ED and the Oculus Rift Developers Kit 2 (DK2) Discussion Thread

[KING5TON]

I'm just surprised that FD have been able to run a 1920x1080 Rift at 75 FPS using a Titan whereas I'm running a 1280x800 Rift and getting 50 FPS to 100 FPS with a 780TI. Unless, of course, they've turned down some of the graphical settings from HIGH which is quite possible.

People are going to have to get used to lowering setting in some games when using the DK2. If your minimum FPS is above 75 in all instances you can try turning some settings up but if you want the optimum VR experience with the low persistence working (no/little smearing = less/no nausea) then you don't want the FPS to drop below 75.
That's not to say you cannot use the rift at lower FPS, your minimum FPS can go as low as 60 but at 60 you will not have low persistence (any FPS under 72 will not have low persistence I think).
Any lower than 60 then you're getting into crappy VR and nausea territory.

When the CV1 releases with it's higher resolution and higher refresh rate you're going to need to run things at a higher res/frame rate which is even more demanding. That's why I recommend making do with the DK2 unless it's totally awful on your hardware so that you can upgrade nearer the CV1's release and get more umph to be able to run it at it's best.

 

[Dirtmuncher]

People are going to have to get used to lowering setting in some games when using the DK2. If your minimum FPS is above 75 in all instances you can try turning some settings up but if you want the optimum VR experience with the low persistence working (no/little smearing = less/no nausea) then you don't want the FPS to drop below 75.
That's not to say you cannot use the rift at lower FPS, your minimum FPS can go as low as 60 but at 60 you will not have low persistence (any FPS under 72 will not have low persistence I think).
Any lower than 60 then you're getting into crappy VR and nausea territory.

When the CV1 releases with it's higher resolution and higher refresh rate you're going to need to run things at a higher res/frame rate which is even more demanding. That's why I recommend making do with the DK2 unless it's totally awful on your hardware so that you can upgrade nearer the CV1's release and get more umph to be able to run it at it's best.

They also might have been running an internal build that is slightly optimised. I wouldnt go to e3 and showcase my game with a dk2 without making surebitsbrunnin silky smooth.

 

[KING5TON]

They also might have been running an internal build that is slightly optimised. I wouldnt go to e3 and showcase my game with a dk2 without making surebitsbrunnin silky smooth.

They didn't showcase E: D at E3 with a DK2. They did it with a HD prototype that probably had 60hz refresh rate limit and none of the new tech that's in the DK2.

Agreed they might have optimized the game since the current "Beta" build and they will hopefully continue to optimize the engine pre and post release.

Doesn't change the fact that to run E: D or any game in VR at optimum takes a lot of PC Grunt.

 

[Shigawire]

They didn't showcase E: D at E3 with a DK2. They did it with a HD prototype that probably had 60hz refresh rate limit and none of the new tech that's in the DK2.

Agreed they might have optimized the game since the current "Beta" build and they will hopefully continue to optimize the engine pre and post release.

Doesn't change the fact that to run E: D or any game in VR at optimum takes a lot of PC Grunt.

Aye sir. I wonder what kind of GPU would be ideal for DK2. I have read far too many places, that SLI or dual-GPU adds too much latency. Due to getting a tax-return in the next two weeks, I am considering buying a replacement for my aging 590 GTX.. and I should probably go for a GTX 780 Ti. Though the insane person in me is telling me to get a R295X2.. my PSU is more than capable to handle it, but it's a dual gpu.. and having read that this is not a good match with VR, I am hesitating to consider it.

What would you recommend Kingston?

 

[KING5TON]

Aye sir. I wonder what kind of GPU would be ideal for DK2. I have read far too many places, that SLI or dual-GPU adds too much latency. Due to getting a tax-return in the next two weeks, I am considering buying a replacement for my aging 590 GTX.. and I should probably go for a GTX 780 Ti. Though the insane person in me is telling me to get a R295X2.. my PSU is more than capable to handle it, but it's a dual gpu.. and having read that this is not a good match with VR, I am hesitating to consider it.

