With a growing number of affordable next-gen PC-compatible headsets like Quest 2 and HP Reverb G2, there’s more reason than ever to finally jump into VR. For the gamers out there who are beginning to consider purchasing a PC VR headset, one major question marks the starting point on their journey to a decision: can my PC handle it? Here’s how to find out.

Updated – December 3rd, 2021

VR gaming is much more resource intensive than monitor gaming. In short, that’s because the render resolution is much higher than the 1080p displays used by most PC users today. Not to mention, VR games must also be rendered in 3D and anywhere from 72 to 144 FPS depending on the headset.

Before we dive in, you’ll want to know a few things about your computer. First and foremost, PC VR headsets are not supported by MacOS. Next up, you’ll need to know your PC’s specs. Expand the section below if you don’t already know where to find that info.

To determine if your PC can handle VR, there’s four core things you’ll need to know:

  • Video Card
  • CPU
  • RAM
  • Video Output
GPU
  1. Press the Start button and type ‘device manager’, select it from the list
  2. In Device Manager, expand Display Adapters, your video card is listed beneath
CPU & RAM
  1. Press the Start button and type ‘about your PC’, select it from the list
  2. In the About window, scroll down to find ‘Processor’ (also known as CPU) and ‘Installed RAM’
Video Output

For this you’ll need to look at the back of your computer and see which ports are available on the back, specifically on your GPU (which is usually lower):

Image courtesy Alienware

The ports can look very similar, so look closely at the shapes of each. Remember that you will need a free port to plug your headset into.

Image courtesy Alienware

Many headset makers provide what they call a ‘recommended’ hardware configuration for virtual reality gaming. This gives VR developers a baseline hardware target so that they can ensure the consistent FPS requirement is met. If your hardware does not meet the recommended specification, you risk dropping under framerate which can result in a choppy and potentially uncomfortable VR experience.

The recommended specs provided by each company are relatively similar but there are some key differences worth looking at in detail:

Meta

Image courtesy Oculus
Oculus Rift S Recommended VR Specifications:
  • Video Card: NVIDIA GTX 1060 / AMD Radeon RX 480 or greater
  • CPU: Intel i5-4590 / AMD Ryzen 5 1500X or greater
  • Memory: 8GB RAM or greater
  • Video Output: DisplayPort
  • USB Ports: 1x USB 3.0 port
  • OS: Windows 10
Oculus Rift CV1 Recommended VR Specifications:
  • Video Card: NVIDIA GTX 1060 / AMD Radeon RX 480 or greater
  • CPU: Intel i5-4590 / AMD Ryzen 5 1500X or greater
  • Memory: 8GB RAM or greater
  • Video Output: Compatible HDMI 1.3 video output
  • USB Ports: 3x USB 3.0 ports plus 1x USB 2.0 port
  • OS: Windows 10 (Windows 7/8.1 no longer recommended)
Meta Quest & Quest 2 with Oculus Link

Meta Quest & Quest 2 can also play PC VR games via Oculus Link. See this article for the most up to date info on Meta Quest recommended specs and supported graphics cards.

Valve

Image courtesy Valve
Valve Index Recommended VR Specifications:
  • Video Card: NVIDIA GTX 1070 / AMD equivalent or greater
  • CPU: Quad Core+
  • Memory: 8GB RAM
  • Video Output: DisplayPort 1.2
  • USB Ports: 1x USB 2.0 port (USB 3.0 required for camera passthrough), 1x DisplayPort v1.2
  • OS: Windows 10, SteamOS, Linux

Check your PC: You can automatically check that you meet these specifications with the ‘Are you ready for Valve Index’ app on Steam.

