Valve Index is one of the coolest VR headsets out there right now. Or at least it is in the hip sense; turns out Index can drum up quite a bit of heat, too.
We’ve seen several reports of the headset heating up after extended play sessions. In our experience, this was never enough to cause concern, but others say it’s given them issues with fogging. To combat this, some owners have got in the modding spirit using the files Valve itself recently provided. A few people have taken to Reddit to show off their designs, removing the headset’s front faceplate and fitting small fans inside. These are then connected up to the USB port on the front of the device to power them.
Reddit user mikeski21 has one of the most popular designs. They revealed a 3D-printed faceplate to house a Noctua NF-A4x10 5V, Premium Quiet Fan (files here). “The heat isn’t that bad but after a hour of playing it starts getting pretty warm,” they wrote, “the fan should be really quiet and the lens cover will still go on to keep the appearance of a stock headset (I might have to add 4 small 3x3mm magnets to keep the cove gap big enough for airflow).”
That’s not the only design out there, though. With a little gluing, Sandcracka was able to get two fans into their headset.
AndyJarosz, meanwhile, managed to get a nod to the Index logo in their two-fan, front-mounted design. You can get the files for that here.
Of course, unless you’re intimately familiar with modding hardware, we really wouldn’t recommend messing with your Index. $499 is a lot of money to accidentally waste, no?
