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

[Rainman2020]

Hey Yall...

Yall helped me a ton when I was first getting into sim racing and picking hardware. Now, I am finally ready to take the VR plunge for the first time and need yall's advice again. I have read a bunch of stuff on this forum and elsewhere already, but am still confused as to what headset to get and what hardware I would need to run it properly.

I currently have a P1-X rig, Accuforce V2 wheel and HE Sprint pedals with a 34 inch widescreen monitor. My computer setup is currently an i7-10700k CPU @ 3.80Ghz, 16 MB Ram and a RTX2080 Super.

I am wanting to get a really good VR headset. I will almost exclusively be using the VR headset for sim racing (iRacing in particular). My main desires are as follows:

1) Fantastic sweet spot that is not hard to find and keep (and preferably goes very far to the edges, I want the whole screen to be the sweet spot as much as possible and don't want it super blurry at the edges nor do I want to constantly lose the sweet spot during use)

2) At least be able to keep a very solid 90 FPS without the screen blurring when moving my head and without stuttering or other such distracting issues. I would prefer 120 FPS if possible.

3) Something that goes with points 1 and 2 above is a headset that will give me the least issues with motion sickness. Figuring that a strong sweet spot combined with a solid at least 90 FPS (120 FPS would be great) would do the most to help me not have motion sickness issues. I can get motion sickness fairly easily, so anything I can do to mitigate this in my headset and hardware choices is a very important factor for me.

4) Image clarity over FOV, really want it to not be blurry and distorted or i will go back to my regular monitor.

I am leaning towards the Varjo due to 1) side to side sweet spot 2) image clarity. I have heard of issues with it having motion blur when you move your head though.

I have heard that the new Quest Pro has new flat type lenses that give you a side to side sweet spot and, although not the image quality of the Varjo, it sounds like very good image quality. $1K is a lot though.

I was wanting a G2 due to the low price and great image quality but have heard so many people state that they had issues with a small and hard to locate sweet spot (and very blurry edges of the screen).

I am not interested in anything from Pimax, seems like a shady operation to me. FOV is not a huge factor for me as well, so they are out unless yall convince me otherwise.

I realize that I will need to at least upgrade my video card, maybe my CPU as well, especially if i go for broke and get the Varjo. My understanding is that a 4090 is almost a must for the Varjo. I would assume i would need a better CPU in that case as well, but not sure.

Price is not the most important factor to me, but it is a real factor. If i went for the Varjo and yall told me i would have to both upgrade to a newer computer (CPU) AND a 4090, then we are talking about 5K or so for everything, that is a LOT. However, i do want the best VR experience i can get and as giant a sweet spot as possible and the best graphics possible.

One other note is that i do wear glasses, but only for reading things close. I do not use 'progressive glasses' that work for all situations. When i am in the sim rig, i do wear my glasses. However, when watching TV with the TV screen about 5-6 feet away, i do NOT use my glasses, nor do i use them when driving a car for example. Will VR work for me at all given that i need glasses only for viewing things that are within 1-3 feet and don't need them for anything further away?

Thanks for the advice!

Randy

 

[Leynad777]

The choices are quite poor for PCVR and from owning a Pico 4 and Pimax 8KX I think I possess the best two HMDs that are available below 2k today. RTX 4080 should be enough for iRacing and it's just poorly optimised anyway. The 10700 was a bottleneck in VR and the 13600 is far from it, so ditch it. The 10700 is really lame.

The Pico 4 would be perfect from the visuals and the FOV is okay, but there are hurdles. You need to boot the headset first, choose your play-area (and every time you take off the headset to take a piss for example), launch Virtual Desktop to even get into PCVR and you need at least the left controller for everything which gives you access to your desktop in VR while I don't even own controllers for the 8KX. VD will change the desktop resolution to 1080p, which looks pretty awful with my G9 and I can't change that behaviour.

But there is also a good things about it. Thanks to VD I have access to desktop apps in VR with the left motion controller. With the 8KX I've tried to find apps to give me access to my desktop apps in VR and there are none (even SadlyItsBradley confirmed). You really need to take off the headset for everything outside VR like the hole iRacing or AC UI. The 8KX was a pain to setup, but now I like it and the convenience of just hitting launch and be in VR and I also prefer AMS2 and rF2 with full UI in VR. Excluding Pimax isn't wise because they are one of the very few still delivering highend PCVR with displayport. And what's about the Bigscreen Beyond?

And about the glasses: You probably don't need them in VR. I need glasses for everything other than looking at my phone, so close distance is better without, but doesn't work in VR. I even prefer the lenses in VR from my glasses which I usually use for longer distances.

