Talk me through upgrading from Rift S to Quest 3.

[melmac]

Oh, that's interesting. I would never have even considered that option. Any suggestions for product?

you don't need wifi 6e if you are going to be using it as dedicated router for the quest 3. The only advantage that a Wifi 6e router has over a Wifi 5/6 router when using the Quest 3 is if you are in an area saturated with 5ghz networks. Are you living in a built up area or out the country? When you go to add network on your phone are there there loads networks listed or only a handful?

Another Question is, how is your PC connected to your Sky Homehub at the moment? Is it wireless or a wired connection?

As for tracking, the tracking on the Quest 3 is better than the Rift S. If you are happy enough with the tracking on the Rift S, you should have no issues with tracking on the Quest 3.

 

[bazzabear]

We're on the edge of a town. Don't see more than 2-3 others than our own.

PC is connected to the hub via ethernet.

 

[MoNkeE]

I’m an outlier here, and I wouldn’t hastily recommend it because it isn’t perfect, but I don’t use my VR headset in the same room as my PC. So I use gigabit Powerline adapters between PC, router and where I flail my arms in the kitchen. It’s no where near as fast/reliable as a dedicated router but I still absolutely get a good gaming experience from it.

Food for thought.

 

[melmac]

We're on the edge of a town. Don't see more than 2-3 others than our own.

PC is connected to the hub via ethernet.

Then you are all set for a dedicated router. Personally I wouldn't spend more than £100 on a router that's only going to be used by the Quest.

 

[ImMrChris]

I’m an outlier here, and I wouldn’t hastily recommend it because it isn’t perfect, but I don’t use my VR headset in the same room as my PC. So I use gigabit Powerline adapters between PC, router and where I flail my arms in the kitchen. It’s no where near as fast/reliable as a dedicated router but I still absolutely get a good gaming experience from it.

Food for thought.

+1 for powerline here i use one (L-WPA8631P) it's wifi 5 iirc but works perfectly with about 700-900 gbps ish

 

[ossie]

Firstly, I assume it's a given that I will see a major improvement?

Unfortunately it's not a given.

I upgraded from a Rift S to a Quest 3. I was on a I5 9600K and 6900XT. I don't feel the upgrade justified the cost of the new headset to be honest. I later upgraded the CPU to a 7800X3D and DDR5 but still wasn't really that impressed. I'm mainly PCVR (flight sims) MSFS2020 / IL2 where I think the secret probably lies further down the line with a 4090, that said IL2 is better without doubt but not justifiably better for the cost. I didn't notice much difference in Half Life Alyx or Arizona sunshine than with the RiftS, noticeable but not blown away type difference. I had the RiftS so dialled in, I'm probably struggling to do the same with the Quest3.

I use a cable and replaced the head strap, the battery drain was a pain and the original strap was a torture device, the speakers are a massive improvement. With hindsight I probably would have left it for the next series of headsets, whatever they are, this feels like a half way house, an incremental step rather than a big upgrade with my GPU. I think with your current system you'll struggle to see any benefit of course you then go down the rabbit hole of upgrading to chase image quality to suit the headset as you've discussed.

At least I know I'm future proofed to pull the trigger on a 4090 which may fully utilise the Quest 3.

I think with VR we've reached the point where unless you spend the big bucks the upgrades are marginal, of course you have to counter them with system upgrades which adds to the expense.

 

[danlightbulb]

Visually there should be a huge difference between Rift S and Quest 3, but you have to be able to drive the resolution using PCVR so yeah probably looking at upgrading the GPU I would say. I have a 7900XT now and its very good, but still not the best (4090 would have been the only better option really if wanting to max out games like MSFS). But I have been playing AMS2 recently at maximum resolution and 90Hz with 30% performance headroom so no issues there.

Regarding the wireless PCVR, Im currently playing wired (I bought the Anker USB C cable and its been fine) because I don't have my PC on ethernet nor a dedicated router for the Quest 3. I will need to run Ethernet back to my main router downstairs and have a wifi 6e access point upstairs for decent wireless performance.

 

[Ravenger]

To be honest the most disappointed I've been in a VR headset upgrade is from the Quest Pro to Quest 3. There are some up-sides - the depth sensor, slightly higher resolution, better stand-alone performance, replacable strap, better wifi, and controllers that don't have firmware upgrades every week that break them

However there are a lot of downsides - worse contrast, worse colours, worse audio (Q3 is louder but noticably worse in terms of quality), worse comfort out of the box, worse battery life, and of course no eye or face tracking, and eye-tracking is now being properly supported on PC.

Every other headset I've had has been a noticable step up in terms of visuals, but this seems a bit more like a side-grade.

Of course if you're upgrading from an older headset then it's a massive upgrade. I just wish Meta had released a Quest 3 Pro with the extra power and depth sensor.

 

[MoNkeE]

Is it really fair to call Q2 Pro > Q3 an ‘upgrade’? I didn’t think they were anywhere near the same price point or aimed at the exact same market?