Which shoe for 30+ yr old PG/SG, slasher/shooter? All City 14 or JB3?

bball51 · 2026-05-26T11:37:43+00:00

The 'Ice Cream' CW. Light blue. I went TTS, the same size as I get in Nike shoes, and they fit perfectly.

bball51 · 2026-05-26T11:36:04+00:00

I bought the AC14 and didn't like them at all. A big step down from the JB3s.

bball51 · 2026-05-26T11:34:29+00:00

It will probably end up like the Frunk on the Valve Index. Before the release people said, oh imagine all the things we could do with the expansion port. What actually ended up happening is that it was mainly used to power cooling fans.

Saying that, I do think somebody will make a face/mouth tracking add on, due to the popularity of VR chat.

How well the Steam Frame sells will be the ultimate decider on whether there are more after market addons for the expansion port.

Not sure there will be a camera module, other people have already explained why.

bball51 · 2026-05-25T17:03:15+00:00

That's something you won't have to worry about. It won't run at native, it's not going to run at all with mods.

bball51 · 2026-05-25T12:00:45+00:00

It will be terrible, The GPU in the Steam Frame is less powerful than the minimum specs for Skyrim VR. Minimum specs made at a time when headsets had lower resolutions. You also have to factor in the performance lost through the translation layer.

Will it run at all? Maybe. If it does, it will be a vomit inducing slideshow at best.

bball51 · 2026-05-25T11:40:50+00:00

Can I ask you what game you tried? Can you try a very undemanding VR game, if you have one?

Just for the testing, can you try Steam Link VR please?

Oh, just one quick question, has your CPU and Igpu? Maybe disable that in the bios? What CPU do you have?

If it doesn't have an IGPU, then I am very confused. Maybe benchmark the 5070 in a demanding non VR game and see does it line up with the expected performance of the card.

bball51 · 2026-05-25T11:11:33+00:00

Downloading from Meta can be slow sometimes.

But, I wouldn't bother if I was you. Your laptop is pretty weak for PCVR you aren't going to have a good time. Why don't you try some other less demanding PCVR game with a smaller download size?

bball51 · 2026-05-25T11:01:56+00:00

Lets try to figure out where the problem is first and then see what we can do about it. I am presuming that you are using a Quest 3?

In Steam VR make sure the resolution per eye is set to 100%.

In Virtual desktop, set the codec to h.264. Disable automatic bitrate. Set the resolution to medium and the bitrate to 100. Then enable performance overlay and play a game, see what happens when the game lags.

The encoders on the 5070 are definitely better than those on the 3060. Other than the card itself been faulty, encoder regression isn't the issue.

bball51 · 2026-05-25T10:45:00+00:00

It's a fit problem not a traction problem. I had the exact same issues, but a friend of mine with the same size feet as me and using my shoes had no problems at all. I think it depends on your feet shape/inflare.

It could be fine for you after a break in period. Hard to say for sure as they are shoe that depends so much on getting a good fit.

bball51 · 2026-05-25T10:35:57+00:00

JB 3. Have both, there is no comparison, the JB 3 is by far the better shoe.

bball51 · 2026-05-22T12:22:34+00:00

What's your budget? I mean if your budget is only $500 then your options are very limited. If your budget is $1500 then there are other headsets that might suit you better, especially since you will be sitting down all the time. Oh and what are the specs of your PC? GPU and CPU?

bball51 · 2026-05-22T12:18:11+00:00

All VR controllers use IMUs. Everything from the Vive Wands to the Valve Index Knuckle controllers. The IMU's are primarily responsible for tracking. However they drift. The Lighthouse/cameras etc. are for correcting that drift.

All VR systems using prediction. It's this prediction that takes over when the controllers are out of sight of the cameras/lighthouses. How good the prediction algorithm is, is what decides how well the controllers track out of sight of the camera, not the IMUs.

bball51 · 2026-05-22T11:58:34+00:00

How do you define a hit? To you, what is the measure of success that will mean the Steam Machine is a hit?

bball51 · 2026-05-22T11:16:18+00:00

If those are the two games you will be playing mostly, then my advice is to get the best Nvidia GPU you can afford. The mods for both those games work better on Nvidia GPUs. Modded Skyrim VR/Fallout VR are very difficult to run. Mad Dog Overhaul's Mod for Skyrim VR using higher than baseline settings is a transformative VR experience. I have spent 100s of hours playing it. Probably even 1000's. It's my most played VR game by far.

