Oculus DK2 arriving Wednesday, what do I need to know.

[AdioKIP]

I've been eyeing the oculus for years, as well as Elite. I finally grabbed elite about a month ago and am hooked. This is like the game I've dreamed about since the Wing Commander / Privateer days. I've spent the last month configuring, and learning the game and finally feel somewhat proficient at it. A game like this seems to be the perfect type for VR so I finally took the plung and ordered a rift. The main reason I'm posting is for any advice on setting up and getting the most out of the experience. I know due to my rig I will have to dial back settings, but I havent seen much on AMD/ATI setups running the rift with DK2, most of the posts concentrate on nvidia with the 970/980 being the favorites for running Elite on a DK2. Currently I can run the game fine at 5760x1080, on Ultra Settings, but I do definitely get some slow down and studder. This doesnt really seem to be performance related though since in stations and during combat the game seems to run flawless. I just get the occasional 2 second pause randomly it seems. My specs are below, any advice on setup and getting the most out of things is appreciated. Also wanted to ask, am I correct in assuming I will have to disconnect a monitor when I want to use my rift. Currently I run 4 monitors and am using all the outputs on my video card. I'm guessing I'll have to disconnect the 4th screen.

AMD FX8350@ 4.0ghz (can overclock if necessary but havent needed to).
2x AMD 7950's with 3 gigs of ram (Crossfire and can overclock)
16gigs 1866 DDR3
Crucial 500 gig SSD
Windows 8.1 64-bit
Thrustmaster Warthog
Saitek Combat Peddles
Track IR5 (If the rift lives up to expectations and hype I can finally retire this, may ebay it and use it towards upgrades).
Logitech G19 Keyboard / G13 Gamepad / G700s Gaming Mouse

 

[Jericho]

Congratulations and Welcome to the club!
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You'll do fine to review the stickied posts at the top of the VR section.
Almost everything you need to know is in there, particularly this LINK.
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You may want to unplug all those other monitors at first as you get the Rift going, just to make sure one of them isn't bogging down your FPS.
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When you have questions just post a new thread (well, do a search first, of course!), this VR community is very helpful to one another.
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Again, WELCOME!
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PS: Same CPU as you, and I have no trouble achieving very good performance by simply using the built in 'Performance' setting in BiOS. (I do run a GTX970 tho)
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PPS: Sold my TrackIR just three days after turning on my Rift for the first time.... can't go backwards.

 

[djbordie]

Awesome! your rig looks well ready for some good dk2/ed experience.

you need to know:

- change hud colour to green (more green pixels in the dk2 screen = clearer text/hud elements)
- sweet fx is a must, sharpens the cockpit/text/hud/etc
- cross fire + overclock is almost required with your rig. you may be able to get in game super sampling running @ 2x, maybe not.
if not, then use the AMD equivelant of nvidia's DSR (if they have one) its less of a performance hog.

- you will have to fool around with your outputs and monitors, it get trickier with the dk2 in the mix...
it likes 1 main monitor and the dk2 as extended #2...less lag, more monitors somehow in some cases es off the dk2 and causes judders (in some casses, its a finicky piece of kit)

how much could you ebay the 2 gfx cards for and the track ir??

that may help afford a 980 or titan or 295x2

 

[rkodey]

Unfortunately, Crossfire doesn't work for ED, last I tried (with 280x cards). A single 280x (aka 7970) did an ok job, with most settings at low and a few on high. Since then I changed teams and went with a GTX 970 and it made a huge improvement.

But most importantly... What should you know? Well, you're about to get completely addicted to the immersion the Rift will give you, even at low settings!! Seriously, you're going to wonder where all your free time went, as you want to jack in to ED!

Then, you'll start to wonder... How can I squeeze out some more performance. You'll want to turn shadows on within ED, which makes the immersion even better. Then, you'll start asking if you can stand to wait for the new AMD 390 cards with HBM. Then, you'll decide you can't stand to wait any longer and get a GTX 970. Then, you'll consider a second 970 in SLI...

Oh wait... was I describing my experience, or what you'll expect? Dunno - you'll probably end up where I did!

Have fun - you're gaming experience is about to get turned up to 11!

 

[ranix]

imho, sweetFX is unnecessary if you use DSR but one of the two is necessary

 

[djbordie]

that makes sense Ranix, but there are variants of sweetfx. some which are designed to work with dsr as opposed to without.
I believe the sweetfx thread has the breakdown. I cant tell the difference though...haha

OK so I personally would dump the AMD stuff and get two 970s...prob wouldnt cost more out of pocket...

 

[AdioKIP]

Thanks for all the tips. I'm pretty much already sucked in, my next move is probably an Obutto. I've already built a custom gaming cockpit, but dont really like the comfort. I'm also planning a new build probably towards the end of summer, but am hoping AMD's 3 series will be out by then. I havent run a Nvidia card in over a decade. Right now I prefer AMD since outside of gaming I think there multi-monitor support is better. Most likely I'll do an I7 Skylake build when they are available and at the time either go with a 980, or if AMD's new cards are out will consider one of them.

I've kept hearing crossfire doesnt work, I wonder if thats part of the pauses I occasionally get. I run an app on my G19 that shows my temps as well as GPU / CPU useage and I can definitely say both GPU's are working while Elite is running, but neither is seldom at 99%, they seem to fluctuate all over the place. I'll try with crossfire disabled and see what type of performance I get. I was considering dropping the second card and getting a 970 as a temporary stop gap until I do my new build. I figure I can run my 3 extra screens from the 7950 I'll leave in, and run the primary screen and Rift from the 970. Any thoughts on this idea?

 

[djbordie]

you could find a used 970 on ebay or local classifieds that should fit the bill for now. sell the amd at same time and your bridged for the summer.

all this lack of amd in vr land scares me, even with all they say about the 390 series and how much dx12 will help vr, etc.. i still dont buy it.

i left amd way back and have not been happier.
them and their cpu's, slow to the game gpu's and general support for new tech.

 

[AdioKIP]

So I had a thought last night. I recently built a portable computer using a corsair 380t case and an AMD 7850k APU, 8 gigs of 2133mhz ram, with a Samsung 850 EVO drive. I dont want to mess with my main system right now due to running a 4 monitor setup (for productivity when not gaming). If I were to pair the portable system with a 970, would that give me a better Rift experience than my desktop with the FX8350 and 2x 7950's? If so the 970 is within the price range that I can go ahead and purchase it now and have it by the end of the week. This would also solve the issue I'll have when I get my Obutto since I wont be able to do a completely new build before the end of the summer. Is the 7850k processor strong enough to game on?

 

[djbordie]

Hell ya
12 core and a 970 ftw
actually 4 cpu cores, but still interesting architecture

and not messing up your "productivity" rig

 

[AdioKIP]

Well, I ordered a EVGA 970 SSC Edition. I then realized that I would have no sound on that PC so I will probably pick up a logitech gaming headset tonight, either the G430 or the G930.