HTC

Image courtesy HTC
Vive Cosmos Recommended VR Specifications
  • Video Card: NVIDIA GTX 1070 / AMD Radeon Vega 56 or greater
  • CPU: Intel Core i5-4590/AMD FX 8350 equivalent or greater
  • Memory: 8GB RAM
  • Video Output: DisplayPort 1.2
  • USB Ports: 1x USB 3.0 port
  • OS: Windows 10
Vive Cosmos Elite Recommended VR Specifications
  • Video Card: NVIDIA GTX 1070 / AMD Radeon Vega 56 or greater
  • CPU: Intel Core i5-4590/AMD FX 8350 equivalent or greater
  • Memory: 8GB RAM
  • Video Output: DisplayPort 1.2
  • USB Ports: 1x USB 3.0 port
  • OS: Windows 10
Vive Pro 2 Recommended VR Specifications
  • Video Card: NVIDIA GTX 1060 / Quadro P5000 / AMD Radeon Vega 56 or greater
  • CPU: Intel Core i5-4590 / AMD FX 8350 equivalent or greater
  • Memory: 8GB RAM
  • Video Output: DisplayPort 1.2 or newer
  • USB Ports: 1x USB 3.0 port or newer
  • OS: Windows 10
Vive Focus 3 Minimum VR Specifications
  • Video Card: NVIDIA GTX 1060 / AMD Radeon RX 480 or greater
  • CPU: Intel Core i5-4590 / AMD FX 8350 or greater
  • Memory: 8GB RAM or more
  • Video Output: HDMI 1.4 / DisplayPort 1.2
  • USB Ports: 1x USB 2.0 port
  • Wired Streaming: 1x USB Type-C 3.0 cable (5 Gbps)
  • Wireless Streaming (routers): Wi-Fi 802.11ac or Wi-Fi 802.11ax (5GHz)
  • OS: Windows 10

WMR & HP

Image courtesy HP
General Windows Mixed Reality Recommended VR Specifications
  • Video Card: NVIDIA GTX 1060 / AMD RX 470/570 or greater
  • CPU: Intel Core i5-4590 / AMD Ryzen 5 1400 or greater
  • Memory: 8GB
  • Video Output: HDMI 2.0 or DisplayPort 1.2 (may vary based on specific headset)
  • USB Port: 1x USB 3.0
  • OS: Windows 10 (Note: Not supported on N versions or Windows 10 Pro in S Mode)
  • Bluetooth Some headsets require Bluetooth 4.0 for controller connectivity
HP Reverb G1 and G2 Windows Mixed Reality Recommended VR Specifications
  • Video Card: NVIDIA GTX 1080 / AMD RX 5700 or greater
  • CPU: Intel Core i5, i7 / AMD Ryzen 5 or greater
  • Memory: 8GB
  • Video Output: DisplayPort 1.3
  • USB Port: 1x USB 3.0
  • OS: Windows 10 (may require latest updates)

Pimax

Image courtesy Pimax
Pimax 8K X Recommended VR Specifications
  • Video Card
    • Upscale Mode: NVIDIA RTX 2060
    • Native Mode: NVIDIA RTX 2080
  • CPU: Intel Core i5-9400 equivalent or greater
  • Memory: 8GB
  • Video Output: DisplayPort 1.2
  • USB Port: USB 2.0 or greater
  • OS: Windows 10
Pimax 8K Plus Recommended VR Specifications
  • Video Card: NVIDIA RTX 2060
  • CPU: Intel Core i5-9400 equivalent or greater
  • Memory: 8GB
  • Video Output: DisplayPort 1.2
  • USB Port: USB 2.0 or greater
  • OS: Windows 10
Pimax 5K Super Recommended VR Specifications
  • Video Card: NVIDIA GTX 1080 Ti
  • CPU: Intel Core i5-9400 equivalent or greater
  • Memory: 8GB
  • Video Output: DisplayPort 1.2
  • USB Port: USB 2.0 or greater
  • OS: Windows 10
Pimax 5K Plus Recommended VR Specifications
  • Video Card: NVIDIA GTX 1070
  • CPU: Intel Core i5-9400 equivalent or greater
  • Memory: 8GB
  • Video Output: DisplayPort 1.4
  • USB Port: USB 2.0 or greater
  • OS: Windows 10, Windows 8.1
Pimax Artisan Recommended VR Specifications
  • Video Card: NVIDIA GTX 1050 Ti
  • CPU: Intel Core i5-9400 equivalent or greater
  • Memory: 8GB
  • Video Output: DisplayPort 1.4
  • USB Port: USB 2.0 or greater
  • OS: Windows 10, Windows 8.1
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Ben is the world's most senior professional analyst solely dedicated to the XR industry, having founded Road to VR in 2011—a year before the Oculus Kickstarter sparked a resurgence that led to the modern XR landscape. He has authored more than 3,000 articles chronicling the evolution of the XR industry over more than a decade. With that unique perspective, Ben has been consistently recognized as one of the most influential voices in XR, giving keynotes and joining panel and podcast discussions at key industry events. He is a self-described "journalist and analyst, not evangelist."
  • Simon Wood

