Valve Index or Rift S (and motion sickness)

2
United States
United States
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Hi, my name is Randy Flowers. 58 year old kid in Dallas Texas. About a month ago, i saw by mistake a Jimmy Broadbent video of him racing a 60s grand prix car around spa and he was wearing a VR headset, and i was instantly pulled into the sim racing rabbit hole! OH NO!!! My main desire is to get into sim racing using VR, and i have never yet used VR at all for anything. Sorry, it's a long post that has been building up for the past month! Thanks for the help in advance :)

I do get motion sick as a rule in life. I get sick in a car backseat, but not if i am holding onto the steering wheel and driving. I am super concerned that i will get motion sick and it will keep me from playing in VR. So, i am thinking of doing all the normal stuff, using a fan, doing it in short stints and stopping immediately when feeling sick, using a wrist band TENS unit thing like the Emeterm electrode stimulator, etc, but i am still concerned that it may be hard for me to 'get my VR legs'.

I am thinking of going straight for the Valve Index so that i can run at 120fps/hz and hopefully that will be my best chance of being able to handle VR and not get sick.

I found Jeff Ford at www.fegpc.net (who has built a ton of sim racing rigs), and he is helping me put my computer upgrade, rig and sim gear together and building it for me! He actually recommends the Oculus Rift S as his favorite VR headset, and he says that preventing motion sickness is much more about keeping the Rift S at a constant 80fps than it is about getting the fps up to 120fps. I would definitely rather spend only $400 on a Rift S if that will work great for me, but i have read forums that swear by the Valve Index as having solved their motion sickness issues (when they were coming from a Rift), and it seems like the superior headset for graphics/sound and comfort.

I know i need a computer that is capable of running either the Valve at a steady 120fps or the Rift S at a steady 80fps, and Jeff assures me that the following rig he is putting together will do that...it is:

i5-9600KF OC'd to 4.7-5.2 (he says done this way it is comparable to the i9-9900K for much less money, he adds the OC for free)
RTX 2070 Super (he will OC this also)
16 GB DDR4 (he will OC this also)

As a backup, if i do get motion sick with VR and just can't get past it, then i will be able to smoke a new 1440p/144hz 32 inch monitor i am also getting, so i can use that as my backup and still be able to Sim Race, but i WANT TO USE VR!

Note that i am wanting a really good VR resolution/graphics too and do want to be able to see the dash board numbers clearly, etc. I have also heard that the graphics are much better with the Valve, that the Rift S sound is terrible (do Rift S owners all play with separate headphones on?), and that the Valve is much more comfortable.

A final note is that i wear glasses (John Lennon types), and wondering how that will affect the Valve or the Rift S.

So...my questions are:

  1. Which headset would you use between the Valve Index and Rift S and why?

  2. Will using the Valve Index at 120fps be a big help to possible motion sickness compared to the Rift S at 80fps?

  3. Will i actually be able to run the Valve Index at 120fps, or even the Rift S at 80fps, with the above basic computer rig?

  4. How good will the graphics be on the Valve Index vs the Rift S (and will the above rig be able to run the graphics at good looking settings in VR and out of VR)?

  5. Will i be able to wear John Lennon style glasses with both the Valve and Rift S just fine?
Thanks!
Randy
 
1. Index
2. It's been reported that it does help some people (Check LinusTechTip's review)
3. The listed rig should be fine, but don't expect to run everything maxed at 120Hz. If you're not in a hurry, new GPUs in September will provide a big performance uplift.
4. Medium at best on most games. Still look insane with VR and Index (What I use) is a superb experience. Text is readable, resolution is on the verge of being a non-issue. Smoothness of 120Hz and audio quality cannot be understated!
5. No, but you can get prescription lenses inerts done from different online website for the Index and the Rift.
 
1. Index
2. It's been reported that it does help some people (Checkre )
3. The listed rig should be fine, but don't expect to run everything maxed at 120Hz. If you're not in a hurry, new GPUs in September will provide a big performance uplift.
4. Medium at best on most games. Still look insane with VR and Index (What I use) is a superb experience. Text is readable, resolution is on the verge of being a non-issue. Smoothness of 120Hz and audio quality cannot be understated!
5. No, but you can get prescription lenses inerts done from different online website for the Index and the Rift.

Thanks for the answers :)

I just watched that whole LinusTechTip's review and he is one more saying that someone that had motion sickness in other headsets did not on the Index. I have read that or heard it many times.

Will the rig above be able to run things like iracing, ac, automobilista 2 at 120hz/fps without the fps constantly dropping and being choppy?

Also, have gotten very aware of the Reverb G2 coming in the fall and it being a watered down Index (almost the exact same device except it is only 90hz and only 110 FOV, oh and worse controllers for things like Half Life)...Wondering if i should wait and get the G2 for only $600 in the fall, and if the Index would be the best one even against the G2 for helping with motion sickness. I have just heard too many people say that they had motion sickness with other headsets and didn't have it with the Valve Index. And, motion sickness is my biggest thing i want to avoid if possible.

Randy
:)
 
Clarity. Higher refresh rate. Better comfort. Better resolution. Better controllers. BETTER AUDIO (Underestimated this one!).

It's way better overall. But the Rift sure is cheaper. If you have money, the Index is just the logical choice
Will the rig above be able to run things like iracing, ac, automobilista 2 at 120hz/fps without the fps constantly dropping and being choppy?

Also, have gotten very aware of the Reverb G2 coming in the fall and it being a watered down Index (almost the exact same device except it is only 90hz and only 110 FOV, oh and worse controllers for things like Half Life)...Wondering if i should wait and get the G2 for only $600 in the fall, and if the Index would be the best one even against the G2 for helping with motion sickness. I have just heard too many people say that they had motion sickness with other headsets and didn't have it with the Valve Index. And, motion sickness is my biggest thing i want to avoid if possible.
Most games will run just fine with basic tweaks to quality. iRacing, AC and AMS2 are fine with lower end hardware, so you'd be fine. ACC is a mixed bag.

As for the G2, the one downside is the 90Hz, but if you're gonna do sim only, the resolution is insanely good, and it uses optics and audio from the Index, making it a reaaaaally good sim racing headset. For the rest, I'd wait for reviews, but it's a good option as well.

Motion sickness doesn't happen to everyone. Certain things can be done to help (Locking camera to horizon in most racing games helps a lot). Just take it slow at first, don't reverse the car right away (It's gonna make you queasy real fast), and stop as soon as you feel off. After a little while, your brain is gonna learn to interpret all this new information properly and you'll last longer and longer, until you don't even feel it anymore.

Best of luck :D
 
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