 

[Rainman2020]

Thanks. Posted on Reddit too and am getting a ton of people saying that 8Kx is not something to ignore as i was doing. So, will take a good look at it.

The Bigscreen beyond looks awesome, but would need a new CPU and 4090 no doubt, so would end up being $4K or something total, that is a LOT. If i was spending that kind of money, would want to go for the Varjo most likely, although the Bigscreen Beyond looks very neat too.

Thanks on the glasses. If i can view the TV just fine without reading glasses needed from 5+ feet away, isn't that basically the same view in VR (i.e. you are looking at stuff 5+ feet away in VR)? So, i will not need reading glasses in VR, right? Or do i need them when i am looking at any text boxes, or car dials, etc. Will VR work for me given that i DO need reading glasses but can look far away just fine?

 

[Leynad777]

Thanks. Posted on Reddit too and am getting a ton of people saying that 8Kx is not something to ignore as i was doing. So, will take a good look at it.

The Bigscreen beyond looks awesome, but would need a new CPU and 4090 no doubt, so would end up being $4K or something total, that is a LOT. If i was spending that kind of money, would want to go for the Varjo most likely, although the Bigscreen Beyond looks very neat too.

Thanks on the glasses. If i can view the TV just fine without reading glasses needed from 5+ feet away, isn't that basically the same view in VR (i.e. you are looking at stuff 5+ feet away in VR)? So, i will not need reading glasses in VR, right? Or do i need them when i am looking at any text boxes, or car dials, etc. Will VR work for me given that i DO need reading glasses but can look far away just fine?

There are three 8KX-revisions and the latest should be the best. The DMAS-version (model-No starts with 2076) is the latest which I own, but first it was awful, especially the sound. Only after boosting the volume with Equalizer APO with Piece I got decent sound and there are other 'need-to-knows' to properly set it up first. For VR-beginners I can't recommend it and the Meta Quest Pro might be the better option.

The glasses-thing you need to check out yourself and I guess you don't need any, but additional prescription lenses are not that expensive either if so and always better than using glasses in VR. There is additional glare if wearing glasses and from the headsets I know only the Pico 4 is 100% compatible with wearing glasses with the extra spacer included, but also lowers the FOV a bit.

 

[Neilski]

However, when watching TV with the TV screen about 5-6 feet away, i do NOT use my glasses, nor do i use them when driving a car for example.

As far as I know, all VR headsets have the image at "infinity" [edit: nope, see below] (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.

 

[RCHeliguy]

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.

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 of 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 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 it's maximum specifications.

 

[Neilski]

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.

Oh wow, hadn't realised there was quite so much variation, thanks for correcting me.
0.85 metres for the Aero is shockingly close. I now realise that VR Optician offers the option to provide an "intermediate" prescription for the Aero, whereas for most/all others it only asks for the "far" prescription. (Bizarrely though it does let you choose which of the two prescriptions you prefer - seems odd given that the intermediate should be a slam dunk for working better at 0.85 m. Perhaps I'm missing something else here, but the difference between far & 0.85 m prescriptions will be more than 1 dioptre, which is quite a lot for corrective lenses. Maybe the VR Optician folk simply adjust the far prescription by the appropriate amount for the headset... )

 

[Rebel_488]

Going briefly over your list of demands and gpu (I know u will upgrade) I’d say buy 2 more monitors, I joke but I’m serious at the same time. Vr is about sacrifices and that list was way to demanding for u to be satisfied. Try again in a year once the big boys have all entered the market. I’m a reverb g2/Samsung g9 user with a 3080ti for context not some asshole spouting crap on a forum.

 

[RCHeliguy]

Going briefly over your list of demands and gpu (I know u will upgrade) I’d say buy 2 more monitors, I joke but I’m serious at the same time. Vr is about sacrifices and that list was way to demanding for u to be satisfied. Try again in a year once the big boys have all entered the market. I’m a reverb g2/Samsung g9 user with a 3080ti for context not some asshole spouting crap on a forum.

Waiting a year when talking about VR is almost always good advice.
Patience is always a virtue.

The tough part is when you get impatient. I "should have" stuck with my Valve Index and 2080Ti while waiting for my next long term headset. It "would have" saved me money. What I have now is still lacking in some areas compared to what I had and I have made compromises to get better resolution.

But...

 

[SauroHD]

I have a Pimax 5K+ and I am very pleased with it, the wide FOV allows me to have vision of both side mirrors. The resolution is low but for now it's fine....
Also if used with SteamVR you can download Desktop+ for free and you can have your desktop in the viewer; that way you don't have to take the viewer off every time you have to do something on the PC.
I also have AutoHotKey and I configured a button on the button box peer activate desktop+.
This way the VR is no longer limited in use!!!!

