Cheapest VR rig to play Alyx on?

Best I've found is this Samsung HMD Odyssey+ Windows Mixed Reality Headset with 2 Wireless Controllers 3.5" Black (XE800ZBA-HC1US), but I know NOTHING of VR stuff so I thought I'd ask here first.

You need only vr headset and controllers or also the pc?

That Samsung odyssey plus is one of the best VR headset in term of comfort, visual, and audio. I mean At normal vr headset price (not the 1000 dollars amaze ball category). Especially when it's often discounted to under 200 usd.

But for some people the anti SDE filter make things look blurry to them and it's uncomfortable / headache inducing.

It also have limited controllers tracking to a big cone in front of you.

So for alyx, it should be good, as long as you don't have issue with the anti SDE filter. The older version (without + moniker) have no SDE filter. But have no internal bluetooth IIRC

Edit: the controllers also more archaic than oculus rift s, but it should be not an issue.
 
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Don't get the cheapest. It will just upset you in long run. I would get (and I did) oculus quest. It's great and has value also as a standalone mobile headset. Easy to take with you and show friends/family vr content.

depending on digi's needs. If he only gonna use it as PCVR, samsung O+ is way more comfortable than quest, have better visual (wider FoV and less SDE), and better build-in audio.
or get a Rift S.
 
Cheapest ? Find a low end windows mr headset , some of them are as low as $100. The odyssey plus is a great headset as i have one here but the controls are a bit lacking.
The rift s has some short comings in terms of its panels vs the o+ but the controllers are better. if you look around the o+ goes as low as $220 . Right now 280 at microsoft and if your a student or military you get for $250. So getting it for another $150 cheaper is bonus points for the o+
https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/p/samsung-hmd-odyssey/8n2d0nk20p8m?activetab=pivot:overviewtab


The quest is also a fine options however its a bit heavy , the strap isn't that great and if you don't need the portable aspect

I know in the USA its almost impossible to find a quest right now and i think the s is very hard to find also.
 
I read about that! People needing external powered hubs to run it on since it's power draw was too much for a lot of USB 3.0 ports.


Looking at GPUs now. He's got my old 2x295 and I saw a 1080 GTX on amazon for $249us used with a 30 day warranty and delivery next week....
 
My HP Reverb seems sensitive to USB power too. I am using the Asmedia USB chip on my mobo instead of the Intel USB ports because the HMD was blacking out/disconnecting or going crazy sometimes. But a hub or PCIe card are ok solutions. A PCIe card gets you a dedicated USB controller just for the VR devices and apparently that can be beneficial as well.

But it is disturbing that USB implementations are still shitty sometimes even today. HMDs should just move to using their own power supply. Or perhaps stop relying on motherboard USB altogether.
 
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The oculus compatibility tool said my usb 3.0 ports weren't compatable
Despite
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maybe its not following USB PD or some other interoperability standard, but it use its own standard instead?

Like some Asus laptop with USB Super Charger (TM) that will only do "fast charging" if the fast charging app is installed.
 
Which USB chip is it Davros? Or what motherboard chipset is it in? Or...what mobo is it? ;)

I just tried out a fairly generic card with the old USB 3.0 Renesas uPD720201 chip and it worked fine with my Reverb. It has a power connector. I played about an hour of the Westworld game. I got the firmware update linked on that page but just used Windows 10's driver for it.
 
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it's an intel z68 chipset socket LGA1155 GA-Z68X-UD3P-B3 It's an Etron EJ168
https://www.gigabyte.com/Motherboard/GA-Z68X-UD3P-B3-rev-10#ov

ps: a lot of rtx cards (not mine) have a usb-c port
I had no idea some video cards have USB now...

Well you could always try the onboard USB regardless of what some test says. I still use my ASUS Z68 board for old hardware experiments. It has a Asmedia USB 3 chip that was a bit quirky too. But maybe a PCIe USB card is a solution.
 
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Best I've found is this Samsung HMD Odyssey+ Windows Mixed Reality Headset with 2 Wireless Controllers 3.5" Black (XE800ZBA-HC1US), but I know NOTHING of VR stuff so I thought I'd ask here first.

Some basic things to keep in mind when looking for a VR device.

Does it have physical IPD adjustment? This means you won't be scratching your head if you can never get the image in focus because the limited IPD range they chose doesn't match up to your IPD. Alternatively, you can go to your eye doctor and have it measured and then compare it against the IPD range of headsets that don't have a physical IPD adjustment. The Odyssey+ had it. The HP Reverb, unfortunately doesn't.

How tolerant is your visual system of overall blur. Some headsets deliberately have slightly blurrier optics in order to reduce how visible the screen door effect is for the panels they choose to use. Samsung deliberately used blurrier optics for the Odyssey+ to reduce the visibility of SDE. As mentioned before, it bothers some people while some other people don't really notice.

Do you intend to play games where you will regularly be putting one or both hands behind your back? A game with Archery, for example. These can potentially be problematic for VR headsets that rely purely on inside out tracking. The cameras on the headset can potentially lose track of the controllers.

Oculus Rift (not S), HTC headsets, and the Steam Index have base stations that provide outside in tracking. These have the benefit of better coverage for tracking the controllers as long as you have enough base stations. The drawback is that setup can be lengthy or complex.

Oculus Rift S, Oculus Quest, and WMR VR headsets rely on inside out tracking. These have the benefit of extremely easy setup and generally lower cost.

Oculus Quest is unique in being able to be used completely untethered. You can get wireless transmitters for some of the other headsets, but they can be clunky or fiddly and will, of course, add to the price.

Oculus Quest can also be used to wirelessly play Steam VR or Oculus Desktop VR games through 3rd party applications. Battery life will be low when doing this, however, unless you attach an external battery pack. And there will be at least some input display lag added when doing this, how much is dependent on how good your wireless network is making it either unnoticeable or noticeable.

Regards,
SB
 
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Well I'm pretty sure I'm legally blind in my left eye without my glasses, but I see just fine with them. Without them I have about a 4-5" range of detailed vision.

I HATE blur! Hate it, hate it, HATE IT! Thanks for the heads-up!

Looks like I have a whole lot of research to do instead of just blindly jumping in. Thanks for straightening me out, I'm gonna do a LOT more research before getting anything. :)
 
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