SteamVR HTC Vive & Laptop VR performance

Okay, So I ran into a youtube video today and it was all about the HTC Vive sample that the person has and I have to say WOW, now I understand why so many people have been talking about VR because this just looks so so much for that I could spend endless hours and hours just doing random things, there are so so many endless applications for this, just think someone who is disabled can now basically go skiing if they want they could walk (or roll?) down the streets of Venice! So this video got me excited so obviously the first thing I wanted to know was, would the HTC Vive even work on my laptop?

So HTC and Steam got together and they have an application available on Steam called "SteamVR Performance Test" so I downloaded it and ran it and I included a SS of my score which to my delight appears to be a rather decent result. So I know where all the change i saved from 2015 will be going (and I will be counting pennies) and its not cheap BUT I don't think it is a bad deal for all that you get and at least according to what I have seen it really performs really well, the video was about 35 min long and they went over a bunch of demo games and apps. I really think the Vive could give the Occulus a run for its money and I think good ol facebook should be worried.

Anyways I wanted to make this thread so others could see how well their laptop will perform comparatively to mine (specs in my sig and in the SS) and to see what do you guys think about the Vive does it look like fun to you? Are you excited to experience VR? Which do you think will give the better over all experience the Vive or the Occulus? I dunno if this is really the right section of the forum to post this thread but this section is my home and where my heart is lol....

So this is where I posted it if a Mod doesn't like it being here I am sorry please feel free to move or delete, I would like to see some discussion on how the Vive and Occulus will perform on laptops specifically sager and clevo laptops. I am honestly not even sure if my laptop has the correct HDMI port to support this which if it doesn't I will be VERY disappointed after the amount of cash I dropped on it (even though I paid about 50% off retail because I got it used 2 months old lol but still a lot of cash) Sorry for the long post but hopefully others will join in my discussion. Thanks!

 

I don't know if I've seen the required specs for the Vive (been a couple weeks since I checked though), but basically maxing out your VR test there is a good sign for the specs. I think a lot of people have said it will be similar to the Occulus though. Still not sure how the experience is going to run on most laptops until VR headsets start getting in people's hands really.

 

You got some nice specs, you should be running VR very well. I'm looking forward to seeing these go "live" and the masses have them as well

 

We were lucky to get a Vive from HTC a month ago (they have an XMG U726 in return for on the road showcases!) so we're pretty familiar with the performance. Lots of discussion on this below:

http://forum.notebookreview.com/threads/dgpu-on-hdmi.787735/

 

If you make paragraphs, the text will be a lot easier to read.

 

done

@XMG okay cool I will check that thread out, have you tried it on a system equivalent to my system the np9377sm-a? I found just look in the thread myself but I am not exactly sure what XMG's name is for my laptop...thanks

 

So it seems like you want 90fps for a smooth experience. What happens to games that are locked to say 60fps or even 30fps?

XMG P724 I believe

 

I don't think the test supports SLI at the moment either, though it is of course a basic measurement.

 

I think it does support SLI actually, I am almost positive it does....
*edit*

Yes I remember both video cards were working during the test because I had Afterburner running and could see them working but it def, isn't optimized for SLI perfectly..

 

Really ? I thought a single 980m wouldnt get the full score, even OCed. If it didnt consider SLI (it does list 2x GPU though) then it would have used only 1 980m.

 

I tested on my laptop with a single 980M and got a Capable (near Ready) result, so yeah OP's test did run on SLI. However I think it depends more on the VR devs to write SLI supported applications. Also I read somewhere that laptops (especially the ones with Optimus enabled) are not fully compatible with VR devices atm, so I will refrain from spending a big sum on the Oculus/Vive for now. Maybe I will make the jump next year when we have more reviews, more apps and new GPU technology.

 

Yes I am thankful that Nvidia really seems to be pushing SLI for VR at least with Vive and with SLI in my laptop that means NO optimus, so I am excited for VR if I can ever afford it its so expensive but I do think for the tech and what the Vive can do, that it is worth it.

 

Ah they must have added SLI in as default, about a week ago you had to enter in a manual command to force it.

 

Game developers are told by SDK guidelines that they have to support rendering in 90fps, otherwise the experience will be unpleasant. Small performance dips can be compensated with Asynchronous Timewarp to some extent, but 30fps VR is absolutely out of the question.

Virtual Reality and Motion Controls demand a completely new way of making games. You won't see many "old" games that are just "converted" to VR. Especially many console game developers will need to ditch their old fps-locked engines and start from scratch.

The good news is: Playstation VR runs at 90Hz as well, so ports from PSVR to Rift and Vive should be feasible.

If you want to learn about rendering optimizations specifically done for stereoscopic VR, this talk is highly recommended:

This is true. SLI on VR is not trivial. The approach to use "one GPU per eye" might be obvious, but this might throw out a lot of stereoscopic optimizations which are outlined in the talk above out of the window. We've yet to hear a final word from Oculus, HTC and NVIDIA however. For this and other reasons we recommend a single GTX 980 (without "M") if you want to get the most reliable and best VR experience on a laptop.

Laptops with Optimus are not supported indeed. As long as you can't disable Optimus, you won't get VR running with current SDK's. Disabling Optimus is a hardware feature which is limited to only a small fraction of the market. Our XMG PRO series can disable Optimus. Our XMG ULTIMATE series does not even have Optimus at all.

Apart from Optimus, the only thing standing between VR and your laptop is GPU performance. The GTX 980M is slightly below the recommended desktop GTX 970. That's why you will need a laptop GTX 980 (without "M") to be supported officially.

 

Yes, not "cinematic" frame rates with VR, also as XMG are pointing out you will only see the 980 machines being advertised for VR but electrically the biggest requirement is that direct connection to the dGPU.

 

Yah, well I am thinking my laptop will do okay for the Vive but, really I don't have to worry about that at least for a while. I want to see how it does after it is released AND I will have to be saving up some money for a while....BUT there are some videos of people testing the Vive that look really fun really really fun!

 

I can't wait until they do a good mech type game for something like the rift

 

sorry for bringing my old thread out but I didn't want to make a new one, and I have some questions......WELL has anyone used VR with this laptop? (p377sm-a)(np9377sm-a)? I am saving my pennies up right now to buy one but I wish I could find at least a few people with simlar specs to me (in sig) who have tried the HTC Vive or Oculus Rift? before I drop $800 doesnt have to be the same system as me but at least something with similar specs....Thanks

 

Hopefully someone might have tried it themselves since then, I don't think there is really an issue with pulling up an old thread.

Have you tried checking if there is someone near you that might have one, or a store that might have a demo unit. I think some Best Buy's are going to be doing VR demo's in store. Maybe that is something worth looking in to and find out if you might be able to bring the laptop in and plug it in?

 

well the only place in my area would be bestbuy and they don't have anything with VR....at least yet...hopping someone on here will have tested it soon with a laptop similar to mine...

 

Every non-Optimus system with HDMI and a GTX980M should work just fine...

All fellow CLEVO sisters/brothers with a Vive/Rift (and GTX980M), please come forward.
I am cooking on something for you...

 

Yah so then my 2x980m's should do okay then?...what are you cooking @Prema

 

The displayport is hooked up slightly differently but the HDMI should be fine.

 

980M? 970M works decently well with my DK2. At least the simpler demos. Actually looking at getting an OSVR headset. Most of the stuff I'm interested in is fixed position + headtracking (sim games and seated stuff).

Although I could see an OC'd 980M just nudging that GTX 970 performance "requirement".

 

Technically you can get a 980M matching a 980 desktop with enough clocking but the 970 (stock reference) is not a million miles away from a stock 980M.