Lukewarm: HTC Vive Pro $699.99 @ Microcenter

Etherton said:
Isn't there a version 2 coming soon?
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This is what HTC considers the v2 of the HMD, but as far as the full kit, it's v1.5. I think the full v2 package will be this headset with the new lighthouses and new knuckles controllers. That will probably be released as soon as they are done with the knuckle controllers final design and testing.
 
Ah, have not been following too closely. My son wants one but I don't think they're quite worth it.
 
You can buy the headset now and get the controllers later.

I haven't seen any reviews of the new headset yet either. I'm surprised today's video cards can drive it
 
LurkerLito said:
This is what HTC considers the v2 of the HMD, but as far as the full kit, it's v1.5. I think the full v2 package will be this headset with the new lighthouses and new knuckles controllers. That will probably be released as soon as they are done with the knuckle controllers final design and testing.
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Valve is developing Knuckles.We don't know who they're using to manufacture them yet. https://www.theverge.com/2018/6/22/...evelopment-kit-shipments-portal-moondust-demo

HTC sells a kit with version1.0 base stations and the old style wand controllers for $1100 https://www.engadget.com/2018/04/03/vive-pro-starter-kit/ or $1400 with the newer base stations. https://enterprise.vive.com/us/

As we watch HTC circle the drain, they're trying to move into the enterprise/professional space. Their challenge is they have to live on hardware alone. No one is using Viveport instead of Steam, while both Oculus and Valve have software sales to float them. (And in the case of Oculus, Zuckerberg is bankrolling them.)

DigitalGriffin There are reviews all over the place when this thing first came out. The consensus seems to be "Meh." It's a little better, but not $800 better for the HMD alone. And I'd say not $600 better when you can get a full setup from Oculus or the original Vive for $400 or $500 respectively.

 
The increased resolution is not superbly better but it is still noticeably better, the strap is 100x better than the original vive one. I couldn't tell you if it is better than the deluxe audio strap since I didn't buy one. I ended up buying the Vive Pro instead because I was planning on buying the deluxe audio strap because the velcro of my original vive strap peeled off and I couldn't use it anymore. When I found out it was $100 off and no need to buy the deluxe strap, it was like a $200 off from my perspective so I bought it.

As far as the "meh" factor, I can agree it won't be worth it for a lot of people. It's not the same impact as say playing a game normally then playing the same game in VR with a Vive or Oculus the first time kind of difference. I noticed the resolution bump immediately but it was a more subtle thing depending on the game you play, the most distracting thing for me in VR is the SDE especially when aiming using iron sights and it's still there but improved a bit. So what you are really getting for the money is a small bump in resolution stereo cameras and a superior strap. It doesn't feel like an $800 upgrade when you plug it in, that is until you switch back to the old vive for a moment and go WTF ;).

The point is is if you aren't playing a lot of VR games, or using your Vive setup a lot it probably isn't worth it. If you do use your VR system a lot and have a high end PC to match due to the resolution upgrade, then yes it is worth it as an incremental upgrade if you can swing the inflated price.
 
Thanks to crypto sabotaging the gaming GPU market, VR resolution increases are at a standstill.
 
FishHead said:
Thanks to crypto sabotaging the gaming GPU market, VR resolution increases are at a standstill.
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The Vive Pro is 2880x1600. While not 3840x2160, the Vive Pro resolutions is beyond 2K, and has to push 90Hz.]

NVIDIA's next gen architecture has been baked for a while in commercial AI hardware.

However NVIDIA's advancements based on Tensor cores really doesn't benefit 3D that much. So I would NOT expect to see a HUGE increase in effective throughput. You might get another 20->30% (rough guess) with die shrinks and minor architectural improvements. Improvements will be lacking because the architecture is still mostly based around Pascal.

Manufacturing higher res displays really isn't an issue.

the 1080Ti pushes close to 60fps in most games. To get even higher resolution (4K each eye), you would need an increase in performance of 3.0x's!

I think DX12 mgpu will make a big comeback for VR games when it finally catches on. 1 GPU per eye would equate to 1.5x's performance which is "doable" in the near future.

The Unreal engine has numerous extensions for VR, so I wouldn't be surprised if they aren't working on it now.
 
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