Quest 2 Wireless PC VR - Virtual Desktop vs Oculus Air Link

Alvr

I have bad laptop my fps 30 so if i buy virtual desktop make my fps good or no?

Watch time +6

I've been testing out Virtual Desktop the past few days because so many people online are always singing it's praises over Air Link. Air Link has always worked great for me so I didn't understand why people were moaning about it so much. As I've been trying Virtual Desktop though, I'm going to be honest, my experience has not been good. I've messed with all the settings in Virtual Desktop and no matter what I do I get stuttering when playing games. It's fine when I'm standing still looking around but when using smooth locomotion to move around a game environment there is a very noticeable stutter. Half Life Alyx is the worst but it does it in all the games I've tried it with. When playing Red Matter, in addition to the stuttering the text on the screen of the scanning tool becomes almost unreadable if I move my head. I have to stand completely still and hold the scanning tool completely still for the text to look normal. It looks like the pixels in the letters all shift around somewhat randomly garbling up the letters. I'm using a WiFi 6 router, am connected to the 5GHz band, channel bandwidth is set to 80MHz, PC is connected to router with CAT5e cable and I my PC is a Ryzen 9 5950X, RTX 3080ti, 64GB DDR4 3200MHz. Air Link runs buttery smooth in comparison. No stuttering at all. I've looked all over the internet trying to find a solution to the stuttering in Virtual Desktop but nothing works. There are things about Virtual Desktop I really like, I just wish I could get the stuttering to stop.

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I think virtual desktop is better 100% and you just have to remember that it’s still a streaming service but it’s one time payment and not .Ike 10 bucks a month so it is still a very good program

Yea air link sucks dick, plain and simple. The low, stable latency, finally being able to fix my lag, the quick double menu tap that brings you to your real desktop and I can navigate it with just my hands, the plethora of options, etc. Only issue is my virtual hands keep disappearing when they're facing away and selecting something.

I payed for a cable so what ever u say cable is best for me cus i payed for it 😅🤣 i refuse to accept te free air link after i payed allready for an cable 😢😁

Thanks for video mate, very informative and to the point. Well done.

For AMD users VD is probably superior due to being easily able to use HEVC instead of AVC encoding. AMD isn't exactly good with quickly encoding AVC and Airlink restricts amd to 100mpbs streaming because of it. HEVC isn't as limited and with VD you can experiment a bit more with bitrate settings.

Wireless VR Is very important, it's the reason why i have just bought the quest 2, well hyped for this

Yo bud can you help I’m using a ax1500 v1.0 WiFi 6 rooter and Airlink is unusable I get 3 - 6 fps I don’t know if it’s the rooter I got a high end laptop, should I buy VR Desktop.

Virtual Desktop colors really pop as well compared to the Airlink. Great vid.

I definitely prefer VD (Virtual Desktop, not the STD), its just so much more robust and reliable. Things just seem to move smoother and seem sharper. That said given it is a paid app and if you are strapped for cash, Airlink is fine. I am still going to be using VD as I have already paid for it and I find it a better experience, but if you are new to VR, Airlink is good and It will be improved over time, plus is free. Its just that VD has such a headstart over Meta (is that what they are called now?) they are going to have to work to catch up. Either way, you need VR wireless. Without a wire tethering you down the experience is so much more immersive.

My system is so sketchy I have to overclock my graphics card for Beat Saber to be playable
(On Optiplex 7010).

For me the Air Link on my Quest 2 is working much better than the Virtual Desktop for some reason. On Air Link I have locked the Bitrate to 200, resolution is left at native and refresh rate is set to 90Hz. I increase the resolution in SteamVR instead and adjust it based on what game I'm playing. I also didn't see almost any improvement in image quality when using Virtual Desktop. I guess I have to mess around with the settings even more.

What's the visual clarity like? Is it pretty much the same? Dependent upon the bitrate I imagine

What bitrate were you getting with Airlink? Mine's maximum 100 MBit/s which I also locked it at
I can't seem to get anywhere near 80 frames stable, usually around 50-60 fps.

I'm thinking about upgrading my main router, but don't want to upgrade it if I won't see an uplift in max bandwidth or performance uplift.

I GAVE YOU A LIKE FOR THE INTRO

Arizona sunshine seems much clearer and smooth on airlink thank VD

My pc is AMD 5600x and RTX 3060Ti

Virtual Desktop doesn't work right with some Steam vr games, Steam vr is a mess anyway on no matter what vr headset you use, Airlink works good with every Oculus and Steam vr game I have and never had any problems with it so far, I would have to say Airlink on the Quest 2 for the win for sure

I was an avid virtual desktop user until air-link. I do only use it for the stabilization for recording though. Used to play Alyx with VD on my gtx 960. Played perfect. Great comparison video 👍

Yes but can any of them run Beat Saber with out lag spikes.

One thing I have found is I get way better performance fom virtual desktop at 120hz than I do at 90,80 or 72hz apparently there is a reason for this that im too dumb to understand but if anyone is having issues with Virtual Desktop then try switching it on.

Great video. I’m a fan of Virtual Desktop too. But I have a question. Why did you record the Airlink video using Oculus Mirror? I’m pretty sure that could have been recorded directly into the Q2 just as well as Virtual Desktop.

