Vive Pro upgrade to Valve Index is it worth it?

rossiboy001 · 27 Jul 2019 at 09:20

I placed a pre order For the Index because it felt like a good idea at the time. The email has just come in this morning. Does anyone have experience with the Pro and Index to help me decide if I should pul the trigger. Comnpared to the Vive Pro the things i would like to be better are the god rays, sweet spot, and circles you see on the lenses. I understand that the audio is a little better, the clarity with the sub pixel structure might give me an improvement, TBH though I dont really see any screen door on the Pro unless im lookiong hard for it. Another issue is it makes me tempted to get a 2080ti too But i know they are a ripoff. Currently sporting a 1080ti.

aoaaron · 27 Jul 2019 at 14:34

ur trading deep oled blacks and wireless for a higher refresh rate, better controls (*which u can get anyway*) and better subpixel layout so less sde with a marginal increase in FOV,

I'd personally rather have blacks and wireless. maybe get the index controllers and wait and see?

the god rays are still meant to be there on the index.

rossiboy001 · 27 Jul 2019 at 16:14

aoaaron said:
ur trading deep oled blacks and wireless for a higher refresh rate, better controls (*which u can get anyway*) and better subpixel layout so less sde with a marginal increase in FOV,

I'd personally rather have blacks and wireless. maybe get the index controllers and wait and see?

the god rays are still meant to be there on the index.

Part of me is thinking the Index is more of a competitor than an upgrade. Im dying for some new tech though, havent spent anything in ages. I could get a 2080ti to boost performance, but I have been stubbon not getting one this far, and i can resist will have a proper upgrade with a 3080ti, Maybe instead get a rift S to tide me other or a quest. time the 3080ti is out we will know what the next Vive is and other possible headset upgrades. I keep hearing about Samsung coming to the market.

With regards to the FOV what I want is more Horizontal for Sim racing. The extra I beleive with the quest mainly is wasted on vertical, meaning im just going to get more sky than wing mirrors.

ArmitageShanks · 27 Jul 2019 at 17:17

I was in the same dilemma, coming from a Vive. Decided on a second-hand Pro for the OLED colours and blacks, hopefully have it soon. Will pair them with some Index controllers at a later date once the dust settles.

I've also got a Pimax 8K, and the fov is indeed amazing, but the blandness of the LCD panels is disappointing. It's not bad and I've tweaked the brightness and contrast to get the best out of it, but it's still not close to OLED. That coupled with the increased GPU demand makes me use my Vive far more.

kration · 27 Jul 2019 at 17:25

I'm sort of in the same situation. I've got a standard Vive and wondering if/when to upgrade and to what.

I think the trigger will be when the 3080ti comes out, then look at whether its performance justifies a whole new system, and what VR options there are at the time.

melmac · 27 Jul 2019 at 20:17

rossiboy001 said:
Part of me is thinking the Index is more of a competitor than an upgrade. Im dying for some new tech though, havent spent anything in ages. I could get a 2080ti to boost performance, but I have been stubbon not getting one this far, and i can resist will have a proper upgrade with a 3080ti, Maybe instead get a rift S to tide me other or a quest. time the 3080ti is out we will know what the next Vive is and other possible headset upgrades. I keep hearing about Samsung coming to the market.

With regards to the FOV what I want is more Horizontal for Sim racing. The extra I beleive with the quest mainly is wasted on vertical, meaning im just going to get more sky than wing mirrors.

Maybe just buy the new Valve Controllers? That might satisfy the upgrade itch.

The FOV on the Index is mainly vertical. People who have tried both the Rift S and the Index have said the Vertical FOV is a big increase but the horizontal FOV is hardly noticeable. I don't know what the FOV is like on the Vive Pro.

melmac · 27 Jul 2019 at 20:19

kration said:
I'm sort of in the same situation. I've got a standard Vive and wondering if/when to upgrade and to what.

I think the trigger will be when the 3080ti comes out, then look at whether its performance justifies a whole new system, and what VR options there are at the time.

Maybe try and sell the headset, keep the lighthouses, and buy the Index and the controllers? The Clarity on the new headsets, like the Rift S and the Index, is amazing.

ArmitageShanks · 28 Jul 2019 at 10:33

melmac said:
I don't know what the FOV is like on the Vive Pro.

It's the same lens box as the Vive, so identical to the Vive as far as I know.

While the Index is a far better headset in terms of design than both the Vives, I doubt the increased fov is going to wow me, having already experienced the Pimax.

kration · 28 Jul 2019 at 10:49

melmac said:
Maybe try and sell the headset, keep the lighthouses, and buy the Index and the controllers? The Clarity on the new headsets, like the Rift S and the Index, is amazing.