What would you recommend Kingston?

Dual GPU solutions are not recommended. If you've got one already then it should be fine just not optimal. Ideally you want to go for the best single GPU you can afford.
The top single card from Nvidia is a 780ti (well there are titans but the 780ti is cheaper and as good/better for gaming). The top single card from AMD is the 290X.

There is around a £150 price difference between the 780ti and the 290x and the difference between the two varies depending on what game is being played and what resolution it's being played at (the 290x has more Vram so performs better if you've got multiple monitors/running a high resolution).

If I had money to burn I would buy this 780ti for £509 LINK.
If money was an issue I would buy this 290x for £359 LINK

Worth noting that the AMD card seems £50 more than the last time I checked, I know the crytomining craze has raised the price of AMD cards in the US but the UK seemed different, maybe we're catching up.

 

[Sir.Tj]

Damn, I was kind of hoping I would scrape by with My ATI 7870 OC.

 

[KING5TON]

Damn, I was kind of hoping I would scrape by with My ATI 7870 OC.

I think you might be OK. Best advice would be to just wait and see. No point running out and buying a new GPU without even testing your old one. If when you get your DK2 it turns out the experience isn't what you want then you can update. The issue with updating now as I've said is that when the CV1 comes out that I assume people who are buying DK2s will also buy CV1 then you will need beefier hardware still to be able to run it at optimum. By that time new GPUs will have been released (800 series Nvidia cards are due out Q4 this year) that will be better than today's hardware.
So the question is can you wait now and buy a new GPU when CV1 comes out or can you afford to upgrade now and then upgrade again if your hardware can't keep up.
Buying the best GPU now may be perfect for CV1, then again it might not.

 

[jabokai]

That is the dilemma I'm in. I have an i7-920@4Ghz and a 7950 - they're reasonable, but not great. I had no issues with most games and demos on DK1 and I ran most at 1920x1200. But I was shooting for 60fps then and some things (like ED) didn't even reach that so I will be struggling for 72 or 75fps... or turning off eye candy a lot.

I could build a new PC now to make the best of DK2... but then I'd need a new rig at CV1 - seems a bit of a waste. But can I stop myself hitting that "Buy Now" button and maximising DK2? :S Time will tell...

 

[KING5TON]

That is the dilemma I'm in. I have an i7-920@4Ghz and a 7950 - they're reasonable, but not great. I had no issues with most games and demos on DK1 and I ran most at 1920x1200. But I was shooting for 60fps then and some things (like ED) didn't even reach that so I will be struggling for 72 or 75fps... or turning off eye candy a lot.

I could build a new PC now to make the best of DK2... but then I'd need a new rig at CV1 - seems a bit of a waste. But can I stop myself hitting that "Buy Now" button and maximising DK2? :S Time will tell...

At least wait till your DK2 arrives matey. FD may have performance enhancements in the most recent build on E: D that may make the game run better on the rift. I was surprised by some people reporting large FPS differences between SBS 3D at 1080p and downscaling 1080p on the DK1 since Oculus have said their distortion overhead isn't massive (a few frames I was lead to believe, not 50). Maybe the new rift SDK that reduces the distortion overhead (according to them) and performance tweaks by FD will reduce this overhead.

 

[SmorlFox]

If I had money to burn I would buy this 780ti for £509 LINK.
If money was an issue I would buy this 290x for £359 LINK

If money is still an issue, you may want to consider this

Sapphire R9 290 Tri-X

with its superior cooling system and less noise at a superb price right now via amazon.co.uk

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Sapphire-TR...3107702&sr=8-1&keywords=sapphire+r9+290+tri-x

(actually the price has gone up since just last week, I got mine for £284 but still a bargain)

Here you can see how it compares to the R9 290X

http://gpuboss.com/gpus/Radeon-R9-290X-vs-Radeon-R9-290

Also worth noting that those scores are with a stock reference R9 290, the Tri-X from sapphire is overclocked out of the box, so somewhat better...