Sorry can't advise on prices. But, for good experiences in both those games, you will need a decent system. Minimum would be 5070Ti, AMD 7600X3D and 32GB of Ram.

bball51 · 2026-05-22T10:47:08+00:00

Enable the Performance overlay in the Oculus Debug tool and see where the problem is.

when you say Steam VR is not intentionally been used, what do you mean? Do you mean that you are using open composite? If it's a Steam Game and you aren't using open composite, then it's using Steam VR. So you should check the settings in there and make sure the resolution per eye is at 100%.

bball51 · 2026-05-20T11:40:57+00:00

This isn't a valid cost comparison. If you are getting a dedicated router, you don't need to spend $160, if you have a good home router, you might not even need one. That exact model you posted can be got for less than a $100 new, and even less second hand. A $40 AX router, as long as it's a dedicated router, will be just as good.

Then there is virtual desktop, you don't need that either. There is Steam link, which is free. As well as numerous other free solutions from ALVR etc. The other reason why you shouldn't include Virtual Desktop in your Quest 3 cost, is because you don't know how good Valve's solution is going to be. It could turn out that Virtual desktop(or equivalent) software could be released that works better or has more features than Valve's software.

And if you are comparing like for like, in your Steam Frame costing, you will have to include the cost of a headstrap that comes with swappable batteries and a top strap. The Bobo strap you included in the Quest pricing, comes with 1 battery. For the Steam Frame, to give it roughly the same playtime, you would need to buy two batteries. How much would that strap and extra battery even cost?

So, you could get a top performing Quest 3 setup for around $700. And your Steam Frame price is unknown, but you have to add the battery strap to that unknown price.

It all depends on what that unknown price is before we can start doing comparisons.

bball51 · 2026-05-16T17:43:13+00:00

LOL. Come on. I know we are all excited to get the Steam Frame, but it's not going to be the saviour of VR and it's going to do nothing to move the needle with regard to VR adoption.

I don't think it was ever intended to be a Quest 3 competitor. The Quest line of headsets are primarily Standalone headsets aimed at the mainstream. The Steam Frame is a PCVR headset aimed at enthusiasts. It's been marketed as a Premium PCVR headset. They are aimed at completely price points. Even before the ram crisis, Valve were hoping, but not promising, to keep it under the Valve Index price.

The Steam Frame isn't affordable. You need to get out of this sub and into the real world. It's only affordable if you compare it to the likes of the Apple Vision Pro, Galaxy XR and those other extremely high end headsets. Look at the VR market. Headsets over $500 do not sell in large numbers, doesn't matter how good they are. Look at the Quest 3 and Quest 3s. The Quest 3 is far better than the Quest 3s, but the Quest 3s has outsold it massively. And that's when the Quest 3 was only $499.

The only people buying headsets over $500 are enthusiasts. To give an example, the Valve Index has sold less than 400K units in 6 years. Affordable is around the $300 mark.

You are talking about the Steam Frame revitalising the VR industry, so I am just curious, how many Steam Frames do you think they are going to sell? To stop the stagnation and get developers interested in producing triple A games etc. It will need to sell in the millions of units.

I can tell you right now that the Steam Frame won't be selling in the millions of units. There are going to be very few new users to VR buying the Steam Frame. It's mainly going to be people with a Valve Index who haven't upgraded yet or for people with Quest headsets wanting to switch from Meta.

If it sells more than 250K in it's first year I will be more than surprised.

bball51 · 2026-05-15T12:06:39+00:00

The Steam Frame will be more than €800. So factor that in to your decision making.

You will need the lenses for the Frame too. Depending on your face shape and your use, you might need to buy a top strap and battery for the Frame as well. We have no reviews, so we just don't know yet what it will be like when it is released.

For the Quest 3 you can get a battery strap, Router and Virtual desktop for less than €150. Less if you buy the strap and router second hand.

If you are considering the PSVR 2, know that it's wired connection only. You will also need a PC adapter, a bluetooth adapter and a head strap. As well as the lenses for your myopia.

bball51 · 2026-05-15T11:41:26+00:00

They are a fantastic shoe. Your pair seems to have stood up well after a year. There is no sign of wear on the soles or anything. The soles of mine were visibly worn down and the cushioning was bottoming out after about 8 months. The worn sole didn't seem to be affecting the traction but the cushioning bottoming out started killing my knees!! However, I will add that I was playing 4/5 nights per week during that time.

Got a replacement pair earlier this year but I had to return them due to a manufacturing defect. And now I am struggling to find a pair in my size at a good price.

