8k vs. 5k+ Decision Guide (Updated)

Pimax 8K Series
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The whole 8k vs. 5k+ back and forth is neverending. The testers have given all the information they can at this point to make your decision as easy as they can without letting you try theirs on. The decision simply isn’t likely to get any easier than it is now until more people have them in their hands.

You have:

I don’t think these poor testers can ever do enough to make people happy. They said it clearly; the differences between them are very minor across the board.

  • The 8k has slightly better SDE (only slightly due to its pixel pattern), possibly sligtly better distance viewing, and it has very minor black level and color advantages
  • The 5k+ is clearer (especially in text) and has a 10hz faster refresh rate.

EDIT: MRTV has just made a whole new post just to say: “_could I make it any more clear? Do NOT go for the 8K. The 5K Plus is by far the superior headset and it is even $100 cheaper. My only concession to the 8K was the better colors and better contrast. But after a 1h Skype call with Robin Weng, I learned that Pimax will be able to make the colors look just as good on the 5K Plus. Watch the recording of my live show here: MRTV LIVE #32: Oculus Quest - The VR Headset For Everyone? Pimax 8K, 5K Plus Ship - Why 5K Plus Wins - YouTube”

What does this mean?

The 8k is better for movie and porn watching (and possibly sniping in games and sims), while the 5k+ is better overall for gaming, text, and general use.

Buuuh what about the 2080ti bruh??
The 8k will require more GPU power than the 5k+ to look decent, and a 2080ti isn’t going to magically make games like Hellblade 80hz stable.
EDIT: Let me clarify here; MRTV has already supersampled the hell out of both HMDs (far beyond what any game could actually run at on even a 2080ti) to see the true potential of each HMD exclusively. The 2080ti isn’t going to magically change that somehow, it’s expected to be a 25-35% increase in raw GPU power, which is ALL that matters here.
VoodooDE also just added: “You need about 20% to 30% more performance on the 8K, because you need a little better resolution to make the image quality look the same on the 8K than on the 5K+. So if you NOT buy the 2080 Ti, I would stick to the 5K+.”
Look at his game benchmarks that per his words were mostly done at medium in-game settings, a 2080ti isn’t going to be powerful enough to run many of these gen 1 games at full FOV and max settings stable at 80hz supersampled, much less gen 2 games on the way! Most of the games he tested are not even hitting 80hz. So by all means wait for his and SweVivers new 2080ti benchmarks, just don’t expect miracles.
Here’s some brand new Tom’s Hardware benchmarks to illustrate this further.
Oh, and MRTV is laughing at folks that think the 2080ti is a magic bullet too.

ALL 3 TESTERS SUGGEST TO CHOOSE THE 5K+ OVERALL!
EDIT: VoodooDE originally said “If your REALLY (!) hate to see any SDE, if that is the most important thing for you, then you should keep the Pimax 8K. For everybody else I would switch to the Pimax 5K+”
But has now said: “If you got (or will buy) an extreme high-end-pc stick to the 8K, otherwise stick to the 5K+.”
But MRTV also just said “I can just tell you what I see here and that is a 5K Plus that is MUCH better than the 8K. The wobbling, the distortion problem, the refresh rate, the blurriness. I truly cannot recommend anyone to go for the 8k.”

If that isn’t enough then wait for the backers ahead of you to give their opinions when they get theirs.

The only real consideration left is the gamble on whether the 8k’s clarity can be improved to match that of the 5k+. It’s either a hardware limitation that cannot be changed (just like the lower refresh rate), or it can be improved by either a firmware update on the scaler (unlikely since they are not usually firmware updatable) or a change to the scaling method used. But if you take the gamble that the 8k can be improved then don’t be mad if it doesn’t!

You can see what others chose in the Spreadheet here.

EDIT: Lastly, I am sorry to anyone who feels like this information is biased by me. It is indeed biased by the facts and opinions of others which I simply compiled here. I am a high number backer, so I still have plenty of time personally to see how this plays out before I make my decision. So nothing is final for me either.

*I will gladly update this guide with any other worthwhile considerations I might have missed here.

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could add,
The 5k+ is clearer (especially in text) and has a 10hz faster refresh rate which gives less noticable distortion when doing fast/sharp long movements with the head.

seb mentioned that.

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The same tests need to be done again using the 2080ti and more tests need to be done to compare the headsets when run using a 2080 ti vs the 1080 ti

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i thought VooDooDE would go for the 8K headset

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The black dot pattern in skin tones of the 5k+ disqualifies it for porn IMHO. :dizzy_face:

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I think so too that that is the case.

Do u know if the 3 testers use the same videocard for their tests?

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The comments so far are why people get frustrated…

The post already mentioend the text is clearer on the 5k and that it’s 10hz faster refresh.

