Best VR Headset for Sim Racing 2023 (and hardware needed)?

Neilski said:

As far as I know, all VR headsets have the image at "infinity" (which to the eyeball pretty much just means anything more than a few metres away). So if you can drive IRL without corrective lenses, that should be perfect for VR with no need to wear any extra lenses.

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VR Focal Distance: Many headsets are set to 5 feet, but there is some variation.
Varjo Aero 85cm or about 2.8 feet.
Reverb G2 1.5m or about 5 feet.
They all have corrective lens inserts that you can get if you don't want to wear contacts or glasses in VR.

Video Cards:
My take is that for any of the latest higher resolution headsets, you will want a 4090, period.

VR Headsets:
I hate to say it, but you have to treat VR headsets as disposable.
I used a Valve Index for 3.5 years and it worked beautifully that whole time. I still use the base stations and Index controllers with my Varjo Aero. When I got the Index for me it was the perfect compromise.
Since then I haven't seen what I would call the perfect compromise upgraded for current technology from anyone. There is nothing available today from anyone that I could recommend as a VR headset that I would expect to want to keep a year from now.
I got my Aero to hold me over while I wait for what I would really like to have. That's hardly the overwhelmingly positive response that I had while using my Index for so long. The Aero is very sharp and is working well for me. In some titles I do see some of that blur as I move my head. In others I don't notice it. I haven't noticed any issues with red shift, but some people have and it appears that it is worse for people with larger IPD's than mine. The Aero says I have a 64.5mm IPD. I've heard beyond 66.5mm the red shift is noticeable. I would like a larger FOV than I currently have, but it is good enough that I use the Aero instead of my Index and have fore a few months now.

Right now I'm most interested in what Big Screen Beyond is getting ready to release. They say they will have it out to an Index like FOV before it ships. We will see. I think it is more like what the next generation of headset will be.

This is the rub. Right now headsets are going in many directions.

Varjo Aero - is a high-quality high-end headset with solid supported dynamic foveated rendering. It only has native support in DCS and it is fantastic looking in that title. In other titles, it can be run at 35ppd and that looks excellent as well. Lead time on a headset is about 3 weeks. I got mine in 10 days.

The Pimax Crystal - is a mid-quality headset currently shipping without support for dynamic foveated rendering so far. It has darker blacks and better color and the vertical FOV is better than the Aero. What you will actually get when you order is debatable. Some people have just started to receive their Crystals and are saying they got plastic lenses instead of the glass lenses sent to reviewers. Pimax was supposed to have two sets of lenses shipped but only sent one. It's a work in progress and the lead time on a headset is supposed to be 2 months. The downsides are that it uses rechargeable batteries, they still have not released their Lighthouse tracking support yet and their current hand controller inside out tracking still needs work. I am hearing that the have gotten their DMAS headphones to sound good so they have an audio solution.

The Big Screen Beyond - They are a new brand. They are supposed to have the best dark blacks and excellent color and a sharp display. Their comfort is in a completely different category because of their incredibly light weight and size. But are not bright, IPD is set at the factory and the facial interface is custom-made for your face so you can't share the headset. A 4090 should drive it well enough without dynamic foveated rendering since it's a lower resolution than the Aero or Crystal. Hopefully, it will have decent enough FOV as good or better than the Crystal. It's likely to be shipping in a couple of months, but it's not here yet.

Valve is likely to announce something by the end of the year that is micro OLED based like the BSB and it is likely to have pancake lenses, dynamic foveated rendering, and an excellent audio solution etc.. etc.. I could read my wish list into what I hope it will be, but it's taking a long time to get here and all we have are rumors.

My "guess" is that whatever Valve announces will be something that I will buy and recommend to others. I just have no idea when it will be announced or shipped.

The whole VR marketplace seems a bit crazy these days. The price of Video Cards and VR headsets seems to be spiralling pretty quickly. The latest microOLED displays with pancake lenses that were recently displayed at a show were ultra high-resolution and had a FOV as wide as 240 degrees. They looked amazing based on the youtube videos and seem to check every box I can imagine. However they are just engineering samples at this point and more importantly not even a 4090 could drive something like that without pulling the resolution way back.

Meta will be releasing the Quest 3 around Sept-Oct of this year. It will likely be the least expensive option with fairly good specs. It may even run well on cards below the 4090.

FWIW, I'll be sticking with my Aero watching BSB and waiting for the next Valve announcement. I fully expect that whatever I buy next will be waiting for a 5090 before it can be used closer to its maximum specifications.

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imtoooldforthis said:

Thanks for the response guys. Think i am going to go for the Meta Quest 3. In terms of accessories is there anything i need beside the silicone mask and elite strap ? I see people talk about a link cable (no idea what that even is lol) ? Do i need one of them as well ?

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The link cable is for linking your pc to your quest 3 so that you can play "pcvr" games (vr games running on your pc) in your quest 3, so things like assetto corsa on steam, you are basically streaming the games from your pc to your quest 3 via the link cable. You don't need 1, you can play wirelessly if you have a 1GB ethernet cable from your pc to your router and your router can do 5GHz or better wifi (your quest will be on this band and should be the only device on it). Cable has its advantages/disadvantages. If you do buy u don't really need the expensive Meta link cable, i use an Anker 5m cable from Amazon iirc cost £15. But any old USB cable won't do, needs to be long enough and minimum USB 3.0. Amazon also has a Q3 silicon facial cover for £10 that fits fine, I bought 1 the other day.

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