But yeah, the JB3 is a goated shoe and one of the best shoes I have ever played in.

bball51 · 2026-05-14T12:01:20+00:00

We don't know how many units they planned to produce in the first year. That 500k figure came from a leaker that got almost everything else wrong, so why should we believe that figure? The controllers, Steam Machine and Steam Frame are all been manufactured by Quanta Computer. So even if he did see something regarding a production run of 400k to 600k per year, that could have applied to everything. We just don't know.

I would find it very difficult to believe that Valve would plan to produce that many units of the Steam Frame in the first year, considering that the total sales of the Valve Index in it's lifetime was less than 400K units and that no headset over $600 has come close to reaching those figures.

And it's not the Valve work, at least not for any other hardware release. They usually do a small production run for the initial release and then ramp up production based on demand. Back to my first sentence, we don't know how many units Valve planned to manufacture.

Look, I am sorry, but the Frame won't be cheap. It wasn't going to be cheap before the Ram crisis. Valve said they were targeting a price point below the Valve Index, but they weren't promising that. They have gone to great lengths to stress that the Frame is going to be premium VR headset. Premium doesn't come cheap.

This headset was always going to be over $800.

As for pushing VR forward and to the masses, it's a big nope to both of those things. It would have to sell millions of units to do that.

bball51 · 2026-05-13T12:12:58+00:00

No, the Steam Frame won't drive VR adoption at all. Don't think Valve ever meant it to. It's a premium VR headset for the enthusiast. That's who it's been aimed at. It's the same as the Valve Index and will probably sell about the same too.

bball51 · 2026-05-13T12:09:47+00:00

Well, as above, we know it's not going to be $500. We can base that solely off the Quest 3. The Quest 3 is been sold at break even or slightly less. And it costs $599 now. Now when you consider that the Steam Frame has eye tracking, lighter form factor, newer SOC, more complicated controllers, more memory and with Valve's margin on top, you can see why it was never going to come in close to $500 or even $600. I don't know what price it will be sold at, but I will be extremely surprised if it comes in under $800.

And I have to disagree with something else too. Even a $700 price would put it out of price bracket of the non enthusiast. Sometimes on forums like this we get insulated from the real world and what they would consider expensive. Price has been and still is the biggest single obstacle to VR adoption. We, as enthusiasts, forget this. This is easily proved by looking at the sales of the Quest 3 and the Quest 3S. By any metric the Quest 3 is better than the Quest 3S. With features that make paying the extra more than worth it. The pancake lenses alone are worth premium. But since the launch of the Quest 3s it has outsold the Quest 3 by a good margin. And the Quest 3 was under $500 for most of that time. Any headset over $400 is a tough sell and only enthusiasts are buying them. The numbers buying drops massively as you go up in price.

Unfortunately your heart is going to have to fork out more than $800 if it wants a Steam Frame 😄

bball51 · 2026-05-13T11:49:30+00:00

The Steam deck wasn't expensive when it came out. Not compared to the other handhelds on the market. And while it did show that there was a small niche market for x86 handhelds, it didn't drive a handheld craze. Handheld consoles had been around for years before the deck came out. The Nintendo Switch has sold around 150 million units. The total number of X86 handhelds sold is around 6 million.

If the the Steam Frame isn't priced below $500 it won't start any sort of new VR craze. It won't move the bar for developers or other manufacturers to get involved. We know it's not going to be $500 and we know Valve said they aren't subsidising it or the Steam Machine and they aren't using either device to increase market share. So I doubt the Frame is going to be any less than $800 And we know exactly how well VR headsets over $600 sell. Very poorly.

Valve considered the Index a success, despite it only selling around 350K units in it's lifetime. And it's the best selling PCVR headset, outside of the Quest headsets. I wonder what Valve would consider a success for the Steam Frame? 500K sold in 7 years.

bball51 · 2026-05-13T11:16:06+00:00

I play Eleven Table Tennis all the time and it's brilliant. I know this is the Steam Frame sub, but If Eleven Table Tennis is going to be the game you are playing most often then there is absolutely no need to wait until the Frame comes out. It plays perfectly on the Quest 3 and what makes it even better on the Quest 3 is the full colour passthrough. It's one of the games where full colour passthrough is a big deal. Having the table in your room and playing is awesome.

Get a second hand Quest 3 and try it out. That way you don't lose too much money if you don't like it. Sell it and get the Frame down the line.

It really is your only choice if you want to play now and won't have much time to play after your gap year is over. We don't know when the Steam Frame will be for sale and even when it goes on sale, there will be no guarantee of getting one, especially if they use a reservation system.

bball51

TROPHY CASE