Thankfully, the the adapter doesn’t weigh much at 129g. It’s easy to forget that it’s sitting on your head. And thanks to the straps that secure it to the headset, there’s no need to worry about it flying off after a few vigorous head shakes. Or it could be the fact that short of the PCIe x16 slot on their board all the other slots are PCIe 2.0. The article did state: At the very least, the Vive Wireless Adapter is a fantastic first look at an exciting new feature that will almost certainly be incorporated into future VR headsets. But for now, you’re going to have to pay a proper premium to take the Vive’s immersion to the next level. Verdict The Vive Wireless Adapter requires an app to function. The Vive Wireless utility enables you to pair your transmitter with a receiver, while the software monitors the signal strength of the transmission. The software installation also includes the drivers that enable the WiGig and DisplayLink hardware in the wireless adapter.

The Vive Pro upgrade kit also includes a foam piece that should be used to replace the triangular section found on the Vive Pro's rear. Implementing the cushion adds support to the overhead strap and gives you a place to secure the wireless adapter. It also provides a barrier between your head and the receiver, which can get hot during extended use. I guess it would depend on what slot he used for the X99 system as the only PCIe 2.0 slot is the x1 slot but all the PCIe x16 slots are 3.0. I think we need to see this tested with a newer Intel system and maybe a Threadripper system with PCIe 3.0. Per the manual from Asus the only slot that's PCIe 3.0 on that board is the top x16 slot. The rest are PCIe 2.0.

Wireless Adapter for VIVE

This begs the question, based on the shenanigans that Intel has pulled lately as to "Did Intel play dirty in the firmware to ensure issues with AMD processors?" I can't say that they did, but it can make you wonder. They may not have, or may have... its circumstantial at least until someone examines the firmware closely. HTC’s Vive Wireless Adapter is the product of a three-way collaboration between HTC, DisplayLink and Intel. HTC’s instructions, which you can find here, suggest installing the WiGig card first. The expansion card features a PCIe x1 interface, which should make it compatible with any PCIe slot in your motherboard as long as it supports PCIe Gen3. It’s also frustrating that it won’t work with laptops. Given that more and more gaming laptops are being released with VR compatibility, it’s a bit of a head-scratcher that Vive hasn’t looked for an alternative solution to include both markets – especially since the third-party TPCast HTC Vive Wireless VR Adapter successfully uses a bundled router for wireless transmissions instead.

y. Performance was strong on two Intel-powered systems we tried, but after a software update, we also experienced problems connecting to the Vive Pro from these computers. In other words, if you use a Ryzen-powered computer or connect to a Vive Pro rather than a regular Vive, you may want to wait for updates. WiGig transmits at up to 7Gb/s while PCIe 2.0 x1 is limited to 5Gb/s. If the Vive is needing that bandwidth then that PCIe 2.0 limitation of the AMD chipsets will be an issue.

I'm sure it has more to do with Ryzens latency than an Intel conspiracy, or possibly a windows 10 issue with this adapter and ryzens systems I’m not going to lie, the Vive Wireless Adapter looks a little odd. With the adapter installed and the headset strapped to your face, you end up looking like some sort of alien Teletubby. That said, looking daft while wearing a VR headset is by no means a new thing. Vive claims that the Wireless Adapter’s battery life is up to two and a half hours, and we matched that figure almost exactly during testing. It sounds short on paper, but that’s impressive length considering it’s streaming video to the headset. Plus, few would really want to spend that much time in a virtual world without a break. Although the TPCast Wireless Adapter does claim a significantly superior 5-hour battery life for comparison.