    The lack of Linux support for the Rift is one of the things that turned me off it (although I understand their priorities in getting Windows to work nicely). However, I am (still) under the impression that the Vive will be cross platform, at least for some of their titles.
    http://store.steampowered.com/search/?#sort_by=_ASC&vrsupport=101&os=linux&page=1

    PS-VR will just have to be hacked into working order… ;-)

    • Erik Larsen

      really dude this is why u should use windows for gaming and use linux for everything else windows was built for gaming

      • HackerFinn

        No. It really wasn’t.
        Windows was built for office use (just like linux and MacOS, and linux has way better performance.
        The only reason Windows is a “better” choice for gaming, is because of the larger number of games. Which is a big reason most people use it. Which is a big reason there is the only reason there is more games.
        It’s an evil cycle.

    • Get Schwifty!

      When Linux begins to even scratch the surface for home users undoubtedly it will get support. As it stands, great in the back end server space, but inconsequential in home use unless you are tinkerer.

    • H@chim@n

      Even though they know that their request won’t be listened by anybody, linux users still whine to this day. When asked “why can’t you move on ?” , they all give the same excuse “it performs better than windows”.

      • Thanos’s Gauntlet

        agreed. people who use Linux for gaming have minor issues

        • Steven and Kristy

          It’s exactly why I stopped using Linux. I was hardcore “Linux” until I reached a breaking point with hardware NEVER being supported as well on Linux as it is on Windows, and gaming on Linux (especially VR) is terrible compared to other platforms.

  • One thing i’ve noticed is the NVidia Experience app will also tell you if your rig is VR ready.

    • jlschmugge

      Yes, that might be the best, as my overclocked 3570k is better than a stock 4590, and the Nvidea said my CPU is ok.

      • realtrisk

        Really, the minimum specs are more of a guideline for the average user. If you’re smart enough to know how to overclock a chip safely, then you probably don’t need a tool to tell you if your computer will work with VR or not. :)

        • jlschmugge

          Yeah, but just because it is overclocked to 4.5 GHz doesn’t mean it is better than a 4590. 2xxx generation chips might still fall short. You do take a little risk hoping that just because it is overclocked it is good enough. I wish the Oculus and Valve tool would take that into account with a real constellation/lighthouse simulation to see if your CPU is up to the task of tracking.

          • realtrisk

            Since CPU utilization for lighthouse and constellation is claimed to be 1% to 2%, as is usual in graphical programs today, GPU is much more important. I know what you mean, though. I had a first generation core i7, and I really wish it hadn’t died, because I’d really like to see if it could have run VR. I bet it could have. Upgrading it to a new, VR ready CPU didn’t make the PC feel any faster on program execution… that thing was still fast.

            Without real competition, Intel has been able to coast for years now, repackaging what amounts to the same thing. I keep hoping AMD comes out with a killer new proc, like in the old days, just for some competition to make Intel actually start working again.

  • yag

    Oculus Check said I must throw my i5 away :(
    (overclocking not detected ^^’)

    • jlschmugge

      Use PassMark to see if your overclocked CPU is running better than a stock i5_4590. http://www.passmark.com Pay attention to the single thread performance. That is what Oculus looks at.

  • Foreign Devil

    My PC is VR ready. .but my wallet isn’t :(

    • TA ting go SKRAAAAA

      O O F

    • Thanos’s Gauntlet

      i feel your pain

    • Joshua PuppyCat

      same

    • GreaterDogYT

      My wallet isn’t ready for a pc or vr :D

      • modables

        i feel that man

    • Damaskox

      Not even ready for a used set?

