Is it worth it to get VR for this game? If so which headset do you recommend?

[killerquagmire]

Once you go VR, you will never go back. It's an incredible experience that suits DCS World perfectly.

My recommendation would be the Oculus Rift-S. It's a reliable headset that sits in that sweet spot between price point and quality.

You don't need a super computer but I would recommend at least a 1080Ti, 2060 RTX (or the Radeon equivalent)along with a decent processor.

I'm actually running an old cpu- intel i7 3770k. But, I have a 2080 RTX Super Graphics card and VR is smooth as butter for me even on the high settings. Just don't crank up the MSAA lol

[Guinness75]

Okay, Guinness75, question : how is the image quality on your 65" 4k ( 68 dpi ) vs the Pimax 5k + ??

 

This is with VR running.

 

This is running normal game w/ TrackIR

 

4k is amazing I run it on highest everything. I only dropped the screen size down so I can fit all the boxes in to show you it is running SLI.

 

Pimax5k Plus... When I run it on 90Hz, it's not so bad, but I have to drop the resolution. When I run it on 120Hz, I can bump the resolution up a bit higher and is really smooth and graphics are great. :megalol:

[Lenux]

Thanks, I thought it's not compatible with VR

By the way, I have 2 x RTX 2080 Ti

I'm thinking about...

Stupid question :D

How would you compare the immersion between the 65" 4k and Pimax 5k plus ?

[Guinness75]

Thanks, I thought it's not compatible with VR

By the way, I have 2 x RTX 2080 Ti

I'm thinking about...

Stupid question :D

How would you compare the immersion between the 65" 4k and Pimax 5k plus ?

 

I mainly fly in VR now. I really love the 5k+ because of the 200 deg FOV and I love the graphics and how I can read everything. I have it running at 2.5 DPI. It's way too immersive to give up that kind of feeling. Plus, just use Voice attack to do all the commands you cannot bind to your Hotas.

[Lenux]

If I'd stick the second RTX 2080 Ti, with Pimax 5k+ , would that help a lot for higher settings / a better image quality ?

[Guinness75]

If I'd stick the second RTX 2080 Ti, with Pimax 5k+ , would that help a lot for higher settings / a better image quality ?

 

I'm not going to give advice. Because if it doesn't work for you, I don't want to be liable. I know one of the guys I fly with says just running 1 RTX2080 is significantly better. So, if SLI'd; I couldn't imagine the settings you'd be able to run it at. For me, it was all trial and error until I got the settings and quality where I felt really good about it. When I have more time, I'll pull up the resolutions the pimax is running at.

[Ourorborus]

As the previous responses indicate, DCS is very well suited for VR. In fact DCS is probably the most appropriate usage of VR. (seriously who wants to don their VR to watch a 2D movie??)

 

 

That said VR carries with it many trade offs such as screen door effect, lower "prettiness" and additional time to setup etc. However the immersion cannot be overstated. (First time I closed the a10 Cockpit in VR I actually ducked my head.)

 

As for hardware. Get the best you can afford. But remember the headset is only part of the equation. The better the headset the beefier hardware you need to run it. So you if you can't afford the 2080ti to go with it (or don't have a planned upgrade path that will) don't get the valve index. Similarly don't underestimate the value of a good HOTAS and easy to reach mouse/trackball, as you will find keyboard usage is generally limited to the keys you can identify be feel.

 

I run pretty low end VR setup but works great for me. Ryzen 3600 16GB RAM, GTX1060 running a Lenovo explorer. While I plan to upgrade the GPU when the RTX 30 series arrive my current config runs smooth and am happy to put up with the screen door effect rather than take a second mortgage.

[Lenux]

What about the Pimax Vision 8k plus / X ?

[Gladman]

I have always been happy with my Pimax headset. I have the snow issue and was past my warranty date so of course they won't send me one. Their customer service does suck. I won't buy another one but I would think the 8K will need a nex gen card to work well. Vulcan would be the only thing that would have it function with a 2080Ti, I would think.

[Lenux]

But, is the Vision 8k plus / X, better than Pimax 5k plus ?

[GunSlingerAUS]

I spent AU$1200 on a Reverb Pro for DCS, and for me it wasn't worth it. I found the performance issues and bugs to be too much, especially as I'm one of those gamers used to a high refresh rate display, and thus found the reprojection artefacts caused by the game being limited to 45fps unbearable. Your mileage may vary, but it's a very expensive bet to make. Personally I much prefer my new LG C9 55" display, which didn't cost significantly more, and is also usable across all of my PC games.

