@@MAX1991111 I use my Reverb G2 in Sim Racing now over 8 month. It's fantastic every time i start the race :-) I drive only VR, no screen cause it is 3D gaming not flat 2D. It's awsome, you sould try it one time before you can say anything about VR. I test it ONE day (oculus rift s) and on the next day I orderd the HP reverb G2 :-)
I have the pimax 8kx. It took me some time to convince myself to buy it. Wanted to send it back after 3 days. Can't keep it off my head after 2 weeks. When you think you are dialed in, you are not! A lot of tweaking needed to get this beast running properly. My system is 3080 ti ryzen 9 5900x 16gb ddr4 3733mhz and iracing runs totally fine for me in 4k 90fps. Track and car qualities are awesome. but! If I wanna race a bigger grid 20+ people you will turn down settings. IF your nose touches that edge use the bigger foam. God blessed me with a big nose, luckily air is free, and the thin foam hurts my nose too. Big foam, no problem. But here comes the trade off, bigger foam, bigger distance to lenses, less sweetspot, bigger warping at the edges. The warping didnt bother me in any game yet since the fov is so big that u naturally don't turn ur eyes that far. For me the display is incredibly clear, sweetspot is very good. Also I dont use lighthouses, headset only and it works very good. You dont need any lighthouse for simracing at all! Headtrqcking is perfect. My IPD is 70 and I use 65 with the headset. If you plug and play (like I see you do in this video) you will have bad quality. Set the steamVR resolution per eye correctly. Auto is not right! Anyway hope this helps anyone.
this lighthouse tracking is always an issue and will take away from the experience so this alone needs to dialed in perfectly along with no fps drops. everything has dialed in 100% in the settings from graphics, ffb, tracking and frame rates since you are trying to immerse yourself. still rocking OG vive with my DD set up!
yeah i struggled with this headset. From having the Index and G2. This was a serious ballache. the FOV is amazing i just dont have it in me to sit with it
@@lovelaugh7299 The more RAM you have the better. and in addition having 4 bars and much better than 2. it's a bit complicated to explain but you must have information on youtube. I have a video but in my language in French I don't know if there are the subtitles. maybe you only use 12 but 4gb for only the rest of the pc is too weak. personally I do streaming and RUclips video so mountains and since I have 32gb you see that the pc and more free in terms of calculation, I don't know if you will understand everything with Google translation. especially with the configuration you have and the price it costs you should go to 32gb. look at the benchmarks you win a little. you don't win a lot, but in terms of saving calculation speed, it's much better. I play MFS2020 when I was 16gb the game took 13gb since I put 32gb it uses 16gb.
It would be really cool if they could implement hand tracking with your steering wheel so that in game you control the avatars arms n hands and they calibrate for the different wheel being used in game of course
yeah I've said this in the past too. Thing is it should be neither hard not cost much to implement on to wheels. Racing wheels the last decade have lacked any innovation. Neither getting the technology existing cheaper, nor anything new for expensive wheels. Understandably they make most money from the few that spend $1000-10000 on sims, but I think the market could grow quite a bit if they made stuff more accessible, both cheaper and more features
Should be possible already with Varjo XR3 headset. They use it in flight sims. Check VRM Switzerland for example. Those Pixmas are old tech already compared to Varjo.
I'd suggest running FPSvr when testing VR headsets. It'll give you live fps numbers on games you typically don't get it, along with percentages for reprojection, GPU load and CPU load to help tell where bottlenecks are
Great to see Pimax shipping their headsets to this zero bs'ing channel; and an awesome, honest review as a result! A big FOV is what I need for VR to become a thing for me, currently on QHD 32" triples - tried a 110 degree one before and it wasn't for me. Performance issues at that 8k resolution was not unexpected. As you noted, it'd be great to be able to have another look when 4090s come out - but hopefully we'll have some improvements in eye tracked dynamic resolution as well by that time, in updated sets. 🙂
Same. 8kx was the third headset i purchased and the only one that made me feel like I could unplug my triple monitor setup. If you use resolution scaling to prioritize higher resolution in the center, then there isn’t any performance issues on current gen.
Just to expand on Wills explanation for the increased GPU load rendering whats effectively just 2 x 4k panels... VR renders about 40-50% HIGHER than the native resolution of your chosen headsets panel (if you don't reduce it of course), this is to account for the pincushion lenses that we are looking through and produce a barrel corrected image, meaning for the best visual/native quality/resolution you are actually trying to render at around 11520 x 3240! A basically impossible task for current GPU's :)
Nice to see you hear Karl. Your video on that topic is what made me understand it. It is very well made and I still remember it every time I think about that aspect of VR.
And this is why the G2 is still the industry standard for sims…you start going 130 fov and beyond, machines gonna have trouble. 90fps /114fov is like wearing a racing helmet for the most part, and its clear(g2v2). Small form mini OLED incoming 2022. Its a great time for VR. Even with all the peripherals, vr still wins as you are in the car, brain tricked, job done, especially w/a dbox. Cant wait til tax season!
@@DarkNsaw yes I agree. If you are mainly doing sims racing or sim flight, thr G2 is number 1. Higher resolution or FOV, would be too demanding on current gen hardware. However I do more than just sims in VR, for me the Quest 2 is the best all rounder and for sims, it is a close second. The specs are a bit lower than the G2 but because of the compression, the performance hit makes the performance similar.
@@MegaIronica i will totally agree, The wireless aspect is tops for anything outside sim. But my controllers are still collecting dust as i never have reason to pull them out.
It's not only that it's rendering those views from 2 different perspectives kind of like how rendering your rear view mirrors in Sims cost more to render and usually have more graphics options to lower the load on the GPU.
I've been running the original Pimax 5k in iracing for the last 3 years. It took a bit of fiddling to get right initially, but its now been a few years running rock solid at over 100 FPS and this thing is bomb proof. I also have a small face and needed aftermarket padding.
I've used a Pimax 5k+ as my main VR headset for 3 years. While I've tried a number of other headsets such as the Reverb G2, I keep coming back to the Pimax because _for me_ the wide FOV and large sweet spot outweighs all the drawbacks. And there are many drawbacks, believe me. One drawback that this review didn't mention, is that many users struggle with the lenses - not in sense of the edge distortions mentioned in this review, but that the lenses feel like you're wearing glasses with the wrong strength. My solution was to add extra facial padding to the headset so that it sits farther away from my eyes. This reduces the FOV slightly and increases edge distortions, but the FOV is still leagues ahead of any other consumer headset, even the Valve Index. And when kart racing in VR, being able to turn my head around and glance if there is someone behind me and look around tight hairpins is super valuable. Pimax headsets are certainly not for everyone, but they do fill a very important niche. I only wish there was an alternative out there with wide FOV that was more comfortable, like the newly announced XTAL 3 but for consumers.
I have also used my PIMAX 5k a long time and I understand what you say. I also have the G2 , in my case I have the G2 as the main one because it has better colors and better resolution, less degradation in deeper images.
I felt the increased immersion from the FOV had a bigger impact and made it well worth it for me. Running iRacing at 75Hz native and only a few compromises in graphics settings on a 3090 I really enjoy it - but I am very lucky to be able to afford it.
@@Cam_Wight Honestly I've gone back to my Index. For awhile I felt like the bigger FOV was more important. But after switching back and forth, the Index is lighter, more comfortable and has better colors. With the Index I can play beatsaber too, the Pimax was really only good for sim racing. Also, the Pimax always sat weird on my nose so it was uncomfortable after awhile, and randomly the screens would go blank for a couple seconds in the middle of a race and I never figured out what was causing that.
Quite relatable experience. I have the G2 and honestly, I changed back to triples for racing. I'm so tired of the constant tinkering while sitting in a rig with a sweating head which is so inconvenient. Also not being able to run at the optimum graphics settings (for most sims except perhaps AC) just bugs me too (3070). Also, losing tracking from time to time which completely pulls you out, and last but not least the absolute nightmare which is WMR with Steam VR drivers completely ruins the immersion for me far too often and makes gets me enraged before I even really get into a race.
Almost the exact same circumstances for me, steam constantly crashing, pulling 20+gb of ram to render Iracing and having to run lowest graphics settings with a 10kcpu and 3070, triples are so much more stable.
I am having similar experience with my G2 and 3070 combo, have totally gone back to monitor for sim racing for the time being. Having a relatively new PC build and can't even run most sims smoothly in VR is a huge feelsbadman and I haven't put my headset on in months
oh yeah, G2 suddenly going blue and then re-centers itself into the passenger seat while also looking back. ruined a bunch of races to me. BUT when it works, I think it's still the best bang for your buck headset for sim racing.
Even in a normal road car, you turn your head at least a bit to focus on the closest side mirror, and quite a bit more to actually focus on the mirror further away--on the opposite side of the car. If you don't you certainly cannot focus on the image, but will only be aware of it anyway through mono-vision. Unless you are built like actor/comedian Marty Feldman, that is.
I’ve been debating this headset from my g2. This was very helpful. Thank you for doing this video. You just saved me a ton of money. Gonna stick with my g2 for now and maybe look at the varjo or the other 5k micro led when they come out next year.
IMO he was a bit unforgiving on pimax. I went from g2 to 8kx and totally love it. Fov is worth the upgrade. Caveats - 1) you do need to use the resolution scaling to get good performance, but I honestly don’t notice it. 2) you will like need to swap out the head strap for a Vive das, which adds additional cost, but is pretty much a must have. 3) issues with flicker are common, but solutions are well documented and seem to be highly successful. If you have the cash, I think the upgrade is worth it if you’re looking for the best possible sim experience on the market today. Also, a note on resolution scaling, he seems to take the position that he wants to run native resolution on the sides. However, that will likely tank performance. The alternative he chooses is to not have that extra FOV at all, which seems a bit like throwing the baby out with the bath water.
Been driving in the “real world” for 30 years and I can confidently say that I have never looked in the side mirrors without moving my head. Not even once.
Nice video. I knew the headset was more than most systems could handle, but the headset is relatively future-proof (for a while at least). I love mine, despite the tinkering. I've transitioned from the DK2 to CV1 and now 8KX....
