Another what VR headset ?

Jase · 26 Apr 2020 at 18:10

I'm sure this is asked all the time but I'm confused by choice.

I've been away from PC Gaming for ages but am now enjoying it again and want a VR headset. The main reason for wanting one is for playing racing sims in VR but I don't want to say that's all I'll use it for.

Basically I thought there were 2 choices but it tuns out there's more!

What is the best one to get at the moment? Ideally priced below £1000 unless there's a good and noticeable difference in spending more?

And out of interest how do these new PC VR headsets compare to the PSVR which I have and enjoy but it is very low res so I'm hoping these may be better?

melmac · 26 Apr 2020 at 18:25

What's the specs of your PC?

Any of the main headsets now are better than the PSVR.

Jase · 26 Apr 2020 at 19:26

melmac said:
What's the specs of your PC?

Any of the main headsets now are better than the PSVR.

The main specs of my PC are:

AMD Ryzen 9 3950X Sixteen Core 4.7GHz (Socket AM4) Processor
Asus ROG Crosshair VIII Hero Wi-Fi (AMD AM4) DDR4 X570 Chipset ATX Motherboard
Corsair Vengeance RGB PRO Black 64GB 3600MHz AMD Ryzen Tuned DDR4 Memory
Asus GeForce RTX 2080 Ti ROG Strix OC 11264MB GDDR6 PCI-Express Graphics Card
2 x Seagate Firecude 520 2TB PCIE 4.0 M.2 SSD
etc etc.

Thanks

Slinky69 · 26 Apr 2020 at 20:16

Specs are fine to run anything you like!

varkanoid · 26 Apr 2020 at 20:40

Have a look at the different threads on here first for the different models, dont worry about them having 900 pages just read last 4/5 pages to give you an idea before you ask more questions.

Ravenger · 26 Apr 2020 at 20:52

To summarise:

Best high end if money not an issue: Valve Index
Highest resolution: HP Reverb (New version on the way though).
Best low-end PC VR: Oculus Rift S
Most versatile: Oculus Quest
Avoid: Vive Cosmos

The big problem is due to the Alyx release raising VR demand, plus supply issues due to the virus most VR headsets are very hard to get hold of. Index is on an 8 week waiting list, while the Quest and the Rift S are in stock very intermittently, and tend to sell out instantly.

Jase · 26 Apr 2020 at 20:59

Ravenger said:
To summarise:

Best high end if money not an issue: Valve Index
Highest resolution: HP Reverb (New version on the way though).
Best low-end PC VR: Oculus Rift S
Most versatile: Oculus Quest
Avoid: Vive Cosmos

The big problem is due to the Alyx release raising VR demand, plus supply issues due to the virus most VR headsets are very hard to get hold of. Index is on an 8 week waiting list, while the Quest and the Rift S are in stock very intermittently, and tend to sell out instantly.

That's interesting as the Vive Cosmos Elite was on my list when I thought it was that or the Rift.

Then I saw the Index and thought that looked good but wait time

Does it matter what headset a get as if a game supports VR will it support the headset, the important ones for me are Assetto Corsa Comp, iRacing and Alyx.

danlightbulb · 26 Apr 2020 at 21:44

I just bought a Quest, reason being its my first headset and I didnt want to risk being tied down to the pc all the time. It runs great wirelessly and when i dont need the pc on it runs standalone.

Are you happy to run tethered all the time, even for movies and other 'experience' type apps?

Jase · 26 Apr 2020 at 22:00

danlightbulb said:
I just bought a Quest, reason being its my first headset and I didnt want to risk being tied down to the pc all the time. It runs great wirelessly and when i dont need the pc on it runs standalone.

Are you happy to run tethered all the time, even for movies and other 'experience' type apps?

I'm OK running tethered, if I could do it wireless without loosing any quality then that would be great. I'm looking for the best I can within reason and I want to see a good upgrade over the PSVR.

danlightbulb · 26 Apr 2020 at 22:08

Quest is my first ever headset so i dont know what the PSVR was like to compare it.

Even the current ultimate set up (index plus wireless adapter) isnt perfect as it might have the best image quality but needs external tracking stations.

Whereas the rift-s and quest are both internal tracking.

