After almost 5 years, I’ve lastly moved on from Index as my major PC VR headset, and Valve is the one which made me do it.
Index is a good headset. Between it’s monitoring, ergonomics, field-of-view, crisp show, and nonetheless industry-leading audio, it’s been laborious to present it up—even when it’s decision is, by this level, very a lot ‘last-gen’.
Even with Quest 3’s upsides of upper decision, higher lenses, no-tether, extra compact form-factor, and no exterior trackers, I used to be nonetheless reaching for Index when it was time to dive into PC VR. However the launch of Steam Hyperlink lastly put me over the sting; Quest 3 is my go-to PC VR headset.
Steam Link is Valve’s software on Quest 3 (additionally accessible on Quest 2) which makes it extremely simple to wirelessly connect with SteamVR and entry your whole PC VR content material. It cuts out the Oculus PC software program and Quest Hyperlink because the middle-man, which made you bounce by a couple of hoops earlier than you possibly can lastly get to the place 99% of PC VR customers really wish to be: SteamVR.
Meta deserted its Oculus PC platform years in the past, and has solely barely maintained the software program to make sure that Quest Hyperlink would proceed to work. However they know full effectively the overwhelming majority of individuals utilizing Quest Hyperlink are utilizing it to get to SteamVR, not the deserted Oculus PC library.
After utilizing Steam Hyperlink on Quest 3 over the previous couple of months, I spotted it was steadily changing into essentially the most frequent manner I used to be leaping into PC VR. Proper now I’m wanting over at my unplugged Index within the nook, and I’m undecided the following time I’ll really feel compelled to plug it in. I might nonetheless decide Index over Quest 2 even with Steam Hyperlink, however Quest 3 and Steam Hyperlink have tipped the scales. Having key Quest 3 accessories like an actual strap and dock makes a distinction too (however profit standalone VR simply as a lot as PC VR).
It’s in fact ironic that Valve’s personal software program made the distinction. And it’s price commending them for being keen to upend their very own {hardware} to make issues higher for customers—even when these customers are utilizing different headsets (Meta additionally will get a pat on the again for letting a competitor’s app onto their retailer).
Now Quest 3 is just not solely the very best worth in a standalone headset, it’s additionally the very best worth in a PC VR headset. That’s, assuming you’ve obtained the precise networking and PC to again it up.
Wi-fi PC VR is tremendous handy and may work very effectively, however you completely want an optimized community setup and a hefty gaming PC.
In the event you’re going this route, be sure that your gaming PC is instantly related to your router. And your router ought to be at the least Wi-Fi 5 (802.11ac), however ideally Wi-Fi 6 or Wi-Fi 6E (802.11ax). Ideally your router also needs to be in the identical room that you just’re gaming, however so long as its a room or two away, you have to be wonderful.
A PC geared up with at the least Core i5-4590 or equal, RTX 2070 or equal, and 16GB of RAM can be advisable.
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Valve made Quest 3 my major PC VR headset; will they ever win me again with a follow-up headset? I don’t assume anybody is aware of for certain proper now, not even Valve.
