About to jump into the VR pool; which kit is best, please?

I’m looking at buying Oculus VR kit for a PC.

Can anyone suggest which works best with MSFS presently, please?

[There seem to be various models available and user experience is in my opinion the best way of telling which is best.]

Thanks!

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I’m using an Oculus Rift S and although the immersion experience is generally good, for me it doesn’t quite live up to expectations in terms of the resolution. I often find I have to lean in to read cockpit instruments properly and my settings are set pretty high. I’m seriously considering going over to a G2 - if you look on YouTube for a comparison you will see the step change from one to the other.

Good luck!

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I’ve now clocked up about 80 hours ‘flying’ using my Reverb G2. There are tons of reviews on YouTube and comments on these forums … the G2 seems to be regarded as the best of the bunch currently, but it’s not perfect. Apart from the price…:

The lenses seem to have a very small focal area (much commented on and I wear glasses too, which doesn’t help), I’ve gotten used to positioning the headset ‘just so’ to make the most of this and the detail is then excellent - but peripheral vision is a little blurred and you have to look right at instruments to scan for example. And you will still need to lean in to read details on most of the electronic displays. I do find the G2 pretty comfortable to wear though.

You also need a fair amount of computer horsepower and quite a bit of tweaking to get it working nicely. I’m using i7 9700 and RTX2080Ti (so I guess higher midrange these days :slight_smile: ) and I can get good enough performance with some compromise on the graphics.

That said, I’m finding more and more that I just can’t go back to 2D though, despite how much prettier and clearer the display is … the experience of VR is a whole other dimension!

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Folks, many thanks for the prompt and informative replies.

I currently have a RTX2070 - not sure if anyone has any experience of that with a G2?

Really useful feedback - thanks so much!

The Captain has made the definitive guide:

Lots to read! But excellent advice by CptLucky8 … following this guide and then a little tweaking to see what worked the way I liked it best got me from a stutterfest to pretty awesome experience.

Believe me, the first time you depart from a rainswept airport at night and climb to break out into a moonlit cloudsape in VR … is not something you’re going to forget :slight_smile:

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I’m still waiting on a G2 delivery that was ordered in November, apparently it’ll be delivered mid Feb…
I’m telling you this as you also may have quite a wait.
I’m still using the RiftCV1 which is probably considered the worst headset at the moment but I love it still. Honestly if it broke today I’d get one on eBay in a heart beat as they are so cheap now it would always serve as a spare. No way could I fly in 2D again!
I did try a Rift S and while it was a fair bit sharper the lack of adjustment (IPD) meant that I got a headache and had to return it. Be very mindful of the minimum and maximum IPD range.
My system is reasonable (i79700K @5 all cores 32GB 3000RAM and an RTX3080) so I can crank up the Supersaming to get some pretty good clarity but this still comes at quite a cost in terms of FPS/smoothness.
Bottom line… get the G2 or index but be prepared to wait or get a current headset on a budget (especially if you don’t know if you will like it) and save the money.

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Whatever you get, buy anything but an Oculus. Too much baggage with the FB ownership. Don’t be fooled by the subsidized price, you’re giving up a lot for that subsidy that you don’t even know about until you start digging into it.

As far as recommendations, I’ve only ever owned the Reverb G2, which I got primarily for MSFS use, but I can say that after some extensive help getting my settings just right, I like it a lot, I’m getting really good performance, and I’ve got “only” a 2070 Super. (I say “only” because a mere 6 months ago it was like the 3rd most powerful GPU money could buy, but it seems money can’t buy a 30-series for most people, so maybe it still is lol…)

But perhaps you might want to wait for someone with more experience in VR than me to make a decision.

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If you have the money and a fast PC, then is PIMAX the best experience. I have a 5k Plus.
Before that I had Oculus and Vive years ago, but i don’t want that feeling of looking through two tubes anymore.

