Can Your PC Handle Virtual Reality?
Not sure if your PC is ready for the awesomeness that is VR? Newegg is here to help.
First, let’s discuss specs:
Newegg Recommended VR PC Specs:
- i5-6500 or Greater CPU
- NVIDIA GTX 980 or AMD R9 390 GPU or greater
- 16GB+ RAM
- SSD (PCIe NVMe recommended)
Check out our Newegg approved VR systems
Official Oculus Rift Recommended Specs:
- Intel i5-4590 equivalent or greater
- NVIDIA GTX 970 or AMD R9 290 or greater
- 8GB RAM or more
- HDMI 1.3 and 3x USB 3.0 plus 1x USB 2.0
- Windows 7 64 bit or greater
What is the difference between minimum and recommended specs?
Oculus’s official statement is: “We recommend this level of hardware to ensure good performance across the range of games and experiences.”
What this means is you need a GTX 970/R9 290 level or greater GPU in order to hit 90 frames per second. Unlike normal PC games that will run on lower frame rates, both the Rift and Vive require a constant 90 FPS to work their VR magic and keep people from becoming motion sick.
So while Oculus says a GTX 970 is the “recommended” graphics card, it’s really the minimum if you want a legitimate VR experience.
What about the HTC Vive?
The specs for the HTC Vive are essentially the same as those for the Oculus Rift, with the differences coming in a lower minimum level of RAM for the Vive (4 GB+ rather than 8 GB+) and different necessary connections (HDMI 1.4, DisplayPort 1.2, or newer rather than multiple USB ports). For most of the components of your PC, the hardware needs of the Rift and Vive are identical.
But I don’t want Minimum graphics, I want High and Ultra Graphics!
Heck yeah. That’s why we’re recommending an NVIDIA 980 or RADEON R9 390 or above. Because the Vive and Rift run on PCs and not consoles, games should have graphics options from Low to Ultra.
What will Ultra require? Time will tell. But stepping up to a GTX 980 or R9 390 gives you more graphics power and the option to add a second card for full SLI or Crossfire power in the future.
Are multiple graphics cards supported?
Not yet, but NVIDIA and AMD have both said they’re working on it. It’s a safe bet that SLI and Crossfire support will happen shortly.
What about CPUs?
VR isn’t as picky about CPUs as it is about graphics cards. For CPUs, the fourth gen i5-4590 is the minimum requirement.
We won’t have a complete picture of CPU requirements until the Rift and Vive launch and more testing can be done. But if you choose a current generation i5-6400 or above, you’ll be good to go.
RAM? PSUs? Motherboards?
For RAM we recommend 16GB or above. Again, the Oculus specs are lower at 8GB, but 16GB is used pretty much across the board in demo systems.
There’s no real reason to upgrade your power supply unless it doesn’t have the juice to power your new graphics card.
If you’re running 600 watts or above, you’re probably good.
For motherboards, there’s no reason to upgrade unless you’re upgrading your CPU. 6th Gen Skylake CPUs like the i5-6600 or i7-6700 need an LGA 1151 socket motherboard, so older 1150 sockets won’t work.
How to Tell if Your GPU Ready for Oculus Link and Steam VR
The best way to find a VR-ready GPU is to simply look at the Oculus Link requirements or PC requirements for individual VR games on Steam. On the low-end, you should at least aim for a GEFORCE GTX 970.
Along my journey to create a VR-ready PC under a tight budget, I had to figure out what GPU was powerful enough to handle the biggest and best games the VR library had to offer. Surprisingly, it is relatively simple to figure out what VR-ready GPUs are currently on the market.
In this article, I will briefly explain the simplest ways to tell if a certain GPU can handle virtual reality games and recommend a few of the cheapest options for those that are gaming on a budget (like I am).
Quick ways to tell if your Graphics Card is VR Ready
- Check Oculus Link requirements
- Check individual game requirements on Steam
- Establish your baseline and compare options on the GPU Hierarchy
Option 1: Look at Oculus Link Requirements
So if you have an Oculus Quest and plan to play PC VR games via Oculus Link, then all you have to do is head to the Oculus Link Requirements page and scroll down to their list of supported VR-ready GPUs.