I personally use airlink as I’m only able to run around 40-50 fps but with his SSW, it effectively makes it seem like there’s zero lag. Airlink is just too laggy for me, especially for SteamVR games as steam has not fully optimized link/airlink for SteamVR.

Hey Mac, what about comparing to link cable? Maybe I'm just dopey (daft in your language), but I can't seem to find a definitive verdict on if the cable has better performance. Intuitively I would say yes, but need some empirical data. If it's better, I'd happily use it for things like the new Iron Rebellion Mech game.

I have a better experience with airlink. I use VD for playing 2d games in a theater.

I have virtual desktop. Problem with airlink is that it cannot discover my pc

i have problem playing half life using airlink. When moving in game, the fps seems lower than stand still and look around. I have tried adjust graphic setting to low, but it didn't work. My GPU is 3060ti

I noticed that all my games that support both SteamVR and Oculus have more issues with performance in SteamVR mode. Another strange thing is that Half-life: Alyx suffers from frame drops all the time however stats show consistent 120 fps. This applies both to wireless and wired connection. Is Virtual Desktop perform better? Or is there something I can do to increase performance in SteamVR?

So after getting everything working with a router wired to the one downstairs...basically VD screws up my multimonitor setup...changing my 4k tv (left side monitor) to whatever res the quest is I think. But it also forces me to have to go to nvidia settings to change it back to true 60hz or it gets stuck at 30hz. This is not so much about the quest but VD messing up your native resolution. I paid for VD but I'll use AL for these reasons. Just an FYI for those that may have had the same issues. I didn't think I'd have wifi from PC to VR and it's super cool if you can play long with a battery pack. Thanks Mac.

I have had too many problems with Virtual Desktop, mostly with controllers. It does have some nice features though. Though I have to toggle airlink on, I hope they will eventually make this setting persistent based on a user's preference. I have had no serious issues with Air Link and seems to be much more stable on my system's setup. If Virtual Desktop could fix its controller compatibility, I would probably use it more.

Thanks Mac. I think Virtual Desktop for now at least.

Great video 👍
I prefer virtual desktop in "heavier games" like Boneworks, saints & sinners, alyx etc.
And AirLink i fast/rythm-games like Beat saber and Ragnarock. There is something different in the latency.
With AirLink i can play Beat saber om expert like i can native in Quest, but in VD its not possible for me, i miss the beat/rythm alot

I used VD a lot, but found it annoying how badly compressed the image would sometimes get. I find with AL the image quality seems more consistently sharper. Unfortunately games still tend to have pausing and stuttering in either app both for me, but I've recently purchased a WiFi 6 router to try and get around this. One thing I don't like with AL is that you don't seem to be able to bring up the Oculus menu to access the video recording button, unless I'm missing something?

Some games don't work properly on Virtual Desktop...
- Asgard's Wrath, my charcter's right thumb doesn't work properly
- Song Beater, when you have SSW, the tonfas don't spin
- Hellsweeper you can't move.

Also for some reason, Airlink looks better than VD in certain aspects making Skyrim VR a lot less blurry on Airlink
(it's not that hard to make Skyrim VR less blurry tho and VD also has a "make colors more vibrant" setting)

Viveport also has different controls in VD, you have to press the stick to move instead of just moving it.

Airlink also runs a lot smoother than VD in my experience which stutters a lot even with the buffering setting which is supposed to reduce it.

But the main problem with Airllink that I can't quite word properly is that it's a pain in the ass to start, especially if you're recording as well.

you can turn off ASW via debug tool. I did it once because it's just making my game shaky/stutter.

So i keep trying to upgrade my pc's to get better latency on walking dead cause we are at like 50-60 MS but looks like that is about the norm...

Air link for me as last time I checked VD was not compatible with all Steam VR games and the Quest controllers.. Examples being Gunheart and Bow To Blood

Virtual desktop is the best, although I have found the odd game (like batman) runs better on airlink. Changing the resolution and refresh rate is a breeze on VD and having to enable airlink on the pc every time is a faff.

VD is the best for me but other people who dont understand how VD works Airlink is the better thing.

Thanks for the upload! Question: Should I even bother with Air Link/Virtual Desktop for my Quest 2 if I only have GTX 1080 graphics card? Thanks

ʀᴏᴄᴋɪɴɢ 🔥🔥🔥

after many test in NMS, i can tell for sure that VD is worse in terms of performance, and the ASW is so noticeable compared to airlink(rtx 3070, i5 1060k)... BUT if you want to play competitive low-latency gaming, VD is the way to go

You nailed the exact reason I stick with virtual desktop, at the very end of your video. The fact that airlink has to be set up nearly every time I want to play wirelessly is why I've given up on it... for now

I purchased Virtual Desktop way before Airlink was a thing. So there is no cost reason for me. I tend to use Virtual Desktop, for two reasons: First, starting games (especially non-Oculus games) is way smoother and easier with the Virtual Desktop menu. And second, and most crucial, Airlink will turn off after a while, which blows. I actually signed into my PC via Virtual Desktop and started Airlink a couple of times, because taking off the headset is so cumbersome.

That being said, some (very few) games don't run smoothly on Virtual Desktop. "Everslaught" will not start within SteamVR, but in a Desktop window, and for ARK-ADE, the bhaptics support doesn't work when started via the Virtual Desktop menu (although it works fine on VD if started otherwise).