Very fair review. I own an 8kx and agree with all your points. I added a 3d printed face gasket which vastly improved the comfort and use separate headphones. Without these, the sound quality and comfort is inferior to my oculus CV1. Still a great headset, but if you don't have a wide face, putting it on and shaking your head will hurt your nose without some aftermarket modifications!
Thanks for the review. I’ll keep my 1440p triple monitors over VR for now. I get extremely nauseous and still don’t think we’re there yet or fully ready for the masses
I have the G2 and CANT maxed out the resolution in VR with a 3090 so, 8k is a way over the limit for actual hardware - no matter what you have... But try the OLD AC with SolMod , thats awesome!! Stable 90 frames with 100 % screenresolution on high settings !
I got mine yesterday. I'm sending it back and going back to my Valve Index. The images are very nice in the pimax but the lack of framerate, fit and finish and sound is sub par at best. It looks like it was made in someone's shed. Valve index is my go to until me Varja Aero arrives.. which I'm very excited about.
I enjoyed watching this review, partly because it reassures me that my Rift S is still the right answer for me. And literally 1/10 of the price of this setup. I am fortunate in that I don't seem to be affected by framerate like other people are. Perfectly happy with 40fps (30 feels a bit too choppy) for hours. Which is lucky, as upgrading my 1070Ti doesn't look like a realistic option for another year at least.
Hi Will, Several things .about the Pimax 8KX you may want to try. First of all, I own G2, Vive Pro 2 , 8K+ and 8KX, and I am running with the G2 because it has better clarity and performance. But, 2 things at least you should try to give the 8KX a better chance : activate smoothing ( Retroprojection ) in PiTools, switch to Normal Fov ( which is still way larger than G2 FOV ), try the Fixed Foveated Rendering ( I have it to balanced ) , because as you say you don't need image to be crips on the peripheral vision.
We did try those things and accounted for them in the review. The fact remains to take full advantage of the headset right now you have to make sacrifices in other areas. Looking forward to revisiting once PC tech catches up. Either way I’m glad tech like this exists to push the industry forward.
Curious you race the g2. I have both as well, but prefer the 8kx. Different strokes. I haven’t been able to notice a difference in clarity. Perhaps ipd related. And, to extra fov is totally worth it for me for immersion and on track awareness. Resolution scaling doesn’t impact my ability to see cars in my peripheral at all, which allows for better door to door racing. Vs, with the narrower fov on the g2 I found myself having to turn my head left and right a lot more to see what was going on around me. I’m sure you get used to it either way.
As always great video. This is the first time I watched a full review of the 8KX. I appreciate the fact you specify several times that it is from a sim racer perspective. From a VR enthusiasm perspective, the immersion is the most important thing, that's why these headsets are still popular for the price. I agree that they are even better for exploration games, however ironically this type of games benefits massively from a wireless VR experience which this one lacks. My headset is a Quest 2 heavily moded to improve sound, comfort and battery life. I would be curious to see your opinion on it. Though the specs are not the highest there is, I think you would be pleasantly surprised. Also with itscheap price, the ROI is hands down unbeatable.
@@middleagemoto clearly you never tried it or you did with a huge bias beforehand. I have seen a lot of RUclipsrs criticize it and flip in favor of it after a few days of use. Also, kind of wrong that your answer is you should spend more. What if people don't have that money?
With the problem about sore nose and support from the top, the Apache straps could be a good help for it. Considering the weight of the Pimax, perhaps counter balance weight might be also helpful. I do use Reverb G2 as you and adding the apache straps on top and the counter balance on the back was a game changer if it comes to the comfort aspect. I usually do 2hours sessions and sometimes I felt a pain in my neck due to the fact of front facing headset requiring extra effort. Since installing the counter balance, this feeling is gone. In regards of your video - I think it looks like Pimax is just ahead of the time. So what that there is a head set with a great resolution if a person like you with a mighty PC can't run sims smoothly. I agree with your comment...maybe in future if some more powerful hardware is availble Pimax could fully show it's strengths.
Next gen headsets are moving to a split processing framework, where the headset itself has processing capability onboard, so they will be able to render higher resolution/frame rate without relying solely on raw GPU power.
I've been rocking a 5k+ since they came out. I don't know how anyone uses screens. I tried triple screens and unless you're rocking three 4k screens pimax rocks. Add up the cost of those screens and the setup for each game and vr starts making some real sense. Can't imagine what the pimax 8k is like.
@@michaelhuyer1479 I recently got the 8k+. Not going to lie it's a pretty big upgrade. Still I rarely play. The frustration of drivers, updates, and question of will this work today is a pain.
The worst thing to ever happen to VR was the abandonment of the SLI format. SLI was just before it's time, because it was literally made for VR. One high-end GPU dedicated to each display in the headset. What a different world it would be.
Hasn't Nvidia replaced SLI with a newer, faster alternative now? I confess I haven't looked in on this until last night, but I, too, need a "one v. card per 4K screen" rig (for my own 8K X).
I VR Sim Race on exactly this HMD. I don't hav the flickering issue after the firmware updates, so do check your driver versions etc (I'm on a 3080Ti). If you want a great frame rate your best bet is AC, not ACC or Automobilista etc. Get the full version of SOL and Content manager and you'll have better eye-candy than any other racing SIM, plus world-class FFB and Physics and a rock-solid frame-rate. I do RL amateur motorsports, so I'm incredibly picky about everything SIM related, but especially about the Physics and FFB. No other SIM I've ever touched comes even close to simulating my RL experiences with near-identical cars than AC (I pilot classic rear-engine Porsches; if a SIM can't get one of the most iconic and unique driving experiences correct, then it's a failure in m book. AC is one of a tiny number of SIMs where I can actually feel that weight-balance portrayed through the wheel and thus properly manage throttle-control etc.)
I must have raced you somewhere then. rF2's 356 is huge fun, the 908 is great, and while I was not terribly impressed with any 917 mod I had yet seen (or the AC addon either), AC itself can be pretty impressive. Of course I was raised on the passenger side floor of a 356, so I'm a bit biased.... ;-)
Re: The sweet-spot. It's not well understood, but the actual degree/area where stereo can be seen (it takes two eyes to see stereo, of course) is only about 45 degrees to each side of centerline. A total of about ninety degrees, and anything wider is mono-vision only. It's a function of the way your eyes sit in your head: Your right eye can only see about 45 degrees left of center. Because it's blocked by your nose. Cover one eye and you'll realize this is true. It's quite obvious when you do this, but the two eyes combine to make the nose almost invisible in normal practice. The brain is pretty talented. Even mine. :-P
Real drivers in the real world have to move their eyes and or head to check the mirrors 😉 I never said before, but great review, really tackled the real world issues. I was 95% sold on the Pimax 8K but the headset comfort and the those issues in iRacing might just put me back on the fence again. I’m guessing those issues will be worse with the Pimax 12K coming in Q3 this year...thanks again. You’ve got a new subscriber 👍👍👍
8kx with the Vive DAS is the sweet spot for comfort and audio fidelity. Also, if the weight is on your nose, you need to tighten the top strap. As to FPS in simracing, you can easily get 75 FPS locked solid in “Normal” FOV, which is still 150 degrees. The Pimax definitely needs some tweaking to get the best experience, and I don’t think Will had enough time to really get the headset dialed in. Having said that, the Aero looks very interesting despite its higher price and limited FOV. Looking forward to that review.
You're saying it's more sharp than the Reverb G2 because of the resolution. While it's true that the the 8K X has a higher resolution than the G2, this is spread over a much larger area, which actually results in a lower Pixels per Inch (PPI) and Pixels per Degree (PPD) than the G2. Most reports that I've seen say the G1 & G2 are sharper than the 8K X by a little bit, and this would align the the PPI & PPD numbers.
Really solid review. Nice to see it from an exclusive sim racing perspective. That said, a follow up video with the common "VR tweaks" to settings, to maximize performance and the experience, would be great. Why? Because that is how 99% of VR users would experience the headset; most don't just plug it in and run a preset, they end up going down the rabbit hole of researching common practices to make things as good as they can be, i.e. running Holger's VRPerfKit, tweaking SteamVR resolution and in-game resolution/pixel density around, optimizing the video settings based upon the findings in hundreds of hours of testing by users. This is especially true for ACC where you need to dial some things in manually in order to maximize the VR experience of the game. Not a knock AT ALL on this video, it's brilliant, but the above follow up video is something I feel your viewer base would really benefit from when it comes to making a decision. I found myself saying to myself a number of times "Yeah of course the performance isn't great, you're not running X, Y and Z" :)
I've struggled for 6 months dialing in my pimax settings and found that pitool quality 1.5 , steamvr on 100% with SS off and also Foviated rendering is on closed setting this for me is the best quality I could get. Also All AA is turned off in nvidia control panel and game. Try it and let me know your experience.
Please review the varjo Aero 🙏 It should be much lighter , much more comfortable , way better fps and MUCH better clarity and sharpness with edge to edge clarity . So perfect for your use case 🙂
I wonder how the difference is for Verstappen or an elite simracer. I wonder how much faster or slower they would be in comparison to just 3 monitors.. with VR.
I actually don't mind the smaller field of view with my Reverb G1 and black background because I imagine wearing a helmet will also prevent you from having a wide field of view anyways. Great review, definitely not going to upgrade any time soon considering how much ACC struggles with my G1 and RTX2080
Could depend on the helmet. Extend your arms out to each side (180 FOV) and simply wiggle your fingers. Without a helmet, you will probably be aware of both. Then try the same experiment with a helmet. I'm nearly certain an old Bell Star would allow the same full 180 if not a bit more.
The black flashing is definitely firmware related. It took me two weeks to get a firmware and pitool version that worked together. It is really finicky. However, once you get it right it does work at highest resolution at 90fps. I’m running 3080ti and Ryzen 5600x. I’m also running 1.5 super scale in pitool and 100% in steam vr. Crazy big sweetspot.
