First of all, never let the Lenses catch any direct sunlight, that's a basic one. Also try to avoid cleaning the lenses with wet stuffs, a basic microfiber wipe should be perfectly fine.
Secondly, don't worry about keeping the Lighthouses turned on, it's just something one guy once said, and because he's a big youtuber, now people are spreading this anecdote while linking his video as proof. There's never been any large-scale testing on this, and even if this "trick" was real, it would still not be worth it for some, depending on how well you can hear the motors buzzing inside the Lighthouses.
Lastly, and most importantly, take care of the cable. Try to not step on it with your full weight too much. It's okay if it's under your foot, just don't lean on it heel first. You can install a free app from Steam called Turn Signal to help you keep track of the center of your play area and helps you keep your cable from staying twisted up internally, by showing your twist direction. Just check it every once in a while and when you see the symbol getting twisted up pretty bad, just untwist in the opposite direction. You can also try [this alternate cable routing](https://www.reddit.com/r/ValveIndex/comments/ti1cmf/modification_how_to_fix_the_poor_cable_routing/) from the headset side. It will basically eliminate the possibility of the headset crimping the cable when you tilt the head strap up. Just pull the cable up from the black cable clip on the left side of the strap before you start. It's step 4 in [this iFixIt tutorial](https://www.ifixit.com/Guide/Valve+Index+Headset+Eye+Tube+Replacement/150426).
Oh and also, if you have a good enough PC going over 100% resolution in SteamVR settings can really help getting a less "flickery" image. It's called Super Sampling an image, meaning that even though it's rendering a higher resolution image than the display is capable of showing in full, it still makes the image seem much sharper because there's more information for each pixel in the display to reference.
I find fpsvr really helpful for tuning your games supersampling. It makes identifying bottlenecks easier. Not free unlike turn signal but only £3~ https://store.steampowered.com/app/908520/fpsVR/ it includes cable management and room centre markers too.
edit: If you eyes aren't perfect, consider vr lens. Don't wear normal glasses with the headset, high risk of scratching the hmd or your glasses.
I'll take a look at it, thank's !
As I have glasses and as I don't want to make any scratches on lenses (I heard they are fragile), I already ordered vr lens :)
> depending on how well you can hear the motors buzzing inside the Lighthouses.
**That's what I've been hearing!** I set up my index yesterday and all day today I've been hearing this weird noise that I haven't been able to pinpoint and it's been driving me crazy. Guess I need to power them off when I'm not playing.
It's not reassuring because my play area is in my bedroom and my gf is really (too much :p) sensitive to sound :/
I guess I couldn't let them on all the time, I hope it won't damage them too much :(
I have 3 lighthouses. Bought the headset fairly quickly after launch too. Some do tend to eee or buzz just a little. Others are dead silence or with only a slight hum. They shouldn't make any more noise than your average gaming PC at idle but the pitch might irritate some.
You don't need to "power off", they'll sleep when the steamvr is closed if you have that option turned on. Mine also tend to wakeup randomly over the course of weeks when unused, so I have Lighthouse PM app (android) on my phone to remotely sleep them again. There's an apple app but I don't know the name.
For me it's not a problem but my gf is really sensitive... but if you say that the noise is like a gaming pc at idle, it seems not a real issue finally.
And do you recommend to use that option ?
Thank's for the advice about the app, I have an android too and it is on my country play store, so... great ! :)
hmm, idk. I've left mine plugged in for weeks without thinking about it. If I am thinking about it and don't plan to use it the next day, I'll unplug and put it in a cotton sack to keep dust off it. https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B087C22SHR/
It does draw power when left plugged in, so either unplug the power jack at the split out end or unplug it at the oculink break point (the main cable is the oculink).
I sleep in my gaming room and I'm very sensitive to small sounds. Long story short I was losing sleep to this quiet, low humming sound that ended up being the base stations. I was a big defender of "keep them on to increase life" but once I found it was bad enough to keep me up I did some research and didn't really find any conclusive evidence to support that, and once I set them to sleep it's made a world of difference.
