Valve Index VR

[gazzamcg]

So,I'm in a fortunate situation where I can afford to buy the Valve Index VR.

I'm not upto date with VR headsets, but I see the Valve Index is nearly two years old.

Question is,is it better to wait another 6 months or so, until possibly we will hear news about the Valve Index VR 2 coming out and the upgraded features that it will bring ?

 

[gazzamcg]

I questioned this myself not to long ago and came to the conclusion that it is better to wait.

The Index is still a great headset but being two years old and never dropping in price, plus new better headsets are right around the corner (well, a few months away), I think its better to wait and see what comes to the market in a few months time.

I would honestly say that if you want VR NOW, then the Quest 2 is the better purchase to tide you over.

Cheers for the info.

Aye,I'm leaning towards waiting for the middle of this year,to see what happens.

Although I'm desperate to get into VR gaming,I think it does make sense to wait,especially when it's a lot of money involved !

 

[gazzamcg]

The only problem with getting a Quest 2 is that you will get used to Wireless VR. Once you get used to Wireless VR, it's extremely hard to go back.

The Valve Index is still a great VR headset. If I had one, I wouldn't feel any pressure to upgrade at the moment, but, the question is Would I buy one now?

And No, I don't think I would. Things have moved on.

If have a pretty powerful PC and a decent budget, If I was you, I might consider getting a Vive Pro 2. It has it's flaws as well though.

Cheers,I will look into the Vive Pro 2.

I like the idea of a wireless headset, too.

But yeah,common sense is telling me to hold on,rather than making an impulsive buy!

 

[gazzamcg]

Hope you don't mind me asking you a few quick questions?

What specs are your PC? What GPU do you have?

Do you think you will be playing Sim type games (car sims, flight sims, mainly sit down games) or mainly room scale games (FPS shooters, rhythm games, basically standing up games)

Have you ever tried VR before?

And, do you have a facebook account?

The advantage the Vive Pro 2 has is that is that you can buy a wireless adapter for it if you want to go untethered later on. It has the best res and one of the best displays with a good FOV. The disadvantage of the Vive pro2 is that it's more expensive than the Index and how good it is really depends on how well it fits you.

Give me some answers to the above and I can advise better what to do with that money that's burning a hole in your pocket

My desktop PC: Amd Ryzen 9 5950x, 32gb,RTX 2070.Will probably upgrade to the RTX 4 series!

Laptop: Dell Alienware M17 R4,i9-10980HK,32gb,RTX3080 16gb.

It will be room scale games.

I have never tried VR before.Im Autistic so not sure if I will find it overwhelming!

I have a facebook account.

Looked at the Vive Pro 2,they say the controllers are a bit out of date!

 

[gazzamcg]

I've got an Index and a Quest 2.

If the Quest 2 had a lossless wired PC connection, as opposed to using video compressed over USB I'd have no problems getting rid of my Index, as the Index isn't really worth the extra cost over the Quest 2.

The main things I like about my Index are the FOV, which is much bigger than the Quest 2 and the sharp picture which is great for sims and games with complex scenes like Skyrim VR which tend to look muddy over Quest 2's compressed link, though the screen door effect is noticable compared to the Quest 2.

I don't find the Index controllers massively better than the Quest 2's and in some ways they are worse, particually in button layout and the grip mechanic, which very few games manage to get right.

It is nice having both though, as I can use the best headset for the job, but not everyone has that luxury!

The things that would be important to me are FOV and the quality of image!

So I think that would rule out the Quest 2 for me.But interesting you say the Index's controllers are not as good as the Quest 2.

 

[gazzamcg]

Also Index and Quest 2 owner.

I haven't touched my Index since getting the Quest. Being back to wireless (I went wireless with my Vive) is the best ever. Playing tea with god wirelessly in a lrage room is mind bendingingly good

Aye,I think wireless is the way to go now?

How do you find the FOV and image quality of the Quest 2 compared to the Index ?

 

[gazzamcg]

Thanks guys,really informative posts.

I think as melmac suggested,I need to try one firstly and see how I get on with it!

