Totally genuine post here, not trying to knock Pimax or any of the excellent reviewers (SweViver, MRTV etc) but I have this genuine question so I think it’s best to get it off my chest. And it may end up being rubbish on 16th when the NDA lifts but…
I get a feeling rightly or wrongly that there seems to be some bias towards changing for the 5K+ and I’m not sure why. I don’t have much to go on, it’s just a feeling (probably paranoia) but with regard to reviews I just get the impression that most reviews happened at the 5K+ station and questions asked seemed to be slanted pro-5K+… And from the setup point of view also I have a feeling the 5K+ may have been set up with better contrast, more appropriate supersampling, or something to make it look better.
I don’t know, some bit of paranoia within me tells me it’s entirely possible that for whatever reason (production, timeline, cost, reliability etc) Pimax may be doubting their 8K after all and are hoping people will move to the 5K+ which is more realistic for more peoples’ GPUs but don’t want to come out and explicity say “sorry guys we were a bit too ambitious with the 8K, you’re going to have to accept a 5K panel instead sorry, and here’s a $100 credit as an apology” because that would be losing face. The cleverer thing to do would be to just make the 5K+ and skew the setups and the reviewers towards preferring that one so that people choose of their own accord.
It’s total and utter paranoia but I just get that feeling. If the 5 is definitely better than the 8 I have no problem with that and will just switch but I don’t want to be forced to switch when it’s not necessary if I’ll be one of the few with a 2080Ti who would actually benefit from the 8K.
I’m very much hoping when the NDA lifts there is no obvious bias from the testers and they give good solid honest evidence at different supersample and GPU and contrast settings to help us decide which one would fit our circumstances better.
Maybe there’s something here, but I think the whole “8K backers can switch to 5K” amounts to them trying to right by folks that won’t have the GPU hardware to run the 8K well (which they said as much a month or so ago). If you backed the 8K and don’t have a 1080 or better and don’t have the funds to upgrade the GPU, switching to the 5K makes sense.
That said, the majority of folks interviewed in Germany backed the 8K and the majority of them said they’d stick with the 8K after seeing both in action. I don’t think any of the demos were rigged, but some folks had bad experiences after a previous backer cranked up the settings to max (which will absolutely wreck a 1080 Ti).
Even with a 1080 Ti, you’ll be fine with an 8K. I’m positive the 2080 Ti will be fine as well. But bare in mind even that might not have the raw power to run ray tracing stuff; all the demos you’ve seen were on 1080P, single screen. The new multi-res rending in the 20X series might be a complete game changer when paired with the eye trackers though (of course pending game / engine support).
The cost difference 5k to 8k was always 100 bucks. A company that spent so much money on the development won’t gain much on possible savings there.
All they have to do is make as much backers really happy as possible. These are their multipliers in the market.
Yeah that sounds reasonable and I think it’s probably the case too.
But in that case I don’t want to be shepherded into switching to the 5K+ with biased reporting by Pimax and reviewers suggesting I should be jumping ship, when in actual fact when I get a 2080Ti I’ll the 8K will indeed be better. In fact I’ve heard nothing by anyone to suggest that the 8K will be better than 5K+ with a 2080Ti (or better), and that’s where the problem lies. I want one review and recommendation for the people who have <1080Ti and another opinion for those who will have >1080Ti, not just be told to get a 5K+
The information I’m getting loud and clear from all the reviews and informal suggestions is that 5K+ is sharper, brighter, less blurry, better etc… so yeah change your pledge! Not a word on “Ok guys, the truth is it’s all about resources… you need a powerful 2080Ti to make the most of the 8K and then it will be better. But the rest of you will be better off with the 5K+”. I’m not hearing that. It’s all going one way so far. I hope the reviewers can clarify for the different users next Friday.
If you’ve already pulled the trigger on a 2080, I’d definitely recommend strongly considering the 8K for one reason: potential to “upgrade” it to the 8K-X with eye tracking sometime in 2019. You’ll have all the requisite equipment for foveated rendering, just might need to ship the HMD to get the scalar chip replaced.
