In theory, playing the most demanding modern PC games in VR will require an incredible amount of computing power. The two most critical components for a VR build are a graphics card equivalent to the NVIDIA GTX 970 or AMD R9 390, and a CPU equivalent to the i5-4590.
Best Overall: Alienware Aurora R9
Spending a little more than $1,000 will get you a PC with 9th Gen Intel Core i7-9700 CPU, NVIDIA RTX 2060 GPU with 6GB of GDDR6 VRAM, 16GB of dual-channel HyperX DDR4-2666MHz RAM, and a 256GB M.2 PCIe SSD coupled with a 1TB SATA HDD.Top 6 Best Cheap VR Ready Laptops
- CUK PE62VR Gaming Laptop.
- Acer Predator Helios 300 VR Ready Laptop.
- Premium Dell G3 15 3579 15.6 Inch.
- 2018 Flagship Premium Newest HP OMEN 17.
- Lenovo Legion Y720.
- Eluktronics P650HS-G.
Minimum Specs for Oculus Rift:
GPU: NVIDIA GTX 970 / AMD R9 290 equivalent or greater. CPU: Intel i5-4590 equivalent or greater. RAM: 8GB+ Video Output Compatible HDMI 1.3 video output.The best VR headsets you can buy today
- Oculus Quest. Best VR headset overall.
- Oculus Rift S. Best VR headset for PC.
- Playstation VR. The best VR headset for consoles.
- Oculus Go. A great standalone VR headset for the money.
- HTC Vive. Best VR headset for immersive experiences.
- Valve Index.
- Pansonite 3D VR Glasses.
The more powerful headsets, the Oculus Rift S and the HTC VIVE Pro, also lead the charge. The short answer is that VR is worth it. With some of the best games this generation, innovative controls, and a well-supported ecosystem of VR development, 2020 is a great year to enter the virtual world.
To test whether your PC is ready for the Oculus Rift, download the Oculus Rift Compatability Tool and run it. The tool will check your PC's hardware to ensure you have a sufficient graphics processor, CPU, RAM, and number of USB ports to support the hardware.
Virtual Reality or VR ready PC means a device that is capable of offering immersive gaming with richly detailed, three-dimensional graphics, comfortable gear and natural movements.
Oculus Quest is the evolution of last year's Santa Cruz prototype, an all-in-one VR system that doesn't need a PC or a tether of any kind. Think of it as a high-end version of the $199 Oculus Go mobile VR headset released earlier this year. In other words, Quest is not an Oculus Rift replacement.
VR can be an expensive technology, and a headset alone will run you $500-$800. If you have a relatively recent gaming PC, you can probably get away with upgrading your graphics card and jump right into gaming's new era, but that too will set you back several hundred dollars.
Yes, some laptops are capable of running VR. However, you need to provide us more info if we are to say for sure if the laptop you have (or are looking to buy) can do VR.
The Best VR Headset Deals This Week*
- HTC VIVE Pro Starter Edition With 6 Months Viveport Infinity Subscription — $899 (List Price $1,099.99; Save $200.99)
- Google Daydream View VR Headset 2nd Generation — $44.20 (List Price $99.99; Save $55.79)
- Oculus Go Standalone 64GB Virtual Reality Headset — $199.
So the tools you need to connect the Virtual Reality box and your smartphone are either a MICRO USB cable for android phones or a high-speed WI-FI connection and the TRINUS VR software. WI-FI will enable a hotspot, by using the USB option you can connect the phone directly with the PC using the USB cable.
Best laptops that meet Oculus Rift minimum specs
Processor: Intel i3-6100 / AMD FX4350. RAM: 8GB. Ports: one USB 3.0, two USB 2.0, and one HDMI. OS: Windows 8 or newer.Poker Stars VR – 1.6GB (full game) Superhot VR – 1.8GB (demo version, full version not available yet) Racket Fury: Table Tennis – 1.2GB (full game) Rec Room – 762MB (full game, social app)
The two most critical components for a VR build are a graphics card equivalent to the NVIDIA GTX 970 or AMD R9 390, and a CPU equivalent to the i5-4590. The modern, slightly faster GPU equivalents are the GTX 1650 Super or RX 5500 XT. A modern equivalent to the Intel i5-4590 CPU would be the AMD R3 3200G.
Following the launch of the more powerful GTX 1060, 1070, and 1080, NVIDIA revealed the latest in their low-end GeForce GPUs, the GTX 1050 and 1050 Ti in October 2016. While not the first in line for a premium VR experience, the more powerful 1050 Ti now officially meets the Oculus Minimum Specification.
Alternatively, if a CPU runs a quad-core processor and clocks the speed around 3.4GHz, then it is almost VR Ready. If the CPU speed exceeds this limit, then the PC fares well. Most of the PC running the latest version of Windows – Windows 10 are VR ready.
