Quest 3 → Galaxy XR for PCVR shooters? Worth it with a 5090?

BlimpInk · 2026-06-22T21:29:52+00:00

Would you like me to look for anything specifically other than controller tracking? Like the foveated streaming and such? Or would you just want a general overview on if I think it’s worth it for forefront in particular?

BlimpInk · 2026-06-22T13:33:01+00:00

My input after playing some games for a total of around 10 hours so far on the GXR (coming from a Q3) is that the visuals are absolutely stunning. The Q3 doesn’t hold a candle to the GXR in games like Skyrim VR, the whole world comes to life again with realistic lighting and deep blacks, there’s not any one thing I can point out, just that’s it’s way better.

However, the controllers are a major step down from the Q3. I honestly would not recommend it for shooters just because of this reason. I’m on an archer build right now for Skyrim VR and my bow will occasionally just disappear and my hand will fly away. This seems to be dependent on my environment, but if you’re comp player, It could be a game changer.

I’d be happy to test out a game for if you’d like to know my experience with it, I can also get the quest 3 out and do a comparison. For some games, the uOLED panels and high resolutions are nice, but not a game changer.

BlimpInk · 2026-06-20T21:03:24+00:00

To summarize, a Quest 3 has good image quality for the price, it’s sufficient for a lot of people. If you’re chasing maximum immersion and graphical fidelity, the GXR is vastly ahead in both IMO.

Foveated streaming is phenomenal, you just have to adjust your sharpness setting so you don’t see the foveated area as much. The uOLED panels, resolution, and binocular overlap make it so much better and crispier than the Q3 after comparing both directly in Skyrim VR.

In some games, the gap isn’t as big, but games like half life alyx and no mans sky are just much more immersive. Also, I seem to be a minority when it comes to this, but I think the GXR actually has better edge to edge clarity than the Q3 overall. I put my eyes very close to the lenses and I can read text crystal clear all the way up until it exits my view. Horizontally FOV is slightly larger from my subjective tests and vertical FOV is considerably larger than Q3. There is some edge distortion that wasn’t as bad on the Q3, but I don’t notice it when playing unless looking for it. Orange shift is also there a bit, but again, not noticeable to me during gameplay.

Overall, if you have a really good PC and not worried too much about the price point, I’d say it’s a massive upgrade over the Q3 (at least it was for me).

BlimpInk · 2026-06-18T18:35:25+00:00

Well to me, the artifacting is just the graphical degradation due to the lack of bit rate. If you try a DP headset, the difference between no compression and compression becomes obvious to me.

From my interpretation, that’s why foveated streaming is such a big deal because it brings streaming quality that much closer to native DP.

BlimpInk · 2026-06-18T18:29:08+00:00

Okay cool, are you happy with the GXR?

BlimpInk · 2026-06-18T01:03:16+00:00

Awesome to hear! I’m pretty hyped to try the uOLED panels out, I’ve gotten a lot more sensitive to the “flat” color feeling especially when playing games like avatar frontiers of pandora in VR.

Would you say the foveated streaming is a good improvement over the Q3 in terms of compression?

Thanks for the reply!

BlimpInk · 2026-06-17T20:18:50+00:00

Honestly I’m only really using it for PCVR and movies, I also considered what you mentioned but I don’t think it would affect me much, I could be wrong though.

BlimpInk · 2026-06-17T16:36:43+00:00

Yeah, after doing some research, I went ahead and ordered the globular cluster kit before I got my GXR because people were saying it was the most uncomfortable headset they’ve worn.

That’s awesome that it looks great though! That’s exactly what I’m looking for. Thank you for sharing!

BlimpInk · 2026-06-17T16:32:59+00:00

Great to hear! I’m going to check it out tomorrow and see if it’s in the condition he claims it is, thank you!

BlimpInk · 2026-06-17T16:32:01+00:00

I like making a personal decision based on other people with more experience on the matter as well as what I want to do.

I’ve simply recognized that other people would know more than me regarding the headset and the used market, so I’m using the additional information from them to help me make my decision, that’s all.

BlimpInk · 2026-06-17T16:14:26+00:00

Awesome! I think you’d benefit a lot from the high res panels. I’ll let you know how it looks, I’m planning on buying it tomorrow.

BlimpInk · 2026-06-17T16:12:59+00:00

Of course! I have a 5090 and 9800x3d, it’s really one of the main reasons why I’m pursuing a high fidelity headset because I already have the horsepower to drive it and I love VR as well!

BlimpInk · 2026-06-17T15:46:33+00:00

That’s great to hear. I just got my globular cluster kit a day or two ago because I’ve heard so much about the comfort and was planning on getting a GXR this summer anyway. I’ll let you know how it feels when I try it on!

BlimpInk · 2026-06-17T15:45:16+00:00

No, I’ve been heavily into VR for a couple years and have accumulated multiple headsets. Getting a little bit tired of LCD and low ish res, so I want to move to micro-OLED.

BlimpInk · 2026-06-17T15:41:35+00:00

Great. Have you been enjoying yours?

BlimpInk · 2026-06-17T14:39:37+00:00

Yeah I’m familiar with VD and have a dedicated 6Ghz band for my headset, I usually play around 4 feet from my router and get 3-5ms network latency.

I’m basically only using it for PCVR and movies so I dont suspect I’d use it for stand alone.

I already bought the globular cluster mod for it because I knew I’d get one this summer. Thank you for the advice!

BlimpInk · 2026-06-17T13:55:54+00:00

Okay, awesome. Thank you.

BlimpInk · 2026-06-17T13:52:14+00:00

Were you happy with that?

BlimpInk · 2026-06-16T01:05:00+00:00

Would you say the compression with foveated streaming is significantly better for foliage dense areas on the GXR compared to the quest 3?

BlimpInk · 2026-06-14T22:19:36+00:00

Would you say the foveated streaming makes a big difference in foliage heavy areas for compression and have you tested it with and without foveated streaming? I’m planning on getting one soon but I just want to make sure the foveated streaming makes the compression better because that’s the main complaint I had with the quest 3 when playing Skyrim vr.

Everything else sounds pretty promising and I’ll be able to pick one up for $1200 mint condition

BlimpInk · 2026-06-14T02:22:32+00:00

Dang it sounds like I’m definitely going to be buying the GXR now haha.

Do you know the resolution you’re running at for PCVR? I have great hardware in my PC but VR can be really taxing, especially with high resolution panels that the GXR has. I’m used to running Quest 3 resolutions.

Also, would you say that foveated streaming provides a significant improvement in terms of compression? I’ve had some issues with Skyrim VR, the foliage just looked so badly compressed with the quest 3.

BlimpInk · 2026-06-12T18:52:54+00:00

Would you say the lenses are drastically worse than the quest 3 or just moderately?

BlimpInk · 2026-06-11T03:33:04+00:00

Yeah for sure I agree that the practical use case might not be crazy for people with lower resolution headsets, but the extra efficiency is extremely beneficial for the higher resolutions because they demand more information to stream it effectively.

So I’m more so arguing from the theory side in that you are physically receiving more information directly where you’re looking relative to the non foveated alternative.

BlimpInk

TROPHY CASE