In the interim, I really doubt that in the middle of a VR game you’ll be able to tell the difference between the 5K+ and 8K since you will have a beefy enough GPU. I have a Vizio 4K LED TV and an LG OLED TV. Both look great, but the LG is night and day better (much greater difference than any hands on impressions between 5K+ and 8K). But while watching a movie or show on either I don’t notice the differences unless I take myself out of the show to appreciate black levels and other OLED goodness. If you’re immersed, your brain will smooth things over (which is why 24 fps works so well for film ;-)).
You’re not alone here. That was my first thought when they announced this. However im still going to stay with 8k and risk a little. Even if lot of people decide to switch, there will be still huge amount of customers with 8k. They will have to polish and refine it to the final state anyway if they want a good reputation and success. If it fails - you can always sell it and move forward to vive/oculus or any other expensive wide FOV headset, there are already 3 or more announced.
Personally i think there are 2 reasons why they would offer to downgrade:
8k performs worse then exptected due to technical restrictions or software issues (which might be fixed later, but not now), while 5k is ready to go and offers almost same quality with the only difference in SDE.
Manufacturing cost for 8k is higher then expected and they are trying to spare some money by offering a lower device + some kind of compensation. Take in mind, 8k has 2 displays each 4k and additional upscaler chip while 5k has 2 displays of lower resolution and no scale chip.
Lol, nope. The amount of hypothesised paranoid bullshit about a vr headset is simply stunning.
More bullshit in here than a fertiliser company.
FFS guys it’s not really that hard 1080 or better / go 8k
1080 or less / go 5k
For me it boils down to the numbers - and right now they just don’t appear to exist yet…
I don’t have (and NEVER will) an NVidia card in any system that I either own or support - period.
I have been asking for SOMEONE from either Pimax or the testers to get me some hard data about performance with respect to the AMD lineup of cards - as I have both a Vega 56 OC and a Vega 64 OC. I also have an RX 580 OC - but that is being held as spare in case something goes south with either of the 2 R9 Nano cards in use by relatives.
Can somebody actually provide me with actual (not anecdotal, not assumed, but ACTUAL) hard numbers and feedback so that I can make an informed decision and not shoot blindly hoping to be right?
Oh wow thanks for simplifying it for the 1000s of backers who find this a tough choice. We all feel so stupid now. Why didn’t we think of that at all thanks mate!
(Btw I hope you realise one of the telltale signs of stupidity is believing there is a simple solution to a tricky question… Thanks for your input but I’ll wait for more clarity on the 16th.)
Dude, chill, don’t go off at me for your own insecurities.
Cancer is something to get passionate about.
Kidney disease is something to get passionate about
Cystic fibrosis is something to get passionate about.
Your whole existence can survive the massively tough decision between a 5k+ and an 8k, I’m sure of it.
Wait till you have to decide on something truely meaningful in life.
“Perspective”
Peace out
Please stop drinking the bongwater, your condescending “flower child” attitude is neither constructive nor welcome in this discussion.
All you are accomplishing is to further aggravate and irritate those here trying to come to a decision with little facts at hand.
As I mentioned in my post above, your blatant oversimplification fails to take into account that there is more than just 1080 (y/n) involved - some of us don’t even HAVE NVidia for their own reasons, and the information is not being presented in a timely fashion.
On the subject of what is/is not acceptable to stress about - take your own advice and chill, as people have the free will to CHOOSE what they wish to stress - it needn’t come from your “pre-approved listing” of conditions. If the stress and lamentations of others are upsetting you that much - GO SOMEWHERE ELSE.
Unless, of course, you have something meaningful, constructive, and RELEVANT to add to the conversation.
I’ve said my piece - and extend my apologies to others for taking up their time…
Not until NDA is up, but maybe not then. Not sure if any of the testers are on team red. But I’d be will to bet that Vega 64 ~= 1080 for the Pimax 8K (it is for about everything else). Not sure about Vega 56, but anything less is probably going to struggle (unless you drop quality settings).
Here’s hoping that someone amongst the test team realizes the untapped portion here.
As for Vega 64/56 =/= 1080, I have been able (in my own limited testing) to run ED on my Lenovo using the 56 at settings that are darned close to the same as the 1080 - and I still don’t entirely know what I am doing. Everything ultra or highest and HMD quality @ 1.75 runs fine on the 56. I will report back once I have finished retooling for the 64.