Maybe you got the new one that only supports 90hz and uses 2001 firmware
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It is not maybe, it is a fact. I have the new one but I am not sure what is changed in hardware. Something changed because it supports only 90Hz and native 4k. No upscale, no lower freq. Pimax does not say anything about new version of 8kx and the reason of reduced functionality.
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With the old version, 90 Hz is only experimental and may not work at all. With the new version, 90Hz is guaranteed, but currently only the 90Hz.
Now it’s up to you what you prefer.
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The 90hz on the old version yes seemed experimental on Nvidia cards vs the Amd Gpus which seemed to have wide support since the Alpha firmware released last April.
So the new model is said to be stable on RTX desktop 30series card. But currently the trade off is missing features and compatibility with laptops, Amd Gpus and non RTX cards.
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Hi,
I just got an 8kx, and I don’t even need to type any details: I have verbatim the exact same issue you described here. Do you have a copy of the 2001 firmware you can share with me? Or was there a resolution to this?
Thanks in advance!
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Welcome to OpenMR! I saw on Reddit you have received a copy of 2001 FW.
Well…as I suspected Pimax officially announced the two versions of 8kx. Due to the chip shortage the new 8kx got a second-source main chip. This is why I do not have that options in pitool that owners of earlyer versions have. Very sad if Pimax did not mention this fact before I bought my 8kx. V275 pitool installed a bad firmware at first start and lot of new owners had the same problem. It is not true if 275 did not install any bad firmwares. The main question is the second-source chip better, same or worse than first versions. At this moment I quess it is worse. Pimax needs much better, more honest and more clear communication about hardware and software topic I guess.
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Almost certainly the new version is better. And I base that both on comments that Pimax has made on these forums and also the simple fact that the 8KX was released 3 years ago, and any chip selection they’re making now is 3 years newer technology.
In particular, I expect the new chip to clear up all of the problems that the older 8KX revision has had with 90Hz compatibility. That capability didn’t exist on the market at the time the old chip was originally selected, so Pimax must have gotten creative to get it to work. A new modern chip will be able to do it outright as a normal part of its specs because it’s 2022. And we see examples of other products on the market that have this capability at high resolution with no apparent problems such as the Aero (in fact, there’s a good chance Pimax will have selected the same chip the Aero uses for the same reasons Varjo selected it).
This is a refresh of the 8KX that also has new panels and backlight as well. They aren’t going to be worse versions. The product you have in your hands right now is newer and better than the old revision most of the rest of us have.
What’s happening is Pimax had to release it before their firmware and software was fully ready. So the drawbacks will be temporary. In the longer term, you’re going to be better off having received the new version during the transition rather than having gotten the old version just before the switchover like I apparently did.
If I had known about that, I would have waited a bit to get this new version. While these forums are grumbling about it now, it’s an easy guess that this is going to change, and the new version you have is going to become the more desired one.
What I’m interested in right now is someone doing a direct comparison of display quality between the old revision and the new revision. Does the new revision look noticeably better?
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For now no. Not until they are able to restore compatibility and features.
Unfortunately atm this is hit and miss even though it was specifically for desktop RTX30series cards.
Losing Amd compatibility was not good as it had stable 90hz native better than Nvidia from the first Alpha/Beta FW released last Apr. Hopefully they can get original chip or figure out how to make the new chip have full capability & Compatibility restored.
Until that time these new 8kXs are a downgrade.
Pimax did not say the new second-source chip was better. They had to get a new chip provider due to chip shortage. So we do not know at this moment if the new chips are better just because they are newer.
Even with the current limitations, these new 8KX’s may not be a downgrade. On the compatibility front, I think it’s very likely that their 90Hz compatibility with nVidia desktop systems is much better than the old revision 8KX. People who had to use special firmware versions or who were not previously able to get 90Hz to work at all can probably work with this new revision.
I think the old revision 8KX uses a chip which has compatibility problems with 90Hz that are unsolvable because they’re in hardware, and this is a problem that Pimax is trying to address. The new chip won’t have these problems (hopefully!). But instead, the new revision 8KX currently has new compatibility limitations just because the firmware isn’t ready yet. But that’s a much better problem to have because it can be resolved with firmware updates going forward.