Yeah, finally got my 5K super dialed in and get 85-90 FPS in ACC and iRacing with similar setting in PiTool and SVR as you running at the 150 degree FOV. Looks and feels awesome and no longer have to turn my head left and right like I do with the Rift S, I can just glance to either side and all is good.
I am running the Pimax 5K+ (predecessor of this one) for 2.5 years now and absolutely love it. I have some additions to the review. First of all you don't have to use the basestations. There are also gyroscopes in the headset you can use for tracking which I am doing. Of course then you have to cope with the drift. This is not huge and tend to only start drifting when you put your headset away, or after 10 minutes. So be sure to have "centering" button you can press blindly if you use that. Of course base stations are better, but if you want to safe some money you can use this. Secondly for me the wide FOV is absolutely a must for me. Seeing a car in the corner of your eye makes you aware there is a car there and absolutely helps with close racing. I never had the issue with blurry mirrors. But maybe that is because I drive formula cars and mirrors are much closer together. I think also important to note is that you can turn down the FOV from 170 degrees, to 150, to 120 degrees FOV if your PC cant handle it. With Pimax VR it's also always a bit messing around with settings so be aware of that. But ones you get it right it's great. Also the Pimax headsets are quit modular. For example I have a hand tracking module beneath it using the USB port that is there. I think I will stay with my Pimax 5K until it breaks and hopefully then I can run this 8K version. Thanks for the review Will!
I have the Pimax 8K+. VR is a unique experience for everyone so what I prefer will not be the same for all but for me it is a priority to run the highest refresh rate possible for sim racing. So if I was using the 8KX I would be running in upscale mode and trying to hit a constant 120 fps and to achieve that I would be turning the resolution down in SteamVR in upscale mode and probably run in the second highest FOV rather than the highest because you don't actually lose much in the peripheral on the second highest FOV but it is a lot lower resolution to render if you also have the setting not to render masked objects which is important to lower the render resolution on the lower FOV's. At the second highest FOV you are still far above the other headsets. Do make sure you are running a fixed resolution in SteamVR, a long time ago I had some kind of dynamic resolution on which really messed up my frame rate. Pimax does have a foveated resolution setting but you need eye tracking for that, I do think if eye tracking and foveated resolution worked well (I'm not sure if it does) that would be the solution for running a higher resolution and maintaining a higher refresh rate. But for me 75hz is a horrible experience in the Pimax and I can't even go back to 90hz after trying 110hz. Unfortunately with my old PC running a 10600k with a 3090 it just couldn't run a high enough resolution at 110fps. I' have not tried my new PC that I just built for Xmas, still the same 3090 but upgraded to a12600k. It will make a difference, not a massive difference but for some reason in VR in iRacing single thread CPU performance is still a critical factor in being able to run high resolution at high refresh rates without dips. Once I have tried it I'll report back if it has actually allowed me to run a higher resolution with the same 3090. My OC 10600k scored a single thread 1.87 CPUz score of 650, my factory settings 12600k scores 770 so even without the OC I'm expecting an improvement but that remains to be seen. If an improvement is noticeable I'll OC it to get the best possible experience and I'll report back my findings.
Just quickly, I think you are missing the point with your comments on their being no point to the extra FOV (peripheral vision - PV). The reason we have PV in real life is to give us a ‘heads up’ on events around us. A very warning. Like iff someone throws a ball from the side, your PV picks the movement up and you react. Same if someone is overtaking you, your PV warns you first, then you react, turning your head, eyes and focus being first. If you think about PV as being a situational awareness early warning system (like it is in real life) than the extra POV makes perfect sense and the more the better. 👍 Hope that made sense, I’m not a good explainera. Eye tracking rules 😜 - Michael
Yes, yes, yes. You can't focus on the side objects and movement, but the motion alone can be enough. Plus, the overall sense of speed--of roadside objects flashing past you--comes mostly from that peripheral vision too.
@33:25 thats no longer a limitation of vr, the psvr2 has eye tracking and everywhere u look it has amazing clarity, which also significantly boosts visuals and performance. Also theres a new headset thats gonna have augmented reality inside vr, so it will allow u to see your steering wheel and arms while in vr
Fantastic review! One thing to address the video blur is to turn off Foveated rendering. That is software that makes snything outside the sweet spot blurry to save resources.
The sense of size in particular should be hugely better with the Pimax. It would need very little tweaking in that regard, I would think. I myself had used a lifesize projection (1920 x 1080p, FOV just about 90) and that DID require some tweaking to get the lifesize effect the first time, but was then generally tweak free after that. The screen was just behind my wheelcase, so I cut the lower center out where my legs went through/past it. Get the horizon set dead level in front of you (important for immersion), size at least one car correctly (tweak the FOV) using a good top down drawing of the car vs driver's eye position sitting that car, and it was pretty much hands off after that. The pixel size was a complete non issue after just a few laps--you had to look for it to even notice it in fact. The only thing it lacked was stereo.
Interesting with my Index I’m pretty satisfied with resolution and refresh rate. 320% Res With Performance FSR through Content manager for AC. How wide do you think the clear FOV is?
Tighten the top strap to get the weight off your nose. Better yet, swap the strap with a Vive DAS strap. Get a vinyl face mask that makes it more comfortable for oval heads. Use pimax quality 1 with large at 90hz. Specific older drivers do 90 without black blinking (pitool 271 and firmware 298 with latest nvidia). Set SteamVR percentage to cover just slightly more than the native display size (60% for me). Lower iRacing settings to achieve 90 FPS, (medium shader, low details, trees, etc). Set a button to recenter while driving. Check out Racelabs overlays, voice attack with digital race assistant.
I'll stick to my Quest 2 for the time being. With my 3080 I get great frame rates and after a couple minutes you can't even tell it has the resolution of a PS3!!! lol Also I can honestly wear it for hours on end.
Hi Will, Nice video, always appreciate your efforts to improve our simracing experience. I feel that there is a mismatch between VR headset manufacturing process and the engines that runs most of simracing games. For some reasons some games look better in VR than other games with the same settings. To me VR is always work in progress that won't be finished anytime soon, but it would be nice to see huge improvements for all the drawbacks that comes with VR headsets, limitations of FPS, high GPU utilisation should be optimized, and more simplification of user settings. I hope the new unreal engine 5 produces more fruitful result for the VR world fans
Thanks for another great video. I only race in VR so I stick with AMS2 and DR2 for now as they are the best running/looking sims but I can't wait for flat screen resolution/fps in vr. Could you please test the Aero in DR2 and AMS2. Thank you.
Its not flat screen resolution we are waiting for, its the pixel density (pixel per degree). You need 30 or higher for really crisp visuals. Btw, Human eye has around 60
If you see the side mirrors blurry when looking straight ahead its because the pimax 8kx dont has eye relief just like the vive pro to get the lenses closer. I had the same till i put a real thin foam on the facemask.. Now i see them both clear..even there is still some eye strain..but much better!
I definitely plan on testing out the Quest 2 in racing since I got it for my son and his setup has the wheel and pedal set (just a T150 - but has been a great wheel for my 7 yr old who has had it since he was 3.5/4yrs old). I did snag a PCIe add in card to maintain a constant 10Gbps for the link cable as well ($40 USD add-on).
VR-gaming is in a bit of a cat and mouse scenario. We are constantly at least a generation or two away from proper high fidelity VR-experience with the smoothness and high refresh rate it requires. And in the other hand the next upcoming headsets are going to require a ton of more computing power to run properly, going back to the first point. Hopefully we are at a point where a new innovation comes to the VR world, maybe a new sort of a panel or something that fixes the sweetspot issue and is way easier to run. Sony's PSVR 2nd. Gen perhaps? Only time will tell, and until we are there, having monitors are just way better for now.
ill have mine in hand wednesday. super fucking excited. moving on from a quest 2 finally. sim racing is the only thing i do in vr so this is literally perfect. thanks for the video Will!
They need to increase the lens technology to have a greater sweet spot. Also I much prefer a higher Hz panels than higher resolution for increase in comfort and motion sickness prevention.
What I don't get: Why don't the GPU manufactures implement a feature dual GPU for VR? Like SLI and Crossfire had alternative scanline or split frame rendering, why not make each gpu render one image for each eye? Would be the perfect setup for VR to get double fps.
@@tan143danh they are already synced, that's no problem at all. If one GPU is faster than the other, it'll wait for the other one. That's no problem at all. Even VRR works with waiting on the next frame.
If you thought driving two 4k screens was tough, wait for their next one.. 2x 6k displays :D i have the 8KX and i love it. it does take a bit of tweaking for some titles but i think its definitely worth it. What i found odd is that for me the headphones sit on my ears and when they do that the sound is actually very good for what it is. (90hz is not stable yet so if thats what you set it to try 75hz) I would also suggest playing with the digital IPD settings because unless i look deep in my peripheral vision it is actually quite clear. Also try setting Field of view in piTools to Normal instead of large. In the end i had to mess with a balance between PiTools render quality and steam VR settings. eventually you can get it running very nicely. (Except ACC... thos guys really let the VR community down when it comes to VR)
@@boostedmedia Of course. I do like the fact Pimax are doing the opposite of what the majority of companies do. Instead of incremental updates they put as much as they can into the headset. even if that means teething issues on launch. If you havent already, i suggest checking out their next headset. I was blown away by just how much they are adding in. (you will need two DP connections tho :)
Hey really like your reviews! Im looking to buy either a Csl DD or a GT DD Pro but dont know wich is more worth buying. At the moment i know i will play F1 2021 and some WRC 2.0 i dont have a ps5 so will play on PC. What turns me towards GT Pro is that its a complete set. but is there any difference on the wheelbase performance compared to the CSL DD. Would realy apreciate some help here.
I don't know much about this kind of stuff but apparently we need to keep our eyes on the CES tech trade show in January for AMD to make some big announcements about their next gen CPU and GPU 👀 Maybe that will be the answer to 90fps locked (?)
