Worth upgrading

If you want tethered only then really you're looking at the Valve Index, Pico 3, HP Reverb G2, and high end headsets like the Varjo Aero.

Index is probably the best all-rounder and is a big upgrade from Rift S but its resolution is lacking compared to more recent headsets and it requires basestations for tracking.

Reverb G2 has a huge resolution, but a small sweet spot in the lenses, and awful controllers and uses the obsolete Windows MR platform.

However, an Oculus Quest 2 with a link cable will give massively better visuals than your Rift S, be compatible with any Rift S Oculus games you might have bought and be 50% cheaper than an Index for example. Plus you can connect wirelessly to your PC if you're willing to accept a slightly lower video quality - which may not be even noticable in most games.

Another option is Pico 4, which has better hardware than Quest 2 but the software side isn't as well developed yet.

The trend is away from cable linked PC headsets to standalone, or wirelessly linked headsets, and we expect Quest 3 later this year and possibly Valve Deckard, which is thought to be a wireless headset.

Right now though, Quest 2 and Pico 4 give the best bang for the buck and though standalone, they also work very well for PCVR.
 
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Ravenger said:
If you want tethered only then really you're looking at the Valve Index, Pico 3, HP Reverb G2, and high end headsets like the Varjo Aero.

Index is probably the best all-rounder and is a big upgrade from Rift S but its resolution is lacking compared to more recent headsets and it requires basestations for tracking.

Reverb G2 has a huge resolution, but a small sweet spot in the lenses, and awful controllers and uses the obsolete Windows MR platform.

However, an Oculus Quest 2 with a link cable will give massively better visuals than your Rift S, be compatible with any Rift S Oculus games you might have bought and be 50% cheaper than an Index for example. Plus you can connect wirelessly to your PC if you're willing to accept a slightly lower video quality - which may not be even noticable in most games.

Another option is Pico 4, which has better hardware than Quest 2 but the software side isn't as well developed yet.

The trend is away from cable linked PC headsets to standalone, or wirelessly linked headsets, and we expect Quest 3 later this year and possibly Valve Deckard, which is thought to be a wireless headset.

Right now though, Quest 2 and Pico 4 give the best bang for the buck and though standalone, they also work very well for PCVR.
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Perfect, appreciate that. Liking the look of the PICO 4 and as it can connect to PC via USB 3 should work well with Steam VR, VivePort etc? If so think I will go for it. I should only need the 128GB version correct? As I will be streaming from the PC...
 
If you're not using it for standalone games then 128gb is plenty.

@ShiWarrior is the expert on Pico 4, but it seems that the best PC wireless performance is using the paid for Virtual Desktop app, rather than the Pico's built in PC link capability, at least until that gets improved.

Quest 2 can get amazing PCVR quality with a USB3 link cable by upping the bitrate via the Oculus debug tool and increasing the encode width to match the headset native resolution. Not sure if that's possible on Pico but Shiwarrior will know.
 
Also if you want to run one of the higher resolution headsets at max quality you need a monster PC, as they're way more demanding than a Rift S. But you can run them at a lower resolution and still get the benefit of almost non-existent SDE.
 
Ravenger said:
Also if you want to run one of the higher resolution headsets at max quality you need a monster PC, as they're way more demanding than a Rift S. But you can run them at a lower resolution and still get the benefit of almost non-existent SDE.
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He's got a 3090, so he should be OK for the most part.

@Jonnygrunge what's your budget? It might be that some of the headsets being pitched, whilst perfectly good, are at the low end of your budget, and you might be happy getting something much better?
 
Ravenger said:
If you're not using it for standalone games then 128gb is plenty.

@ShiWarrior is the expert on Pico 4, but it seems that the best PC wireless performance is using the paid for Virtual Desktop app, rather than the Pico's built in PC link capability, at least until that gets improved.

Quest 2 can get amazing PCVR quality with a USB3 link cable by upping the bitrate via the Oculus debug tool and increasing the encode width to match the headset native resolution. Not sure if that's possible on Pico but Shiwarrior will know.
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@TheOracle has a pico 4 in god mode via cable i believe

if you have a 4090 it will blow the quest 2 out of the water

I run pico 4 via virtual desktop wireless

But you can also run it wired in virtual desktop,and I belive this is the way to go

Pico have just updated the pico streaming app this week, so it might be just as good now
 
I use wireless virtual desktop. I've tried using the cable through an ethernet adapter straight into the router, and also into the PC through pico streaming assistant but saw zero difference to the quality or latency.

The 4090 can run god mode at 150mb bitrate at between 30-40ms of latency which is the best you're gonna get. Usually moving the bitrate down reduces latency if you are struggling, but the 4090 is such a beast you don't need to.

Using the cabled quest link on my quest2 saw slightly higher latency than pico4 over wireless virtual desktop, plus VD looks way better due to the h265 codec.

I see no signs of compression. Literally none, and if there was any I'd see in situations like this.....

- YouTube

Enjoy the videos and music that you love, upload original content and share it all with friends, family and the world on YouTube.
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TheOracle said:
I use wireless virtual desktop. I've tried using the cable through an ethernet adapter straight into the router, and also into the PC through pico streaming assistant but saw zero difference to the quality or latency.

The 4090 can run god mode at 150mb bitrate at between 30-40ms of latency which is the best you're gonna get. Usually moving the bitrate down reduces latency if you are struggling, but the 4090 is such a beast you don't need to.

Using the cabled quest link on my quest2 saw slightly higher latency than pico4 over wireless virtual desktop, plus VD looks way better due to the h265 codec.

I see no signs of compression. Literally none, and if there was any I'd see in situations like this.....

- YouTube

Enjoy the videos and music that you love, upload original content and share it all with friends, family and the world on YouTube.
www.youtube.com www.youtube.com
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Brilliant! Pulled the trigger for the PICO 4, gonna run wirelessly through my meshed Asus AC86u connected through CAT6 to my PC! Thinking my trusty 3090 should still be fine, if not my wife will kill me if I get a 4090...
 
Jonnygrunge said:
Brilliant! Pulled the trigger for the PICO 4, gonna run wirelessly through my meshed Asus AC86u connected through CAT6 to my PC! Thinking my trusty 3090 should still be fine, if not my wife will kill me if I get a 4090...
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3090 is great, but the 4090 is at a totally different level. Depends what games you like playing.

Ideally you want both of those routers connected via a CAT6 backbone. I had to get 15m of CAT6, a long drill and a set of ladders :cry:
 
TheOracle said:
3090 is great, but the 4090 is at a totally different level. Depends what games you like playing.

Ideally you want both of those routers connected via a CAT6 backbone. I had to get 15m of CAT6, a long drill and a set of ladders :cry:
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Brilliant thanks for the advice, VD is superb at ultra 150Mb on Ultra! Latency is around 33ms and connecting at 866Mb...
Only issue I have is "The Great C" is not running through VD from Vive Point Infinity which is strange all other games from there and Steam VR run perfectly.
 
Yeah the PICO 4 shines with a 4090 and VD. With my 3080ti, it was OK but I was always fighting settings to get the best out of it. The 4090 is almost everything on high \ ultra :) The only issue is making sure you get a good solid connection to the router for lag \ stutter free gaming. Spent a fair bit of time tweaking things as I was getting lots of stuttering with Alyx due to congestion and competition for wireless bandwidth from other devices etc.
 
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