Thinking about upgrading from Rift S to Reverb G2 - stupid idea?

Helmut Grokenberger

Helmut Grokenberger
Hi there!

I'd really appreciate if you guys could help me make up my mind about this. From time to time I've been thinking about upgrading my VR rig from a Rift S to a Reverb G2. The first reason is severing the facebook connection; I knew it when I bought it, but I caved in anyway because there wasn't really any alternative at the time. Another reason, to be honest, is the shiny-new-toy syndrome, the third one is the marketing blurb I read online how great the image quality is, blah blah blah ;) .

My current setup consists of a 3700X with 32 GB @3600 MHz and a 2080 Super. I've toyed alot with Elite's settings, and I've settled with the settings I've attached (ED Profiler screenshot). With these settings it looks as good as I can get it on the Rift S, but Elite's performance kind of already is an edge case. Out in the black, in supercruise and most other scenarios I get rock solid 80 fps. In stations, on planets near settlements, RES sites and in busy systems I get alot of ASW kicking in. The transition between 80 fps and 40 fps with ASW is especially jarring.

I'm kind of interested in the G2, but I'm also a realist and not keen on flushing my money down the toilet. I've read some opinions online that the image of the G2 is way better even at half res because of the even-less-existant screen door effect, that the controllers aren't great, and others complaining that the lenses' sweetspot is too small and of course that the G2 inherits the inside out tracking problems when the controllers are out of sight of the cameras - that's the same with the Rift S.

I don't really care about the controllers; I practically exclusively play ED and Project Cars 2 in VR (the only other VR games I played completely are HL Alyx twice and Lone Echo once ;)), Elite with a HOTAS and driving stuff with a wheel. These days I only need my controllers (actually just the right one) for setting up my play session.

So I guess the ultimate questions are 1. is it worth it and 2. can I run it to my satisfaction? Anyone done the step from Rift S to G2? Would you do it again? Regret it? There is alot of overhyped info out there, and as always I'm not so sure what to believe... but I have a creeping feeling I might be headed for disaster ;).

How would you judge the performance difference - not only regarding the resolution difference between the headsets, but also native Oculus vs. SteamVR plus WMR.

Any opinions? Thanks!
 

Attachments

  • Screenshot.png
    Screenshot.png
    75.7 KB · Views: 149

RogerO18

R
I switched to a G2 from Rift S. Visuals are better on the G2 but the G2 Controllers do not work with ED. I had to use a Thrustmaster Hotas with the G2. The G2 visual doesn't fade when the tracking is lost like the Rift S does. Will I go back to the Rift S anytime soon, No.
 
Last edited:

Dragsham

Dragsham
Took me 2 weeks to finally run elite stable on the G2. My rift S has a new home with a squadron cmdr I know. So no going back....
Frustration at the steam default which is pants.
But once its done...working well..wow. really....wow.
I'd never go back.
 

Faded Glory

Faded Glory
The Reverb G2 is very good in some respects, but has issues in others. You should run ED fine with your setup - when I first got mine I was still on a 1080 and the performance was fine. I should say that I pay little attention to FPS in VR (just a personal thing), but it gave a very sharp and smooth experience in my opinion. (I've since upgraded to an RTX 3080.)

Yes, the sweetspot is small, I notice it when I glance at a side menu if I don't really turn my head fully (the text gets blurry) and some people are unhappy with the quality of the black. None of this particularly bothers me. I can't say anything about the controllers as I never use them, they are still in the box, I use it only for ED and Microsoft Flight Simulator 2020, and the latter, even with the 3080 requires a compromise in graphics settings. ED does not. But it does seem to be a demanding headset, will use everything you've got in your PC and want more.

One thing to be aware of, there seem to be quite a few design / construction issues with it. Mine failed after only three months, the USB connection just stopped working. Packing it up, it feels as though the cable has crimped. To be fair, as soon as I called up about it, the rep was not surprised and immediately offered me a replacement or a refund if I preferred. I'm taking the replacement, will give it another go as for me the sharpness of the image is really good. I find it very comfortable to wear, I have never had a problem with the off ear headphones, the mic(s) are very sensitive, good quality (I use VoiceAttack with ED).

I came from an old Rift CV1, so there's no comparison in quality. Don't know what the bump up from a more recent headset will be. :)
 

VR andysonofbob

VR andysonofbob
I had to make this decision myself recently, just before Christmas, deciding between Q2, G2 and VIndex because my RiftS broke forcing me to dig out the CV1, which I couldn't bear because of the screendoor.

If you have zero interest in anything but cockpit games, bar sweet-spot, the G2 is an upgrade in in every way compared to RiftS. Stats don't lie.

Why is it a stupid idea? It's sounds quite informed to me! :)

As already mentioned make sure you are aware of the potential ballache some G2 users have had to get their G2 set up but once it's set up you're golden.
Also, be aware of the performance loss you will suffer going to HMD agnostic SteamVR from the oculus specific Oculus Runtime. You could probably do a quick performance calculation, comparing both, so you will get an idea of performance loss.
You are freed from or loose (depending on how you look at it) the oculus walled garden.

Something I will say, buying something like the G2 (and Q2) makes you future proof in the HMD visuals area. Even today's bleeding edge consumer CPUs and GPUs are pushed to their limits with the G2.
 
Last edited:

_bryan

_bryan
RogerO18 said:
I switched to a G2 from Rift S. Visuals are better on the G2 but the G2 Controllers do not work with ED. I had to use a Thrustmaster Hotas with the G2. The G2 visual doesn't fade when the tracking is lost like the Rift S does. Will I go back to the Rift S anytime soon, No.
Click to expand...
Hi Roger,

I tried the G2 (coming from Valve Index), but unfortunately it kept losing the angle of the floor. In other words I would be sitting there and about every 30 seconds or so, the whole world would be rotated 30 degrees clockwise, or sometimes counter-clockwise, and I would have to move my head in many different directions to get it to figure out where the floor was again.