With regards to Camera positions and rending multiple video feeds for each eye. I was under the understanding that with triples you were rending multiple cameras also, the three cameras being in the same position/location in-game (the driver seat) but panned to point to different positions (to avoid fish eye), therefore rending 3 cameras. The headset would do the same but instead be pointed in the same direction from 2 different positions (eye distance apart). I don't know enough about how this is done in the back-end, there might be some superduper efficient way to render from the same position though then that might be the same for rending from 2 positions. EDIT: Having thought about it. With triples, you don't have to "re-render" lighting effects etc. With one camera position, the same effects apply over all three screens. You would still be rending 3 cameras, but you would use the same "frame" for each screen, whereas with 2 different locations, you will have to "re-render" certain aspects of the game, as they would appear in the 2nd position. Bascially thinking out loud at this point, but I'll leave the comment up if anyone else has a similar thought 😅
Great review, very comprehensive and honest. Will you be getting the Varjo Aero to review? I've yet to see anyone review the Aero on anything other than flight sims or slow moving games. Will it be the same experience as the 8kx in sim racers?
Eye glancing is THE problem with fresnel lens. For VR racing I use HTC Vive Cosmos with Samsung Gear VR lens mod. The difference is night and day. I can glance at my mirrors with my eyes just like in real life even if the FOV is slightly smaller than with the original lens.
@Boosted Media how do capture your headset? I use a (very old) Open VR capture plugin in OBS but the results are not that great. The stream/recording have a lot less FPS then I see in my headset.
Pimax requires some tuning; I run Iracing on the highest quality, using a RTX2080 super with a frame rate of about 55 fps (including AI cars). I have to admit this is really mind blowing; This review does not represent my opinion… The Pimax is amazing… (there are so much tuning options)…
I tested a Pimax 5K Super for a month last year but ultimately returned it. My major issue was that it was just way too uncomfortable. The headset is really heavy, the lenses sit on the bridge of your nose and put a lot of painful pressure there, and the lenses also fog up really easily. I'm not sure how the screens compare to the 8KX, but resolution aside, the colors and contrast were among the worst I've tried compared to other VR headsets. There were a lot of other minor issues as well, and all the downsides made the upsides not worth it personally. I did enjoy the wide FOV very much and hope to see more headsets increase their FOV without all the other compromises.
I’m running a 3080ti and I am always pegged at 90 fps. It did take some tweaking. The iRacing forum for VR has a setup guide by a guy named Ryan P (can’t remember full last name ). His guide is really good.
I'm on a oculus rift, have no frame issues just a weak cpu =( get throttling back due to heat (on laptop) hopefully I can solve that because the video quality is great
That's why I use quest 3. Even with top of the line 4090/7800x3D/DDR5 PC setup I am barely able to keep most settings on high or ultra at 90hz with AMS2 or PC2...note that for VR computer must render 2 displays at 140% of native resolution to counter the barrel distortion. I think having a VR headset with very high resolution makes no sense if there us currency no GPU to support it. But yes, in a couple of years....
You don't need all settings turned to max if you want 90fps. I'm sure a few small tweaks in the visuals wouldn't be that noticeable but you would get closer to your 90fps!
Nose piece is removable, but it does mean more light bleed, but I couldn't cope with it in there. I run a 3090 system, and only use "Normal" rather than "Large" to help with performance, the reduction in FOV is minimal and FOV still feels impressive. Will need 50 series cards before the 8kx can be fully exploited. It is a lovely bit of kit though, I'm even considering the 12kx trade in upgrade...
Thanks! I was thinking about getting this one, but now I'm going to skip it and get a nice wheel rim instead. BTW, I'd love you to review the new Porsche replica wheel from Grid Engineering. It looks incredible!
question, you mention that when using your eyes to look to the mirrors when looking center with your head its blurry, if you were in that same position wearing a race helmet would you be able to see that same mirror in that scenario? so it might be that is an accidental realism element possibly? thats how i felt when i had the Oculus Rift CV1 (i know its bad) if that makes sense
i get the black flicker every 5/10 mins intermittently almost like the oculus is blinking, im gussing after watching this its a iracing engine thing, great video will, maybe you should cover the oculus quest 2 being more at the lower affordable end of the market, also im running a community race today and onwards at the nurburgring on iracing starting from 4pm GMT hot lapping practice no incidents, no faults, unlimited fast repairs. gonna open it for 12 hours i will be streaming most of it from my side of things. would be awesome to see you on track throw a few laps down together
Iracing forum has a good thread on tuning settings for 8kx. I have it pretty much locked at 90fps with only a couple settings below max. And that’s only using a 3080. Also, that flicker you mention might be because you need a firmware update (not through pi tool), or plug into a powered USB hub. I had a similar issue.
@@justinwilkinson1966 search for “9-3-21 (Re)updated iRacing VR Guide for High End VR & PCs - Pimax 8Kx” on the forum. And be sure to check the 10/5 update on page two of the comments. I’d post the link, but pretty sure it’ll get scrubbed.
What's funny is even if he drops or to small it's a MAJOR increase over the other headsets on 5he market and you can run it at 99hz in Automobilista 2. Also with the resolution on the headset being so high you can turn down or even off Antialiasing in games which gives you better performance. It's not a plug and okay solution but it's 5he best headset out Rhee if you take the time to dial It in .
It would be cool if the headset had a small camera on the front so you could switch to real life looking through headset to find mouse and or keyboard.
I just got the HP Reverb G2 after owning an Oculus Rift for a few years and I'm watching your screen view and there's one thing that bugs me that I think these companies need to address. And that's the vibration from your head moving and talking. For instance I can't chew gum if I'm in VR. They should look at the technology used in Mirrorless cameras like the Canon r5, Nikon Z6 or really any mid to high end camera to stabilize the screens. Basically in these unit the sensor moves to keep it stabilizes. Obviously we aren't there yet and it would add to the price of the headset and it would probably lessen the resolution because as the sensor moves with vibration the processor also adjusts the image to be stable. I hope that makes sense. I think this would also help with sickness.
For me the deal breaker was tracking jitter using the two Lighthouse 2’s from my Index. I run iRacing with everything turned down but SS, AA, and anisotropic filtering so it’s as clear as possible and the highest frame rate possible so I was able to achieve acceptable frame rate at 75 Hz (I never even bothered with 90 because of all the known issues and difficulty comparing firmware versions). The jitter though, which was difficult to pinpoint until you sit the headset on a table to witness it then put it on your head and pay attention to it while driving, was so distracting I was literally losing up to a second per lap. When I put the Index back on my head, it was like a breath of fresh air. I tried to love it but just couldn’t.
Yeah not sure what the deal is there but Pimax support said its just the way it is depending on your room. However no such issue with the Varjo Aero using the exact same lighthouses in the same exact positions.
a good improvement for racers with this headset may be to mount it inside/to a racing helmet through the visor area so the weight would be more evenly distributed
You could, but I'd just use a scooter helmet--no full face coverage. No need for it. Simpler still is to counterbalance the weight by adding some to the back. Adjustable, of course. You would do some major cutting on most any helmet, I would think.
I've got some money to one side to upgrade my csl elite to the csl dd. I'm now kinda tempted to upgrade my oculus quest 2 to a hp reverb g2 (not the primax as I've 'just' a 6800 xt/ryzen 5600). I love VR gaming but tbh don't always want to be in VR so have triple screens. Do you/anyone think it's worth upgrading the headset over the wheelbase? I'm more leaning on the wheelbase side tbh
Small correction. Said “G2” when I meant to say “G1”. The HP Reverb G2 does have mechanical IPD adjustment.
I would love to see your opinion on the varjo aero
I just came to post this.
so HP makes best VR for simracing?
@@MAX1991111 I use my Reverb G2 in Sim Racing now over 8 month. It's fantastic every time i start the race :-) I drive only VR, no screen cause it is 3D gaming not flat 2D. It's awsome, you sould try it one time before you can say anything about VR. I test it ONE day (oculus rift s) and on the next day I orderd the HP reverb G2 :-)
We'll see when you provide us full display picture. ;-)
I have the pimax 8kx. It took me some time to convince myself to buy it. Wanted to send it back after 3 days. Can't keep it off my head after 2 weeks. When you think you are dialed in, you are not! A lot of tweaking needed to get this beast running properly. My system is 3080 ti ryzen 9 5900x 16gb ddr4 3733mhz and iracing runs totally fine for me in 4k 90fps. Track and car qualities are awesome. but! If I wanna race a bigger grid 20+ people you will turn down settings. IF your nose touches that edge use the bigger foam. God blessed me with a big nose, luckily air is free, and the thin foam hurts my nose too. Big foam, no problem. But here comes the trade off, bigger foam, bigger distance to lenses, less sweetspot, bigger warping at the edges. The warping didnt bother me in any game yet since the fov is so big that u naturally don't turn ur eyes that far. For me the display is incredibly clear, sweetspot is very good. Also I dont use lighthouses, headset only and it works very good. You dont need any lighthouse for simracing at all! Headtrqcking is perfect. My IPD is 70 and I use 65 with the headset. If you plug and play (like I see you do in this video) you will have bad quality. Set the steamVR resolution per eye correctly. Auto is not right! Anyway hope this helps anyone.
this lighthouse tracking is always an issue and will take away from the experience so this alone needs to dialed in perfectly along with no fps drops. everything has dialed in 100% in the settings from graphics, ffb, tracking and frame rates since you are trying to immerse yourself. still rocking OG vive with my DD set up!
Hi I strongly advise you to put 32gb of ram given the machine you have
yeah i struggled with this headset. From having the Index and G2. This was a serious ballache. the FOV is amazing i just dont have it in me to sit with it
@@Nam__88 hi! My highest ram usage in VR so far was 12 GB. Im not sure if more than 16 is necessary.
@@lovelaugh7299 The more RAM you have the better. and in addition having 4 bars and much better than 2. it's a bit complicated to explain but you must have information on youtube. I have a video but in my language in French I don't know if there are the subtitles. maybe you only use 12 but 4gb for only the rest of the pc is too weak. personally I do streaming and RUclips video so mountains and since I have 32gb you see that the pc and more free in terms of calculation, I don't know if you will understand everything with Google translation. especially with the configuration you have and the price it costs you should go to 32gb. look at the benchmarks you win a little. you don't win a lot, but in terms of saving calculation speed, it's much better. I play MFS2020 when I was 16gb the game took 13gb since I put 32gb it uses 16gb.
