Aapje said:

A GPU should not freeze with the default voltages and clocks, unless you have no airflow to it or such. I would not start undervolting and such until it is stable with the default voltage.

 

This. It should work out of the box and not need high-level tech tweaking to do its job. It's certainly not overheating, I've not seen it hit 60c yet. Ditto the CPU, that's reached 72c so far.

The problem is so many components are in the mix, with all the potential combos thereof. Is it a Pimax with 5090 drivers thing? AMD with XMP RAM? Yada yada. I'm going to get help from Chat-GPT to set up the BIOS for starters (specific to my use, which is obviously flight sims). Maybe I should disable Lasso to start with. Lol.

[Dagwoodyt]

On 7/17/2025 at 5:14 PM, Panzerlang said:

This. It should work out of the box and not need high-level tech tweaking to do its job. It's certainly not overheating, I've not seen it hit 60c yet. Ditto the CPU, that's reached 72c so far.

I've been looking at the Astral 5090 also, but fear that I won't be able to put the side panel back onto my Lian-Li 011D Evo case because of the width of the Astral which seems to leave only about 20mm open space between the gpu and side glass. The PSU cable looks much too stiff to bend into that limited space. What case are you using and have you had any problems with fitment? I'd hate to install the card and have to leave the case open to function as a dust magnet.😒

Edited August 14 by Dagwoodyt

[Panzerlang]

Asus ROG STRIX HELIOS CASE GX601, there's approx 7cm from the glass to the GPU. The PSU (1200W ROG-STRIX-1200P-GAMING) has individual braided wires, so flexibility's not an issue on the connectors.

Oh, I should update too.

With the Super now, render slider at 0.85 and all settings 'off' (though I did turn on Pimax Sharpening last night to 0.4, all good) no freezes. The culprit was the Pimax CPR (Central Priority Resolution). The 5090 hovers around 95% useage in IL2, so 0.85 render is bang on I reckon. In heavy PWCG missions. 9800X3D around 50% useage most of the time. FPS a solid 89-90fps (low over a burning town it dipped to 65fps and mild stutters for a few seconds).

[DBCOOPER011]

On 8/14/2025 at 4:12 PM, Panzerlang said:

Asus ROG STRIX HELIOS CASE GX601, there's approx 7cm from the glass to the GPU. The PSU (1200W ROG-STRIX-1200P-GAMING) has individual braided wires, so flexibility's not an issue on the connectors.

Oh, I should update too.

With the Super now, render slider at 0.85 and all settings 'off' (though I did turn on Pimax Sharpening last night to 0.4, all good) no freezes. The culprit was the Pimax CPR (Central Priority Resolution). The 5090 hovers around 95% useage in IL2, so 0.85 render is bang on I reckon. In heavy PWCG missions. 9800X3D around 50% useage most of the time. FPS a solid 89-90fps (low over a burning town it dipped to 65fps and mild stutters for a few seconds).

 

Well I bit the bullet and got a Zotac 5090 for two grand at newegg. Not as high quality as yours, but hopefully it bumps up the horsepower somewhat considerably in IL2-VR vs my trustworthy 4090...

[DBCOOPER011]

On 8/20/2025 at 10:17 PM, DBCOOPER011 said:

 

Well I bit the bullet and got a Zotac 5090 for two grand at newegg. Not as high quality as yours, but hopefully it bumps up the horsepower somewhat considerably in IL2-VR vs my trustworthy 4090...

 

OK, recieved the card today and have mixed feelings about it. This is my quick impression using the stock settings. Although it was somewhat of a hot day out (80ishF), I had to place two fans on the backplate and another in the front of the gpu to keep it below 70C while gaming. My waterblocked 4090 never exceeded 45C. It also seems I only gained about 2-3 MS of frametime using the stock settings in steamvr, was hoping for a little more. Opencomposite doesnt work for some reason after inserting the card and updating to the latest driver. If anybody is using a 5090 w/opencomposite, please let me know what your doing. The visuals looked somewhat better in steamvr at the same settings with my 4090, but nothing to justify the cost. Any tips are appreciated..

 

[Panzerlang]

49 minutes ago, DBCOOPER011 said:

 

OK, recieved the card today and have mixed feelings about it. This is my quick impression using the stock settings. Although it was somewhat of a hot day out (80ishF), I had to place two fans on the backplate and another in the front of the gpu to keep it below 70C while gaming. My waterblocked 4090 never exceeded 45C. It also seems I only gained about 2-3 MS of frametime using the stock settings in steamvr, was hoping for a little more. Opencomposite doesnt work for some reason after inserting the card and updating to the latest driver. If anybody is using a 5090 w/opencomposite, please let me know what your doing. The visuals looked somewhat better in steamvr at the same settings with my 4090, but nothing to justify the cost. Any tips are appreciated..