[imacken]

I have owned a CV1, Vive Pro, Valve Index and Reverb in DCS, and without doubt, the king of the hill is the Reverb due to the extra resolution and clarity that it brings to DCS cockpits.

 

Superb experience!

[Callsign.Vega]

[ATTACH]233607[/ATTACH] This is with VR running.

 

[ATTACH]233608[/ATTACH] This is running normal game w/ TrackIR

 

4k is amazing I run it on highest everything. I only dropped the screen size down so I can fit all the boxes in to show you it is running SLI.

 

Pimax5k Plus... When I run it on 90Hz, it's not so bad, but I have to drop the resolution. When I run it on 120Hz, I can bump the resolution up a bit higher and is really smooth and graphics are great. :megalol:

 

I think you are confused. Simply enabling SLI in the NVIDIA control panel has nothing to do with SLI actually running in a game or VR...

 

VR SLI has to be specifically implemented in the game. I am like 100% positive this has not happened for DCS. You could also download and install MSI Afterburner and Riva Tuner Statistics Server to check GPU utilization.

 

I would bet money on only one of your GPUs being utilized inside DCS VR.

[panzerd18]

I spent AU$1200 on a Reverb Pro for DCS, and for me it wasn't worth it. I found the performance issues and bugs to be too much, especially as I'm one of those gamers used to a high refresh rate display, and thus found the reprojection artefacts caused by the game being limited to 45fps unbearable. Your mileage may vary, but it's a very expensive bet to make. Personally I much prefer my new LG C9 55" display, which didn't cost significantly more, and is also usable across all of my PC games.

 

I have to agree with you.

 

I have a 2080Ti and Rift S and am very disappointed with the picture quality and eye strain it causes. I have a 43" 4K monitor and find it much more enjoyable to fly with Track IR 5.

 

The only benefit I find with VR is the 3D effect that a monitor cannot replicate.

 

I also hate the fact with the Rift S its only sharp in the middle or has a sweet spot at the center.

 

I think I will find enjoyment in car racing sims with my VR headset as they don't require you to read complex cockpit instruments.

[Guinness75]

I think you are confused. Simply enabling SLI in the NVIDIA control panel has nothing to do with SLI actually running in a game or VR...

 

VR SLI has to be specifically implemented in the game. I am like 100% positive this has not happened for DCS. You could also download and install MSI Afterburner and Riva Tuner Statistics Server to check GPU utilization.

 

I would bet money on only one of your GPUs being utilized inside DCS VR.

 

 

I'm not going to argue with people. I was just letting people know that I am running my cards SLI'd while still being able to play DCS. I have tried playing DCS with VR and without, both with the cards SLI'd and without. I am simply stating a fact that I DO get better performance while having the cards SLI'd. I've said my peace on the subject. Try it, don't try it. That is for everyone else to decide what they want to do. Have a great day.

[Taintid]

I thought, DCS doesen't support SLI

 

You can get almost any game to run SLI with NVIDIA Inspector. :) I had 2x1070 in SLI a few years back.

[toutenglisse]

In the 2 pictures from Guiness75, it's written "SLI disabled", even if he selected "maximize 3d perf" so I think (? I never ran sli) that no sli profile is effectively associated to DCS' executable.

 

With DCS 2D I know several users did cooked working (scaled results) sli profiles, but with drawbacks (some rendering issues). But in DCS VR no such things that I know, like others said because makers of VR material don't have it in their software ?

[Dunx]

This is just my opinion, certainly not for recommendation.

 

I fly spacecraft and aircraft simulators only in VR (except when learning cockpit procedures which require handwritten notes; a headset is not practical for my old schooling method).

 

My original Oculus Rift served me well in space and for basic CA aircraft but was not suitable for the level of detail inside a DCS cockpit. After listening to several simmers on the ‘Tubes, I took a gamble and purchased the HP Reverb Pro, I am pleased… mostly.

 

VR has been a compromise between an immersive experience and sacrifice to beauty & performance.

 

I have never expected 4K-style ultra-fast graphics or modern visual effects and I am quite used to things going wrong, especially as I use beta everything. I enjoy the anticipation of tweaking and testing after every release of the OS, Drivers, APIs and DCS; sometimes I am happy, sometimes I am not.