It would be really cool if they could implement hand tracking with your steering wheel so that in game you control the avatars arms n hands and they calibrate for the different wheel being used in game of course
Open doors and take off the wheel and undo belts to get out haha
Image the pc needed to add that as well. If his machine has frame dropping out us normal people don't stand a chance
yeah I've said this in the past too. Thing is it should be neither hard not cost much to implement on to wheels. Racing wheels the last decade have lacked any innovation. Neither getting the technology existing cheaper, nor anything new for expensive wheels. Understandably they make most money from the few that spend $1000-10000 on sims, but I think the market could grow quite a bit if they made stuff more accessible, both cheaper and more features
Should be possible already with Varjo XR3 headset. They use it in flight sims. Check VRM Switzerland for example. Those Pixmas are old tech already compared to Varjo.
@@mikemotorsport that wouldn’t make much difference, certainly not to the GPU anyway, just a small hit to CPU.
I'd suggest running FPSvr when testing VR headsets. It'll give you live fps numbers on games you typically don't get it, along with percentages for reprojection, GPU load and CPU load to help tell where bottlenecks are
Great to see Pimax shipping their headsets to this zero bs'ing channel; and an awesome, honest review as a result! A big FOV is what I need for VR to become a thing for me, currently on QHD 32" triples - tried a 110 degree one before and it wasn't for me. Performance issues at that 8k resolution was not unexpected. As you noted, it'd be great to be able to have another look when 4090s come out - but hopefully we'll have some improvements in eye tracked dynamic resolution as well by that time, in updated sets. 🙂
Same. 8kx was the third headset i purchased and the only one that made me feel like I could unplug my triple monitor setup. If you use resolution scaling to prioritize higher resolution in the center, then there isn’t any performance issues on current gen.
Same for me.
Low fov is a deal breaker
@@markitrix good to know!
Just to expand on Wills explanation for the increased GPU load rendering whats effectively just 2 x 4k panels... VR renders about 40-50% HIGHER than the native resolution of your chosen headsets panel (if you don't reduce it of course), this is to account for the pincushion lenses that we are looking through and produce a barrel corrected image, meaning for the best visual/native quality/resolution you are actually trying to render at around 11520 x 3240! A basically impossible task for current GPU's :)
Nice to see you hear Karl. Your video on that topic is what made me understand it. It is very well made and I still remember it every time I think about that aspect of VR.
And this is why the G2 is still the industry standard for sims…you start going 130 fov and beyond, machines gonna have trouble. 90fps /114fov is like wearing a racing helmet for the most part, and its clear(g2v2). Small form mini OLED incoming 2022. Its a great time for VR. Even with all the peripherals, vr still wins as you are in the car, brain tricked, job done, especially w/a dbox. Cant wait til tax season!
@@DarkNsaw yes I agree. If you are mainly doing sims racing or sim flight, thr G2 is number 1. Higher resolution or FOV, would be too demanding on current gen hardware. However I do more than just sims in VR, for me the Quest 2 is the best all rounder and for sims, it is a close second. The specs are a bit lower than the G2 but because of the compression, the performance hit makes the performance similar.
@@MegaIronica i will totally agree, The wireless aspect is tops for anything outside sim. But my controllers are still collecting dust as i never have reason to pull them out.
It's not only that it's rendering those views from 2 different perspectives kind of like how rendering your rear view mirrors in Sims cost more to render and usually have more graphics options to lower the load on the GPU.
I've been running the original Pimax 5k in iracing for the last 3 years. It took a bit of fiddling to get right initially, but its now been a few years running rock solid at over 100 FPS and this thing is bomb proof. I also have a small face and needed aftermarket padding.
Can I bug you with your settings? Recently picked up a sealed package for half the retail price. But struggling sorting out the settings.
What aftermarket padding did you choose? My head might be on the smaller side too so I want to buy a right one
I've used a Pimax 5k+ as my main VR headset for 3 years. While I've tried a number of other headsets such as the Reverb G2, I keep coming back to the Pimax because _for me_ the wide FOV and large sweet spot outweighs all the drawbacks. And there are many drawbacks, believe me.
One drawback that this review didn't mention, is that many users struggle with the lenses - not in sense of the edge distortions mentioned in this review, but that the lenses feel like you're wearing glasses with the wrong strength. My solution was to add extra facial padding to the headset so that it sits farther away from my eyes. This reduces the FOV slightly and increases edge distortions, but the FOV is still leagues ahead of any other consumer headset, even the Valve Index. And when kart racing in VR, being able to turn my head around and glance if there is someone behind me and look around tight hairpins is super valuable.
Pimax headsets are certainly not for everyone, but they do fill a very important niche. I only wish there was an alternative out there with wide FOV that was more comfortable, like the newly announced XTAL 3 but for consumers.
I have also used my PIMAX 5k a long time and I understand what you say. I also have the G2 , in my case I have the G2 as the main one because it has better colors and better resolution, less degradation in deeper images.
I felt the increased immersion from the FOV had a bigger impact and made it well worth it for me. Running iRacing at 75Hz native and only a few compromises in graphics settings on a 3090 I really enjoy it - but I am very lucky to be able to afford it.
Respect+++
How it treating you after a year of owning?
@@Cam_Wight Honestly I've gone back to my Index. For awhile I felt like the bigger FOV was more important. But after switching back and forth, the Index is lighter, more comfortable and has better colors. With the Index I can play beatsaber too, the Pimax was really only good for sim racing. Also, the Pimax always sat weird on my nose so it was uncomfortable after awhile, and randomly the screens would go blank for a couple seconds in the middle of a race and I never figured out what was causing that.
@@zombiegreedo7353 Interesting, thanks for the response!
Quite relatable experience. I have the G2 and honestly, I changed back to triples for racing. I'm so tired of the constant tinkering while sitting in a rig with a sweating head which is so inconvenient. Also not being able to run at the optimum graphics settings (for most sims except perhaps AC) just bugs me too (3070). Also, losing tracking from time to time which completely pulls you out, and last but not least the absolute nightmare which is WMR with Steam VR drivers completely ruins the immersion for me far too often and makes gets me enraged before I even really get into a race.
Almost the exact same circumstances for me, steam constantly crashing, pulling 20+gb of ram to render Iracing and having to run lowest graphics settings with a 10kcpu and 3070, triples are so much more stable.
I am having similar experience with my G2 and 3070 combo, have totally gone back to monitor for sim racing for the time being. Having a relatively new PC build and can't even run most sims smoothly in VR is a huge feelsbadman and I haven't put my headset on in months
oh yeah, G2 suddenly going blue and then re-centers itself into the passenger seat while also looking back. ruined a bunch of races to me. BUT when it works, I think it's still the best bang for your buck headset for sim racing.
Even in a normal road car, you turn your head at least a bit to focus on the closest side mirror, and quite a bit more to actually focus on the mirror further away--on the opposite side of the car. If you don't you certainly cannot focus on the image, but will only be aware of it anyway through mono-vision. Unless you are built like actor/comedian Marty Feldman, that is.
I've just ordered an 8kx for sim racing. I've been using a Rift S. The narrow fov has finally gotten to me.
Finally a big sim racing channel covers VR. Thumbs up for this alone 👍
I’ve been debating this headset from my g2. This was very helpful. Thank you for doing this video. You just saved me a ton of money. Gonna stick with my g2 for now and maybe look at the varjo or the other 5k micro led when they come out next year.
IMO he was a bit unforgiving on pimax. I went from g2 to 8kx and totally love it. Fov is worth the upgrade. Caveats - 1) you do need to use the resolution scaling to get good performance, but I honestly don’t notice it. 2) you will like need to swap out the head strap for a Vive das, which adds additional cost, but is pretty much a must have. 3) issues with flicker are common, but solutions are well documented and seem to be highly successful. If you have the cash, I think the upgrade is worth it if you’re looking for the best possible sim experience on the market today.
Also, a note on resolution scaling, he seems to take the position that he wants to run native resolution on the sides. However, that will likely tank performance. The alternative he chooses is to not have that extra FOV at all, which seems a bit like throwing the baby out with the bath water.
Been driving in the “real world” for 30 years and I can confidently say that I have never looked in the side mirrors without moving my head. Not even once.
the closer mirror yes,
Nice video. I knew the headset was more than most systems could handle, but the headset is relatively future-proof (for a while at least). I love mine, despite the tinkering. I've transitioned from the DK2 to CV1 and now 8KX....
this is crazy man hopefully i can get myself something like this one day.. Merry Christmas
Man your channel is so under rated man how do you not have millions of subs keep up the good content
G2 owner. Always good to watch a video that makes me happy with what I've got. Merry Christmas to you and the family Will.
Very fair review. I own an 8kx and agree with all your points. I added a 3d printed face gasket which vastly improved the comfort and use separate headphones. Without these, the sound quality and comfort is inferior to my oculus CV1. Still a great headset, but if you don't have a wide face, putting it on and shaking your head will hurt your nose without some aftermarket modifications!
Thanks for the review. I’ll keep my 1440p triple monitors over VR for now. I get extremely nauseous and still don’t think we’re there yet or fully ready for the masses
Yes a few more years for better Gpus, refresh rate, resolution and size/lightness.
I have the G2 and CANT maxed out the resolution in VR with a 3090 so, 8k is a way over the limit for actual hardware - no matter what you have...
But try the OLD AC with SolMod , thats awesome!! Stable 90 frames with 100 % screenresolution on high settings !
I got mine yesterday. I'm sending it back and going back to my Valve Index. The images are very nice in the pimax but the lack of framerate, fit and finish and sound is sub par at best. It looks like it was made in someone's shed. Valve index is my go to until me Varja Aero arrives.. which I'm very excited about.
I enjoyed watching this review, partly because it reassures me that my Rift S is still the right answer for me. And literally 1/10 of the price of this setup.