The Oculus 2 sounds good,especially from a price perspective.I might order it to try it out

But I'm still tempted to wait another six months or so to see what is coming out then.

 

[gazzamcg]

I have lost interest in the Index,considering the price and how old it is!

Might try the Quest 2,but from my understanding,you need to also buy the quest fibre cable to attach it to the PC, to play steam games etc?

 

[gazzamcg]

You don't have to buy the Official link cable, there are much cheaper alternatives. Also, you might not need a cable, you can connect to your computer wirelessly using Airlink or Virtual desktop. How good it works depends on you your wireless router and how far away it is from your play space. But, you can also play a lot of games on the Quest 2 without a PC at all.

Okay,I think I would prefer to use the cable though.

My mind is pretty made up to try the Quest 2

 

[gazzamcg]

Don't discount wirelessly connecting your pc to your quest 2 just yet! Is your router 5ghz capable? Can u connect your pc directly to your router with a 1GB ethernet cable? Is your router reasonably close to your pc, like no further than adjacent rooms?
If you answered yes then u can stream pcvr games wirelessly. Doing that with games like half life alyx is just fantastic.

Whatever you decide, wired or wireless pcvr, let us know how you get on with your new quest 2!

It's a sky router,2 and half years old and yes it's 5ghz,located in the livingroom.

I can connect the PC to the router with an Ethernet cable ,as I will be using the quest 2 in the livingroom.

I have ordered the Quest 2 and the fibre cable!

But I will certainly try using it wireless first,to see what I think!

Coming later this week,cant wait to try it out

Half-life : Alex is also at half price on steam!!

Thanks for all the responses so far,everyone.

 

[gazzamcg]

You have ordered it? Good for you. I think you will be amazed when you put on Half Life Alyx.

If you do enjoy it. Then your first purchases should be a new headstrap and maybe a more comfortable facial interface. The stock strap isn't bad, if you fit it right, but, the aftermarket headstraps make it a lot more comfortable.

Just one question, if you plan to use your Quest 2 in the Living room but your PC is in another room, how are you going to use the Link cable??

If I was you, I would return the Official Link cable. With that money you could buy a Kiwi design link cable and a headstrap.

Okay,I just want to try it first to see how I get on with it.So I'm not thinking about other accessories at the moment.

I think I will still wait though to see what new VR headsets will come out this year,rather than purchase the Quest 2.

I will use my laptop in the living room,as you pointed out earlier in the thread,my desktop has an RTX 2070 which isn't good enough for VR.

I'm still confused about one thing though,you can connect to steam etc wirelessly?

 

[gazzamcg]

Am I misreading something? Didn't you just say in your previous post that you ordered a Quest 2???

Yes, it definitely sounds like you are a little confused. Don't worry, it's pretty simple really.

Has your laptop a better GPU than your Desktop?

A 2070 is fine for VR. It will give a good experience on the Quest 2.

Wireless PCVR: It's the same as connecting by cable. You are just connecting wirelessly to your PC. The Games are been played on your PC, encoded by the GPU and sent to the headset, either by USB cable or wirelessly, which decodes the stream and displays it.

Standalone is different. You don't need a PC. Standalone games are played on the headset and displayed on the headset.

I have,the place I purchased the Quest 2 from has easy returns,so there is no problem if I don't like it or want to wait a little while longer this year.

My laptop has the RTX 3080,16gb ram,2.1 hdmi.

So,basically what you are saying,is I don't really need the fibre cable to play steam games?

There is no difference in picture quality,framerates between the wireless connection and wired?

 

[gazzamcg]

As long as you have a good setup with wifi there isnt much (or much that you'll notice) difference between wireless and wired, quality of image wise. But the freedom of playing without a wire hassling u is great.

I suggest getting your quest 2, use your fiber cable, learn the ropes, then do the little bit of research required to go wireless. Dont overwhelm yourself trying to play pcvr games wirelessly straight away. Theres plenty of info on google, or ask here for help, on wirelessly streaming pcvr steam games, when you've got a bit used to it.

Indeed,I'm still confused with using it wirelessly

Airlink doesn't work with windows 11 yet, according to the oculus website.