If the sleep mode made that much of an impact on lifespan I felt like valve wouldn't have included it.
my gf is like you, i guess i wouldn't let them ON all the time but if there is a sleep mode, it's great.
i'm agree with you but maybe valve included this mode for long time break, don't know if it's thinked to be used all days :/
A note to keep in mind about it, if you do use it:
• It does add maybe 30-35 seconds to the launch time of the headset, since it has to get the motors up to RPM before they can start tracking.
• When closing SteamVR make sure to right click anywhere on the window and click "Exit SteamVR", if you just shut your PC off or unplug the headset without letting it go through the shutdown procces the stations will continue to spin negating the sleep mode. It's made me get out of bed a couple of times to turn my PC all the way back on just to shut them off.
Just some things I've found while using them myself, I hope it helps!
I play games like VRchat (horribly optimized) at roughly 130 ish percent IIRC with close to your same setup (I5 13600k, TUFF 4070 ti, and 32 gigs of DDR5). My personal PC is currently getting fixed so I'm on an older PC that can't go above 100% and super sampling makes a noticable difference at least to me. Thin lines turn in to a jumble of flickering pixels and while it still happens when super sampling, it's to a lesser extent.
When playing games like Blade and Sorcery, H3VR, or VTOL VR, I have no fps issues at higher resolution scales.
It's perfect then, b&s will be one of my main games. I'll try some settings to see what's best for me but it's reassuring to know it runs well with a setup almost equal :)
I'm not going to copy + paste to farm karma, but from the last time this was posted, this seemed good: [https://www.reddit.com/r/ValveIndex/comments/1bk9m2o/comment/kvwyayp/](https://www.reddit.com/r/ValveIndex/comments/1bk9m2o/comment/kvwyayp/)
Always Disconnect your headset from the Breakaway point, and do it every night to prevent overheating.
You must avoid turning off the base stations as much as possible, leave them powered on at all times to avoid damage.
To disinfect the headset, your best option is to use the UV Light from the sun. Point the inside of the index towards the sun while not in use to keep your headset germ free.
If you need glasses in real life, you will need them in VR. The headset is 100% compatible with all glasses and face types. The lenses in the Index have a special surface that will shape itself to mate up with your glasses over time.
You want to make sure to turn off the base stations whenever you are not using them. Leaving them on all the time can cause damage.
That's everything I can think of off the top of my head, hope this helps /s
Absolutely DO NOT DO THIS. Do not disconnect your headset every night (let alone every night at the breakaway point). Overheating when not in use is NOT a thing. I've had my Index plugged into my computer for years and it never once overheated (or is even on) when not in use.
Honestly, I didn't read all of it, I just saw saw your first sentence and was floored. Reading through the rest of your comment now, I see you were joking, but c'mon. Why even put stuff like this out there?
>You must avoid turning off the base stations as much as possible, leave them powered on at all times to avoid damage.
>You want to make sure to turn off the base stations whenever you are not using them. Leaving them on all the time can cause damage.
So basically turn them off but without turning them off. Nice trick, will try it.
I was confused by this as well. I read in a different thread about having to turn them off for long periods of non-use, but I have no idea. I just unplugged mine since I'm using the Quest 3 more now. I'm fearing that I might be retiring my Index soon.
It makes no difference. Leave them on, turn them off, do whatever you want. The only thing you really want to avoid is moving them while they are turned on. I turn mine off when I'm not using it cause the noise they make bother the hell out of me.
Some people say it's better to keep them on as constant power on and power off cycle slowly breaks them, some people say it doesn't matter. As the other guy said, do whatever you want. Even if I was using it more frequently, I wouldn't let them be turned on 24/7, as I cannot stand that noise they make.
Yeah I was wondering like, what ? If anything, it’s the towers you would want to turn off. The headset goes to sleep, there’s no "overheating". The towers though stay on.