To save you some time, I’ve copy-pasted the tables here:
Oculus Link NVIDIA GPU Support
For those who are gaming on a budget, the cheapest or lowest-end GPU that Oculus Link supports is the GTX 970. However, finding these cards new isn’t that easy.
Oculus Link AMD GPU Support
Instead, you may want to look at AMDs VR ready graphics cards if they are compatible with your motherboard. One of the cheapest ones on Amazon that works with Oculus Link is the AMD Radeon RX 550 with is only ~$85 USD!
Option 2: Check Out Individual VR Game Requirements on Steam
If you are using the Quest or any other headset to play games via Steam VR, your best bet is to look at individual games you want to play and check out their minimum PC requirements.
Let’s take a look at the requirements for the critically-acclaimed Half-Life: Alyx.
As you can see, the game requires a GEFORCE GTX 1060, AMD RX 580, or better with 6GB of VRAM.
To be honest, I’m not sure how strict these requirements are. Because I ran the game on a GTX 1660, with a Core i5-4440 processor and that worked just fine, despite the minimum listed CPU requirement of the Core i5-7500.
However, I will say I tried running this game on my ASUS TUF laptop that has a GTX 1050 and…it did not work at all.
I got maybe 2 frames per second, so I highly recommend sticking to the minimum GPU requirements for VR games.
Option 3: Establish your baseline and compare options on the GPU Hierarchy
This is less of an option and more of a best practice to help you find the best deal.
The GPU Hierarchy is a table on Tom’s Hardware that lists the top GPUs in a ranked order of best value and performance. So if you’ve decided at the very least you want to be able to play Half-Life: Alyx and you are looking for a GTX 1060, then head over the table and look for that GPU on the list:
You’ll notice that there is a 3GB and a 6GB version.
You should go with the 6GB version. So let’s say you check prices on Amazon, eBay, or whatever site or local shop and you see a GTX 1060 for $200 USD brand new.
You should also look at a few of the other GPUs above it on the list to see if you can get a stronger VR-ready GPU for a similar price. If you are in VR for the long haul, you might as well spend an extra $40-$80 now and use this GPU for longer, rather than realize 8 months from now that you want to play a new game and need a stronger GPU.
Instead of buying a cheaper GPU now and a more expensive one later, try to find a middle ground. For example, if you find a GTX 1060 for $200 USD and you also see a GTX 1660 for $230 USD brand new, you might want to spend an extra $30 for better performance and a newer model.
Well, I hope this quick tutorial on VR-ready graphics cards was helpful for you and I hope you build a powerful VR rig to enjoy the best games the market has to offer.
If you need more advice on this, Tweet this article to me with your question!
Disclaimer: This article includes affiliate links to the items above.
Lead image via Luis Gonzalez on Unsplash.
Looking for more VR reading? Check out:
- 5 Best Oculus Quest Battery Packs for Extended Play Sessions
- VR Gun Stocks: Essential Guide to Improve VR Shooting Experiences
This article was originally published on: https://hackernoon.com/how-to-tell-if-a-gpu-is-vr-ready-for-oculus-link-and-steam-vr-8wbb3zuh
GeForce GTX 970 | GeForce|NVIDIA
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Overview
The GeForce GTX 970 is a high performance graphics card built for serious gaming. Based on the next generation NVIDIA ® Maxwell™ architecture, the GeForce GTX 970 graphics card combines the most advanced technology with world-class performance to deliver incredible VR gaming on HD and ultra-high-definition 4K displays.
GeForce GTX 980/970 video
NVIDIA’s Tom Petersen explains what makes the GeForce GTX 980 and 970 the most technically advanced GPUs. Watch Video >
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The NVIDIA ® SHIELD™ Tablet combines power, performance and portability with the world’s fastest mobile processor.