That may be a good idea, but I don't feel the urge to upgrade at the moment. There's nothing that sufficently wows me to splash the (considerable) cash. Unless something drastic changes, I'll wait about year and see what the the VR landscape is ike then.

aoaaron · 28 Jul 2019 at 11:09

rossiboy001 said:
Part of me is thinking the Index is more of a competitor than an upgrade. Im dying for some new tech though, havent spent anything in ages. I could get a 2080ti to boost performance, but I have been stubbon not getting one this far, and i can resist will have a proper upgrade with a 3080ti, Maybe instead get a rift S to tide me other or a quest. time the 3080ti is out we will know what the next Vive is and other possible headset upgrades. I keep hearing about Samsung coming to the market.

With regards to the FOV what I want is more Horizontal for Sim racing. The extra I beleive with the quest mainly is wasted on vertical, meaning im just going to get more sky than wing mirrors.

i think you're entirely right. maybe if you're just into SIM racing, the extra FOV on the Index or pimax might be worth looking into. however as you mentioned, the high refresh benefits of the index are wasted due to lack of GPU power.

I personally think of the Rift S as an neccesary purchase for VR given that being free of sensors is nice AF so its the only semi-portable high end VR solution (I took it from my lounge to my bedroom yesterday) AND every VR game I'm looking forward to is an oculus exclusive (and revive is just not ideal). Similar to why I think a PSVR is just neccesary.

Samsung can come to the market as much as they want but they are WMR so basically useless in regards to tracking and ecosystem. I wish they'd just partner up with Oculus and share their OLED Screen tech with everyone.

A quest is just a neccesary VR purchase IMO for any VR enthusiast because you're free of the wire and PC. Its just incredible.

melmac · 28 Jul 2019 at 12:48

ArmitageShanks said:
It's the same lens box as the Vive, so identical to the Vive as far as I know.

While the Index is a far better headset in terms of design than both the Vives, I doubt the increased fov is going to wow me, having already experienced the Pimax.

Ok, thanks, that's good to know.

I think the Pimax has better FOV than the Index. The Index FOV increase is mainly Vertical.

aoaaron · 28 Jul 2019 at 14:37

melmac said:
Ok, thanks, that's good to know.

I think the Pimax has better FOV than the Index. The Index FOV increase is mainly Vertical.

You think? The pimax blows the index out of the water

I understand the hype around the knuckles controllers but looking at the headset alone..

pimax vs index vs vive pro.

i mean they all have their pros and cons. the pimax has the killer fov + res, the vive pro has the black levels and the index has a refresh rate and lower sde.

its just weird cos no one was asking for a higher refresh rate until valve gave it to us.

we all wanted wireless, deep backs, higher resolution, substanial FOV increase.. probably in that order.

it blows my mind how the pimax was dismissed as rubbish due to using an LCD panel.. now we're alll using them.

Doggie2k · 28 Jul 2019 at 20:13

I've been wondering the same thing! I'm a CV1 rift user and whilst I've enjoyed the last 2 years of VR Gaming I want a better Res for Sim racing the flight sims.... badly!! Have been wondering if the Index would be a good buy. Some forums I have read amazing things about the Index but some others are saying its not much of upgrade

Confusing

rossiboy001 · 29 Jul 2019 at 09:31

Still have not pulled the trigger. Tempted to get a Rift S instead. Logic being the FOV is not really better horizontal width wise. Im on a 1080ti so cant really utilise the higher refresh rate till the next card. My Vive pro is crying for more power TBH but ill be dammed if i get a 2080ti and mug myself off. Spending a modest £400 gets me both worlds of Vive and Oculus releases. I know the 1080ti is enough for a good experience onm the Rift S until the 3080ti is out. By then other headsets will likely be in the market or maybe my Vive Pro will really be able to stretch its legs with a guess of at least 50% more power from a 1080ti.

kevman · 29 Jul 2019 at 12:31

rossiboy001 said:
Still have not pulled the trigger. Tempted to get a Rift S instead. Logic being the FOV is not really better horizontal width wise. Im on a 1080ti so cant really utilise the higher refresh rate till the next card. My Vive pro is crying for more power TBH but ill be dammed if i get a 2080ti and mug myself off. Spending a modest £400 gets me both worlds of Vive and Oculus releases. I know the 1080ti is enough for a good experience onm the Rift S until the 3080ti is out. By then other headsets will likely be in the market or maybe my Vive Pro will really be able to stretch its legs with a guess of at least 50% more power from a 1080ti.

1080 ti well defo run some games at max refresh rate like Skyrim. If you just want access to oculus isn't the quest a better option?

aoaaron · 30 Jul 2019 at 18:38

kevman said:
1080 ti well defo run some games at max refresh rate like Skyrim. If you just want access to oculus isn't the quest a better option?

uhh not modded skyrim which is the whole point of pc skyrim.

no quest and rift s are totally different. one is a portable games consol,e the other a PCVR headset.