The Oculus Quest 2 has among the highest resolutions of any of the current headsets while demanding the lowest CPU and GPU requirements of your computer. My five-year-old system handles VR beautifully with the Quest 2. Yes, you have to own a Facebook account, but big whoop. I personally hate Facebook, so I just leave my account dormant. Mark Zuckerberg has yet to appear at my front door. The Quest 2 is also among the least expensive headsets and is also wireless. To use it on MSFS, you do need to buy the USB cable to link it physically to your PC.

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@davidamills, it’s “big whoop” now, but I’m concerned about what it will be, as FB continues to grab up more and more and more of the VR marketshare. Today it’s “have an account”, tomorrow it’ll be “We need to see your ID to make sure your name and birthdate match”, after that it’s "You have to login at least X times per whatever time period, and have at least Y interactions (posts, likes, whatever) per another time period.

All the while, the carrot is the continued functioning of your Oculus device, while the stick is the ever increasing requirements to meet their terms.

And heaven help you if you’re a long term FB user and end up on the radar of the wrong FB moderator, they’ll go through your history, including your instant messages to or from your spouse, and find some homemade pron that you sent your spouse (or vice versa), or a political statement you made 5 years ago that is indicative of being a violent right wing extremist, or whatever excuse they need to come up with to issue you a permaban, and then your Oculus becomes a paperweight.

And if you don’t think FB will do such things, well, you haven’t been paying attention. There’s a reason Germany banned them from even selling Oculus devices within their country (at least according to rumor, I haven’t personally fact checked that), a decision that I would normally take issue with, but not considering the facts we already have. I just wish the US would do the same, rather than dragging their execs before Congress for a glitz and glamor questioning show, maybe resulting in a fine that is the equivalent of your or I getting fined a nickel.

At the end of the day, it’s a personal decision that everyone will have to make for themselves. I chose to go with a Reverb G2 merely for technical reasons, the higher resolution, and the fact the MSFS VR was being designed, at least originally, specifically for that device. I didn’t find out about the FB/Oculus stuff until well after the fact, but I look at it as a happy accident. I could have chosen strictly based on price/performance issues, which may have landed me with an O2, but I didn’t, and now that I know what I know, I’m very glad I didn’t.

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Don’t forget that the Vive Cosmos has it’s own OpenXR runtime.

The sky is falling. :wink:

I really appreciate your detailed response to my posting. I’m open-minded enough to confess that your comments have changed my mind about the Facebook issue. Clearly you had analyzed this issue more thoroughly than I had. Your warning is frightening, but is indeed quite plausible.

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There are a variety of opinions. For me, G2 is the best, and a high-end PC is a must.

VR experience can be very personal, so make sure you understand WHY people love/hate particular headsets:

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Just to fuel your ideas (unverified comment source though):

Re: (Tip) Adjusting color saturation, brightness e... - Page 2 - Meta Community Forums - 481685

In fact, Nvidia changes the recent drivers that the trick with changing saturation etc. via control panel and a HDMI cable doesn’t work any longer… AT REQUEST BY OCULUS - as I was told by an Nvidia rep!

Can anyone explain what the benefits of the 256GB version are over the 64GB specifically for MSFS, please?

Thanks!

There are none.

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Just more space (256gb storage compared to 64gb). No benefit as regards MSFS2020 which uses PC storage and not OQ2 storage. More room for non PC apps however.

If you’re going to mainly use the OQ2 for PC apps or you are not going to download a huge amount of apps from Oculus Store etc then 64gb should be sufficient. I have the 64gb version and I am glad I didn’t buy the more expensive version :slightly_smiling_face:

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Once again, really helpful replies - thanks very much!!

Saved myself £100 … (to spend on other MSFS add-ons, I suspect!)

:slight_smile:

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Hi I think with VR the more money you can throw at it the better experience you can get. But in all honestly that means for most folks buying a RTX 3090 equiped PC and a HP Reverb G2 presently anyway.

Personally in your situation I would take a look at an older Oculus Rift S, that will probably give you the best experience. The Quest 2 needs just as much of a monster PC to make the best use of it in MSFS than the Reverb G2 does so for me the Rift S is probably the better choice.