 

Those temps seem pretty poor but maybe the Astral's cooling is particularly good. At 98% useage in IL2 I've not seen the temp reach 70c (highest was 65c but usually a fair bit lower).

I'm not using Steam, it's all running off the Pimax software. I'm also running the Super at 0.85 render and it looks pretty damn good, roughly the same rez as the OG at 1.0 render but with better colour and brightness. The biggest difference however is the clearly better FPS (it holds 90 way better than the 4090 did with the OG) and superior smoothness of moving planes (not 100% perfect but significantly better).
The Super's panel framing is way better than the OG's too. Also lighter and hugely more comfortable than the OG.

Are all the improvements worth the cost of the 5090 and Super? Sane answer...fk no! Lol. But part of my rationale is Korea.

Edited August 23 by Panzerlang

[jollyjack]

On 7/16/2025 at 11:11 AM, Aapje said:

Nvidia has much worse drivers recently, I guess that they moved most of the competent people to the AI side. I would first try a different driver version. Assuming that you are on the latest motherboard drivers.

 

Yep, with two monitors set up properly i some times get a 3 sec blackscreen on both. I don't have VR, 4080s RTX and the latest NVIDIA drivers.

I know someone with a 4090 founders RTX who has the same.

[DBCOOPER011]

10 hours ago, Panzerlang said:

Those temps seem pretty poor but maybe the Astral's cooling is particularly good. At 98% useage in IL2 I've not seen the temp reach 70c (highest was 65c but usually a fair bit lower).

I'm not using Steam, it's all running off the Pimax software. I'm also running the Super at 0.85 render and it looks pretty damn good, roughly the same rez as the OG at 1.0 render but with better colour and brightness. The biggest difference however is the clearly better FPS (it holds 90 way better than the 4090 did with the OG) and superior smoothness of moving planes (not 100% perfect but significantly better).
The Super's panel framing is way better than the OG's too. Also lighter and hugely more comfortable than the OG.

Are all the improvements worth the cost of the 5090 and Super? Sane answer...fk no! Lol. But part of my rationale is Korea.

 

Yea, after tweaking it some and messing with the fan curves I got the gpu temp holding around 55C and memory junction around 60c in IL2. Its using about 75% of the GPU. I'm still on the OG crystal and its about a 2.5ms frametime increase, although I hear that the 5090 really shines at much higher resolutions.

 

I assume the 5090 would be a much better match if I was using the super. I'm going to have to tweak this thing some more, probably look into undervolt/overclocking it. May put a waterblock on it.

 

Also, a reinstall of the nvidia driver fixed my opencomposite problems...

 

 

Edited August 23 by DBCOOPER011

[Panzerlang]

6 hours ago, DBCOOPER011 said:

 

Yea, after tweaking it some and messing with the fan curves I got the gpu temp holding around 55C and memory junction around 60c in IL2. Its using about 75% of the GPU. I'm still on the OG crystal and its about a 2.5ms frametime increase, although I hear that the 5090 really shines at much higher resolutions.

 

I assume the 5090 would be a much better match if I was using the super. I'm going to have to tweak this thing some more, probably look into undervolt/overclocking it. May put a waterblock on it.

 

Also, a reinstall of the nvidia driver fixed my opencomposite problems...

 

 

No, it won't be a much better match, the 5090 can't run the Super at its full rez without issues. 5090 with Super, almost exactly the same result as 4090 with OG (if both at full native res). I ran the OG at 0.75 with the 4090. 

Basically the 5090 allowed me to run the OG at full rez but once I switched to the Super I've had to dial that back too. But The Super at 0.85 is like the OG at 1.0, so it's a big improvement on the graphics.

[giftgruen]

Also replaced my 4090 by a 5090  ( MSI Ventus, 'low budget' variant - but  dont care for vent noise while using a headset ).

In Europe, I could get it second hand for 2K and sold my 4090 for 1700 so it's about 300 EUR difference which was fine for me.

Some undervolting will lower temperatures without losing performance, but I was too lazy so far to do so

 

Driving my Quest Pro with a 5090 seems to be Nonsense, but I plan to upgrade my headset in future.

