Just got my Q3 and have finally had a few short hops locally. Still much tuning to be done but I can see why so many say it is the best, fantastic. Just flown a tiger moth and wow, just so real.
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I tried a Q3 at a local science fair, running FS24; a military jet from the local airport.
The cockpit rendering was stunning and the spatial awareness was great; exactly what I had dreamed of. I could look over my shoulder 135 degrees to spot the runway and decide where to turn - as natural as parking a car. That’s impossible with flat displays.
I was convinced the seat was banking, the assistant said a lot of people feel that. The immersion is so strong it plays tricks with your mind.
The HUD was partially masked, probably the head settings didn’t suit me.
But I was hooked in a few minutes and want a Q3!!
What sort of pc makes good use of the Q3? And are there some cool space games to play?
I have to wear 1.5 reading glasses for phones and displays. Do I need special Q3 lenses, or can I wear reading glasses?
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Now running SU2 and playing about with the Draco X in Alaska, nothing short of breathtaking now after lots of initial hiccups with FS2024 
(Quest 3 using Link, 14900K OC, 64GB DDR4@4000, RTX 4090 OC, 2TB SN850X’s)
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If you want a really good experience with the Q3, get a system with an 9000 series X3D CPU and a 5070 Ti or better GPU and 32GB (preferably 64GB) DDR5. Yes, a lower spec system will work, but if you want smoothness and solid FPS, suitable for motion re-projection (the equivalent of frame generation for VR) ,with great visual quality almost everywhere, then this is how hard you need to push.
Re reading glasses, some say you don’t need them with VR as the focal point is distant. Even if you do need them, I wear my normal prescription glasses just fine with the Q3 and if that is uncomfortable for you, you can always get the special lenses, which are less than US$100 I believe.
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Thanks. Unfortunately that whole system is beyond my budget.
Do you use OXRTK? I recently noticed in SU3 beta that unless I have turbo mode on, main and RDR thread just get HAMMERED, causing stutters even when capped at 45fps (it will often drop below too, even at “low”, for my standards, resolutions) . With turbo mode on its much better. Although I still feel like performance was better in SU02, and it’s incomparable to FS2020.
And this is on a 9800x3D and 5090.
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With any VR headset you risk scratching the lenses if you wear regular glasses in VR. To get the widest field of view, eyes are pretty close to the lenses and some headsets don’t even have room to wear glasses with them.
It’s much better to get specific lenses for your headset using your glasses prescription. In addition to making things sharp, the added lenses protect the non-replaceable VR headset lenses. Scratch those and it’s pretty much a new headset. You can polish out some scratches but it leaves distortions. Better to never scratch the headset lenses in the first place. Always be careful of them and use proper cloths to clean them. Paper towels will scratch and ruin VR goggles lenses.
Also, those new to VR may not appreciate how easy it is to burn tracks in the headset displays. Never let sunlight hit the lenses. It’s like burning ants with a magnifying glass because that’s basically how the lenses work. They magnify little displays into a wide and tall field of view. In just a heartbeat you can kill your displays with nice black lines right across them from then on.
Risk it yourself if you want but I also don’t have any high intensity lights in the room where I fly VR. Those little quartz lamps are a powerful source and if you sit a headset down where the lenses see the really bright lights, over time they can bleach OLED displays or possibly even burn them. Too easy not to risk it.
As far as I know, the focal distance of the Quest 3 is about 1.3 meters. If you can see objects clearly at 1.3 meters, you don’t need glasses or lenses.
I also wear +1.5 reading glasses and I can use the Q3 without glasses or lenses.
Get a current prescription and enter that on Zenni.com’s website - $50 and best experience with VR!
Thank you everyone for the advice. I fully understand the physics of the internal VR lenses and the risks.
Custom prescription maybe the way to go, for lens protection and 1.3m for detail is a bit tricky for me sometimes.
I would ask my wife to make a soft, dark bag to protect the headset…we share a spare room for her sewing machine and my flightsim!
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You never know what people know and don’t and since you sounded new to VR. Some of the stories are pretty sad. One guy was selling his headset a few years ago and took it out into the sunlight to get the best photos for the sale. The guy who bought it found big burns across the displays got his money back and the seller got the burned lines headset back. Others have left them sitting near windows, etc. It’s a huge bummer if it happens.
I just turn my lenses away from windows and lights and haven’t had any problems. Some pad boxes or use the shipping box if appropriate for between-use storage. Keeps dust off the lenses too.
Have fun!
Good advice on this forum especially for those who want to buy a VR headset and do not know much about it. Thanks.
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Yes great advice.
One thing I can’t fathom is the difference between the Q3 and Q3S, apart from the enticing price difference 
For me complete spatial awareness was the instant hit. I don’t know if I was wearing the Q3 or Q3S though, at the science fair.
There is slightly less field of view and a few pixels less. But with the same rendering chips I would expect similar results.
I think the key differences between the normal Q3 and the Q3S (at least for flight simming) are a lower resolution and battery life on the 3S. I’d avoid it personally.
I’m happy with my computer, 8kx and the ‘24 so far.
As with the ‘20, I try to optimise the settings after every SU. Some settings only bring ‘more’ in terms of distance. That’s why I decided I’d rather have more FPS. For example, trees in the distance are faded in so smoothly that the difference is not really noticeable.
As I don’t use VR controllers, there is hardly any difference in operation between the monitor and VR glasses.
There is a zoom function in VR that zooms to where you are looking with the right mouse button. I need this in the Stemme, for example, to read very small text.
SU1:
With SU1 you could activate the zoom with the right mouse button and as long as you kept the mouse over the monitors of the Garmin or LX you could let go of the right button.
The advantage was that you could continue to operate the rudder.
However, it was not possible to operate the rotary knobs without deactivating the zoom.
For SU2, I would therefore have liked the zoom to only be switched OFF again by clicking on the right mouse button again.
Now in SU2:
Unfortunately, in my opinion, SU2 takes a step in the wrong direction. The zoom only remains if you hold down the right mouse button. Now you can operate everything with skill, but operating the rudder or other analogue axes via the controllers is then basically not possible.
However, it is useful to prevent the aircraft from drifting if the settings take a little longer.
Otherwise I do everything I want in VR, or what the ‘24 makes possible for controlling, and so far I am satisfied.
Regards
Absolutely! It’s so different trying to judge height/altitude/distance from perspective vs experiencing it directly in stereo vision. Helicopter pilots especially like it for low altitude stuff and I’d bet the cropduster activities are a whole lot easier in VR.
I switched the zoom feature from the right mouse button to the keyboard left shift. Now the right mouse button can be used to press and turn knobs and zoom is much easier with left shift in VR.
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That’s interesting about low altitude. I was flying an F-18 and descended to see what sweeping turns close to the ground were like. It felt “natural” and easy to control, even though I’m way beyond jet pilot age!
I guess the VR stereoscopic effect is something that flat displays can never do.
Augmented pass through is my dream, with real panels and switches below the windows.
The Somnium VR One has mixed reality capability like that. They are expensive though and tariff uncertainties can make buying one (made in the EU) a bit of an adventure. Not sure the current state of MR with them now. Lots was being developed when I looked at them.
VR for me makes low altitude stuff most fun (when no stutters). The Zlin Norden is a blast low and slow in VR.
I’ve seen a video of some low cost pass-through software. Seemed to work well with a Cessna setup.