Because of that I had to stop using it and go back to the Index. Did you have this issue with the G2?

I really liked the G2 view screens better, so I was very disappointed.
 

RogerO18

R
_bryan said:
Hi Roger,

I tried the G2 (coming from Valve Index), but unfortunately it kept losing the angle of the floor. In other words I would be sitting there and about every 30 seconds or so, the whole world would be rotated 30 degrees clockwise, or sometimes counter-clockwise, and I would have to move my head in many different directions to get it to figure out where the floor was again.

Because of that I had to stop using it and go back to the Index. Did you have this issue with the G2?

I really liked the G2 view screens better, so I was very disappointed.
Click to expand...
Sometimes mine will move maybe 10% angle or move right or left around 20%. I admit I'm not a fan of in and out tracking.
 

simonsays

S
_bryan said:
Hi Roger,

I tried the G2 (coming from Valve Index), but unfortunately it kept losing the angle of the floor. In other words I would be sitting there and about every 30 seconds or so, the whole world would be rotated 30 degrees clockwise, or sometimes counter-clockwise, and I would have to move my head in many different directions to get it to figure out where the floor was again.

Because of that I had to stop using it and go back to the Index. Did you have this issue with the G2?

I really liked the G2 view screens better, so I was very disappointed.
Click to expand...

Mine has been pretty much perfect, I can count the total number of times I've had headset tracking issues on one hand in 3 months of having it and even then only for a couple of seconds at a time. What I've found is that the headset is very susceptible to lighting issues, so bright sunshine or LED lighting can confuse it, it also "learns" your environment, so moving things large objects a few inches can throw it off for a few seconds while it re-maps the environment to adjust.

I mean, lots of people have reported problems with LED lighting, but we have that and get near to zero problems with tracking, but I did make sure to spec zero flicker lighting when we made the switch.

I don't know if certain light patterns on your monitor might confuse it, so possibly turning off the monitor might even help while you are in VR.
 

VR andysonofbob

VR andysonofbob
Have you played about with your ambient light?
Some people have reported their G2 is very sensitive to this.
Try to assume the lighting sweetspot is a 20% or so chunk between pitch black and bright. And experiment with a lighting 'slider', if you see what I mean?
 

_bryan

_bryan
simonsays said:
Mine has been pretty much perfect, I can count the total number of times I've had headset tracking issues on one hand in 3 months of having it and even then only for a couple of seconds at a time. What I've found is that the headset is very susceptible to lighting issues, so bright sunshine or LED lighting can confuse it, it also "learns" your environment, so moving things large objects a few inches can throw it off for a few seconds while it re-maps the environment to adjust.

I mean, lots of people have reported problems with LED lighting, but we have that and get near to zero problems with tracking, but I did make sure to spec zero flicker lighting when we made the switch.

I don't know if certain light patterns on your monitor might confuse it, so possibly turning off the monitor might even help while you are in VR.
Click to expand...
Thanks I do have one or two LED lights in this room. The room itself has really high angled ceilings, and I'm wondering if that's part of the problem. I also have 4 big windows in here. Maybe that's not good either.

What I did was gave it to my land lord's son, but he's only 12 and never even took it out of the box. But I think if I can get him to set it up it will work better for him, because he's in a square shaped room with fewer windows.
 

Helmut Grokenberger

Helmut Grokenberger
Thanks for your opinions, guys!

I kind of want one, but I'm still hesitant. One more thing: How is the G2 with glasses, anyone got experience with that? I have seen pictures and videos showing that it's way easier to put on the G2 with glasses because of the hinge, but how comfortable is it long term? I had to get lenses for my Rift S because not only was putting it on with glasses was a pain, but the Rift was very oncomfortable with glasses, doubly do because the Rift gets pretty heavy on my face after a long play session.

Faded Glory said:
I can't say anything about the controllers as I never use them, they are still in the box
Click to expand...
This makes me curious... don't you need the controllers for setting up your guardian, play session, pinning windows and such? How do you do that? Maybe it's a dumb question, but can I get away with not buying the controllers? I saw on amazon that they sell the headset without controllers, my assumption was this is for people who already own the first generation controllers... right?

Thanks again!
 

Chase Quinnell

Chase Quinnell
I've got a Reverb G2 as my very first VR headset. So far it's pretty fun but I've noticed things like HUD text appears a bit more blurry than on a flat-screen. This occurs regardless of the graphics quality. Is this considered normal?
 

Koot Katmandu

K
Helmut Grokenberger said:
Thanks for your opinions, guys!

I kind of want one, but I'm still hesitant. One more thing: How is the G2 with glasses, anyone got experience with that?
Click to expand...
I think it is great. I had the quest 2 and it was a royal PITA with glasses hard to get it on and get them aligned . I ordered the inserts and it was much better. When I ordered my G2 I assumed I would have the same problem so I ordered inserts. However, I do not think I will need them with the G2. The glasses fit nice and are not uncomfortable at all. Still have not got the inserts yet but I ordered them and too late to cancel it. With the G2 you can pop up the headset and see the computer or others and still have your glasses to read the screen. With the quest and inserts I have to put on the glasses to do anything on the computer.
 

_bryan

_bryan
Chase Quinnell said:
I've got a Reverb G2 as my very first VR headset. So far it's pretty fun but I've noticed things like HUD text appears a bit more blurry than on a flat-screen. This occurs regardless of the graphics quality. Is this considered normal?
Click to expand...
I think so. It may be your eye point location.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top Bottom