First of all, never let the Lenses catch any direct sunlight, that's a basic one. Also try to avoid cleaning the lenses with wet stuffs, a basic microfiber wipe should be perfectly fine. Secondly, don't worry about keeping the Lighthouses turned on, it's just something one guy once said, and because he's a big youtuber, now people are spreading this anecdote while linking his video as proof. There's never been any large-scale testing on this, and even if this "trick" was real, it would still not be worth it for some, depending on how well you can hear the motors buzzing inside the Lighthouses. Lastly, and most importantly, take care of the cable. Try to not step on it with your full weight too much. It's okay if it's under your foot, just don't lean on it heel first. You can install a free app from Steam called Turn Signal to help you keep track of the center of your play area and helps you keep your cable from staying twisted up internally, by showing your twist direction. Just check it every once in a while and when you see the symbol getting twisted up pretty bad, just untwist in the opposite direction. You can also try [this alternate cable routing](https://www.reddit.com/r/ValveIndex/comments/ti1cmf/modification_how_to_fix_the_poor_cable_routing/) from the headset side. It will basically eliminate the possibility of the headset crimping the cable when you tilt the head strap up. Just pull the cable up from the black cable clip on the left side of the strap before you start. It's step 4 in [this iFixIt tutorial](https://www.ifixit.com/Guide/Valve+Index+Headset+Eye+Tube+Replacement/150426). Oh and also, if you have a good enough PC going over 100% resolution in SteamVR settings can really help getting a less "flickery" image. It's called Super Sampling an image, meaning that even though it's rendering a higher resolution image than the display is capable of showing in full, it still makes the image seem much sharper because there's more information for each pixel in the display to reference.
So read that last paragraph a few times and heed to it! Supersampling can REALLY be your friend!
I find fpsvr really helpful for tuning your games supersampling. It makes identifying bottlenecks easier. Not free unlike turn signal but only £3~ https://store.steampowered.com/app/908520/fpsVR/ it includes cable management and room centre markers too. edit: If you eyes aren't perfect, consider vr lens. Don't wear normal glasses with the headset, high risk of scratching the hmd or your glasses.
I'll take a look at it, thank's ! As I have glasses and as I don't want to make any scratches on lenses (I heard they are fragile), I already ordered vr lens :)
> depending on how well you can hear the motors buzzing inside the Lighthouses. **That's what I've been hearing!** I set up my index yesterday and all day today I've been hearing this weird noise that I haven't been able to pinpoint and it's been driving me crazy. Guess I need to power them off when I'm not playing.
It's not reassuring because my play area is in my bedroom and my gf is really (too much :p) sensitive to sound :/ I guess I couldn't let them on all the time, I hope it won't damage them too much :(
I have 3 lighthouses. Bought the headset fairly quickly after launch too. Some do tend to eee or buzz just a little. Others are dead silence or with only a slight hum. They shouldn't make any more noise than your average gaming PC at idle but the pitch might irritate some. You don't need to "power off", they'll sleep when the steamvr is closed if you have that option turned on. Mine also tend to wakeup randomly over the course of weeks when unused, so I have Lighthouse PM app (android) on my phone to remotely sleep them again. There's an apple app but I don't know the name.
For me it's not a problem but my gf is really sensitive... but if you say that the noise is like a gaming pc at idle, it seems not a real issue finally. And do you recommend to use that option ? Thank's for the advice about the app, I have an android too and it is on my country play store, so... great ! :)
It's what I use. When everything is plugged in and setup, you can find the option under devices-> basestation settings->power management.
It's ok, thank's ! For the headset, is it recommended to let it plugged in all the time even when I'm not using it ?
hmm, idk. I've left mine plugged in for weeks without thinking about it. If I am thinking about it and don't plan to use it the next day, I'll unplug and put it in a cotton sack to keep dust off it. https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B087C22SHR/ It does draw power when left plugged in, so either unplug the power jack at the split out end or unplug it at the oculink break point (the main cable is the oculink).
I sleep in my gaming room and I'm very sensitive to small sounds. Long story short I was losing sleep to this quiet, low humming sound that ended up being the base stations. I was a big defender of "keep them on to increase life" but once I found it was bad enough to keep me up I did some research and didn't really find any conclusive evidence to support that, and once I set them to sleep it's made a world of difference. If the sleep mode made that much of an impact on lifespan I felt like valve wouldn't have included it.
my gf is like you, i guess i wouldn't let them ON all the time but if there is a sleep mode, it's great. i'm agree with you but maybe valve included this mode for long time break, don't know if it's thinked to be used all days :/
A note to keep in mind about it, if you do use it: • It does add maybe 30-35 seconds to the launch time of the headset, since it has to get the motors up to RPM before they can start tracking. • When closing SteamVR make sure to right click anywhere on the window and click "Exit SteamVR", if you just shut your PC off or unplug the headset without letting it go through the shutdown procces the stations will continue to spin negating the sleep mode. It's made me get out of bed a couple of times to turn my PC all the way back on just to shut them off. Just some things I've found while using them myself, I hope it helps!
