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Specs for VR

PhelimReaghPhelimReagh Member UncommonPosts: 682
in Hardware
I am going to purchase a budget PC that could be upgraded in a year or two once Virtual Reality Gaming becomes a bit more established. What particular specifications would I need to be sure that the PC/ Motherboard that I purchase can eventually play VR games?

I am going with Nvidia for the GPU, Samsung for the SSD.

What  Nvidia-ready motherboard series do I need to go with?

Thanks in advance.

Comments

  • laxielaxie Member RarePosts: 1,123
    GPU
    In terms of GPU Motherboard compatibility, it's fairly straight forward.
    All you need is a PCI-E (PCI Express) x16 slot. That is the standard in terms of GPUs. The slot has not changed recently. The same one can run brand new cards, as well as 5 year old cards.
    The "x16" is the size of the slot. 16 being the largest (allowing the "best" cards).

    I have a GTX970, which is the minimum requirement for VR. It is enough to let me play anything so far, with some fiddling on the most demanding titles. It does struggle in certain cases, especially quick movements in the graphically best looking VR games. I would definitely not call it futureproof. The new 1070 cards should be much better off. The 1080 should be perfectly fine with the next generation of VR. If you are looking for a budget solution, a 970 is an alright option. If you can save up for a 1070, then you're set.


    CPU
    A lot of people underestimate CPU in VR. If you think about it, VR games do not employ cutting edge graphics. Instead, a lot of the experiences are extremely physics heavy. Everything in the VR scene moves around, interacts with each other, at a high framerate. All that computation is done by the CPU.

    I had a decent CPU when I got my Vive. It could run any PC game just fine. Yet in VR, I was having lots of trouble. Upgrading to 4790k made a huge difference. The majority of the framerate issues disappeared.

    CPU Motherboard compatibility is a lot more important. The sockets change often. The 4790k is the very best of the "Haswell" CPU line. That is the second newest line. That uses the LGA 1150 socket. It is not the new socket, so it's less powerful and more expensive than "Skylake". In my case, Skylake would not fit into the motherboard - so I had to shell out more $ for less performance.

    To make sure you can use Skylake CPUs, get a motherboard with either:
    Socket(s)

    Making sure you can use Skylake is a big factor in futureproofing your computer. I'd put it well above the GPU, as you will be able to upgrade a GPU in the future (the GPU socket won't change).


    Performance
    VR is currently very demanding. A budget PC won't allow you to run it properly. Because of the resolution and framerate requirements, the entry point is set high. You can use Futuremark as a rough estimate - they basically test all the hardware and score it.

    For a CPU (see here), you will likely need over 8000 points.
    For a GPU (see here), 15.000 is the minimum, 18.000+ is desirable.
  • PhelimReaghPhelimReagh Member UncommonPosts: 682
    Thanks for the quick and informative reply!
  • VrikaVrika Member LegendaryPosts: 7,997
    What's your budget?

    If it's more than 1000$, just get yourself as good gaming computer as you can and it should run VR when you decide to buy one.

    If your budget is less than 1000$, buy good case + power supply + good LGA 1151 motherboard, but cheap I3 processor and GPU for the package. Then when you eventually purchase a VR headset sometime 2018, you'll be able to get new and more powerful processor + GPU without switching other components.
     
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