The quest can run both wireless and tethered. Ive been playing assetto corsa wirelessly and think its great. Its true that its not as sharp as a monitor is but i think that is just a limitation of all current gen technology. I decided to get the quest because of the flexibility of use and then to see what next gen brings in terms of image quality. I definately didnt want the hassle of external tracking.

melmac · 27 Apr 2020 at 00:08

If you have the money and don't mind waiting 8 weeks get the Index.

If you don't want to wait then your choice is either the Rift S or the Quest.

My preference is the Rift S but others prefer the Quest.

Don't think you will be unhappy with any headset you pick out of the three, they are all far better than the PSVR.

Any specific questions, I will be happy to answer.

Oh, very nice system you have there

Jase · 27 Apr 2020 at 10:12

melmac said:
If you have the money and don't mind waiting 8 weeks get the Index.

If you don't want to wait then your choice is either the Rift S or the Quest.

My preference is the Rift S but others prefer the Quest.

Don't think you will be unhappy with any headset you pick out of the three, they are all far better than the PSVR.

Any specific questions, I will be happy to answer.

Oh, very nice system you have there

I think I’ve narrowed it down to the index or Rift S. I’m thinking the index but I can’t see it as a supported headset for iRacing or Assetto Corsa Competizione so that may make my choice the Rift S which I hear is pretty good anyway, but still index looks nice lol

melmac · 27 Apr 2020 at 12:59

Jase said:
I think I’ve narrowed it down to the index or Rift S. I’m thinking the index but I can’t see it as a supported headset for iRacing or Assetto Corsa Competizione so that may make my choice the Rift S which I hear is pretty good anyway, but still index looks nice lol

The Index will work fine for both those games. And with your computer, it's probably the best one to get.

Jase · 27 Apr 2020 at 13:28

melmac said:
The Index will work fine for both those games. And with your computer, it's probably the best one to get.

OK that's great news, I googled last night and couldn't see it mentioned as supported on the 2 racing games but if it does then I guess it will be the one I get.

I assume you can only get it direct from Valve?

melmac · 27 Apr 2020 at 19:16

Jase said:
OK that's great news, I googled last night and couldn't see it mentioned as supported on the 2 racing games but if it does then I guess it will be the one I get.

I assume you can only get it direct from Valve?

Unless you find one for sale second hand or on the auction site.

Steven Rimmington · 27 Apr 2020 at 21:44

Ravenger said:
To summarise:

Best high end if money not an issue: Valve Index
Highest resolution: HP Reverb (New version on the way though).
Best low-end PC VR: Oculus Rift S
Most versatile: Oculus Quest
Avoid: Vive Cosmos

The big problem is due to the Alyx release raising VR demand, plus supply issues due to the virus most VR headsets are very hard to get hold of. Index is on an 8 week waiting list, while the Quest and the Rift S are in stock very intermittently, and tend to sell out instantly.

Sorry to HJ looking into VR a have noted your Vive avoid reply, would this apply to the Cosmos Elite?

melmac · 28 Apr 2020 at 00:12

Steven Rimmington said:
Sorry to HJ looking into VR a have noted your Vive avoid reply, would this apply to the Cosmos Elite?

yes

lokiss · 28 Apr 2020 at 07:14

Steven Rimmington said:
Sorry to HJ looking into VR a have noted your Vive avoid reply, would this apply to the Cosmos Elite?

The issues with the Cosmos mainly relate to the tracking in certain lighting conditions and the controller power issues, both on the Elite are irrelevant as neither apply.

ArmitageShanks · 28 Apr 2020 at 08:26

lokiss said:
The issues with the Cosmos mainly relate to the tracking in certain lighting conditions and the controller power issues, both on the Elite are irrelevant as neither apply.

The problem is you pay £550 for the headset on its own and only get crappy LCD displays compared with the Index at £460 (also LCD, but at least it widens the fov slightly, ups the refresh rate significantly, with top-notch audio). You may as well pay slightly more and go with the Vive Pro HMD while it's still available rather than the Cosmos Elite.

You then still have to purchase basestations and decent controllers on top of that assuming you avoid the overpriced £900 Cosmos Elite package with the old-style wand controllers and 1.0 basestations, so it all gets quite expensive.

Zairs · 28 Apr 2020 at 20:38

If you using it for racing Sims, you might want to look at the hp reverb as it's one of the clearest headsets on the market
There is also the odyssey or odyssey plus which again has good visuals and also an OLED screen.
Tracking isn't the best on them as they are wmr but that won't be an issue for you if your using it as a SIM Racer.