Pimax 5K+ M2 Pre-Production Headset: Eating GPUs for Breakfast

[greatxerox]

how much money HTC or FACEBOOK gave you in order you destroy Pimax 5K+ 5 months before the headset is released & optimized ?

 

[maxximumism]

ouchh I am one of the independent testers selected to test the Pimax. I had the 8k for almost three months in my hands and I can tell you that there is a certain lack of knowledge and errors in this review (and it is surprising to do such a review of a product that comes out in 6 months if that is found...). In short, I do not doubt the frankness of this article but a big doubt about the mastery of the subject.

 

[niz]

> We’re not so sure that Pimax’s headsets are true second generation devices. The Pimax 5K+ feels more like a mid-generation upgrade.

Baloney. Mid-gen was the Vive Pro and probably what the pathetic 140 degree FOV of the so-called Halfdome will look like when it eventually comes out 4 years too late in 2022.
The Pimax has MUCH greater FOV than anything out there, hardly any SDE by comparison and much higher resolution than even the Vive Pro. I mean if you're not even calling that next-gen, then your ideas of what next-gen actually is, is probably not going to be met for the next 10 years. this decade.

 

[Jagwired]

Carbotte waaay underestimates the visual impact of wide FOV. He seems to just be one of those people who are so used to the binocular effect that it's just an accepted drawback.

I *tried the StarVR and the Pimax and the wide FOV effect is just dramatic. How this guy thinks that only constitutes VR 1.5 is just beyond me. Immersion is literally what VR is all about.

Another item he really under describes is the huge sweet spot these new HMD's have. The sweet spot on these things I saw is literally bigger than the *entire view on my vive. On my Vive the sweet spot is just a small circle in my central vision.

StarVR looks awesome. Too bad they're only going to sell it to businesses. I assume it's only a matter of time though until Oculus and others switch to wider lenses.

 

[yassinmarzoug]

Tomshardware is looking more and more like fake news

 

[kcarbotte]

Kevin, I think your benchmarks are misleading.... The 100% render target in SteamVR is not accurate for Pimax and is actually supersampling by a pretty insane amount.

See: https://youtu.be/bcZ0CXP0qgU?t=6417

100% is actually choosing a render target of 4814x2557 per eye (varies slightly depending on which version of PiTools you use) which is about 180% larger (on each axis) over the native input of the displays.

So while your figures are accurate I think they might be terribly misleading to users who assume 100% is the suggested default target resolution (the real resolution has not been finalized yet) determined by Pimax. Your benchmarks at drastically lower % indicate you are doing significant subsampling/quality reduction which is not really true.... In fact those values are probably much closer to the intended default render target than 100%. Performance is not so much a lost cause as some users might initially think based on your "100%" benchmarks.

Also, while it's true Pimax is not currently shipping with the better ergonomic strap and integrated audio those features are coming soon. As is an eye tracking module which all Kickstarter backers are receiving free.... I think you really should include that detail as without it in seems to imply Pimax has no desire to provide a polished VR experience like it's competitors.

I was using the Normal FOV, not the Full FOV.

3081x2632 is the resolution it was rendering at with SteamVR set to 100%
1849x1579 is the reduced resolution that was tested.

 

[lojzemahnic]

I would call Acer's StarVR One, 2nd gen device. Nothing wrong with Pimax. Great device if you're proud owner of RTX 2080TI or 2080 at least. But only putting higher res panels and wide field lenses into the headset and call it next gen is a bit strong statement. Eye tracking + foveated rendering + 2*4K panels (or preferably +8K per eye) + 210 H FOV would be real 2nd gen. Technology is here. Varjo has it, Acer has it, just not interested in retail market, because they can't produce if for 600 quid and achieve large enough profit margin. We'll get it in a few years time, but probably not from Oculus. They are clearly targeting 400-600$ market now and there's no way, you can make such headset with high quality optics needed, for such low price.

 

[petr.valkoun]

What about SLI? I believe that is the only solution: https://developer.nvidia.com/vrworks/graphics/vrsli

 

[Gh0stWalker]

I got better FOV from an essentially zero cost cardboard precursor (yup - precursor!) I cobbled together. Optics better than a PS4pro VR headset. And way more versatile! ALL of the ARVR 'pioneers' are going down the wrong rabbid-hole. Infuriating! Yet strangely satisfying...