 

[Deleted member 197115]

You can grab cheap Reverb G2 to check if VR is even for you and your system can drive it.

 

[garon.danny]

Don't get a Pimax. Just don't The company itself is just full of liars and they can't seem to get anything past a pre production stage. I have the 8K and I even bricked it once with a software update. Took a good day to recover from that. And what's funny is that they still have that software which forces a firmware upgrade (which bricks devices) still on their site to download.

Plus they screwed all the people that bought an 8K saying they'd be able to upgrade in a year to their new headset... which they then decided not to release and instead do the Crystal. haha... Then said the Crystal would be shipping last year... It's still in pre release and full of bugs and half the stuff on it doesn't work.

I bought a Quest Pro 2 months ago and since then, I have never touched the 8K since.

The Quest Pro is an amazing headset. I just love it. I use it with Iracing every single day. Like every day. The pancake lens are amazing. Crystal clear visuals everywhere. Not just the middle like the Pimax. Plus it's comfortable unlike the Pimax junk.

Everything with the Pimax was always washed out, etc. DCS was impossible to read the dials, etc. NO problem at all with the Quest Pro.

Even the Pimax controllers are hot garbage and the Pimax peeps agree with me as well.

The Quest Pro has amazing controllers. Just amazing. Never looses tracking.

I had given up on VR racing until I got my Quest Pro and now can't race without VR.

Plus, with the Quest Pro, I can play a ton of games anywhere.. even at work and don't need a computer tethered at all.

I could go on about how much better the Quest Pro is. Plus it's way way cheaper. The Pimax was 1200, then base stations were like 500, then the controllers were like 300. For the Quest Pro, it was one price for everything and I can play anywhere. No base stations and it works brilliantly.

 

[garon.danny]

Also, the Quest Pro doesn't need a 10K computer to run it like the Pimax. Just that alone is the icing on the cake. I was going to spend over 2K to upgrade my vid card from a 3080ti to a 4090, but don't need to anymore after getting the Quest pro.

 

[Rebel_488]

Check out some of mrtv’s paid videos of pimax to see how bad the company is and their use of shills. “all of this is coming up” Jfc that guy is such a shill, Or better yet some of his interviews and one in particular that seems like a hostage video of one of the members of staff by a pimax boss. Do not make others mistake and go pimax. Hold on I’ll see if I can find it,

Lol here u go I think, I cba to watch it enough to be absolutely sure, but it looks like it. It’s in the “is vr dead?’” thread if u wanna really be sure.

 

[Neilski]

Check out some of mrtv’s paid videos of pimax to see how bad the company is and their use of shills. “all of this is coming up” Jfc that guy is such a shill, Or better yet some of his interviews and one in particular that seems like a hostage video of one of the members of staff by a pimax boss. Do not make others mistake and go pimax. Hold on I’ll see if I can find it,

You suspect he's a shill, or are you saying that it has actually been established that he was paid for saying nice things - and didn't disclose that he was paid? (I think those are the essential criteria for being called a shill, right?)

 

[Elaphe]

I have a Pimax 5K+ and I am very pleased with it, the wide FOV allows me to have vision of both side mirrors. The resolution is low but for now it's fine....
Also if used with SteamVR you can download Desktop+ for free and you can have your desktop in the viewer; that way you don't have to take the viewer off every time you have to do something on the PC.
I also have AutoHotKey and I configured a button on the button box peer activate desktop+.
This way the VR is no longer limited in use!!!!

Same headset here and a happy user. One can get used to the medium / low resolution, but never to the reduced FOV. So for me, this is the headset to get for sim-racing, until Pimax or other company releases something more interesting. I have never had any technical problems and I guess most of the users that complain are just lazy or dumb to fix simple issues. I'm using a 3080 Ti and the performance is fine with Assetto Corsa without need to reduce graphic details. The 8K is better suited for the 4090 Ti. I had it for some days and I didn't find the higher resolution worth the loss of performance. Morever, it's easier to notice the loss of clarity when the sweet spot is not centered and anyway, the lack of focus on near objects was already there, which is the only think I can judge as something bad from Pimax headsets. To the OP, believe me, once you try the high FOV, the rest of headsets will feel like toys, no matter how marvelous image they offer. Yes, Pimax + controllers + base stations is an expensive pack, but this is for serious gaming, not for casual games or for people that want standalone, inside out tracking, no cables and all those things sim-racers do not care about at all.

 

[RCHeliguy]

You suspect he's a shill, or are you saying that it has actually been established that he was paid for saying nice things - and didn't disclose that he was paid? (I think those are the essential criteria for being called a shill, right?)

I told youtube not to recommend content from him for me a while back.