That's what im thinking,just connecting the fibre cable could save a little hassle!

 

[gazzamcg]

Ah, ok, I understand.

The laptop is good enough. Was just checking!!

No, you don't need the cable to play Steam games. But, if you are using your laptop and want to play wirelessly, you will still need to connect it by ethernet cable to the router. You need a gigabit connection between your PC and the Router that the Quest 2 connects to for the best experience.

The difference in picture quality will depend on how good your wireless setup is. Some of the Routers from ISPs can be poor.

I think you are too focused on the wrong things. Playing games in VR is nothing like playing them on a monitor. Immersion is everything. For roomscale games, been connected by cable is the single biggest immersion breaker. Some of the most popular Room scale games in VR only have very basic graphics. Because the sense of actually been there beats everything.

Hopefully you will understand when you put on the headset for the first time. Because nothing I can say, or nothing that you will read, no videos that you watch will prepare you for putting on the headset for the first time. My advice to you, forget about image quality and pancake gaming. Put on the headset and have fun. Join us in the hangout thread where we can play some multiplayer games.

I hear what you are saying,everyone is different.

The fun thing is I can try it wired and wirelessly and see what I find has advantages/disadvantages.

What multiplayer game do you suggest?

I like FPS and sport games,I'm going to get Half Life:Alyx and Star Wars squadron to get me going!

But I'm eager to try anything in VR

 

[gazzamcg]

I will never understand a world where somebody says a 2070 or (mobile) 3080 is not fast enough for VR…. My daughter players Phasmophobia on her R9 290 flawlessly, and that’s leagues behind a I will prefer to use my laptops 3080 as it does give a better performance than the 2070.

The laptops 3080 will give a better performance than the desktop 2070 though.

So it makes sense to use my laptop!

 

[gazzamcg]

In similar situation and bought the Q2, no regrets at all. Great for PCVR too.

Will review when the next upgrades come through.

It does appear to get a lot of praise !

 

[gazzamcg]

I am just going to suggest some free games to get you going.

Have you any of the following games:- Doom 3? Alien Isolation? Resident Evil 2 or 3? Subnautica?

Those games have VR mods that are really good. If you have the base game the mods are free. Be warned, Alien Isolation is extremely tense in VR.

I would suggest you download the following.

The Lab on Steam.
Nvidia VR Fun House.
Waltz of the Wizard Legacy Demo.

From the Quest Store.
Rec Room.
Gorilla Tag. You get this from app lab 2.
Super Hot Demo,
Beat Saber demo,
Space Pirate Trainer Demo,
Journey of the Gods Demo,
Creed: Rise to Glory Demo.
Sports Scramble Demo.

If you want something a bit different, try
The Under Presents
Tea For God

And since you are a sport fan, an absolute must buy is Eleven: Table Tennis. You will be stunned at how real it feels.

Since you don't know how long you are going to keep it I am suggesting mainly free stuff. Which will give you a great idea of what you like/dislike.

As for multiplayer, don't buy anything. We can try some stuff in Rec Room.

I have Alien Isolation,but didn't play it much.Will definitely go back and try it on VR.Just had a quick look.Windows 11 isn't supported yet,seemingly

The Eleven:Table Tennis is £7 on steam,so definitely getting that.

That's a lot if stuff to try out,which is good.

 

[gazzamcg]

congrats on your purchase !
welcome to the Quest 2 club

word of advice, dont jump straight into HL:A you will literally be sick
you need to ease into VR, becuase they work totally different to a monitor, your brain needs to adapt to it

Cheers pal, aye definitely going to take it slow to start with.

But can't wait to get into it!

 

[gazzamcg]

Half Life Alyx and Squadrons are both stomach churners if you are a newbie.

Well,it looks like I'm going into the deep end

 

[gazzamcg]

If you are keeping the Quest 2 buy Eleven Table tennis on the Oculus Quest store not from Steam. It's a game that you really need to play natively on the Quest 2.

So I wouldn't buy it yet. Make sure you are going to keep the Quest 2 first, then decide.

I see,cheers.