Wicked.-

I had to create the file as I didn't have one. What I did have is a track file folder and it had 13GB of track files from flying online since I built this computer. WTF??!! Lol I deleted those files. The instructions on creating a file if you don't have one to edit didn't work. After creating it, I flew on our server and it created more track files. Could Tacview have something to do with that? It creates its own files but they're in My Documents..

I ended up having to get a second one as it would lose tracking when checking six. The sensors are on the front of the headset and once it can't be seen it loses tracking.

Make sure your IPD falls within the S specs. If it's below 60 or above 68 you may not be able to use the S. Unlike the CV1, it does not have manual IPD adjustment. I had no choice but to go with the Index after buying and trying the S. That said the Index is a very polished piece if hardware it's clear though not as clear as the Reverb, speakers are better than the CV1 which in my opinion were fantastic and it's much more comfortable than the S. I'm extremely happy with it but it was not cheap...

We were flying the TTI PG map and I did check the vram after I experienced the frame drops. It showed around 9GB usage which is very much in line with what I normally see but I'll disable track recording and see if that helps.

I flew with these settings last night for about 4 hours on a private PG server and I did like them. But about 3 hours in, I started dropping to 30 FPS where I had been at 45. There was no reason for the drop in frame rates. I was within 5 miles of a frigate and a destroyer, flying at 6000' with no clouds around and seemingly for no reason my frames would drop to 30. I chalked it up to a long session but honestly I've flown much longer without issue. It was almost like it needed a cache flush. After a complete reboot, all was back to normal. Up until my frames began to drop to 30, setting custom screen res to 148% and application res to 138 seemed smoother and slightly clearer. It made enough of an impression that I still haven't changed back but the difference is hard to pin down and describe and very close to a placebo effect. YMMV Something else I noticed but may be the new beta driver and motion smoothing is the canopy hoop in the 18 "flittering" is how I would describe it. It happens more now than before.

Quick question. With my CV1, clouds had zero effect on frame rates. It's like they didn't exist. With the Index it drops me from 45 to 30FPS when I get close or go through them. Is this the same for everyone else?

I'm using these settings now and liking them.

Thanks for the tip. I've since gone back to 100% on all but Custom screen resolution which is back at 204% and MSAA on 2X. I'll try your settings tomorrow.

When I switched back to stable I retried your settings of 250% without MSAA. However instead of just using Custom Resolution in Video Tab I set DCS Application to 120% and Custom Resolution to 230%. The shimmering is way down now and the towns and trees look a bit sharper plus I was holding mostly at 45 FPS. I'm not sure how the Application DCS.exe does it's bit of SS but it can't be using DCS PD. If I were to bump up the PD in game to 1.2PD it would probably be a slide show. I'm going to fly online tonight again with these settings and see how it goes. MSAA definitely puts a heavy load on.

I just fired up DCS with the new beta 1.7.11 and went into free flight F-18 which is where I do all my testing. Once I start flying I'm at 45FPS but part of my test is flying low over a lot of trees and I'll drop down to 30FPS while I'm over a large area. This is normal behavior for it but usually once I look up or get away from them it jumps back to 45. Today once it hits 30 it stays there. Even when I exit the mission and go back to the UI it's still stuck at 30. I made no changes to my settings from last night where I was getting solid 45 in PG MP. Oh well, back to stable.

I disabled hyperthreading on my rig through the BIOS. I have absolutely no need for it and it will bring your temps down by around 10c.

If I could have used the S I would have kept it. The Pimax has a mechanical IPD adjustment but the lenses are so close to your face that they crush your nose. If you raise them above your nose you're out of focus. It took me a day or so to get the positioning right with the Index but since then I've been very happy with it. It's a quality piece of kit and I think whatever issues it had in the first batches have been fixed because mine has no graphic problems at all.

I keep preload at 150000 but visibility at high. If you think about it, visibility set to ultra or extreme adds quite a bit more to be drawn and honestly for me it's not worth it when it won't actually help you spot targets quicker. Otherwise, my settings that seem to be the best balance of visual clarity and framerates are PD @ 1.0, Application SS @ 100%, SteamVR SS at 100%, custom resolution under video tab at 204%, FSAA @ 2X, AF @ 16X, visibility high, textures high, water high, terrain textures high, shadows off, terrain shadows off, motion blur, depth of field, SSAA all off, heat shimmer off, trees 80%, grass clutter 180, civic traffic off, chimney smoke off, cockpit global lighting off, rain drops on. 90hz refresh rate seems to work best for me and I have it locked at 45 FPS with occasional drops to 30FPS. I keep coming back to these settings after I've trying the most recent suggestions. I have not updated firmware again since changing back to the newest beta but I'll retry the above mentioned settings again once I do. Lastly, this rig does 2 things DCS and that other Viper simulator and neither can use more than one core and 2 threads. Therefore, I've disabled hyperthreading at bios which eliminates a significant amount of heat and allows for higher over clocks. I have CPU affinity in Process Lasso set to real time for DCS and SteamVR.

