How to work out what impact a new graphics card will have on VR

[NorthernMenace]

Hello

I have an nVidia 2070 graphics card and I can fly in VR (Reverb G2) fine. 'But' textures, clouds, scenery etc is no where near as good in VR compared to when I used to fly in 'flat screen'. But wow does VR make all the difference.

My question is, if I installed a 'new to me' graphics card eg changed from a 2070 to a 3080, would I 'notice' the difference in VR? Is it going to change the VR scenery, textures etc enough?

My other key specs are: CPU is AMD Ryzen 7 1700X 8-core at 3.4 GHz, 32 GB DDR5 RAM, nvme storage. If I'm going to buy a new (second hand) graphics card, I can't up any of my other specs, the wife won't allow more spending... any advice appreciated

[Aapje]

The 3080 is twice as fast as the 2070 if the CPU is not a bottleneck, but the 1700x is a very weak CPU. The Ryzen 5600 is only $115 and would be a major upgrade, allowing the 3080 to shine.

But if you had to choose, I would pick the 3080.

[diego999]

VR will never look as good as 2D. You're giving up visual quality in exchange for immersion.

[Nodak]

Having done that route before, yes, you'll be able to jack up the graphics and it'll be noticeable.

[Oceandar]

VR will never look as good as 2D. You're giving up visual quality in exchange for immersion.

I agree with this. I've tried DCS maximum setting just want to see the difference and was surprised. It didn't meet my expectation. There's difference for sure but no way near the difference in 2D from low to high. I could be wrong, but unless there's big change in VR tech in the future, high end graphic card just help to improve FPS and latency in VR right now.

[Dangerzone]

10 hours ago, NorthernMenace said:

Hello

I have an nVidia 2070 graphics card and I can fly in VR (Reverb G2) fine. 'But' textures, clouds, scenery etc is no where near as good in VR compared to when I used to fly in 'flat screen'. But wow does VR make all the difference.

My question is, if I installed a 'new to me' graphics card eg changed from a 2070 to a 3080, would I 'notice' the difference in VR? Is it going to change the VR scenery, textures etc enough?

My other key specs are: CPU is AMD Ryzen 7 1700X 8-core at 3.4 GHz, 32 GB DDR5 RAM, nvme storage. If I'm going to buy a new (second hand) graphics card, I can't up any of my other specs, the wife won't allow more spending... any advice appreciated

I went from a 2080S to a 4090. I wasn't chasing better graphics, just a more smooth experience. Unfortunately - CPU seemed to be more the issue, so it didn't help as much as I thought it would. As for the graphics - I didn't notice as much difference as I thought I would. Yes, it's nice to have shadows on now, and a higher resolution render. Certainly helps with the shimmering, and helped with the readability of labels and screens too - but as for the outside world the change wasn't as significant as I thought. 

However - that was to change. The first time I noticed a huge difference was when I went from the HP Reverb to the Pimax Crystal Light. (Once I got the initial issues sorted out). Now it looks like a whole new game to me now. People say VR will never be as good as 2D, and yeah that is technically true - but now with the CL - the gap has narrowed much more than I was expecting. 

This isn't to say to sell a kidney and go out and buy a 4090 and a Crystal Light - but just that when it comes to graphic expectations, that your VR may actually be more of a bottleneck than you first realise and no amount of GPU updating will get around the limits of the VR.

Since there's nothing that your GPU can't render that a 3080 can - (it's only that the 3080 will give you the better frames to render it with), the best advise I have is if you want to see what it could look like with a 3080 - up the graphic settings already in DCS. Do a pause, (coz the frames will be bad), but if you close your eyes when you move, and then keep your head still and open your eyes - you'll get a good understanding of what resolution to expect and graphics with an updated GPU using the same headset.

[speed-of-heat]

if you can find out the frame times you currently have for CPU and graphics card that will help a more informed discussion, but i would guess, you will still have a poor performance because of your CPU... that said you will be able to have a much prettier set of screens providing the features you are enabling are not CPU intensive 

[NorthernMenace]

Hello everyone, some really helpful comments here. I didn't realise my CPU was quite as limiting as it is, because this PC (which was given to me) is 'so' much faster at DCS than my previous PC which was a 3rd generation i7. I'll definitely try those ideas about pausing with a given graphics setting to see the detail.

[LucShep]

I'll leave this here and get out quickly and quietly.... 

https://www.digitalcombatsimulator.com/en/files/3319459/