 

[Mack71]

sry deleted post, sorted

 

[KING5TON]

If money is still an issue, you may want to consider this

Sapphire R9 290 Tri-X

with its superior cooling system and less noise at a superb price right now via amazon.co.uk

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Sapphire-TR...3107702&sr=8-1&keywords=sapphire+r9+290+tri-x

(actually the price has gone up since just last week, I got mine for £284 but still a bargain)

Here you can see how it compares to the R9 290X

http://gpuboss.com/gpus/Radeon-R9-290X-vs-Radeon-R9-290

Also worth noting that those scores are with a stock reference R9 290, the Tri-X from sapphire is overclocked out of the box, so somewhat better...

I think the 290x I linked to was overclocked to a Ghz, didn't really look to hard at it though, was just looking for a comparable product. Personally I wouldn't upgrade, the difference between my 7970 and a 290X isn't enough to justify a purchase. I plan a upgrade at some point next year or at the earliest late this year.

 

[Obsidian Ant]

I think the 290x I linked to was overclocked to a Ghz, didn't really look to hard at it though, was just looking for a comparable product. Personally I wouldn't upgrade, the difference between my 7970 and a 290X isn't enough to justify a purchase. I plan a upgrade at some point next year or at the earliest late this year.

Talking of upgrades, I thinking about getting the same Z77 motherboard you have in your sig. I have seen it for £50.

Currently I have a H61 motherboard and I want to overclock my i5 2500k.

Not sure if it will be worth the £100 price point though (motherboard + heatsink).

Main reason for this is to see if I can get some higher frames in the Rift in Elite.

 

[Erimus Kamzel]

Oculus Rift or Track-Ir ?

Which one do you think would be better suited to combat in ED? OR will obviously give the more immersive feel to piloting a spacecraft, but I'm wondering if it'll quickly feel a bit bulky and heavy when constantly tracking targets in high-intensity dogfights?

Track-Ir has been specifically designed for combat (unless I'm mistaken), whereas OR seems more of an aesthetics kind of peripheral than a practical one.

I've seen a lot of combat videos of people using Track-IR in ED. Will DK2 offer the same advantages?

 

[kfmush]

Oculus Rift or Track-Ir ?

Which one do you think would be better suited to combat in ED? OR will obviously give the more immersive feel to piloting a spacecraft, but I'm wondering if it'll quickly feel a bit bulky and heavy when constantly tracking targets in high-intensity dogfights?

Track-Ir has been specifically designed for combat (unless I'm mistaken), whereas OR seems more of an aesthetics kind of peripheral than a practical one.

I've seen a lot of combat videos of people using Track-IR in ED. Will DK2 offer the same advantages?

I have wondered all of these things too. However, I care more about immersion than competetive advantage, overall. The rift will definitely be more immersive as the outside world is blocked from vision and the sterioscopic 3D and head tracking will make everything seem as if it is a real physical object. You might actually forget you are not piloting a real space craft at times.

That is not to say that TrackIR won't be immersive. I haven't used it, but I have used FaceTrackNoIR with Rise of Flight, and it felt so much more immersive with than without.

 

[Obsidian Ant]

Oculus Rift or Track-Ir ?

Which one do you think would be better suited to combat in ED? OR will obviously give the more immersive feel to piloting a spacecraft, but I'm wondering if it'll quickly feel a bit bulky and heavy when constantly tracking targets in high-intensity dogfights?

Track-Ir has been specifically designed for combat (unless I'm mistaken), whereas OR seems more of an aesthetics kind of peripheral than a practical one.

I've seen a lot of combat videos of people using Track-IR in ED. Will DK2 offer the same advantages?

I haven't used Track-IR, but I can state that the Rift is perfect for combat in Elite.

It isn't all that heavy, and is a snug fit - not unlike wearing a motorcycle helmet.

Of course with the Rift you can also track with your eyes as your FOV is 110 degrees, so you can turn you head and your eyes. It's more than just about immersion - ultimately tracking your target is 100% identical to how you would do it in real life.