Speaking of the here and now, I think what we’re going to see is that this new 8KX has better compatibility with some customers (nVidia desktops) while having no compatibility at all with others (AMD, laptops) which aren’t supported yet. So on the compatibility front it is probably a mixed bag of better and worse for the time being.
On a different front, we have almost no information right now about how the old and the new 8KX compare in terms of display quality. Somebody would need to have an old and a new one to directly compare, and nobody has made such a comparison (except MRTV’s recent video which doesn’t really do that comparison directly, but does suggest that the new 8KX has improved visuals). We know that the panels and backlights were updated. If the new 8KX has better display quality, then the new 8KX is most definitely an overall upgrade… but only for customers that are currently supported.
Pimax didn’t say so on the official announcement you are referring to, but they have said so elsewhere on this form in other posts. They even mentioned that that they’d considered calling the new version “8KX Pro”. I don’t think this change to the new chip is any sort of knee jerk thing. What Pimax representatives have said suggests that its been in the works for a while now.
After 3 years, it’s very likely that the chip in question along with other components of the older revision 8KX are EOL or nearly EOL from their suppliers. So Pimax will have needed to move to the new revision regardless and will have known about this long ahead of time. But chip shortages may have caused components to effectively go EOL earlier than planned. Which meant Pimax had to scramble to get the new revision 8KX out the door earlier than they had planned for. Thus they started shipping them with firmware with only limited support. The hardware was done, but the firmware and software wasn’t.
If the change had been purely due to chip shortages, Pimax would instead just have the 8KX out of stock right now because they wouldn’t be able to build anymore at all. Changing to a different chip surely required a redesign of the board, and that takes substantial time and engineering resources. They couldn’t have turned it around this fast in that case. That would be totally unrealistic for an engineering organization of their size. They were surely only able to keep selling 8KXs at all because they were already well along to making the switch anyway.
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There are new customers with the revision having the same problems others reported. As Said Amd GPUs from day 1 90hz firmware has had stability. So the issue seema to be on the Nvidia platform variance. I suspect users with success on RTX20series cards likely will not work on new 8kX revised platform.
So the issue is related primarily to Nvidia @90hz.
This is an Nvidia variance hardware issue which is why it works for some and not others. Which is still occuring with the new revision. Source Reddit. Now a couple have had bad firmware from the factory. Which is bad there not shipping them all with the same 2001 FW.
Unless you have customers with an RMA switching from old to new version. Any successes with the new version is not known if the old version would have worked and those with the Old version without receiving the new version will not know if the new revised model would be more compatible.
The Fact there are new customers with the revised 8kX not working suggests this revised hardware is not proven.
Often revisions are to decrease costs improving financials costs for the manufacturers. And sometimes these changes are a downgrade as seen with products like the Playstation 3 to which best model was the 60g with full Ps2 support that had extra hardware. Vs the later one that used a software emulator and support dropped completely when it was discovered it made ps2 games look worst than on a ps2.
So as said until pimax can prove this change works properly and restores missing features and full compatibility it will be a downgrade that simply is said to have improved panels and improved backlighting.
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MrTV was comparing it to a not final 8kX he had prior to the 8kX being released. Which waa said to not have the same panels as the commercial released model. That and many firmware releases since then.
Sure but new revised chips normally don’t hurt compatibility. This is where pimax dropped the ball on the KS buying EOL usb controllers that are only USB2 when the KS headsets were supposed to be USB3.
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ey man, would love to get a copy too! thanks in advance! jeroen_markx@live.nl
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Hey,
Email sent. Good luck.
I am not sure there is a way to attach a file to my comment but here is a download link.
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@playa has been collecting an impressive list of pimax software and Firmware.
He might have the above firmware. If not sure he will add.
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I have exactly the same situation! No refresh rates options in the menu, clarity is WORSE than G2 or Vive Pro 2. This is not a 2x4k headset, and I am definitely NOT seeing the clarity as advertised online. And I got a 2001 firmware one, which looks like a worse device than the original 8kx.
Sounds like a settings issue.
Have you installed Pimax Experience? Iirc I think there is an option to install it from within Pitool.