I’m currently using VR with Meta Quest 3 headsets, Virtual Desktop software, and connecting the headset to the router via a USB-to-Ethernet adapter cable.
With all the sliders set to HIGH, I get 80 FPS without stuttering.
I’m considering upgrading from the Meta Quest 3 to Pimax Crystal Light headsets.
I would appreciate your feedback on:
Will the visual quality improve?
Will I lose a lot of FPS or experience stuttering?
Is the upgrade worthwhile?
Thank you very much, best regards, and happy flying.
I don’t know if you will have an fps drop but with your beefy setup, you would be fine. One think to consider is the Pimax plugs directly in your GPU so no video compression.
I upgraded from the Quest 3 to the Pimax Crystal Super. 9800x3d 64GB RAM RTX5080.
I really liked my Quest which i too used with Virtual Desktop. I had consistent good frame rate and it was very light weight. Like most simmers I was looking for some thing better so I took the plunge to a Crystal Super. Is it better resolution and performance? Absolutely 3840x3840 per eye, now that’s good clarity. However it was whole new experience to get the best from it and it literally took me weeks. However I can now get a steady 45 fps stutter free performance.
There is a downside. It’s heavy and I mean uncomfortably heavy after an hour or two (Idon’t know how the light compares but I suspect much better). There’s a cable that seems to want to get involved with chair legs or anything else to get tangled in.
I tried my Quest again only the other week to see how it compared again. In the event it was very blurry and I decided I could never to back to it. I like my Pimax but like everything there are downsides like the neck ache after an hour or so and so much more uncomfortable to wear.
My answer to you question therefore is I don’t know. It could be expensive to find out and only you will know if it’s a good decision. I think if you are like me you won’t resist the temptation to find out.
Good luck with it when you can’t scratch the itch any longer.
There is passthrough on the Pimax. And proper fitting is essential, they (Pimax) have videos on how to set it up correctly. If you have it fitted right it feels very light (both the Light and the Super), but if you don’t, even slightly off, it can indeed feel heavy. I generally read instructions as a last resort, but this time you really have to.
If you want a discount code DM me. I liked the Light, I love the Super.
Pimax Crystal Light (PCL) user here and I also have a Quest 3. Personally I find the Crystal Light to have much better clarity which makes reading steam gauges in the cockpit much easier and, since I tend to fly a lot of vintage aircraft with said gauges, it’s a no-brainer which one I use.
On the subject of passthrough, the PCL does have it but it’s black and white only and rather low res so it wouldn’t be much use reading physical checklists/kneeboards. That being said, there’s alternate methods to do this inside of VR:
Little Navmap VR Panel has the ability to display documents as long as you put them in the right folder for it’s helper app to access
Did that upgrade 3 weeks ago. Passthrough is B/W and very ugly - not usable. Yes Crystal light is bulky, yes the cable is annoying, yes it will take some time to find the correct settings to make it as smooth (or smoother? ;)) like it was with the Q3.
After all this was done - I just went back to the Q3 for comparison. Not for 5 minutes and back to the PCL. It is so much of a difference for me, not looking back to the Q3 only comfort-wise. May be some day upgrade to a Pimax Dream Air.
Thank you very much for your comments. The only drawback you mentioned is the passthrough, but it’s not a big deal for me: I never used it with either the HP Reverb G2 or the Meta Quest 3. If I can adjust my budget, I think I’ll give that PCL a try.
I bought a PCL about 18 months ago and returned it for a refund. My PC specs are the same as yours. I didn’t think that it was a significant upgrade from my now +2.5yo Q3/512Gb. The higher resolution was nice, but this was only noticeable in the kinda limited central sweet spot. Also, I got a lot of distortion on the outer 20%. I bought it from my local Amazon store so it was very easy to return for a full refund. I also didn’t like the large form factor. My Q3 with the meta battery strap and AMVR faceplate is much more comfortable, for me anyway. Also, the Q3 is a much more versatile.
Up to you but I would only suggest upgrading your Q3 to something with eye tracking, together with a smaller form factor, and pancake lens. Maybe consider the Pimax Dream Air SE slam headset, once Pimax fixes a few of its shortcomings (final faceplate, ringless controllers, and better/lighter cable). Or maybe just wait and see what Meta has to offer at Meta Connect (23-24 Sept. Good luck mate, whatever way you go. Cheers.
I went from Q3 to PCL and do not regret that move.
My Q3 was bricked in low resolution and Meta never fixed this issue after more than 1 year. So bye bye Meta…Never again.
I’ve never had this issue with either my +3.5yo QPro or +2.5yo Q3/512Gb (with both rtx4090/5090 PC’s). I’ve owed every Oculus/Meta headset (except Q3s) over the last +7yrs, starting with a Rift cv1 and any issues I’ve had were easily resolved with a little Google research and/or Oculus/Meta customer support. Sorry to hear that you haven’t managed to get your Q3 issues resolved and have now joined the vocal minority of Meta-Haters, lol! As long as you’ve found something that works well for you, that’s great imo.
I have bought and returned a number of Vive and Pimax headsets over the last couple of years and I’ve yet to find one that is as versatile or performs as well as my QPro/Q3 headsets. The grass is not always greener on the other side of the street imho. Each to their own I guess. Cheers.