    • XKimukunX

      This is the most felt comment I have seen in a while.

      • Dave

        HikariiHana I had responded saying this is a silly comment. But this article has evolved since VR came out. So yeah 6 years ago VR HMD’s were fairly expensive. That’s not the case today where you can buy a Quest 2 for under 300 dollars and a first generation headset for under 100 dollars on the second hand market.

        • John

          I have a Playstation VR that I want to use on my PC. Any help?

          • TheFalse Union

            its made for playstation no a pc

    • Ozzy Dunstone

      same

    • Dave

      Very strange comment. You can buy a Quest 2 for under 250 dollars. First generation HMD’s can be bought for under 100 dollars on the secondhand market.

    • guffymcpump

      I waited 8 years to say you are wrong! You are ready Foreign Devil, go get that VR…. Oh now your PC is not ready…. see you in another 8 years…..

  • Jad

    The SteamVR-Tool is buggy as hell. My system with a heaviliy overclocked Core i7 6700K, 16 GB DDR4-3000 and an also heavily overlocked R9 290 barely manages to creep into the “capable” region.

    • realtrisk

      Compare your results to hundreds of other users here:

      https://linustechtips.com/main/topic/558807-post-your-steamvr-performance-test-results-here/

      If you are lower than other computers in your hardware category, I would suggest you’ve got too high an overclock and are seeing performance and stability degradation because of it.

      • Jad

        Thanks for the tipp, but I’m not new to overclocking or PCs. My system runs fine in all other benchmarks, gfx benchmarks, stress tests and games. Otherwise I wouldn’t use it with those setttings, I even lowered the clocks a bit below the max stable ones. Temperatures are not a problem either, they are monitored and I use watercooling.

        • Jad

          Ok, funny… I just ran the SteanVR Test again – and now the result is what it should be. 7.4 fidelity and right in the middle of “Ready”.

          • realtrisk

            Huh. I hate it when computers do that. Yeah, that’s what I was seeing for numbers on the link I gave you for computers with a 290. Weird. Maybe your computer was PMSing the first time… XD

            Seriously, though, glad it’s working for you now… Was it a long time ago that you ran it? Maybe there were bugs in the SteamVR app that they ironed out in a patch, or maybe newer Catalyst drivers with code optimized for VR made the difference? Both GPU manufacturers have been releasing VR optimized driver updates for a while now as the market matures to launch day… Finalized specs from Valve/HTC/Oculus might have resulted in a better driver…

          • Jad

            I tried it when it came out and I tried it some time later. Since then, there was an update for the SteamVR test and new AMD drivers as well. So… somewhere in there was the solution :)

            I have an Oculus Rift coming this month, so I’m happy this test works now. The Oculus VR “test” for VR capability isn’t even worth starting.

    • Dario Rossi

      I disagree, is not the test,
      I have an FX 9590 32 GB DDR3 2400 and radeon R9 390 I scored 9.7, check your driver, download the latest chrimson edition, yo”ll see…

      • Jad

        I already answered 3 month ago a bit below that after an update of the SteamVR benchmark and drivers I’m at 7.4. I have no problems with my Rift :)

  • CharSkin

    For Oculus the USB 3.0 ports must use a specific chipset. I have a less than six months old PC with 6 USB 3.0 ports at rear and 2 at front. My PC failed the Oculus test. I bought a PCI-E USB 3.0 card, but made the mistake of not checking the chipset. This also failed. So had to buy another one. Make sure it has a Fresco chipset.

    • jlschmugge

      Mine failed not because I had the wrong chipset, but because I had at least one USB controller that wasn’t compatible. I disabled the one controller I was having problems with, an AS-Media controller, then all-of-a-sudden I got a green check mark.

  • TaxPayer

    Does anyone know when the Demo stations are going to be setup? I’m assuming USA and Canada would be around the same time? Bestbuy would be the logical choice.

    • benz145

      Oculus has said they will be in retail in April, though that isn’t clear if that means just selling the Rift from stores or if they’ll have demo units too.

