VR hardware recommendations

[RedBarchetta]

Hey guys, I have a $250 Amazon gift card burning a hole in my pocket. I realize it’s not enough to cover the whole kit, but what sets are recommended for sim racing?

 

[Jason Mullin]

I assume you're asking what VR headset not what PC hardware is recommended so I'll answer that.

Everything I read in the months leading up to Christmas for the budget minded pointed to the Oculus Rift S.
So, when my wife asked what I wanted I told her that.

My PC specs i5 8400/2060 Super

She bought it and I began using it immediately after we were done opening gifts. I took my time setting it up, software, SS, nvidia tweaks etc.
I read Project Cars 2 looked the best so I began there. Sitting in the pits looking around the interior of your virtual race car is not an experience I will forget anytime soon, it's fantastic, sadly that is where the VR experience ends for me.
As soon as I began driving I realized VR is terrible for me in it's current state I felt ill going into turn one at Monza and barely completed a lap. I triple checked the settings and pushed my 2060 Super to it's limit realizing it's not my PC or settings, it's me.
A few hours later I was standing in line at Best Buy with a store credit. I left with a LG 34" 3440x1440 curved ultrawide.

My advice to anyone with the VR itch you must find a way to try it first or buy from an easy return outlet.
I absolutely hated it.

 

[PurgerUK]

The Samsung Odyssey is pretty good for sim racing as one of the higher rez options available and also OLED though as it has inside out tracking not so good if you want to use it for non sim room scale gaming. You do need a pretty decent GPU to drive it though. I’m the other end of the spectrum from Jason and can’t sim outside of VR now and had to say goodbye to Automobilista.
Most people will get a bit of nausea early on but if you stick with it you should build up a tolerance though seated sims are generally at the easier end of VR for comfort.

 

[Terry Rock]

Hey guys, I have a $250 Amazon gift card burning a hole in my pocket. I realize it’s not enough to cover the whole kit, but what sets are recommended for sim racing?

I too, would go with the Odyssey+
B&H sometimes puts it on sale at $229.
If you suffer a bit of motion sickness, try acupressure wristbands.
They work by applying pressure to points along the meridians.
We use them very successfully for clients in the full motion simulator.
I thought it was all nonsense, until I actually saw them in action.

 

[Robes]

I assume you're asking what VR headset not what PC hardware is recommended so I'll answer that.

Everything I read in the months leading up to Christmas for the budget minded pointed to the Oculus Rift S.
So, when my wife asked what I wanted I told her that.

My PC specs i5 8400/2060 Super

She bought it and I began using it immediately after we were done opening gifts. I took my time setting it up, software, SS, nvidia tweaks etc.
I read Project Cars 2 looked the best so I began there. Sitting in the pits looking around the interior of your virtual race car is not an experience I will forget anytime soon, it's fantastic, sadly that is where the VR experience ends for me.
As soon as I began driving I realized VR is terrible for me in it's current state I felt ill going into turn one at Monza and barely completed a lap. I triple checked the settings and pushed my 2060 Super to it's limit realizing it's not my PC or settings, it's me.
A few hours later I was standing in line at Best Buy with a store credit. I left with a LG 34" 3440x1440 curved ultrawide.

My advice to anyone with the VR itch you must find a way to try it first or buy from an easy return outlet.
I absolutely hated it.

You need to give it more of a chance. Start with slower cars, full tin tops, and only play for very short stints. Admittedly I didn't feel as bad as you did at the start, but I did feel slightly unwell after racing. I don't feel I'll at all these days no matter what happens in the headset.

Also I think locking the horizon helps some people, you might try that too.

The thing with the Rift S is that the lenses are set at a certain distance apart and there is no user adjustment for that. If you distance between pupils falls out with the average 50% then you may also experience problems.

 

[Jason Mullin]

You need to give it more of a chance. Start with slower cars, full tin tops, and only play for very short stints. Admittedly I didn't feel as bad as you did at the start, but I did feel slightly unwell after racing. I don't feel I'll at all these days no matter what happens in the headset.

Also I think locking the horizon helps some people, you might try that too.

The thing with the Rift S is that the lenses are set at a certain distance apart and there is no user adjustment for that. If you distance between pupils falls out with the average 50% then you may also experience problems.

Agreed the lenses were mechanically unadjustable and the software adjustment did nothing for me. I will give VR a try again in a few years maybe next gen we'll see how things progress.

 

[Highsider.]