Is there a way to adjust the brightness without controllers?

I just upgraded to the Index from the CV1. Initially I bought the S because you can't beat Oculus software with DCS, you simply plug it in and it works. Unfortunately I have an IPD of just at 58 and was not able to get a clear image using the software IPD adjustment. Oculus also changed the catchers mask style headset for the halo style headset you see on the Odyssey or cheaper WMR headsets. I believe that was Lenovo sabotaging Oculus lol. The speakers are crap now and built into the halo. But, it's $400'with inside out tracking that is solid and it's extremely clear in the sweet spot. If you're IPD falls into the 80% range it's definitely an upgrade to the CV1 image wise. If your IPD is below 60 or over 69 then you need the Index. The Index uses Steam and SteamVR but does not need WMR. While not as seamless as Oculus, it's not bad. The image is much better than the CV1 but it may take a couple days tweaking to get the settings right as it has the most adjustability of all HMD's I've tried. It has outside in tracking like the CV1 (sensors/base stations)that is not included with the HMD. You'll have to buy them as well. I tried using one base station but needed another as I lose tracking while checking six. The speakers are outstanding as is the build quality of the unit in general. It's much more comfortable than the CV1 which wasn't bad and it has mechanical adjustment for IPD and eyerelief if you wear glasses. It ain't cheap though. I dont use it for anything other than DCS so I didn't need controllers, still for the unit and 2 base stations it's $800. Even though the S has better clarity in the center the Index is the better unit all around and you get what you pay for. The S feels cheap which it is but it gets the job done if you can use it. HP Reverb is the clearest of all but it has its own set of problems. I found the Pimax 5K+ to be Chinese trash. Good luck.

Unfortunately it didn't work for me. 250% was too much and I was dropping into the 30's a lot with Refresh set to 90. I'm currently doing the 204% with FSAA at 2x and it's pretty solid at 45FPS. Also, there was still too much shimmer for me without the FSAA. I really wish I didn't have to use that.

I'm coming from a CV1 and initially I wasn't impressed with the Index either. I've since made some adjustments that helped with clarity but I can't be absolutely sure those adjustments made the difference. With the Rift I ran it at 1.6PD and FSAA @ 2X without shadows and everything else high. Rock solid smooth at 45 frames per second unless on a really active MP server. That was on an i7 7700 at stock speed, 32GB memory, 1080Ti @ 1.9Ghz and M.2 drive. I've since upgraded to i9 9900k at 5.1Ghz, 64GB memory, 2080Ti OC @ 1.9Ghz and only got 8FPS increase in minimum FPS which is all that matters. I have stable FPS at 45 using 90Hz. I have custom resolution set to 204% in the steam video tab, in game PD @1.0 and Application resolution at 100%. Try those settings but @ 180% instead of 204% and see how it runs if you haven't already tried it. As far as clarity goes, I changed my cockpit view position in the 18 and now I can read the MPCD without leaning in or zooming and I could never do that with the CV1. Good luck.

Steam definitely provides more options to tinker with than Oculus. I'll be trying this setting shortly.

Which SS are you setting to 250? The Steam DCS program SS, Custom Resolution or the global resolution setting? Thanks,

Lol, yeah I removed the plastic. I'm pretty sure it was the angle I was viewing things from moreso than the IPD adjustment. But who knows. It cleared up after making that adjustment and repositioning my cockpit camera view. It's stayed clear even when trying different SS settings over 7 hours flying tonight on PG and NTTR. Hell, maybe the Index needed time to settle in to its new home and relax lol. After trying the Rift S, Pimax 5K+ and Odyssey I'm just happy I'm good to go for two more years.

The impression I get is that not only does the Index need to be in the right position on your head physically but your viewing angle when in the pit needs to fairly correct as well. In other words, if your cockpit view sits too high you're looking at a down angle to the MPCD and really the other instruments as well. Regardless, I'm glad I wasn't hasty and sent it back.

I think I figured out my clarity issue. I was messing with the IPD setting in DCS which is not interpupilary distance but an adjustment to how big the cockpit looks to you and left it at 79. I was trying to see how small I could get it to look but was never really happy. I left it there. Today I went back to my previous setting of 58 which coincidentally is my actual IPD and then I used cockpit camera view to adjust my hieght and distance from the UFC in the 18. Once I was happy with my position I looked at the MPCD and low and behold I could read most of the characters like the Indicated airspeed and the Ground speed whitout needing to lean in. Now if I could only remember the keypress combo to save the cockpit configuration I'll be a happy Index owner! So happy I just bought the second base station.

I have been seeing the same graphic weirdness, like the center of the DDI floating around or the mirror edges smearing. Swapping back to stable.

I will miss not seeing the loading screen when I get lag spikes. It would be nice to have that little feature in the stable version. *edit* I just changed back to stable and this option is still there! Yes

Thank you sir!