      • TaxPayer

        I want to try it bad, so im hoping for demo stations. Its really a see it to believe it type of hardware.

  • Paramesh Subramoni

    i have a i5 4460
    gtx 960
    is my pc vr ready

    • Mike Hedges

      did you read this lmfao, no you need a better gpu, get an amd 480 when its out for 200 bucks

    • Buddydudeguy

      …..learn to read. 970 min> 960

  • guy robison

    I have the Geforce GTX 1070, intel i7-4790,16 mb of ram, and windows 10 but its saying i need an upgrade? Is it possible that my usb port or video output are slowing me down? It’s telling me I need an upgrade because im in the red.

    • MogliGuy

      your ram is too small. you have 16mb, you need 4/8gb that is 500 times bigger. just kidding, i see you meant gb, not mb. lol

    • NooYawker

      Do you have a minicase that’s overheating or something? There must be a bottleneck somewhere because you should definitely be able to use VR. Also update all your video drivers.

  • Aaron Wilhoit

    Ok so I did the SteamVR Performance test and it said I was good but according to every site I have visited, my cpu needs to be better. I have an intel i5-4440. Should I listen to the performance test or the website?

    • Roland

      It seems to be under the minimum specs a bit. If you were to get a Vive, I’d only do so if you are also prepared to upgrade your CPU as well in the case that your current CPU doesn’t perform well enough.

  • Get Schwifty!

    Oculus has definitely made revisions to their testing setup – my old 2015 15″ laptop didn’t pass the CPU test, but now does, so they are making progress on bringing down requirements.

    I can also say they have definitely improved on the tracking software- did some testing yesterday with the latest updates and it was quite smooth. The only problem I noticed was a game which acted up made me need a reboot to smooth things back out.

    • sfmike

      Tracking seems worse to me.

  • With Windows10 upcoming headset, every PC is VR-ready :D

  • Usama Elheddiny

    I have 2 graphic card in my laptop, the first one is intel HD 4600 and second is Nvidia GeForce GTX 860m
    Every time when I make a test by SteamVR, it is give me the result of intel HD 4600
    I need to test Nvidia GeForce GTX 860m, what can i do

    • Ron

      Disable the onboard vid chip (4600) in bios, then run the test

      • Caped Crusader

        It should be listed under “integrated peripherals” (or something similar) in the BIOS. Need to set onboard video to “disabled”.

  • Sam Lindler

    It says that my FX-8350 and R7 370 2gb is more than capable of running both Oculus and the Vive…
    That can’t be right.
    The R7 370 is a garbage card in 2017.

  • NooYawker

    Really? How old is this article? I’m answering posts until I realized some of these were posted 2 years ago.

    • Noo Yawker Jr.

      Thanks for the heads-up… I was about to follow the directions…

      • NooYawker

        Where are you Jr??!!!!

    • NooYawker

      Hi me from last year!

      • ale bro

        i forgot to post 3 years ago so am doing it now to catch up :)

    • Yassine Botanski

      Hello from 2022

  • Jean-Sebastien Perron

    The Xbox One X could have been the game changer in VR world, because PC is a mess for anyone not willing to spend 2 hours a week to install drivers and configure every games to their maximum potential. 80% of PC cost and power is lost for non-vr related tasks (like OS). Instead the Xbox One X is not powerful enough for VR, and so VR will never be possible on that console, meanwhile, the old PS4 is doing God’s work with proper VR without any compatibility issues and no settings. It just works all the time and it is predictable. PC is the cancer of VR, we need stand alone VR like Oculus Go or other upcoming stand alone VR.

    I cannot recommend VR on PC to anyone because it’s too complex, difficult and unstable (One day your game won’t start or a driver stopped working). I always recommend Oculus Go and PSVR. PC may have better graphics, but the cost and time it requires are not worth it. As soon as the PC dies, VR will thrive.

    • Andrew McEvoy

      Really? I dont have any of these issues that you desc4ibe. Its all basically plug in and play now with oculus home and steam vr. Rarely need to upgrade anything or keep drivers up to date.
      Cant say I share your frustrations at all. You can even buy vr ready pcs now and everything you dont need to assemble or buy specific parts.

