[SOLVED] Should I wait for VR or upgrade my PC?

[RJGray]

Howdy to all who read!
I'm looking to get my first personal VR headset. I've been saving up and now have money (around $500) set aside to do just that. I don't care about cables or no cables, but I do care about being able to connect to Steam, and I do care about minimizing potential nausea factors like dizziness and motion blur, and I do care about motion tracking.
When I ultimately do get VR, I'll probably go for the glove-type controllers too, or whatever offers full finger tracking, as I want to be immersed and have my hands free enough to, say, work out.

But with the new Oculus on the way shortly, I'm not sure if it will be any better than the Oculus Rift S for what I'm looking at and valuing or if there's a different branded VR set that is better still for what I seek.

Further, since I don't really care about cables that much, and I want to connect to my existing Steam Library, I'm looking at my computer specs to see if my PC is up to snuff and able to run VR without causing nausea and without noticeable frame dropping.

If I do upgrade instead of getting my First VR Headset, I'd be looking to get a new Mobo with room for upgrades like M.2 slots, and a better CPU by double (currently have a 4c/8t LGA 1150 setup, I'd be looking to swapp to an 12c/24t AM4 setup) before upgrading my GPU which is a RX 590 "Fatboy", which is, as I understand, around the baseline for VR.

But at this time, I can only afford to get VR OR upgrade my PC but not both, so please let me know which is more advisable, or if I should wait for the new Oculus to come out to determine and save up a little longer.
All suggestions are welcome.

 

[siaan312]

This is a complicated topic.

Your pc is good enough to run most vr games at the 80fps and resolution (most vr games.) of the rift s.
the new oculus console is far off. it wasn't even formally announced yet, and estimates say it will be out at the earliest, q3 2021, while most people guess it will be q1 of 2022.

the problem is, most glove/full finger range controllers need base stations for tracking, which the rift s does not come with (it has inside out tracking) which is more money you need to account for.

the valve index is much more expensive, and probably out of your price range.

btw, an 8 core cpu is not always twice as fast as a 4 core cpu.
you mentioned the socket and core count, but what model of cpu do you have?
is it a newer 4 core or an older one?

i personally believe the new headset will also be a quest 2, meaning its not really suited for pc, and just has that tossed in, just to have it (the current quest is really bad for pc use, since the usb-c cable that it uses for pc link only passes the displays through usb, and not displayport causing lag and blackbars.)

so your best bet is either upgrade your computer, then save up again for a vr headset later, perferablly an index, since your pc wont run it.

or get a rift s today, and get base stations later for the finger controllers you plan to buy.

 

[RJGray]

Yeah, I'm aware the finger controllers are still a ways off and I need to save for them separately. And for some reason, I keep seeing that the Quest 2 or whatever would be releasing as early as this Holiday season upcoming. Though it is all rumor and unofficial leaks on that, even though they've officially begun mass production of their next VR headset as of earlier this week.

Is the valve Index considered to be better than the Rift S though? I haven't really looked too much into Valve's hardware offerings as yet, though I use their software frequently enough.

I currently run a 4790k, which is as I'm aware the best lga1150 cpu for the socket. So if I swap, I'd be aiming for an x570 mobo and a Ryzen 9 cpu and get a new, better case as the case I have is for a micro-ATX board. All together, it's a little over my budget, but I've got a bit of flex there. From that I can tell, it would be a decent increase to my build and I'd be able to double my ram from 2 slots to 4 and add some m.2.

So I really don't know if the upgrade would be better to get before the headset or after. As I should mention, I plan to get both, but 1 now, the other in 6-12 months or so. (that's how long it usually takes me to save up between 500 and 1k dollars)

 

[siaan312]

Yeah, I'm aware the finger controllers are still a ways off and I need to save for them separately. And for some reason, I keep seeing that the Quest 2 or whatever would be releasing as early as this Holiday season upcoming. Though it is all rumor and unofficial leaks on that, even though they've officially begun mass production of their next VR headset as of earlier this week.

Is the valve Index considered to be better than the Rift S though? I haven't really looked too much into Valve's hardware offerings as yet, though I use their software frequently enough.

I currently run a 4790k, which is as I'm aware the best lga1150 cpu for the socket. So if I swap, I'd be aiming for an x570 mobo and a Ryzen 9 cpu and get a new, better case as the case I have is for a micro-ATX board. All together, it's a little over my budget, but I've got a bit of flex there. From that I can tell, it would be a decent increase to my build and I'd be able to double my ram from 2 slots to 4 and add some m.2.

So I really don't know if the upgrade would be better to get before the headset or after. As I should mention, I plan to get both, but 1 now, the other in 6-12 months or so. (that's how long it usually takes me to save up between 500 and 1k dollars)

Your cpu is perfectly fine for gaming.
If you plan on streaming or any content creation/productivity work you should consider something with more cores, but for strictly gaming, especially vr, youre fine (vr is mostly gpu bound)

The valve index is undoubtly better than the rift s, but it costs much much more. if i recall correctly its msrp is 1000usd but dont quote me on that.
it has a 120hz screen (overclockable to 144hz "Experimental mode")
it has a bit higher resolution and is also has a better screen type.
the controllers of the index are also the best controllers out there. unlike the "touch controllers" which only actually let you move the thumb and the pointing finger, the index controllers fit on and track each finger independently and in supported games let you move each finger alone (you can even bend them half way.)
they also use lighthosue tracking, making it possible to add tracking points or different types of controllers or cameras for full body tracking/filming without buying them seperatly.

The problem is, the rx 590 won't run 144hz at that 2880x1600 resolution in probably most games.
But since you plan to upgrade both, that might not be a big issue.

also, dont get an x570 board if you upgrade to ryzen, b550 is much less expensive with very similar specs.


Imo, the new quest won't be very good.
I believe it will use the same controllers, with probably a bit higher framerate with newer internal parts and an updated design.
with the oculus link again coming 8 months later being half baked and unstable at best.
the oculus link is bad since the usb-c cable doesnt run displayport, it runs the monitors on the usb bus which is not designed for displays.
But who knows, maybe im wrong and it will be just as good as the index for a fraction of the price.

Even though im fanboying the index, i think you should get the rift s now.
The index is much better in probably everyway, but its just too expensive. its 2.5 times the price, with in my opinion not 2.5x times the experience not to mention youll have to cap it at 90 or so hz for the first half year till you can upgrade gpu.