 

[Gh0stWalker]

And, why did you not test this with a 1080Ti or two, or the RTX clunkers in SLI? Why no SLI?

 

[mutopz]

What a load of rubbish, nitpicking on non issues, lack of headphones and the headstrap on a pre production model, while overlooking massive leap in the actual VR technology like picture quality and FOV. Eye tracking and other true 2nd gen modules can be easily added. If it's so easy to make a ultra wide 2k lenses and add all those feautures why haven't the Rift and Vive second gen come out yet? So Pimax comes out with 80% of what Rift two will have, probably when it's released in two years time, and instead of being applauded for its innovation, gets discredited because it's missing the other 20%!

 

[mutopz]

Hey Sneaky reviewer, why are you using a i7 5930x, a CPU that came out 4 years ago, with a 2080?? How many Pimax users would have that CPU in their rig?

 

[parisclemens]

Hello, everybody. I have a question. I would like to know if the RTX 2080 is superior at the GTX 1080 ti ?

 

[cryoburner]

HMD Cable Length: 11" tether

I would think that it would be quite difficult to use a VR headset with a cable that doesn't allow you to move your head even 1 foot away from your PC. I guess it's intended to be used like a VirtualBoy? : 3

You can also dial it down to 0.75x and .05x, which lowers the output resolution for higher frame rates.

Games running at .05x scaling would undoubtedly perform quite well, but I'm not sure it would be easy to read text at that resolution. : D

I kind of have to agree about this being more of a half-gen headset, at least in its current form. At this kind of resolution, a headset pretty much needs eye-tracking to allow for proper foveated rendering, and in turn reasonable performance on typical gaming hardware. It sounds like they have intentions to add this capability in the future, and its great to see them include an expansion port to potentially make this a viable add-on down the line, but it's not here yet, and I haven't even heard anything about when they intend for such a module to come out. It's a bit like how Oculus originally released the Rift CV1 without motion controllers, intending for it to initially provide a seated experience similar to what the devkits had been focused on for the few years prior, with the suggestion that motion controllers would be be coming at some unspecified point in the future. Oculus did fix that fast though, and perhaps Pimax will have an eye-tracking sensor available before long as well.

And on the topic of controllers, you are also still intended to use the Vive's first-gen motion controllers with the Pimax for now, with the promise of new "Knuckles style" controllers coming down the line. I suspect that these controllers might be out by the time of the Pimax's retail release, but by then, we may be hearing more about second-gen Rift and Vive hardware. At the very least, it's good to see more competition though, as it should help keep prices in check and encourage headset makers to keep adding new functionality on a steady basis. The Pimax 5K at least seems a bit more interesting than the Vive Pro, which amounts to not much more than a higher-resolution Vive with some relatively minor refinements at a much higher price.

 

[Ricky Ferri]

just watch sweviver review on youtube this old style bar graph review doesn't fit at all with this kind of devices.
3 stars out of 5 just because you can't handle proper settings on steam vr is hilarious at least.

 

[funguseater]

WTF Tom's? "lacks the premium features we would expect from a “next generation” headset, such as an easily adjustable head strap, built-in headphones," those are not premium "features", I already own $200 headphones why would I want included garbage? Lately you're articles seem more like advertisments, I don't even beleive you had a pimax to try on, as you're experience differs wildly from my own.

Mostly you seem upset at the pricing of GPU's, tell it to Nvidia.

 

[nielregen]

Needs a high end GPU? Wow, you must be geniuses at tom's hardware.

 

[GoldenBunip]

This review didn't sort out how to do this.
The 5K runs beautifully if you TURN OFF STEAMVR SCALING. then just use the Pimax scaling at 1.25 to 1.5.
SteamVR is so evenly resourcing heavy and does nothing to help. However, to make matters more confusing, turning off SteamVR supersampling is to turn the sliders to -20%.
Doing this has the 5K running on a Vega64 looking good and smooth.