VaM 1.x Quest 3 Disconnecting in VaM While Game Keeps Running (Link / Bitrate / GPU Issue?)

[luckyjake]

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Post:

Hey all, looking for help troubleshooting an issue with Virt-A-Mate in VR.

What’s happening:

• Using Quest 3 with wired Link
• While in VR, the headset will suddenly go black or kick me back to Quest home when in scene
• VaM is still running perfectly on my PC monitor
• So it seems like a disconnect rather than a full crash

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PC Specs:

• GPU: NVIDIA RTX 5070 Ti
• CPU: Intel Core Ultra 7 265KF (3.9 GHz)
• RAM: 64 GB

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What I’ve tested:

USB Ports:

• Tried both USB-C ports (one “5G”, one lightning/Thunderbolt-type)

Cables:

• Older ~500 Mbps cable → very stable, no disconnects
• New high-speed USB 3 cable → disconnects in headset, especially under load

Bitrate (Oculus Debug Tool):

• Set encode bitrate to 250 Mbps
• Applied while headset was connected
• Still getting disconnects

Quest Link Settings:

• 75Hz refresh rate
• Default resolution (not increased)

GPU Behavior:

• GPU frequently spikes to 100% usage
• Happens more with high-speed cable
• Lower-speed cable seems to reduce load and improve stability

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Key Observations:

• Only the headset drops — VaM itself does not crash

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Questions:

• Is this expected when GPU hits 100% in VR with VaM?
• Could this be purely a Link/cable stability issue?
• What encode bitrate range is actually stable for Quest 3 + VaM?
• Any cable or setting recommendations that improved stability for you?

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Any help would be appreciated—especially if you’ve run into this with Quest Link + VaM.

Thanks!

 

[RunRudolf]

That's a known problem unfortunately with the newer NVIDIA drivers. Restore back to 591.86. This solved the problem for me.

 

[luckyjake]

Appreciate the advice! Do you know of any other workaround besides rolling back to 591.86?

I’ve also been considering installing Virtual Desktop, but I’m not sure if it would provide a better experience compared to what I’m currently getting with my (not-so-great) cable setup.

 

[RunRudolf]

Appreciate the advice! Do you know of any other workaround besides rolling back to 591.86?

I’ve also been considering installing Virtual Desktop, but I’m not sure if it would provide a better experience compared to what I’m currently getting with my (not-so-great) cable setup.

I also used Virtual Desktop before rolling back, this worked, but I am not fully satisfied with latency with Virtual Desktop. But this depends on your WIFI signal and router of course. I don't know of any other way to go around this issue.

I expect that this bug will be fixed in the NVIDIA drivers eventually, but don't know for sure of course. Overall, I don't think its a problem to use an older NVIDIA driver, unless you own one of the newly released games they include optimizations in the most recent driver version.

 

[luckyjake]

I’m trying to avoid having to revert to previous drivers because I’m playing Crimson Desert, which NVIDIA recently released optimizations for.

I have a very stable 5GHz network connection. In general, do you think I would experience better quality with a virtual desktop than my standard USB-C cable?

 

[RunRudolf]

I’m trying to avoid having to revert to previous drivers because I’m playing Crimson Desert, which NVIDIA recently released optimizations for.

I have a very stable 5GHz network connection. In general, do you think I would experience better quality with a virtual desktop than my standard USB-C cable?

Its rather unlikely you get a better experience over wireless than over a good cable. However, these methods use different codecs, and VD should be very comparable if used with a stable, good connection.