However, maxing out VirtualDesktop to 'Godlike' AND having MSAAx4 at 90Hz wasn't possible with the 4090.

The 5090 now is able to do so and the visual experience is really surprisingly good.

 

So already with a low resolution headset, there is a substantial benefit.

Regarding the headset, I somehow tend more towards the Bigscreen Beyond 2 at the moment.

 

Since VD GodLike means 3072x3216 with a QuestPro, a BB2 could be a perfect match

( some SuperSampling of the 2.5x2.5 plus max. graphics settings in IL2 including MSAAx4 )

 

 

 

Edited August 27 by giftgruen

[chiliwili69]

2 hours ago, giftgruen said:

In Europe, I could get it second hand for 2K and sold my 4090 for 1700 so it's about 300 EUR difference which was fine for me

This is a good treat!

I am currently using Quest3 with a 3080, and I orderded the B2B in April, so it should arrive before 15th September.

I am also considering upgrading the GPU (look here), but I think a 5080/4090 should be enough for it. Of course, a 5090 will be always better for future needs, and a must for the Crystal Super.

[chiliwili69]

On 8/15/2025 at 1:12 AM, Panzerlang said:

With the Super now, render slider at 0.85 and all settings 'off' (though I did turn on Pimax Sharpening last night to 0.4, all good) no freezes. The culprit was the Pimax CPR (Central Priority Resolution). The 5090 hovers around 95% useage in IL2, so 0.85 render is bang on I reckon. In heavy PWCG missions. 9800X3D around 50% useage most of the time. FPS a solid 89-90fps (low over a burning town it dipped to 65fps and mild stutters for a few seconds).

I am now reading in more detail these lines and trying to know how incredible is that 5090 card.

Setting the Pimax custom resolution factor at 0.85 (and using OpenComposite or leaving SteamVR SS at 100%) you render at 5304x5338, which is 56.6 million pixels at 90Hz, that is 5.1 GPixels/second which is amazing performance for pure rasterization with no FFR/DFR/scaling techinques.

 

[Panzerlang]

5 hours ago, chiliwili69 said:

I am now reading in more detail these lines and trying to know how incredible is that 5090 card.

Setting the Pimax custom resolution factor at 0.85 (and using OpenComposite or leaving SteamVR SS at 100%) you render at 5304x5338, which is 56.6 million pixels at 90Hz, that is 5.1 GPixels/second which is amazing performance for pure rasterization with no FFR/DFR/scaling techinques.

 

Unfortunately (or not, lol) all I've found from trying out the various FPS-increasing functions within PP is that they either crash the game (CPR) or they hit performance. The lowest setting of sharpening might be the only exception so far, it slightly improves image quality with no noticeable hit on performance. On max however, it hits FPS.
Upscaling, yuk. 72htz, yuk. Half Frame Rate, yuk. Lol. Combos, all yuk.

In PWCG missions I am seeing, occasionally, very mild micro-stuttering and barely noticeable ghosting of planes. I'm still trying things out and it might be the sharpening causing that, but as it doesn't spoil play I've not remembered to try the game again with it turned off.

Oh, and Air Density set to High, the 9800X3D doesn't like sht-loads of planes, the game goes into half speed. No improvement there then, IL2's AI is still a concrete oil tanker on performance. Lol.

Maybe I should add that I use no 3rd-party APIs to run VR, no OC or Steam etc. Necksafer, yes, and it performs flawlessly. The basic Pimax OpenXR is solid.

Edited August 27 by Panzerlang

[Merlin-the-mog]

@chiliwili69 - A warning that it looks like there’s an issue getting IL2 to work with the Bigscreen Beyond 2.

 

Just received mine and it works perfectly for all games except IL2 where it makes me go cross-eyed (looks like the eyes are being rendered with a different vertical offset which is super uncomfortable).

I don’t think it’s my setup since it works fine on my Quest3 (which should have more to go wrong).

I’ll be interested to know whether you get the same problem once you receive your headset.

[[CPT]Crunch]

There is in game keypad commands for IPD offsets, they put them in long ago because the G-2 reverb headset was having simular issues at that time and was a very popular set.  The issue eventually was resolved with WMR, but those commands are still there and functional, you might want to play around with them and see if it fixes your issue.

[Merlin-the-mog]

Thanks for the suggestion - yes, I already tried the IPD offsets, but they only adjust the eye spacing. The problem I'm having is that there seems to be a vertical offset between the two lens views and I can't see any way to correct for that.