I won't go so far as to say he is definitely a shill, but he has at least lost all credibility in my eyes. He is trying to generate hits to his channel, but I think he has milked some things a bit too far. It's not just his posts about Pimax. I can't stand how he presents things. OMG OMG OMG he is so freaking excited by every damn thing. It gets really old. It is completely cringeworthy when he tries to show how any headset works in a sim. He doesn't use sims.

I much prefer Thrillseeker and Sadlyitsbradley they have substance behind their videos and really are VR users. The same for the VR Flight Sim Guy. He's had a number of positive Crystal videos, but he actually spends a LOT of time in flight sims. He was actually showing other reviewers how to set up flight sims for VR use including MRTV.

I'm sorry but MRTV comes off as a real phoney and I don't plan to watch anything else he produces. I've made no excuses for my biases against Pimax. I still don't trust that company, but I'm also sure there will be some happy Crystal owners. I'm also equally sure that there will be numerous unhappy Crystal owners. I'm already starting to hear complaints and they've barely started shipping units.

" The Headset isn't being detected by the Client at all (always showing as disconnected). Solid blue on installed battery Long press Power button - Flashes white for 6 times then turns solid blue Short press power button - turns solid green for 4-5 seconds then reverts to solid blue Guidance button on client - USB selected, but won't progress past that I've tried all my USB Ports and 2x DP Ports without success."

"Ive been trying to get MSFS running nicely for 3 hours now. No joy. I must have watched Steves video 10 times looking for something ive missed. I dont know whats going on."

OpenXR HAGS isn't compatible with Pimax.

Teething pains to be sure, and I assume most will eventually be worked out, but right now is looking like a painful time to own a Pimax.

 

[Deleted member 197115]

Randy (OP) probably regrets asking this question already.
Run Randy, run.

 

[SauroHD]

Randy (OP) probably regrets asking this question already.
Run Randy, run.

 

[Leynad777]

Don't get a Pimax. Just don't The company itself is just full of liars and they can't seem to get anything past a pre production stage. I have the 8K and I even bricked it once with a software update. Took a good day to recover from that. And what's funny is that they still have that software which forces a firmware upgrade (which bricks devices) still on their site to download.

Plus they screwed all the people that bought an 8K saying they'd be able to upgrade in a year to their new headset... which they then decided not to release and instead do the Crystal. haha... Then said the Crystal would be shipping last year... It's still in pre release and full of bugs and half the stuff on it doesn't work.

I bought a Quest Pro 2 months ago and since then, I have never touched the 8K since.

The Quest Pro is an amazing headset. I just love it. I use it with Iracing every single day. Like every day. The pancake lens are amazing. Crystal clear visuals everywhere. Not just the middle like the Pimax. Plus it's comfortable unlike the Pimax junk.

Everything with the Pimax was always washed out, etc. DCS was impossible to read the dials, etc. NO problem at all with the Quest Pro.

Even the Pimax controllers are hot garbage and the Pimax peeps agree with me as well.

The Quest Pro has amazing controllers. Just amazing. Never looses tracking.

I had given up on VR racing until I got my Quest Pro and now can't race without VR.

Plus, with the Quest Pro, I can play a ton of games anywhere.. even at work and don't need a computer tethered at all.

I could go on about how much better the Quest Pro is. Plus it's way way cheaper. The Pimax was 1200, then base stations were like 500, then the controllers were like 300. For the Quest Pro, it was one price for everything and I can play anywhere. No base stations and it works brilliantly.

The Pimax 8K was probably the worst product Pimax ever released and got soon replaced by the 8KX with two following revisions and the better face-cushion. I think they had a generous trade-in-program to switch the 8K with it at least. I've got the latest revision for 1040€ plus 80 for a used pair of Base Stations 1.0 and some prescription lenses. Took me some time getting the best out of it, but now it's a great headset with a similar visual quality like the Pico 4, but bigger FOV, far better audio (after quite some trouble-shooting) and far more convenient to use for sim-racing. The only annoying thing is, that it doesn't really goes into suspend mode or rather wakes up from every little movement, so I use the on-/off-button, which takes about half a minute to be fully connected once I boot it up again and no pass-through either.

All headsets I've owned had more problems I couldn't fix and the worst headset by far was the Vive Cosmos because of the software that HTC never fixed. So I would say: better avoid everything from HTC and even their Base Stations 2.0 doesn't work well with motion-rigs causing EMI-problems. With the Cosmos I had performance- and other problems making it unusable and just software-related. PiTools runs like a charm, no drop-outs, no jittering, solid 90 fps with stunning visuals despite pushing ridiculous pixel-amounts and lots of options to optimize the experience, but might be a bit overwhelming for starters.