SteamVR now allows the refresh rate of the Valve Index to be changed without restarting the SteamVR software, if you have an NVIDIA GPU.
UPDATE Dec 17: This functionality and the new settings UI are now available on the stable branch of SteamVR.
Index is Valve’s first party PC-based VR system. The full kit is priced at $999. That’s more than double the price of Facebook’s Oculus Rift S, but for that price users arguably get the overall highest fidelity VR experience on the market.
One of the Index headset’s flagship features is its 144 Hz refresh rate. This is higher than any other VR headset on the market, and makes the VR world and objects moving in it seem more solid and real.
If your PC can’t maintain 144 Hz, however, the Index has since launch allowed the user to choose between 80 Hz, 90 Hz, and 120 Hz as alternatives. However, until this update you had to restart SteamVR each time, which takes time. Thankfully, the refresh rate can now be switched in real time, provided you have an NVIDIA card with the latest drivers.
This is achieved through a new cleaner settings user interface. All user interface elements are now larger, more in line with Steam broader recent redesign.
Of course, this still means you have to switch the refresh rate manually based on what each game can maintain. It would be nice if, like resolution already is, refresh rate could be saved on a per-game basis. This means you could set Beat Saber up for 144Hz while keeping No Man’s Sky at the 80Hz it can reasonably maintain.