I am fortunate in that I don't seem to be affected by framerate like other people are. Perfectly happy with 40fps (30 feels a bit too choppy) for hours. Which is lucky, as upgrading my 1070Ti doesn't look like a realistic option for another year at least.
I would say Quest 2 would be a great upgrade for the Rift S and you would have stand alone, wireless PCVR and more 😉
I came off a rifts and it’s isn’t even close to the same experience. The FOV is a game changer.
Oof yeah I couldn't be asked to drop hundreds of dollars+ on vr just to watch a slideshow 😂
@@AndySpicer I never tried the the Rift S. Are saying the FOV in Quest 2 is better or are you talking about another headset?
@@chanman1197 a slide show?
Hi Will,
Several things .about the Pimax 8KX you may want to try.
First of all, I own G2, Vive Pro 2 , 8K+ and 8KX, and I am running with the G2 because it has better clarity and performance.
But, 2 things at least you should try to give the 8KX a better chance : activate smoothing ( Retroprojection ) in PiTools, switch to Normal Fov ( which is still way larger than G2 FOV ), try the Fixed Foveated Rendering ( I have it to balanced ) , because as you say you don't need image to be crips on the peripheral vision.
We did try those things and accounted for them in the review. The fact remains to take full advantage of the headset right now you have to make sacrifices in other areas. Looking forward to revisiting once PC tech catches up. Either way I’m glad tech like this exists to push the industry forward.
Curious you race the g2. I have both as well, but prefer the 8kx. Different strokes. I haven’t been able to notice a difference in clarity. Perhaps ipd related. And, to extra fov is totally worth it for me for immersion and on track awareness. Resolution scaling doesn’t impact my ability to see cars in my peripheral at all, which allows for better door to door racing. Vs, with the narrower fov on the g2 I found myself having to turn my head left and right a lot more to see what was going on around me. I’m sure you get used to it either way.
As always great video. This is the first time I watched a full review of the 8KX. I appreciate the fact you specify several times that it is from a sim racer perspective. From a VR enthusiasm perspective, the immersion is the most important thing, that's why these headsets are still popular for the price. I agree that they are even better for exploration games, however ironically this type of games benefits massively from a wireless VR experience which this one lacks. My headset is a Quest 2 heavily moded to improve sound, comfort and battery life. I would be curious to see your opinion on it. Though the specs are not the highest there is, I think you would be pleasantly surprised. Also with itscheap price, the ROI is hands down unbeatable.
@@middleagemoto clearly you never tried it or you did with a huge bias beforehand. I have seen a lot of RUclipsrs criticize it and flip in favor of it after a few days of use. Also, kind of wrong that your answer is you should spend more. What if people don't have that money?
With the problem about sore nose and support from the top, the Apache straps could be a good help for it. Considering the weight of the Pimax, perhaps counter balance weight might be also helpful. I do use Reverb G2 as you and adding the apache straps on top and the counter balance on the back was a game changer if it comes to the comfort aspect. I usually do 2hours sessions and sometimes I felt a pain in my neck due to the fact of front facing headset requiring extra effort. Since installing the counter balance, this feeling is gone.
In regards of your video - I think it looks like Pimax is just ahead of the time. So what that there is a head set with a great resolution if a person like you with a mighty PC can't run sims smoothly. I agree with your comment...maybe in future if some more powerful hardware is availble Pimax could fully show it's strengths.
I worry that if the GPU pricing situation continues, it's gonna really hinder the consumer market for this kind of VR and hamper future progress.
Next gen headsets are moving to a split processing framework, where the headset itself has processing capability onboard, so they will be able to render higher resolution/frame rate without relying solely on raw GPU power.
@@TechShizzleRacing specifically, what brands should I be on the look up for these next gen headsets?
@@Fidder492 Valve Deckard, Meta Cambria, Apple Whatever They Call It.
Check out Sadly It’s Bradley’s channel.
I've been rocking a 5k+ since they came out. I don't know how anyone uses screens. I tried triple screens and unless you're rocking three 4k screens pimax rocks. Add up the cost of those screens and the setup for each game and vr starts making some real sense. Can't imagine what the pimax 8k is like.
5 k+ @120 Hertz rocks for me
@@michaelhuyer1479 I recently got the 8k+. Not going to lie it's a pretty big upgrade. Still I rarely play. The frustration of drivers, updates, and question of will this work today is a pain.
This guy has a motion rig, force feedback and vr what more could you desire.
real half million dollar cars and access to race tracks and money to travel to dubai to race lol
The worst thing to ever happen to VR was the abandonment of the SLI format. SLI was just before it's time, because it was literally made for VR. One high-end GPU dedicated to each display in the headset. What a different world it would be.
Hasn't Nvidia replaced SLI with a newer, faster alternative now? I confess I haven't looked in on this until last night, but I, too, need a "one v. card per 4K screen" rig (for my own 8K X).
I VR Sim Race on exactly this HMD. I don't hav the flickering issue after the firmware updates, so do check your driver versions etc (I'm on a 3080Ti). If you want a great frame rate your best bet is AC, not ACC or Automobilista etc. Get the full version of SOL and Content manager and you'll have better eye-candy than any other racing SIM, plus world-class FFB and Physics and a rock-solid frame-rate. I do RL amateur motorsports, so I'm incredibly picky about everything SIM related, but especially about the Physics and FFB. No other SIM I've ever touched comes even close to simulating my RL experiences with near-identical cars than AC (I pilot classic rear-engine Porsches; if a SIM can't get one of the most iconic and unique driving experiences correct, then it's a failure in m book. AC is one of a tiny number of SIMs where I can actually feel that weight-balance portrayed through the wheel and thus properly manage throttle-control etc.)
I must have raced you somewhere then. rF2's 356 is huge fun, the 908 is great, and while I was not terribly impressed with any 917 mod I had yet seen (or the AC addon either), AC itself can be pretty impressive.
Of course I was raised on the passenger side floor of a 356, so I'm a bit biased.... ;-)
Re: The sweet-spot. It's not well understood, but the actual degree/area where stereo can be seen (it takes two eyes to see stereo, of course) is only about 45 degrees to each side of centerline. A total of about ninety degrees, and anything wider is mono-vision only. It's a function of the way your eyes sit in your head: Your right eye can only see about 45 degrees left of center. Because it's blocked by your nose. Cover one eye and you'll realize this is true. It's quite obvious when you do this, but the two eyes combine to make the nose almost invisible in normal practice. The brain is pretty talented. Even mine. :-P
Real drivers in the real world have to move their eyes and or head to check the mirrors 😉
I never said before, but great review, really tackled the real world issues. I was 95% sold on the Pimax 8K but the headset comfort and the those issues in iRacing might just put me back on the fence again. I’m guessing those issues will be worse with the Pimax 12K coming in Q3 this year...thanks again. You’ve got a new subscriber 👍👍👍
8kx with the Vive DAS is the sweet spot for comfort and audio fidelity. Also, if the weight is on your nose, you need to tighten the top strap. As to FPS in simracing, you can easily get 75 FPS locked solid in “Normal” FOV, which is still 150 degrees. The Pimax definitely needs some tweaking to get the best experience, and I don’t think Will had enough time to really get the headset dialed in.
Having said that, the Aero looks very interesting despite its higher price and limited FOV. Looking forward to that review.
Vive das is a must. +300g counterweight. Makes it super comfy
Do you still advice Vive DAS for 8KX in 2024?
@@RealityShowsViralYes, but there’s no reason to use the 8kx anymore unless you can’t upgrade to the Crystal or Crystal Light.
@@RScottBell Thanks will buy one then because this Pimax headstrap is very uncomfortable for me and Yes can't upgrade to Crystal
You're saying it's more sharp than the Reverb G2 because of the resolution. While it's true that the the 8K X has a higher resolution than the G2, this is spread over a much larger area, which actually results in a lower Pixels per Inch (PPI) and Pixels per Degree (PPD) than the G2. Most reports that I've seen say the G1 & G2 are sharper than the 8K X by a little bit, and this would align the the PPI & PPD numbers.
Really solid review. Nice to see it from an exclusive sim racing perspective. That said, a follow up video with the common "VR tweaks" to settings, to maximize performance and the experience, would be great. Why? Because that is how 99% of VR users would experience the headset; most don't just plug it in and run a preset, they end up going down the rabbit hole of researching common practices to make things as good as they can be, i.e. running Holger's VRPerfKit, tweaking SteamVR resolution and in-game resolution/pixel density around, optimizing the video settings based upon the findings in hundreds of hours of testing by users. This is especially true for ACC where you need to dial some things in manually in order to maximize the VR experience of the game.
Not a knock AT ALL on this video, it's brilliant, but the above follow up video is something I feel your viewer base would really benefit from when it comes to making a decision. I found myself saying to myself a number of times "Yeah of course the performance isn't great, you're not running X, Y and Z" :)
I've struggled for 6 months dialing in my pimax settings and found that pitool quality 1.5 , steamvr on 100% with SS off and also Foviated rendering is on closed setting this for me is the best quality I could get. Also All AA is turned off in nvidia control panel and game. Try it and let me know your experience.
Steamvr to 50%.
Please review the varjo Aero 🙏
It should be much lighter , much more comfortable , way better fps and MUCH better clarity and sharpness with edge to edge clarity .
So perfect for your use case 🙂
I think I’ll stick with my G2 for now. Thanks for review.
I wonder how the difference is for Verstappen or an elite simracer. I wonder how much faster or slower they would be in comparison to just 3 monitors.. with VR.
As far as I know, those guys are all triples. But I wonder too.
Great review as usual.
I actually don't mind the smaller field of view with my Reverb G1 and black background because I imagine wearing a helmet will also prevent you from having a wide field of view anyways. Great review, definitely not going to upgrade any time soon considering how much ACC struggles with my G1 and RTX2080
Could depend on the helmet. Extend your arms out to each side (180 FOV) and simply wiggle your fingers. Without a helmet, you will probably be aware of both. Then try the same experiment with a helmet.