You can connect an optional SHIELD wireless controller to your tablet for a whole new level of gaming comfort and control. What’s more, the tablet comes with NVIDIA GameStream™ technology, so you can take the power of your gaming PC with you wherever you go.
GeForce Experience™
The easiest way to optimize your games and keep your drivers up to date.
Watch the GeForce Experience video. A step-by-step guide to using the GeForce Experience app.
Capture every win with GeForce® ShadowPlay™
Automatically record all your best gaming moments. Download now.
Features
- NVIDIA G-SYNC™ Technology
- GeForce Experience™
- SLI technology SLI ®
- NVIDIA Surround™ technology for up to four monitors
NVIDIA Maxwell™
This is NVIDIA’s most advanced architecture ever, delivering incredible performance and unparalleled power efficiency.
In addition, it offers state-of-the-art features such as advanced sampling and Super Resolution technology that delivers 4K gaming even on 1080p displays.
Multi-Frame Anti-Aliasing (MFAA)
MFAA technology delivers a performance boost of 30% while delivering smooth image edges by alternately sampling each frame and each pixel.
Voxel Global Illumination (VXGI)
As part of the NVIDIA GameWorks™ Developer Library, VXGI accelerates dynamic lighting effects for immersive cinematic-quality gameplay.
NVIDIA GameStream™
Stream extreme games from your GeForce GTX-powered PC to portable devices like NVIDIA SHIELD™ with super-smooth performance and low latency.
NVIDIA GPU Boost 2.0
With precise controls, this revolutionary technology allows gamers to maximize PC performance. GPU Boost 2.0 monitors your graphics card, even better managing GPU temperature, CPU overclocking, and voltage to maximize GPU performance.
NVIDIA Adaptive Vertical Sync
Nothing is more distracting than jitter and tearing. The first occurs when the frame rate is low, the second occurs when it is too high. Adaptive V-Sync technology is a great way to process frames. At high frame rates, V-sync is enabled to eliminate tearing, and at low frame rates, V-sync is disabled to minimize judder.
Specifications
GeForce GTX 970
CUDA Core |
1664 |
Base clock |
1050MHz |
Boost clock |
1178MHz |
Texture Fill Rate |
109 GigaTexels/s |
Memory speed (Gbps ) |
7.0 |
Memory capacity |
4GB |
Memory interface |
256-bit GDDR5 |
Maximum memory bandwidth |
224 GB/s |
FXAA and TXAA |
|
Support for NVIDIA SLI technology |
|
SLI Type |
4-way |
Software environment |
CUDA |
DirectX |
12 API |
OpenGL |
4. 4 |
Tire |
PCI-E 3.0 |
3D Games |
Maximum digital resolution |
4096×2160 |
MaximumVGA resolution |
2048×1536 |
Media connection |
|
Multiple display support |
|
|
HDCP |
|
Audio input for HDMI |
Internal |
Height |
11. 16 cm / 4.376 inches |
Length |
26.67 cm / 10.5 inches |
Width |
Two slots |
Maximum temperature |
98C |
Energy consumption |
145W |
Minimum system power requirements |
500W |
Power connectors |
6-pin x2 |
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Nvidia: GTX 970 is the minimum requirement for VR to work
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Get ready to upgrade your computer if you want to enjoy virtual reality, because company Nvidia has announced that you will need at least one GTX 970 graphics card.
Today, Nvidia announced the GeForce GTX VR Ready program, which was specifically designed to allow customers «to instantly determine if their PC and laptops are capable of playing the VR » .
Notebook users will need GTX 980 . In other words, to fully immerse yourself in virtual reality, your machine must meet the following requirements:
— PC with USB 3.0 support
— Processor: Intel Core i5-4590 (equal or better)
— 8GB+ RAM
— 2x USB 3.0 ports and HDMI 1.3
— Windows 7 SP1 or later
These requirements will allow VR to display two images above 90 fps .
«Navigating new technology like VR can be difficult for customers» Jason Pohl commented (Jason Paul), general manager in charge of new technologies at Nvidia .
