Rift S to Reverb G2 upgrade and THE setting that made it work

User Support Hub Virtual Reality (VR)
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TL;DR Setting PCIe to Gen 3 in BIOS fixed constant VR crashes with the G2 v2.

Snatched up a lightly used Reverb G2 v2 for a good price (v2 has a button on the cable box and other small differences). Was worried that my hardware (see below) would struggle but, in the end, it’s smoother than I was ever able to achieve with the Rift S. I think it’s because I was so heavily CPU bound before. I still am now but by a much smaller margin and it runs much smoother.

Visually, it’s a game changer. The clarity, scenery details, instrument and displays readability is much, much better! Yes the very crisp sweet spot is small but the rest of the image is still much better than with the Rift S that it’s really not a big deal in my view.

The G2 is also super comfortable. And, I have not tried the integrated headphones (previous owner took them off and I have not bothered).

Now, it took me a long time to get the G2 to work correctly. Whenever I would push the envelope (e.g. add weather, load more complex airplane, etc.) or sometimes just load or end a flight, I got a blue screen (in the headset), then black, then return to the cliff house. Sometimes the headset would not even be recognized by Windows and the white HP logo would turn off until I turned everything off. Sometimes the sim itself would crash. And sometimes the blue screen would flash but it would recover.

There was no real pattern and, when it was working, performance was great and it was smooth. For example, I once was at 45 fps when all hell broke loose.

In the end, as you probably read it above, changing the PCIe to Gen 3 in the BIOS fixed those crashes. In retrospect, I guess it’s pretty obvious that it was a USB-C connectivity issue. I can’t imagine how it must be with the original (aka v1) cable!

Now I can finally tweak the usual settings (in game, Open XR toolkit, Nvidia ctrl pnl) to dial things in. Although, at this point, I just want to fly!!! Also… I’m already getting a solid 30+fps (FSR 80%, in game & Open XR Tools at 100%) :slight_smile:

Extra tip: I disabled Rolling Cache in the process and it seems to have helped getting better looking scenery and buildings. Since I fly all over the place and don’t have a monthly data cap, I figured I can live with that.

Hoping that this post can help others!

———
X570
3600x
3070 Ti
32 Gb
650 W PSU
Win 10
MS Store “version”
DX 11
Low & slow GA

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I would also download and run OpenXR Toolkit. For one thing you can set colors (saturation for each color, strength for each color). You can change the sweet spot too, etc.
I had to learn to switch the timer off in OXRtoolkit and reset the hotkeys to something easier to use when the headset is on and covering the eyes.

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Thanks. I’m already using it :grin:

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Great to hear that the Reverb G2 is working for you. I just bought the V2, although I didnt need it the power switch is a life saver! Looking forward to seeing how well the new facial interface improves FOV. Its almost hard to believe that folks try to persuade themselves that the Quest 2 is a better headset for Flight Sim. Quest is better for Beat Saber, but for sim its the Reverb G2 all the way!

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So tell me, why is the power switch so useful to you? I personally don’t use it.

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I have the power adapter tucked away in my setup and can’t stand it being on 24/7. Also I taped over the lot HP logo because it got on my nerves when I had my desk in my bedroom. Easier to just push the button as opposed to unplugging it. Lifesaver may be an exaggeration, but a nice feature and will prolong the life of the G2 if I keep it that long. Just my preference. After selling the G2 V1 and getting the V2 for $299 it wasn’t that much to upgrade and get the new cable and facial interface.

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I use the OpenXR Toolkit. Didn’t know you could turn the timer OFF.

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Personally I would upgrade the 650w power supply. To me it’s in the gray area to meet your power requirements.

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Thanks, I considered that, but my total power consumption is below 400W and everything is behaving well and my system is stable right now.

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That’s great but it only takes a 2 second or less power consumption spike to crash a system. If you start having problems look at that 1st.

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The power switch itself is nice but not a big deal. What is a big deal is the cord with the power switch is not the same cord as before. It is a premium cord and interface electronics that are compatible with a whole lot more motherboards and USB formats. It’s the new cord that is wonderful. The way to know if you have the new cord is to see if it has the power switch.

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I bought a G2 Reverb a long time ago with the old cord. The headset did not work on my computer. Later I bought the new version of the G2 (the one with the switch on the power cord). The headset now works perfectly.

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Getting the v2 cable was mandatory for me. I would not have bought the headset unless I was sure to get it.

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