I'm nearly certain an old Bell Star would allow the same full 180 if not a bit more.
The black flashing is definitely firmware related. It took me two weeks to get a firmware and pitool version that worked together. It is really finicky. However, once you get it right it does work at highest resolution at 90fps. I’m running 3080ti and Ryzen 5600x. I’m also running 1.5 super scale in pitool and 100% in steam vr. Crazy big sweetspot.
Yeah, finally got my 5K super dialed in and get 85-90 FPS in ACC and iRacing with similar setting in PiTool and SVR as you running at the 150 degree FOV. Looks and feels awesome and no longer have to turn my head left and right like I do with the Rift S, I can just glance to either side and all is good.
That’s for the review. I was really hoping for that the extended fov would have solved some annoyances that vr currently has . Keep waiting I guess
I am running the Pimax 5K+ (predecessor of this one) for 2.5 years now and absolutely love it. I have some additions to the review.
First of all you don't have to use the basestations. There are also gyroscopes in the headset you can use for tracking which I am doing. Of course then you have to cope with the drift. This is not huge and tend to only start drifting when you put your headset away, or after 10 minutes. So be sure to have "centering" button you can press blindly if you use that. Of course base stations are better, but if you want to safe some money you can use this.
Secondly for me the wide FOV is absolutely a must for me. Seeing a car in the corner of your eye makes you aware there is a car there and absolutely helps with close racing. I never had the issue with blurry mirrors. But maybe that is because I drive formula cars and mirrors are much closer together. I think also important to note is that you can turn down the FOV from 170 degrees, to 150, to 120 degrees FOV if your PC cant handle it.
With Pimax VR it's also always a bit messing around with settings so be aware of that. But ones you get it right it's great.
Also the Pimax headsets are quit modular. For example I have a hand tracking module beneath it using the USB port that is there. I think I will stay with my Pimax 5K until it breaks and hopefully then I can run this 8K version.
Thanks for the review Will!
I have the Pimax 8K+. VR is a unique experience for everyone so what I prefer will not be the same for all but for me it is a priority to run the highest refresh rate possible for sim racing. So if I was using the 8KX I would be running in upscale mode and trying to hit a constant 120 fps and to achieve that I would be turning the resolution down in SteamVR in upscale mode and probably run in the second highest FOV rather than the highest because you don't actually lose much in the peripheral on the second highest FOV but it is a lot lower resolution to render if you also have the setting not to render masked objects which is important to lower the render resolution on the lower FOV's. At the second highest FOV you are still far above the other headsets. Do make sure you are running a fixed resolution in SteamVR, a long time ago I had some kind of dynamic resolution on which really messed up my frame rate. Pimax does have a foveated resolution setting but you need eye tracking for that, I do think if eye tracking and foveated resolution worked well (I'm not sure if it does) that would be the solution for running a higher resolution and maintaining a higher refresh rate. But for me 75hz is a horrible experience in the Pimax and I can't even go back to 90hz after trying 110hz. Unfortunately with my old PC running a 10600k with a 3090 it just couldn't run a high enough resolution at 110fps. I' have not tried my new PC that I just built for Xmas, still the same 3090 but upgraded to a12600k. It will make a difference, not a massive difference but for some reason in VR in iRacing single thread CPU performance is still a critical factor in being able to run high resolution at high refresh rates without dips. Once I have tried it I'll report back if it has actually allowed me to run a higher resolution with the same 3090. My OC 10600k scored a single thread 1.87 CPUz score of 650, my factory settings 12600k scores 770 so even without the OC I'm expecting an improvement but that remains to be seen. If an improvement is noticeable I'll OC it to get the best possible experience and I'll report back my findings.
Just quickly, I think you are missing the point with your comments on their being no point to
the extra FOV (peripheral vision - PV). The reason we have PV in real life is to give us a ‘heads up’ on events around us. A very warning. Like iff someone throws a ball from the side, your PV picks the movement up and you react. Same if someone is overtaking you, your PV warns you first, then you react, turning your head, eyes and focus being first.
If you think about PV as being a situational awareness early warning system (like it is in real life) than the extra POV makes perfect sense and the more the better. 👍
Hope that made sense, I’m not a good explainera.
Eye tracking rules 😜 - Michael
Yes, yes, yes. You can't focus on the side objects and movement, but the motion alone can be enough. Plus, the overall sense of speed--of roadside objects flashing past you--comes mostly from that peripheral vision too.
Once you go Pimax you can never go back. Amazing!!
Once you go varjo can't go back
@33:25 thats no longer a limitation of vr, the psvr2 has eye tracking and everywhere u look it has amazing clarity, which also significantly boosts visuals and performance. Also theres a new headset thats gonna have augmented reality inside vr, so it will allow u to see your steering wheel and arms while in vr
Fantastic review! One thing to address the video blur is to turn off Foveated rendering. That is software that makes snything outside the sweet spot blurry to save resources.
Looking to get a pimax for years now but I think a great dlss is needed for this to work. I hope that will come soon with the next gen Pimax 12K.
How does the fov of the Pimax compare to your large screen tripples? Do you get a comparable realistic sense of size and enviroment with the pimax?
The sense of size in particular should be hugely better with the Pimax. It would need very little tweaking in that regard, I would think. I myself had used a lifesize projection (1920 x 1080p, FOV just about 90) and that DID require some tweaking to get the lifesize effect the first time, but was then generally tweak free after that.
The screen was just behind my wheelcase, so I cut the lower center out where my legs went through/past it.
Get the horizon set dead level in front of you (important for immersion), size at least one car correctly (tweak the FOV) using a good top down drawing of the car vs driver's eye position sitting that car, and it was pretty much hands off after that.
The pixel size was a complete non issue after just a few laps--you had to look for it to even notice it in fact.
The only thing it lacked was stereo.
Interesting with my Index I’m pretty satisfied with resolution and refresh rate.
320% Res With Performance FSR through Content manager for AC.
How wide do you think the clear FOV is?
Tighten the top strap to get the weight off your nose. Better yet, swap the strap with a Vive DAS strap. Get a vinyl face mask that makes it more comfortable for oval heads. Use pimax quality 1 with large at 90hz. Specific older drivers do 90 without black blinking (pitool 271 and firmware 298 with latest nvidia). Set SteamVR percentage to cover just slightly more than the native display size (60% for me). Lower iRacing settings to achieve 90 FPS, (medium shader, low details, trees, etc). Set a button to recenter while driving. Check out Racelabs overlays, voice attack with digital race assistant.
I'll stick to my Quest 2 for the time being. With my 3080 I get great frame rates and after a couple minutes you can't even tell it has the resolution of a PS3!!! lol Also I can honestly wear it for hours on end.
Thanks for the review, I'll wait another 5 years before checking VR again.
Hi Will,
Nice video, always appreciate your efforts to improve our simracing experience.
I feel that there is a mismatch between VR headset manufacturing process and the engines that runs most of simracing games.
For some reasons some games look better in VR than other games with the same settings.
To me VR is always work in progress that won't be finished anytime soon, but it would be nice to see huge improvements for all the drawbacks that comes with VR headsets, limitations of FPS, high GPU utilisation should be optimized, and more simplification of user settings.
I hope the new unreal engine 5 produces more fruitful result for the VR world fans
Thanks for another great video. I only race in VR so I stick with AMS2 and DR2 for now as they are the best running/looking sims but I can't wait for flat screen resolution/fps in vr. Could you please test the Aero in DR2 and AMS2. Thank you.
Its not flat screen resolution we are waiting for, its the pixel density (pixel per degree). You need 30 or higher for really crisp visuals. Btw, Human eye has around 60
If you see the side mirrors blurry when looking straight ahead its because the pimax 8kx dont has eye relief just like the vive pro to get the lenses closer. I had the same till i put a real thin foam on the facemask.. Now i see them both clear..even there is still some eye strain..but much better!
32:44 it’s a year later now… can we do an updated video lol
We did a revisit with the 4090 a few weeks ago
I definitely plan on testing out the Quest 2 in racing since I got it for my son and his setup has the wheel and pedal set (just a T150 - but has been a great wheel for my 7 yr old who has had it since he was 3.5/4yrs old). I did snag a PCIe add in card to maintain a constant 10Gbps for the link cable as well ($40 USD add-on).
Dang Will! I am still running my CV1.. But my old I7 1080 is ok with that.. Nice reviews on the PIMAX.. DMax motion sim
VR-gaming is in a bit of a cat and mouse scenario. We are constantly at least a generation or two away from proper high fidelity VR-experience with the smoothness and high refresh rate it requires. And in the other hand the next upcoming headsets are going to require a ton of more computing power to run properly, going back to the first point. Hopefully we are at a point where a new innovation comes to the VR world, maybe a new sort of a panel or something that fixes the sweetspot issue and is way easier to run. Sony's PSVR 2nd. Gen perhaps? Only time will tell, and until we are there, having monitors are just way better for now.
Yep. And I think unless the GPU prices get back to normal soon, such progression on consumer VR is gonna slow down.
ill have mine in hand wednesday. super fucking excited. moving on from a quest 2 finally. sim racing is the only thing i do in vr so this is literally perfect. thanks for the video Will!
They need to increase the lens technology to have a greater sweet spot. Also I much prefer a higher Hz panels than higher resolution for increase in comfort and motion sickness prevention.
nice honest review!
What I don't get: Why don't the GPU manufactures implement a feature dual GPU for VR? Like SLI and Crossfire had alternative scanline or split frame rendering, why not make each gpu render one image for each eye? Would be the perfect setup for VR to get double fps.
because they would have to sync correctly otherwise that would give you a serious headache,
@@tan143danh they are already synced, that's no problem at all. If one GPU is faster than the other, it'll wait for the other one. That's no problem at all. Even VRR works with waiting on the next frame.