I felt pretty bad in the first week, but I had good progress.
1st day: 1lap
2nd day: 2laps
3nd day: 5laps
...
after a week 1h was possible (dependend on car an track, flat and slow easier than fast and hilly), after a few weeks unlimited. It is important to just stop when you start getting sick, you can't really fight it.

My father in law did not have any trouble, even on the nordschleife for the first time, so it is quite different for everybody.
My pc is not that good, gtx970 with an old rift.

btt: I think it depends on the game. AC looks quite good on my pc, dirt rally 2 is also satisfying, but ACC is unplayable in VR for me.
I am thinking about getting a new PC with a 2070 super or similar.

 

[Momoracer]

Ive heard ACC VR is garbage for some reason, people are getting low fps. Smooth fps is cruicial to avoid motion sickness. Never tried VR myself but it makes sense. Im in the market and cant decide.

 

[Greg Latty]

The Samsung Odyssey is pretty good for sim racing as one of the higher rez options available and also OLED though as it has inside out tracking not so good if you want to use it for non sim room scale gaming. You do need a pretty decent GPU to drive it though. I’m the other end of the spectrum from Jason and can’t sim outside of VR now and had to say goodbye to Automobilista.
Most people will get a bit of nausea early on but if you stick with it you should build up a tolerance though seated sims are generally at the easier end of VR for comfort.

This is my feeling exactly. I have got the Odyssey + from B&H for 200. It is one of my best purchases towards sim racing 2nd only to my Wheel setup. I stopped playing one of my favorite sims due to lack of VR ( automobilista ) after trying VR. To the point where I uninstalled it completely. Driving on a screen just doesnt feel "right" anymore. Like others have said. You have to build up your tolerance.. I never really had much of a problem with sim racing. But when i played Payback 2 in vr.... woooo did it made me sick. I felt sick for the rest of the day. So i stick with strictly Racing titles in VR. And the occasional Beat saber.

 

[Terry Rock]

Ive heard ACC VR is garbage for some reason, people are getting low fps. Smooth fps is cruicial to avoid motion sickness. Never tried VR myself but it makes sense. Im in the market and cant decide.

I don't know where that statement comes from but I can certainly tell you it is not true for everyone.
Sure!...the interface is not good.
The user having to peer downward simply to try selecting the loading screen due to it being below the line of sight, should have been fixed a while ago.
To that end, it is unusable to some.
I'm running an inexpensive Lenovo Explorer with ACC.
I have not gotten any of the micro-stutter, skipping, loss of tracking, etc... It is very, very smooth.
It was the same with the Rift CV1 which I sold in favor of the better clarity from the cheaper headset.
I don't have what can be considered a 'monster' CPU.
I run on a simple Ryzen 5-3600X and a GTX1080Ti.
What I did however, was take the time to properly optimize the components in the computer for maximum performance.
That may be where folks suffering those issues are falling down.

 

[GagarynGaribaldi]

I use a Valve Index and love it. I settled into VR very quickly and haven't had any nausea, I do feel a bit weird for a minute or so after coming out of a long VR session but I think that is understandable and it is not problematic - it soon passes. VR is a game changer and I can't race flat anymore.

The ACC issues are real - I have an i9 9900k and and 2080 Ti both OC'd and ACC is still struggle to maintain 90FPS. I can only do so with a full field by reducing the graphics to a level that shouldn't be necessary with my hardware. Hot lapping is a different story - it works well and looks great. R3E, RF2, AC, KK and Dirt 2.0 all run fine with high graphics settings - ACC is the outlier.

 

[Terje Helle]

I assume you're asking what VR headset not what PC hardware is recommended so I'll answer that.

Everything I read in the months leading up to Christmas for the budget minded pointed to the Oculus Rift S.
So, when my wife asked what I wanted I told her that.

My PC specs i5 8400/2060 Super

She bought it and I began using it immediately after we were done opening gifts. I took my time setting it up, software, SS, nvidia tweaks etc.
I read Project Cars 2 looked the best so I began there. Sitting in the pits looking around the interior of your virtual race car is not an experience I will forget anytime soon, it's fantastic, sadly that is where the VR experience ends for me.
As soon as I began driving I realized VR is terrible for me in it's current state I felt ill going into turn one at Monza and barely completed a lap. I triple checked the settings and pushed my 2060 Super to it's limit realizing it's not my PC or settings, it's me.
A few hours later I was standing in line at Best Buy with a store credit. I left with a LG 34" 3440x1440 curved ultrawide.

My advice to anyone with the VR itch you must find a way to try it first or buy from an easy return outlet.
I absolutely hated it.