 

[KING5TON]

Talking of upgrades, I thinking about getting the same Z77 motherboard you have in your sig. I have seen it for £50.

Currently I have a H61 motherboard and I want to overclock my i5 2500k.

Not sure if it will be worth the £100 price point though (motherboard + heatsink).

Main reason for this is to see if I can get some higher frames in the Rift in Elite.

I don't like the 3D Bios for that Mobo but you can switch to an old school interface. Other than that I've had no problems with it

You can pick up a decent cooler for £20
This is similar to mine LINK and mine allows me to run a 4.4Ghz constant overclock at lower temps than I did with the Stock cooler at 3.4/3.8Ghz.

That would lower the price.

Sometimes though it's worth just holding out and saving up to do a full upgrade rather than buying in dribs and drabs (due to compatibility mainly).

 

[KING5TON]

Oculus Rift or Track-Ir ?

Which one do you think would be better suited to combat in ED? OR will obviously give the more immersive feel to piloting a spacecraft, but I'm wondering if it'll quickly feel a bit bulky and heavy when constantly tracking targets in high-intensity dogfights?

Track-Ir has been specifically designed for combat (unless I'm mistaken), whereas OR seems more of an aesthetics kind of peripheral than a practical one.

I've seen a lot of combat videos of people using Track-IR in ED. Will DK2 offer the same advantages?

Not used TrackIR but used facetracknoir and it was OK. Was expecting better though TBH. Used the rift but not with E: D, totally different thing, 10 million time better IMO

 

[Obsidian Ant]

I don't like the 3D Bios for that Mobo but you can switch to an old school interface. Other than that I've had no problems with it

You can pick up a decent cooler for £20
This is similar to mine LINK and mine allows me to run a 4.4Ghz constant overclock at lower temps than I did with the Stock cooler at 3.4/3.8Ghz.

That would lower the price.

Sometimes though it's worth just holding out and saving up to do a full upgrade rather than buying in dribs and drabs (due to compatibility mainly).

Ok thanks. EDIT: I already actually have that cooler. Didn't think it would cut it though for overclocking... So it's good to hear it should be up to the job.

I don't need to upgrade anything else on the system. I think the CPU should still be good enough for a few more years, and I already have a GTX 780 card. More RAM would be nice, but my current motherboard only has two ram slots, so that would be another reason to change the board.

 

[KING5TON]

Ok thanks. EDIT: I already actually have that cooler. Didn't think it would cut it though for overclocking... So it's good to hear it should be up to the job.

I don't need to upgrade anything else on the system. I think the CPU should still be good enough for a few more years, and I already have a GTX 780 card. More RAM would be nice, but my current motherboard only has two ram slots, so that would be another reason to change the board.

Last time I checked I think E: D only used about 1.7GB of RAM so I'm not sure you'll need more RAM. Might change though if they start using more and have a 64bit exe.

It's fine for overclocking just not extreme overclocking
Mine's been rock solid at 4.4Ghz, zero issues. Could push it further as I've got plenty of wriggle room temp wise.
You should be able to get a decentish overclock at stock volts (as I have) but it is a bit of a lottery as to how much you can push it, not all chips are created equal.
At some point you will get instability if you push the CPU over what it can handle. This could be fixed by increasing the voltage of the CPU but this does increase heat and it's your heat that is your main concern. I've personally a bit twitchy about it so stick to stock volts. I haven't tested the upper limits of what I could OC my CPU, 4.4Ghz seemed enough and I don't notice it bottlenecking when I monitor it during gaming.

Download a temperature monitoring software like coretemp and take a look at your temps currently. Different CPU's have a different max temp but you don't want to be any where near it really (e.g. I think mine's 105c but I wouldn't want my CPU to go over 80c really when gaming/under load) as you get thermal throttling (the CPU runs slower to stop it going pop).

I highly recommend you do your research before doing any overclocking. Better to be safe than sorry.