    • Bruce Banner

      I agree that a console VR system would be easier on the general consumer, because it’s built for VR, and all the games released are fine tuned for that console specifically. As for the Xbox One X not being powerful enough.. lol. It’s more powerful than the PS4 Pro.. 0.2 Ghz faster CPU (both using 8-core AMD Jaguar), 1.8 TFLOPs more and 261 MHz faster GPU (both using AMD Radeon), and 3 GBs GDDR5 more VRAM. The Xbox One X would have killed the PS4 Pro in VR. Unfortunately, they decided to walk away from VR.. for now anyway.

      As for the PSVR being ‘without compatibility issues’… you only have front-facing 180 degree VR, not a true 360 degree full room scale VR as you do with PCVR. If they can fix that.. maybe add more tracking cameras.. then their system will be perfect.

      I have a Rift, and spent a year building the rig to run it, buying a few pieces each month until I was done. Every piece in the rig is new.. including the case. $4000 CAD… not including the Rift, 2 extra cameras, USB 3.0 active extension cords, and 4 DIY 7’ tall camera stands, made from Ikea upright floor lamps. All together, and it’s just over $5000. A pre-configured console, specifically designed for VR.. that sells for less than $1000 CAD.. that’s where VR will finally be in every house in the world. The high cost of a proper rig to run VR is the biggest hurdle for the industry. That’s where consoles will flourish. The games will be better too, seeing as they only have 1 set of hardware to develop for, instead of trying to work on everybody’s PC.. with all the different combinations of hardwares out there.

  • Dude

    I need to know if my PC is VR ready!
    Specs:
    GTX 770
    Ram: 16 Gigs
    CPU: AMD 8350 8 Core
    1TB SSD

    Thanks

    • jj

      is this a joke?

      • jj

        in case it is not a joke, this is literally a list of minimum requirements so if yours is less than whats listed, you can’t play.

        Do you not know how gpus work, or google, or numbers even? you should do more research before you expect people to just asnwer questions for you, because the entire point of this article was so that you can answer this question for yourself. This article is saying “here are the tools to find out if ur pc is vr ready”, and u obviously didn’t read and just want people to figure it out for you. how hard is it to read? laziness and having others do the work for you will contribute to you NEVER learning these things and you’ll always have to depend on others.

        so if you’d read and actually use your brain you can see that each gpu listed are newer and more powerful that yours because your is in the 770 range and all those are in the 1000’s series(but even 900’s work)

      • Slackar

        I can tell you a joke.
        You are replying to a post that’s almost a year old.

        • jj

          yeah on a recycled post… soooo what’s your point? I mean you’re here to read it aren’t you, so odds are they will to.

          • Slackar

            You were asking for jokes, so I gave you one. I’m fun that way.

          • jj

            lol gotchya thanks!
            not what id expect from a slacker

  • Dan Lokemoen

    I have a ‘decent’ processor and the lowest-end card that’s supposed to be VR-ready, a GTX 970, and performance for me has been perfectly fine. The only VR game my PC wouldn’t run was an indie freebie that was probably really poorly optimized.

    • Raphael

      Try DCS world… good luck flappy :)

  • Raphael

    I read some of the article above but I still don’t know if my PC is VR ready… How to tell? I’ve been running my Vive on it for more than two years now but at this stage I’m still not sure if my PC can handle it.

    • ale bro

      have you got a good monitor that is the key!

      • Iamtheonethaticall Eye

        wtf

        • ale bro

          that’s a good brand!

      • Thanos’s Gauntlet

        the hell are you talking about “that is the key”?? monitors have absolutely nothing to do with VR requirements dude. i think you need to learn a little more about hardware because the requirements take place on the motherboard. monitors are just there to portray what’s on the PC. hell you can have the shittiest monitor in the world with a VR Ready PC and the VR gear will still work

        • Armadooler

          what this guy said

        • Armadooler

          i have 16gb ram, gtx 1070, and an i7 8700k, but i currently have one of those old dell monitors until i can save up to get a better one. but i’ve had no quality or performance issues with my VR. it’ll run flawlessly as long as you got the right specs in your pc.