It’s normal to feel ill the first times. For me it took about a month before I could do a 5 minute race. After 2 months I could do a hour long race. Now after almost two years, I can do endurance races, jump in Dr2.0, spinning around, reverse. Everything.
Started with just a few meters. Now I can stay all day long in VR. Also it helps tremendously to have some tactical feedback from trancedusers.

 

[RCHeliguy]

VR can be amazing and I only use VR period. I don't game on a screen at all.

However there are some pretty stiff PC hardware requirements to make it work well.
And even if you have it working well, driving and flight sims are the titles most likely to give you nausea.

I have found that a motion rig can help with nausea because it tricks your brain into thinking you are actually moving, but that is a big chunk of change just to make VR work better. Once I added my NLRv3 to my rig, my friends who tried it out with zero VR experience tended to go much longer or have no ill effects.

When I first started with a static rig it took me 5 days of 20 minute sessions each in Dirt Rally where I would go until my stomach started to complain. Then I was pretty much fine in VR going forward. A month later it took me one day in Eve Valkyrie flying to get comfortable with that and then I spent another 140 hours dog fighting in space and felt perfectly fine.

 

[Terje Helle]

VR can be amazing and I only use VR period. I don't game on a screen at all.

However there are some pretty stiff PC hardware requirements to make it work well.
And even if you have it working well, driving and flight sims are the titles most likely to give you nausea.

I have found that a motion rig can help with nausea because it tricks your brain into thinking you are actually moving, but that is a big chunk of change just to make VR work better. Once I added my NLRv3 to my rig, my friends who tried it out with zero VR experience tended to go much longer or have no ill effects.

When I first started with a static rig it took me 5 days of 20 minute sessions each in Dirt Rally where I would go until my stomach started to complain. Then I was pretty much fine in VR going forward. A month later it took me one day in Eve Valkyrie flying to get comfortable with that and then I spent another 140 hours dog fighting in space and felt perfectly fine.

Starting with DR, you are braver than me.

 

[Momoracer]

I use a Valve Index and love it. I settled into VR very quickly and haven't had any nausea, I do feel a bit weird for a minute or so after coming out of a long VR session but I think that is understandable and it is not problematic - it soon passes. VR is a game changer and I can't race flat anymore.

The ACC issues are real - I have an i9 9900k and and 2080 Ti both OC'd and ACC is still struggle to maintain 90FPS. I can only do so with a full field by reducing the graphics to a level that shouldn't be necessary with my hardware. Hot lapping is a different story - it works well and looks great. R3E, RF2, AC, KK and Dirt 2.0 all run fine with high graphics settings - ACC is the outlier.

Well the guy above you says otherwise

This is dissapointing if ACC has problems with VR. I would guess is the game were it would make the most sense to use since its competitive and VR is supposedly great to improve times since you can turn better and have better spacial sense.

 

[RCHeliguy]

Starting with DR, you are braver than me.

It was the first sim title to hook me

I had read from so many people that I "just" needed to get my VR legs and I would be fine. I believed them and fortunately they were right.

 

[RCHeliguy]

Well the guy above you says otherwise

This is dissapointing if ACC has problems with VR. I would guess is the game were it would make the most sense to use since its competitive and VR is supposedly great to improve times since you can turn better and have better spacial sense.

I'm also running a i9-9900K with 2080Ti. I can run iRacing and PC2 at 120 fps, but only 90fps with ACC, but I've never played it with a full field.

 

[RedBarchetta]

Thanks for all the inputs guys. Currently using a 42" UHD monitor at 3840x2160 resolution. Would the graphics through the VR headset be a big step down for me?

Would I need to wear my glasses if I am nearsighted? No problems seeing things clearly when they are up close and I would think this would qualify as up close viewing?

 

[PurgerUK]

The VR lenses are set for a middle distance viewing range to avoid eye fatigue. Initially I bought a second very cheap pair of glasses with the smallest frame available for VR but I now use the WIDMOvr inserts to correct my vision. The graphics will definitely be a big step down in sharpness from 4K but the depth and immersion more than makes up for it (at least for me)

 

[GagarynGaribaldi]

I'm also running a i9-9900K with 2080Ti. I can run iRacing and PC2 at 120 fps, but only 90fps with ACC, but I've never played it with a full field.

Annoyingly it's the AI in ACC that cripple the framerate. It can be made to hold 90FPS with minor stutter at the race start but only by reducing GFX options including VR pixel density and it ends up looking crap - car dash in particular goes really blurry and it spoils the fun. I think it will be fixed at some point - DR 2.0 was crap in VR for months and now works great.