The post already states that a faster 2080ti isn’t going to change the fact that many VR games are not going to run 100% settings/framerate on it, it’s not that big of a leap in GPU power from a 1080ti.

VoodooDE said in his review: “If your REALLY (!) hate to see any SDE, if that is the most important thing for you, then you should keep the Pimax 8K. For everybody else I would switch to the Pimax 5K+”

READ!

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Your post ls wrong about assuming there would be no difference with 2080 ti

What interest do you have in swinging people into the 5k+?

Are u trying to pull ppl into your mind thinking that is not accurate ?

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Oke i read:

VoodooDE decision:

> Yes that is exactly right. I will stay at the 8K.
http://community.openmr.ai/t/anyone-sticking-with-the-8k/8287/316?u=front

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You wonder why making a post to swing people around and why not accepting people wanting to wait for tests with the 2080 ti to see those 2 headsets tested with better hardware?

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I dont know yet what to choose. I see movies and a play games. And some game have movies :stuck_out_tongue:
I dont mind 5k+ but the black dot pattern i think i will not like it.

Anyone of the meeting could tell mel if the pimax 8k its better to read than lenovo explorer? its blurry to the point of losing immersion? I dont mind a little sde but the black dot pattern of 5k+ for sure i I’ll notice everywhere.

If i had a way of testing both headsets it would be much easier. I live in portugal and i have doubts that pimax will do a meeting there…

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I think its a lot more subjective that you are letting on here.
Yes my main consideration is 8k. But you make it seem like nothing can be read in 8k or that text is unreadable. This is simply not the case. Yes the 5k may have more clarity, but that doesn’t make the 8k unusable.
There are also more use cases and other things you haven’t added there.

In saying that, 5k has its issues and 8k has its issues neither is perfect and people will have to decide from their own deductions.
Suggesting that just everyone should go 5k is a bit unfair as I have seen people say they prefer the softer look of the 8k instead of the sharpness.
Try be more objective man :stuck_out_tongue_winking_eye:

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@Front4m That’s what he chose. not what he suggested for most people which is what I stated, read!

And I don’t care what anyone chooses, I’m just presenting the facts.

I’m off to bed…

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You’re being very selective with your ‘facts’ btw.

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It’s like having to choose between a playstation that uses 500kb game cartridges instead of cdroms
or a playstation with a cdrom drive, but only 500kb of ram so it cannot display textures

Are we going to have to buy a vr headset for work, another for games, another for movies?

Can we please have the option to upgrade to the pimax 8KX ?
The guys wanting to buy a new headset every month could still do that on their own, mind you

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And some already pointed you out that your post is not objective and has its flows.

Hey man, get the 5k+. It is your choice.
Other people should not be rushed into choices based on your own preference, because 5k+ suits you

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I think Wiinii is only trying to help, so no need to berate him. If anything Pimax should be the one to provide a decision guide, instead of sitting back and letting 3 reviewers and a bunch of guys on the forums do it for them.

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Help? Help who?

Swing people toward his favorite choice.

There has been done ZERO tests with the 2080 ti and the same tests done with the 1080 ti should be done with a 2080 ti to see what are the effects of a newer generation card on the headsets.

No idea why people should not wait for those tests before arriving to a final conclusion. What is the problem with that?

Also the post is not objective as pointed out.

I mean , who does that help?

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Good post thank you for this thorough service wiinii.

You’ve mentioned the main points.

Others have added the possible more noticeable edge distortion on the 8K. Voodoo may well suggest 5K+ but he’s himself going for an 8K, not that that’s relevant.

All questions have been answered well by reviewers, with no thanks to Pimax so far (whene am I going to get an answer about the PPI or panel sizes Pimax???) and your excellent summary is pretty much enough for most to make a decision but there is just ONE piece of the jigsaw left i.e. how well 2080Ti runs.

You are almost certainly correct that a 2080Ti isn’t going to make Hellblade stable, and by extension you’d almost certainly be correct to guess that 2080Ti is not good enough to mitigate the issues but for me I’d like to see this tested rather than just educated guesses. Most reports suggest 20-40% improvement for VR, some as low as 12%, and a Spanish one I was made aware of today that suggested an almost 100% (yes almost one hudrend percent) improvement in FO4VR. So the jury may still be out here.

Thankfully we will have an in depth review by SweViver when he gets his 2080Ti to complete the jigsaw very soon.

If that wasn’t coming I’d choose 5K+ as I have enough info above. But seeing as it’s coming let’s wait for that. Not that we have a choice anyway as most of us don’t need to make a decision for some weeks…

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Hey man, get the 5k+. That is what is this post about. No need for you to wait for the 2080 ti reviews when the post is about having you chose the 5k+ no matter what