Is VR worth $3000?

My rig basically was from 2012/14 (3570k, 970) and all I had to spend was 450 for the 1080 and 250 for a used CV1 + Touch controllers. So you could get there with much less, but getting more powerful hardware or a better HMD most probably pays off if it's not the last bucks you own which you'd dump in there. Generally, VR is very much worth it.

I wouldn't touch a 2080Ti with a 10' barge pole, and I have no problems spending money for PC siming that results in a tangible improvement in experience - totally overpriced for the gains over a 1080Ti - also not necessary to enjoy VR.

I would happily say VR is worth 3k as it genuinely makes that much of a difference to the experience - good news is it doesn't have to cost that much.

1080Ti and Rift S provides a very good VR experience at the moment while I await the real VR Gen-2 headsets. I can also HIGHLY recommend a Jetseat FSE from Andre also to really boost the whole VR experience.

So I've been into DCS for a while and i'm considering doing a full VR build but the cost seems pretty high still.

 

I figured

1000 for the HTC vive.

1000 for the rtx2080 ti.

1000 for a new chair and hotas setup.

 

I mean I could do it, but it seems like a lot of money. Is it worth the investment for the casual player?

 

I often find myself decided not to play DCS because track IR is such a pain to fiddle with.

You are conflating the cost of the seat and HOTAS into VR, when those things are good in itself. Therefore VR costs drops down as others have demonstrated here.

However you should really try the headset you are intending to purchase first (or at least a similar headset) so you can check if you can cope with the sensorial overload and are immune from any nauseating effects (please try a decent VR app, like the oficial demos from Oculus or Valve). Also if you can cope with the reduction in resolution that you would have, especially if you go with not the latest VR headsets.

Remember that VR is not a full-fledged consumer tech yet, so it has its rough edges, whether its resolution, refresh rate, the need of cables, comfort so you have to be willing to endure its downsides in order to really enjoy the upsides.

Speaking strictly for myself, I really don't find VR all that enjoyable with DCS. I have the original HTC Vive, as well as a GTX 1080 - I find the headset quite uncomfortable for anything over 15 minutes, and I have to fiddle with the graphic settings for a while to get it reduced to where the FPS are acceptable.

My overall opinion on VR is that I'm glad I tried it, but it's not compelling enough an experience to keep me interested.

Shoot, I shelled out 320 for an oculus rift cv1 with a best buy sale, got a used GTX 1080 (non ti) for around 300, a used ch fighterstick for 50 and used tm warthog throttle for 230.

Under 1k for everything needed, totally worth it. You don't need to spend 3k off the bat, I'd advise against it actually....

For comparison. I just tried VR for the first time in DCS. I haven't done any configuring. I'm running a AMD 3700x, with 16 gigs 3600 DDR4 RAM, and a 2080 ti. In the F15C instant action Bomber interception mission, I got a solid 90 fps at altitude as soon as I get low it's 45 fps. Honestly couldn't tell the difference in visual and smoothness though.

I would wait until 2 things occur:

1. Screen door effect = solved.

2. Resolution = Good enough to see cockpit labels and dials & pick out visual contacts without zoom assistance.

Yes, you might be waiting a while, but if dropping $3000 is a problem, what will you think if a new VR headset comes out with these 2 problems solved 2-3 years down the line? Then you're going to want to spend another $3000 dollars again, completely undoing the initial $3000 investment.

If you just want to see the potential of VR and how it would affect the experience, just buy a cheap, used $100-150 off ebay. That way, you get the preliminary VR experience while also saving up for when the game-changer VR headset comes out. IF you end up enjoying the $100-150 VR headset. If not, either return it or junk it and then you'll know if VR was "worth it" before shelling out 3 grand. If $150 VR doesn't blow you away, how will a $1000 one?

Edit: 1 more thing needs to happen, but this one is iffy on whether it will ever be accomplished in the near future:

3. 120 degrees FOV, which is the natural FOV your eyes have.

I would wait until 2 things occur:

 

1. Screen door effect = solved.

2. Resolution = Good enough to see cockpit labels and dials & pick out visual contacts without zoom assistance.

 

Yes, you might be waiting a while, but if dropping $3000 is a problem, what will you think if a new VR headset comes out with these 2 problems solved 2-3 years down the line? Then you're going to want to spend another $3000 dollars again, completely undoing the initial $3000 investment.

 

If you just want to see the potential of VR and how it would affect the experience, just buy a cheap, used $100-150 off ebay. That way, you get the preliminary VR experience while also saving up for when the game-changer VR headset comes out. IF you end up enjoying the $100-150 VR headset. If not, either return it or junk it and then you'll know if VR was "worth it" before shelling out 3 grand. If $150 VR doesn't blow you away, how will a $1000 one?

 

Edit: 1 more thing needs to happen, but this one is iffy on whether it will ever be accomplished in the near future:

3. 120 degrees FOV, which is the natural FOV your eyes have.

The Reverb pretty well meets those criteria now , afaik , with SDE that "you have to look for" and resolution "like a 1080p monitor" .

Regarding your fov value , are you speaking of one eye ? Most people fall in a range of 170-190 for both eyes .

Yeah I agree completely with your conclusion. But slightly bummed out because this is the same conclusion I came to a few years ago

The Reverb pretty well meets those criteria now , afaik , with SDE that "you have to look for" and resolution "like a 1080p monitor" .

 

Regarding your fov value , are you speaking of one eye ? Most people fall in a range of 170-190 for both eyes .

Per eye.

Yes.

The Reverb pretty well meets those criteria now , afaik , with SDE that "you have to look for" and resolution "like a 1080p monitor" .

My issue with the reverb is that it uses LED instead of OLED. It makes blacks look grey and washes out color, a little bit.

This causes lowered contrasts that theoretically makes nights look grey and visual contacts a bit harder to spot.