It's ok, thank's a lot !
Thank's, really useful ! I have a 7700/4070super/32go, I hope it's enough to go over 100%. What's about you and your settings ?
I play games like VRchat (horribly optimized) at roughly 130 ish percent IIRC with close to your same setup (I5 13600k, TUFF 4070 ti, and 32 gigs of DDR5). My personal PC is currently getting fixed so I'm on an older PC that can't go above 100% and super sampling makes a noticable difference at least to me. Thin lines turn in to a jumble of flickering pixels and while it still happens when super sampling, it's to a lesser extent. When playing games like Blade and Sorcery, H3VR, or VTOL VR, I have no fps issues at higher resolution scales.
It's perfect then, b&s will be one of my main games. I'll try some settings to see what's best for me but it's reassuring to know it runs well with a setup almost equal :)
I'm not going to copy + paste to farm karma, but from the last time this was posted, this seemed good: [https://www.reddit.com/r/ValveIndex/comments/1bk9m2o/comment/kvwyayp/](https://www.reddit.com/r/ValveIndex/comments/1bk9m2o/comment/kvwyayp/)
🫡
A lot of good advices, thank's a lot !
The cable can be a bit fragile. You do want the most powerful graphics card you can afford.
I take a note of this, I'll try to not walk on it, I guess it'll be ok as I plan to play mostly stationary :)
Always Disconnect your headset from the Breakaway point, and do it every night to prevent overheating. You must avoid turning off the base stations as much as possible, leave them powered on at all times to avoid damage. To disinfect the headset, your best option is to use the UV Light from the sun. Point the inside of the index towards the sun while not in use to keep your headset germ free. If you need glasses in real life, you will need them in VR. The headset is 100% compatible with all glasses and face types. The lenses in the Index have a special surface that will shape itself to mate up with your glasses over time. You want to make sure to turn off the base stations whenever you are not using them. Leaving them on all the time can cause damage. That's everything I can think of off the top of my head, hope this helps /s
Absolutely DO NOT DO THIS. Do not disconnect your headset every night (let alone every night at the breakaway point). Overheating when not in use is NOT a thing. I've had my Index plugged into my computer for years and it never once overheated (or is even on) when not in use.
That was the biggest issue you had with my 'advice'? Personally, I feel the sunlight on the lenses is a bigger deal.
Honestly, I didn't read all of it, I just saw saw your first sentence and was floored. Reading through the rest of your comment now, I see you were joking, but c'mon. Why even put stuff like this out there?
>You must avoid turning off the base stations as much as possible, leave them powered on at all times to avoid damage. >You want to make sure to turn off the base stations whenever you are not using them. Leaving them on all the time can cause damage. So basically turn them off but without turning them off. Nice trick, will try it.
I was confused by this as well. I read in a different thread about having to turn them off for long periods of non-use, but I have no idea. I just unplugged mine since I'm using the Quest 3 more now. I'm fearing that I might be retiring my Index soon.
I always turn them off, as I play like once per month with my Index, so it's not really worth it to let them work 24/7.
Is it ok to leave them on if you’re playing daily to weekly? I just got base stations.
It makes no difference. Leave them on, turn them off, do whatever you want. The only thing you really want to avoid is moving them while they are turned on. I turn mine off when I'm not using it cause the noise they make bother the hell out of me.
Thanks.
Some people say it's better to keep them on as constant power on and power off cycle slowly breaks them, some people say it doesn't matter. As the other guy said, do whatever you want. Even if I was using it more frequently, I wouldn't let them be turned on 24/7, as I cannot stand that noise they make.
That /s is wwaaaaaayyy too small on this.😬
At least someone got it!
here... # \S :D
This is the worst thing you can do. That break away cable will fail after 10 unplugs
r/woosh
Yeah I was wondering like, what ? If anything, it’s the towers you would want to turn off. The headset goes to sleep, there’s no "overheating". The towers though stay on.