          • DrMonotone

            How the fuck did you buy a gtx 1070, 16 gb of ram and an i7 but still cant get a better monitor? Unless your parents did which makes more sense. When I finally got my gaming pc I went all in but made sure I had enough for a monitor to since I was using an old tv as a stand in.

        • ale bro

          wow i never knew gear vr worked on a pc

          • Alicia

            Give me an opportunity to present to you reliable on line earning money wherein you can make upto $10k each month by doing work from your laptop or computer at your home. Any sort of personal computer special abilities or information of programming language isn’t important to perform this internet work, If you have simple web skills then you can comfortably work on it. It could actually spare you lots of time as well as could get you great money by simply doing work for 4 to 5 hours daily.You can able to invest a lot more valuable time with all your family members and can go out for fabulous family getaways with zero work stress. Don’t waste your time, go and pay a visit to this super opportunity and bring happiness in your life >>>>>>> numbersmeen.bringts.de

          • Gamer929

            no

        • Mindaugas Trumpaitis

          Congrats Thanos’s Gauntlet. You were trolled.

        • Jistuce

          It’s a joke son, ya missed it!

        • aasdfa

          /wooooosh

        • Erasus

          Wow you are really sad and pathetic missing obvious joke.

        • Dave

          Hook line and sinker!

  • Tom Szaw

    Geforce 2080 RTX makes VR good with solid subsampling filtering % at 200%-300%

  • Tom Allen

    Anybody with Windows 10 can just press the Windows button and type “mixed” to check if their PC is VR ready. Just install the MR Portal app and it will run the check for you.

  • MosBen

    This isn’t technically related, but maybe some folks on here can help. I don’t own a TV that can do 3d movies, but I’ve always enjoyed them in the theater and have been a little bummed that I don’t really have the option of ever seeing them again in that format. But I know that it’s possible to watch 3d movies in the Rift, so I’d like to give that a try. What’s the best/easiest program to use to watch 3d movie files that are locally stored on your PC? I tried Big Screen mode briefly, but frankly I don’t really want something to just navigate my desktop, the interface was confusing and unwieldy, and it crashed a couple times for seemingly no reason.

    So. Little help?

  • I need to perform the Steam VR performance test on my PC.
    https://virtualrealitysocial.com/

  • Diego Jimenez

    so just a few say you need DDR3 RAM, but my question is, do ALL other VR gear need a minimum of DDR3? and what RAM speed is needed/recommeneded for VR. Thank you

    • Jistuce

      Any system that uses DDR2 is going to be wildly underpowered for VR. DDR3 began shipping in 2007. A processor that is DDR2-compatible is roughly a decade old at the minimum.

  • syndicator

    9900k rtx 2080ti wdblack nvme 500gb and 6 other hard drives ranging from 4tb to 1tb corsair k95rgb corsair 760t asrock gaming k6 z370 soundblaster zxr

  • dota

    This question is belated (by several years)
    The future is :
    1. Total removal of PC
    by using onboard processor as in quest (or using with cellphone in pocket with USB data cable)
    2. Using optical waveguides to have Spiderman like glasses
    3. Game streaming along with server side ray tracing
    Come out of the PC tricks
    Welcome to the Matrix

    • Jistuce

      Latency is a terrible thing, especially in VR.

      Owning your own hardware and processing locally where there is essentially zero ping between you and the computer is awesome.

      • MosBen

        Plus, data caps.

        • dota

          unlimited here
          coming 2 u 2 soon

      • dota

        If u can play a video,
        u can also play a game
        get it

        • Jistuce

          That’s not how this works. That’s not how any of this works.

  • Many headset makes provided

  • Pimax 5K Plus

    Video Card: NVIDIA RTX 1070 / AMD equivalent or greater

    Pretty sure that card doesn’t exist.

  • Niklas Fritzell

    Where are the hp reverb recommended specs? It can’t be the same as wmr in general.

