Was on 8K, then I settled for 5K, here are the reasons why:
I am using gtx 1070 laptop NOT DESKTOP. Seems like pimax didn’t manage to show that it can work with a mobile 1070 at decent fps. It is unfortunate they did not specify their minimum requirements properly on the campaign page
I got an early bird 5k at $349
The 5K have better fps compared to 8k at this moment, it will likely stay that way. If they can improve the fps for 8k, they can likely improve the fps for 5k too in the future
Now, maybe I can use a 10M cable on my low specced laptop, which will help alot, since 5M is very restrictive in my 4 by 4 meters room
Since 5K has already reached the target fps, according to @bacon, it will likely be released earlier than 8k, which is much more challenging to get right
If all goes bust, 5K still is cheaper than 8K
Hope these helps out guys with marginal specs on their laptop or desktop.
The 5K won’t have any lower system requirements from the 8K since they both run at 5120x1440 input resolution.
The 5K doesn’t have better FPS since it is the same input resolution. Pimax did say they were able to go a couple Hz higher on the refresh rate, but they’re still testing both. Running at 85 hz vs 82 hz won’t be noticeable, you will notice the increased SDE on the 5K much more.
The 5K likely won’t be able to use any longer of a cable since the only difference is it doesn’t have to scale the input resolution.
Both are in testing and haven’t been able to hit the target 90hz yet. No guarantee one will be out before the other.
True, but in my opinion the 5K isn’t enough better than the Oculus to justify the added cost
For some reason, the 5k is doing better than 8k currently. If 8k can be improved, the same optimizations for 8k, may make the 5k even better.
Since it is more stable now than the 8k, it is likely a longer cable will make it less stable, maybe, it will become like the 8k stability wise, but have longer cable?
If it is just scaling, there shouldn’t be any stability or refresh rate differences. Maybe the whole thing is more complicated than we think. Pimax should know better
Yes, the 8k’s resolution is much better. But FOV will be about the same. That matters more to me, especially considering even at 5k, it will be much better than the vive. And, the 8K is more risky for my marginally specced laptop
What I’m saying is that the only thing they’ve confirmed that’s different is that it’s slightly more stable at 85Hz, whereas the 8K is stable at 82hz. That extra 3Hz isn’t going to make a difference visually, wheras the pixel density is going to reduce the SDE noticeably. The 8K is not more risky for your marginally specced laptop, in fact if you want to go there, I’d say the 5K is more risky if it ends up running at a higher refresh rate, that’s more work for your GPU to do. Negligible, yes, but that’s the only difference, spec wise.
Unless the price difference is important, both the 5K and 8K will need exactly the same hardware requirement as I understand so far. If your laptop does not deal with 8K, then 5K will not be counted anyway.What was mentioned in the link is the stability of the refresh rate that is independent of the configuration of your laptop.
Oh well, I guess we’ll see. If they manage to optimize the 8k and make it better, hopefully they will make the 5k even better with the same optimizations or amount of effort. For now, I’ll be comforted that I am saving $150, while at the same time I can experience a crazy amount of FOV compared to the vive and the same as the 8K. The 10m cable can wait. If the product gets to the market, it is not too late to buy the add ons. Hopefully it won’t increase much in price.
I think the 5K will be a solid hmd not far from the 8K when reports starts to emerge from actual experience. “On paper” can be deceiving. If I had the funds I would mos def back a 5K along with my 8K.
I think the 5K alone will beat the shit out of current hmds.
For those with a powerful PC, the 8k is no doubt better (or will be better… finger crossed) but for those with marginally specced machines, I think it is at least a little safer with the 5k. But then again, evertec may beg to differ. He may understand the thing more than I do. So he may be right. But I am just holding on to the fact that pimax thinks 5k is more “ready” for primetime compared to the 8k. I doubt that’s merely due to the scaling. But hey, what if the hardware is the cause of the performance difference due to scaling? That would not be good. But evertec is right, 3Hz difference is negligible, I haven’t read that the 5k is only stable at 85Hz though. Would the difference be only 3Hz for a low specced machine? No one knows. The bigger the difference, the more beneficial it is for lower specced machines to get the 5K instead of 8k
Maybe you didn’t understand what evertec was saying… it will make no difference performance wise between the 5k and 8k, both are receiving the same input signal and as such your GPU does the same amount of work. The only difference might be refresh rate, which means the 5k could have a higher refresh rate, and your graphics card will actually have to work harder to provide enough FPS to keep up. As such you will get lowered performance compared to the 8k.
I just played space pirate trainer at 44fps with 4x supersampling on a vive on my laptop. Thanks to the adrenaline, the nausea is minimal and I even broke my record. Some stuttering is visible. Google earth was worse though, not enough adrenaline and makes me a little nauseous.
But I figured, if I can take those, I should be able to take the 5k or even 8k. But the possibility of using a 10 meter cable with the 5k more stably than using that with the 8k and the fact that I got the 5k at $150 cheaper than the 8k makes me think that the 5k is the better choice than the 8k for my machine
This is completely false. As brian91292 said, it is the complete opposite, the bigger the difference in Hz, the more beneficial it would be for lower specced machines to get the 8K instead of the 5K unless they have a variable refresh rate option in the driver, in which case there would again be no difference.