If you thought driving two 4k screens was tough, wait for their next one.. 2x 6k displays :D i have the 8KX and i love it. it does take a bit of tweaking for some titles but i think its definitely worth it. What i found odd is that for me the headphones sit on my ears and when they do that the sound is actually very good for what it is. (90hz is not stable yet so if thats what you set it to try 75hz) I would also suggest playing with the digital IPD settings because unless i look deep in my peripheral vision it is actually quite clear. Also try setting Field of view in piTools to Normal instead of large. In the end i had to mess with a balance between PiTools render quality and steam VR settings. eventually you can get it running very nicely. (Except ACC... thos guys really let the VR community down when it comes to VR)
It’s great to have companies like this driving the technology forward. Even if it’s not suitable for everyone I think it’s a great product.
@@boostedmedia Of course. I do like the fact Pimax are doing the opposite of what the majority of companies do. Instead of incremental updates they put as much as they can into the headset. even if that means teething issues on launch. If you havent already, i suggest checking out their next headset. I was blown away by just how much they are adding in. (you will need two DP connections tho :)
Hey really like your reviews!
Im looking to buy either a Csl DD or a GT DD Pro but dont know wich is more worth buying.
At the moment i know i will play F1 2021 and some WRC 2.0 i dont have a ps5 so will play on PC.
What turns me towards GT Pro is that its a complete set. but is there any difference on the wheelbase performance compared to the CSL DD.
Would realy apreciate some help here.
I don't know much about this kind of stuff but apparently we need to keep our eyes on the CES tech trade show in January for AMD to make some big announcements about their next gen CPU and GPU 👀 Maybe that will be the answer to 90fps locked (?)
With regards to Camera positions and rending multiple video feeds for each eye. I was under the understanding that with triples you were rending multiple cameras also, the three cameras being in the same position/location in-game (the driver seat) but panned to point to different positions (to avoid fish eye), therefore rending 3 cameras. The headset would do the same but instead be pointed in the same direction from 2 different positions (eye distance apart). I don't know enough about how this is done in the back-end, there might be some superduper efficient way to render from the same position though then that might be the same for rending from 2 positions.
EDIT: Having thought about it. With triples, you don't have to "re-render" lighting effects etc. With one camera position, the same effects apply over all three screens. You would still be rending 3 cameras, but you would use the same "frame" for each screen, whereas with 2 different locations, you will have to "re-render" certain aspects of the game, as they would appear in the 2nd position. Bascially thinking out loud at this point, but I'll leave the comment up if anyone else has a similar thought 😅
My understanding is implemented in different ways depending on the engine. Some do render three seperate cameras apparently.
Great review, very comprehensive and honest.
Will you be getting the Varjo Aero to review?
I've yet to see anyone review the Aero on anything other than flight sims or slow moving games. Will it be the same experience as the 8kx in sim racers?
Yep. Showed it at the end of this video ;)
@@boostedmedia Haha, so you did. Missed the last minute there. Awesome, can't wait
Eye glancing is THE problem with fresnel lens. For VR racing I use HTC Vive Cosmos with Samsung Gear VR lens mod. The difference is night and day. I can glance at my mirrors with my eyes just like in real life even if the FOV is slightly smaller than with the original lens.
@Boosted Media how do capture your headset? I use a (very old) Open VR capture plugin in OBS but the results are not that great. The stream/recording have a lot less FPS then I see in my headset.
Great review Will, looking forward to the Aero. Will you still be doing a review on Dbox?
Yep dbox review will be coming early next year. As will the Sigma Integrale review.
Pimax requires some tuning; I run Iracing on the highest quality, using a RTX2080 super with a frame rate of about 55 fps (including AI cars). I have to admit this is really mind blowing; This review does not represent my opinion… The Pimax is amazing… (there are so much tuning options)…
Must do comfort upgrades. Grab a vive DAS and a 300g counterweight. Makes a world of difference.
Will amazing review. i am sold. How many of the base stations do i need to order for best performance/ Thanks inadvance.
For sim racing you just Need one Station
I tested a Pimax 5K Super for a month last year but ultimately returned it. My major issue was that it was just way too uncomfortable. The headset is really heavy, the lenses sit on the bridge of your nose and put a lot of painful pressure there, and the lenses also fog up really easily. I'm not sure how the screens compare to the 8KX, but resolution aside, the colors and contrast were among the worst I've tried compared to other VR headsets. There were a lot of other minor issues as well, and all the downsides made the upsides not worth it personally.
I did enjoy the wide FOV very much and hope to see more headsets increase their FOV without all the other compromises.
you just need to try Varjo Aero
I’m running a 3080ti and I am always pegged at 90 fps. It did take some tweaking. The iRacing forum for VR has a setup guide by a guy named Ryan P (can’t remember full last name ). His guide is really good.
What gpu do you have?
@@chanman1197 uh, a 3080ti. Like it says in the fourth word in the post you replied to.
I'm on a oculus rift, have no frame issues just a weak cpu =( get throttling back due to heat (on laptop) hopefully I can solve that because the video quality is great
That's why I use quest 3. Even with top of the line 4090/7800x3D/DDR5 PC setup I am barely able to keep most settings on high or ultra at 90hz with AMS2 or PC2...note that for VR computer must render 2 displays at 140% of native resolution to counter the barrel distortion.
I think having a VR headset with very high resolution makes no sense if there us currency no GPU to support it. But yes, in a couple of years....
Happy Christmas
You don't need all settings turned to max if you want 90fps. I'm sure a few small tweaks in the visuals wouldn't be that noticeable but you would get closer to your 90fps!
Thank you for highlighting how heavy this is. I think I'll look for something lighter for endurance racing
the black flicker it does it on both of my computers with dif cards, its the game.
It’s not the game. Does it even on the virtual desktop or steam Vr interface
Nose piece is removable, but it does mean more light bleed, but I couldn't cope with it in there.
I run a 3090 system, and only use "Normal" rather than "Large" to help with performance, the reduction in FOV is minimal and FOV still feels impressive. Will need 50 series cards before the 8kx can be fully exploited. It is a lovely bit of kit though, I'm even considering the 12kx trade in upgrade...
Is there any review with 4090?
Thanks! I was thinking about getting this one, but now I'm going to skip it and get a nice wheel rim instead. BTW, I'd love you to review the new Porsche replica wheel from Grid Engineering. It looks incredible!
question, you mention that when using your eyes to look to the mirrors when looking center with your head its blurry, if you were in that same position wearing a race helmet would you be able to see that same mirror in that scenario? so it might be that is an accidental realism element possibly? thats how i felt when i had the Oculus Rift CV1 (i know its bad) if that makes sense
i get the black flicker every 5/10 mins intermittently almost like the oculus is blinking, im gussing after watching this its a iracing engine thing, great video will, maybe you should cover the oculus quest 2 being more at the lower affordable end of the market, also im running a community race today and onwards at the nurburgring on iracing starting from 4pm GMT hot lapping practice no incidents, no faults, unlimited fast repairs. gonna open it for 12 hours i will be streaming most of it from my side of things. would be awesome to see you on track throw a few laps down together
Iracing forum has a good thread on tuning settings for 8kx. I have it pretty much locked at 90fps with only a couple settings below max. And that’s only using a 3080. Also, that flicker you mention might be because you need a firmware update (not through pi tool), or plug into a powered USB hub. I had a similar issue.
Do you have a link to that iRacing forum post by chance?
@@justinwilkinson1966 search for “9-3-21 (Re)updated iRacing VR Guide for High End VR & PCs - Pimax 8Kx” on the forum. And be sure to check the 10/5 update on page two of the comments. I’d post the link, but pretty sure it’ll get scrubbed.
What's funny is even if he drops or to small it's a MAJOR increase over the other headsets on 5he market and you can run it at 99hz in Automobilista 2.
Also with the resolution on the headset being so high you can turn down or even off Antialiasing in games which gives you better performance. It's not a plug and okay solution but it's 5he best headset out Rhee if you take the time to dial It in .
It would be cool if the headset had a small camera on the front so you could switch to real life looking through headset to find mouse and or keyboard.
I just got the HP Reverb G2 after owning an Oculus Rift for a few years and I'm watching your screen view and there's one thing that bugs me that I think these companies need to address. And that's the vibration from your head moving and talking. For instance I can't chew gum if I'm in VR. They should look at the technology used in Mirrorless cameras like the Canon r5, Nikon Z6 or really any mid to high end camera to stabilize the screens. Basically in these unit the sensor moves to keep it stabilizes. Obviously we aren't there yet and it would add to the price of the headset and it would probably lessen the resolution because as the sensor moves with vibration the processor also adjusts the image to be stable. I hope that makes sense. I think this would also help with sickness.
Do I need to use the Tracking Module when playing Assetto Corsa?
For me the deal breaker was tracking jitter using the two Lighthouse 2’s from my Index. I run iRacing with everything turned down but SS, AA, and anisotropic filtering so it’s as clear as possible and the highest frame rate possible so I was able to achieve acceptable frame rate at 75 Hz (I never even bothered with 90 because of all the known issues and difficulty comparing firmware versions). The jitter though, which was difficult to pinpoint until you sit the headset on a table to witness it then put it on your head and pay attention to it while driving, was so distracting I was literally losing up to a second per lap. When I put the Index back on my head, it was like a breath of fresh air. I tried to love it but just couldn’t.
Yeah not sure what the deal is there but Pimax support said its just the way it is depending on your room. However no such issue with the Varjo Aero using the exact same lighthouses in the same exact positions.
a good improvement for racers with this headset may be to mount it inside/to a racing helmet through the visor area so the weight would be more evenly distributed
Or just strap the rear to your racing socks...
You could, but I'd just use a scooter helmet--no full face coverage. No need for it.
Simpler still is to counterbalance the weight by adding some to the back. Adjustable, of course.
You would do some major cutting on most any helmet, I would think.
So you think it would be the best vr for sim racing ?
I've got some money to one side to upgrade my csl elite to the csl dd. I'm now kinda tempted to upgrade my oculus quest 2 to a hp reverb g2 (not the primax as I've 'just' a 6800 xt/ryzen 5600). I love VR gaming but tbh don't always want to be in VR so have triple screens. Do you/anyone think it's worth upgrading the headset over the wheelbase? I'm more leaning on the wheelbase side tbh