    • Jistuce

      Sure they can. Recommended specs are little more than wild guesses, so why NOT use the same specs as everyone else? I mean, Windows MR headsets as a whole are already quoting comically low specs, why start being realistic now? Can’t make it look like your hardware will need a more powerful computer.

      • Have you tried those specs?

        Windows MR headets DO need comically low specs compared to the competition – they’re being realistic with them. It’s a massive advantage that enthusiasts underestimate.

        My sister plays quite a few experiences smoothly (including the only one she cares about, Beat Saber, along with about half of my Steam-shared VR library) with a WMR on the “GeForce GTX 650 Ti Boost Twin Frozr 2GB” that I upgraded from. That card is way below minimum, and was a slideshow with my rift. Source engine titles and ReVive fail miserably though.

        Similar story with dad’s trash laptop, which we use to show beat saber and tilt brush and some others off on extended family occasions with her WMR.

        • Jistuce

          The requirements on the graphic card side are determined more by what software you’re running than anything else(resolution affects things, of course, but most of these headsets are in the same ballpark there). Simply put, the work needed to render a scene is fixed. Changing headsets does not affect it, except for display resolution shifting.

          The headset specs are generally just made-up targets, chosen by marketing to encourage people to buy headsets.
          I say this as someone who was happily running my Rift with a below-spec machine for quite a while(Oculus has raised the system “requirements” since then).

          I grant that the CPU required for decent performance WILL change with headset, as tracking physical objects in 3D space is a non-trivial processor load and different implementations will generate different loads. But again, the software you are using with the headset will generate more load than the tracking will.

  • Dan DeMontmorency

    Hey @Ben a minor correction. In pimax headsets you have “RTX 1070” should be GTX.

  • Lars Skinhøj

    Can the USB 3 ports be too old?? – I can’t get my Oculus up and running. (can’t connect the basestations) though my specs should be fine… i have 16gb ram, RTX 2070s, and an i7 3930k, but i currently have one of those old ASUS Rampage IV Formula LGA 2011 X79 motherbords. It has plenty of USB 3 ports, but I got a feeling they migt be too old and incompatible even though I have updated the usb-drivers several times, and tried a lot of other things, they still don’t work…. Anyone heard about this?

  • JesuSaveSouls

    It’s cool that many new current vr units only need a 970 still.

  • Livio

    According to the Memory/RAM Specification:
    Is this dedicated graphics memory (by the GPU)
    Or (from the GPU view) external memory?

  • Seabass3651

    I have a modified Gigabyte P35X that has a NVIDIA GTX 980M, a core i7 – 5700HQ cpu @ 2.70GHz, and 16GB of memory. I have looked around but havent gotten a solid answer of yes or no some sites and people tell me yes and others tell me no. I was thinking about getting one but I would rather 100% know first if I could even use it.

  • Dan

    No such thing as RTX 1070.

  • Zack

    i was tryna find out if my pc was ready for the oculus quest 2 (for the people who dont know that quest 2 can run on pc, theres a separate link cable for it.

  • mirak

    For the Vive Wireless, you need way more than a Intel Core i5-4590.

    In fact even without wireless, a i5 4690 isn’t enough to play Contractors.

    You need something at least like a i5 9600 with 6 cores.

  • Ad

    Laptops are going to be the only new PCs that can’t run VR by like March. Shame that external GPU enclosures for laptops are still niche and expensive.

  • Mechanic

    I run Oculus Rift S on Gforce 2070-Max-Q,9750H and have to say that it slows down in some games like HalfLife but overall playable when details are turned lowered.

  • etai

    if im buying oculus but my video card is trush will the game run in the vr good?

  • ale bro

    recommended RAM of 8GB seems low

  • B R U H

    I have vr and pc yet I don’t have anything other needed

  • cheese

    my cpu is ready my graphics card :(

  • MosBen

    Man, I need a graphics card upgrade. I just picked up the Reverb G2 and my 1070 can only manage half resolution.

  • Geogaddi

    This article is crazy old. I’m half expecting to find some angry prehistoric cave paintings in these comments.