 

The visual quality of the Reverb is superb, no noticeable screen door effect like the Rift.

 

Like others, however, I am somewhat disappointed with the build quality of the Reverb. I have started to encounter sound drop-outs due to broken wires, and tracking issues possibly caused by low quality image sensors and/or badly implemented contrast detection.

 

I had to source a 100-watt incandescent light bulb to flood the room, and a second lamp to illuminate the desk and peripherals, all of which are dark. The extra light bleeds into the headset during night flights.

 

The cable is very heavy and was pulling the headset to one side. I resolved this issue by using some cable ties to relax the tension between the cable and the headset. Hopefully this will extend the life of the cable until I find an after-market alternative.

 

The Reverb is lighter than the Rift but nowhere near as comfortable. The headset continually slides down and rests on the bridge of my nose causing too much point-pressure.

 

The software based IPD adjustment is not very effective and may be a contributing factor to eye strain after long sessions, something I never experienced with the Rift during countless hours wandering the wastes of Boston and hiding in Sevastopol lockers.

 

Overall, I prefer the Reverb to the Rift for DCS and will stick with it until a better headset is released. I cannot return to a 2D screen for any simulation, I would rather play cribbage.

[panzerd18]

Sure VR is immersive. I would agree it would be great compared to flying on a 24" monitor. But have people tried bigger monitors such as 35" ultrawides or 43" and above? You can sit very close and almost have the screen take up your entire field of view.

[Gnadentod]

DCS with SLI only works on a normal screen, not in Virtual Reality.

[Svsmokey]

There is a DCS SLI middle ground if what i have read is true , which stated that while only one GPU does the processing , the VRAM of both is accessible . Perhaps this explains the performance gain claims ?

[Kirk66]

Anyone interested in where VR is going in flight sims should google USAF Pilot Next Training; they are going heavy into VR for flight training - and right now it's all pretty much gamer-level hardware.

 

Vulture

[eaglecash867]

Sure VR is immersive. I would agree it would be great compared to flying on a 24" monitor. But have people tried bigger monitors such as 35" ultrawides or 43" and above? You can sit very close and almost have the screen take up your entire field of view.

 

I have tried it on a 49" QLED, and its still not the same as VR. Gorgeous visuals, but its flat, and there's no sense of scale and no depth perception. I have the HP Reverb and it gave me a significant boost in not only image quality over my CV1, but in performance as well.

[WelshZeCorgi]

It makes the boring things like AAR and carrier landings easier and the fun stuff, WVR combat harder.

 

While it gives you depth perception and true scale that a flatscreen will never provide, resolution is no where close to "real life", which makes tracking visual contacts a frustrating nightmare. This is especially true for headsets with a small center, where the resolution is greatest. Which means if a contact gets anywhere near your six, he falls into the low-resolution peripheral vision of the headset and practically disappears into the ground clutter. You can try to keep him in the center cone where the headset resolution is greatest, but you'd have to be a trained contortionist to twist your head the 160 degrees to keep it centered.

 

So until eye tracking for vr headsets is perfected, where high resolution is maintained where your eyes land on the headset screen, even when you're looking at the peripheral of the vr headset, (instead of current tech where the resolution is only highest in the center), you might find it as frustrating as I do, constantly losing sight of visual contacts during dogfights because of said poor resolution and losing the fight primarily because of that. That's a double whammy from being both unrealistic and harder.

 

So in a nutshell, makes boring stuff (AAR, Carrier landings) basically a cake walk, makes fun stuff (dogfighting) frustrating.

Also, would be nice if a near future headset provides both high resolution AND very wide field of view. Most headsets feel like you're putting a pair of horse blinders on, which again makes dogfighting unrealistically harder.

Anyone saying how realistic it is is talking pure nonsense. Last time I checked, real life fighter pilots didn't put on beer goggles to knock down their 20/20 vision and a pair of horseblinders on to limit their natural FOV before going into combat. If someone makes a headset that gets really close to the real FOV and resolution of the human eyes, I would happily agree, VR is an absolute, hands-down, slap-yo-mama purchase, but we are not there yet.

Edited April 24, 2020 by WelshZeCorgi

[Svsmokey]

Being more the mudmover type , i prefer vr . But i certainly can understand the aa guys finding it more problematic .