I’m having a bug with my new RTX 4080 in VR with my Pimax 8K-X:
When I move my head, the image at first moves, too, for some millimeters.
When I move my head like a lying “8”, the whole image slightly “swings” with a little delay… (I don’t know what’s the technical expression for this.)
Only very subtle, but noticeable, and especially causing a little nausea after a couple of minutes.
I checked the lighthouse; loosened and fixed the screws once again => no change.
I installed latest Pimax drivers, hoping there could have been some bug fix for the new RTX 40x0 => no change.
I enabled low latency mode in NVidia GeForce Panel => no change.
I cleaned my Pimax, thought the sensors might be a bit dusty/dirty => no change.
I tried two different DisplayPorts on the graphics card => no change.
I tried both via SteamVR and OpenXR => no change.
I put back the 3080 => and the problem is gone!
I reinstall the 4080 => and the problem is back!
=> So it is definitely the 4080 apparently having some issues with VR, SteamVR, OpenXR or at least with Pimax 8K-X, lighthouse tracking, or whatsoever.
Unfortunately, I still cannot tell whether it comes from the NVidia drivers, Pimax drivers, SteamVR, OpenXR software… …
System information:
Ryzen 5600X
NVidia RTX 4080 (abovementioned problems)
(or NVidia RTX 3080 (no such problems))
32 GB DDR4-3600
MSI X570 Gaming Edge, BIOS 1.J0 AGESA 1.2.0.7
Pimax 8K-X (1st batch, Nov/Dec 2020)
NVidia drivers: 527.37 (latest; two days old)
Pimax drivers: 1.0.1.277 and 1.01.284
OpenXR 1.2.2 (usually used since a couple of months)
PimaxXR 0.2.8
SteamVR 1.24.6 (used before OpenXR/PimaxXR and now for bug verification)
It’s strange only a handfull of people is noticing\affected by this though. As SmallBaguette said, removing afterburner will significantly improve upon this, but you will still need good VR-legs to stomach it, because it does not feel right at all even without afterburner.
Well, as I am playing only seated (truck sim’s and Elite Dangerous), I can bear it somehow… But of course, it’s annoying and quite irritating.
I am wondering if the new RDNA 3 will show the same bug
Yeah, I don’t play sims too much, occasionally Elite Dangerous. But after running Subnautica for the first time just now with the 4090, I can understand why this is not noticed by everybody. Without afterburner I can barely notice it when I’m inside a vehicle (aka simming ). Might explain why some can’t tell there is an issue, if they are simmers only. Running around in Skyrim I feel drunk and it’s very noticable even with afterburner removed …
That’s probably because there’s a lot of variability involved both in how much latency is present in any particular case and how sensitive people are to it.
I think something to understand about this is that there has always been latency and will always be latency. It will never be 0ns. The goal of all VR headsets is to have latency below human perception. But that threshold of perception varies from person to person.
nVidia had some sort of change for the 40 series which has had the effect of increasing the latency by some amount in some scenarios. Whatever is going on there seems to be amplified by monitoring software like MSI Afterburner and fpsVR. In some cases, this can reportedly also cause flickering which I might guess could be some kind of buffer underrun related to latency.
It’s hard to isolate what specific scenarios it happens in because it does seem related to specific hardware, firmware versions (not just on the VR headset and GPU but possibly also motherboard components), etc. And in many cases the latency is increased to a range where it is right around the threshold of perception and users aren’t sure whether it’s really there or not.
There’s a lot of factors here which make this a difficult problem for the companies involved to track down and solve. Early on it was questionable whether the problem even actually existed. By now it’s been well established that it does exist, but the parameters of it are not well understood at least by the public.
I have noticed some flickering that I didn’t see with my 3090 but it isnt too noticeable right now. The pure joy of having a 4090 powering the 8KX like it does on my system overshadows that right now
I generally agree with you.
But as you said: A latency of 0 neither is physically possible nor necessary, as long as it is low enough so it cannot be perceived.
This has been the case for me for a lot of graphic cards, Pimax HMD’s, CPU’s and mainboards over time:
i5-3550, Radeon Fury & Pimax 4K
i5-3550, NVidia 1080 & Pimax 4K
Ryzen 2600X, NVidia 1080 & Pimax 5K+
Ryzen 2600X, NVidia 2080 Ti & Pimax 5K+
Ryzen 2600X, NVidia 2080 Ti & Pimax 8K-X
Ryzen 5600X, NVidia 3080 & Pimax 8K-X
(just can’t remember all mainboards right now; but it have been at least three, too)
… and I always had MSI Afterburner running in background.
So, it is certainly something related to the 40 series specifically.
Unfortunately, VR is still a niche, and enthusiast HMD’s such as from Pimax even more.
That doesn’t make things easier compared to a broader spectrum of bulk hardware.
Is it related to Pimax headsets only? Or do HP Reverbs, HTC/Vive’s and Mixed Reality HMD’s suffer from this as well?
I am using Afterburner to limit the power target:
Although the 4080 draws much less power than my former 3080 and although I didn’t experience higher power loads than ~280-320 W (under 3DMark), the 4080 generally is able to draw up to 420 W. But I’ve “only” a six year old 750 W power supply. As long as the 4080 doesn’t consume more than 350 W in peaks (and it is much much lower until now), I don’t have to bother. But no one knows, whether there won’t be single peaks >400 W now and then - and neither do I want my power supply get fried nor do I want to invest 200€ for a new and more powerful power supply if it isn’t really needed. And generally, it isn’t as normal gaming power consumption shows - not even with a 4090, if adjusted via Afterburner.
Last but not least, I’m not yet fixed to the 4080 - I first will return it, go back to my 3080 and wait for the 7900 XTX next week and test this one, too, before making my final decision. Might even be, I’ll have to pay through the nose and go for a 4090 in the end… although hopefully not
Last but not least, during my last benchmark test drives in ATS, I noticed that I get somewhat used to the issue. It’s still neither comfortable nor satisfying - but a little less annoying than during my first sessions.
I’m testing the different graphic cards for performance reasons as - at those expensive prices - I simply want to find the personally optimal GPU without spending 2000€ and above if possible.
If in the end, the 4090 is the only GPU which satisfies me - well, I’ll have to deal with it somehow. As well as with the lag issue we’re talking about, of course.
Why do you think the 7900 XTX won’t work with my 8K-X?
Because there’s no confirmation neither from Pimax nor AMD yet?
although hopefully not