VR System Requirements: Is Your PC Ready for Virtual Reality?
Planning to purchase a PC-based virtual reality headset and unsure on whether it will be compatible with your PC? This is a simple guide on the system requirements for the various PC-based VR headsets such as Valve Index, Oculus Rift, Rift S and HTC Vive.
The interest in virtual reality has increased considerably since the unveiling of the Half-Life: Alyx that is set to arrive early next year. This is especially so on the tethered PCs such as Valve Index that offer users a good immersive experience. This is also happening at a time when the range of virtual reality offerings is increasing considerably with new games and virtual reality accessories for Oculus Rift (S), HTC Vive and Valve Index. In the background, the future of VR is already taking shape as researchers develop new peripheral VR hardware for the next generation of virtual reality experiences such as haptics.
If you are planning to purchase or have already purchased some VR hardware this festive season, here is an overview of the PC system requirements of the various leading virtual reality headsets in the market:-
HP Reverb
The HP Reverb VR headset provides one of the sharpest virtual reality images on the market. However, the headset has faced significant deficits in controller tracking and is designed primarily for the industrial users and simulation fans with special controllers such as steering wheel. Check below for the system requirements for all the Windows Mixed Reality headsets.
| Graphics card | NVIDIA GTX 1080 or higher |
| CPU | Intel Core i5 6th Gen CPU (or higher) or AMD FX-4350 4.2 GHz (or higher) |
| RAM | 8GB of DDR RAM |
| Video Output | 1x DisplayPort Version 1.3 |
| USB Ports | 1x USB 3.0 |
| Operating System | Windows 10 |
| Website/Store | HP Reverb in the HP Store |
HTC Vive
The HTC Vive headset was launched in 2016 and was developed in cooperation with Valve. The headset has an impressive “Lighthouse” tracking system which works with a high degree of precision and allows for room-scale tracking.
| Graphics Card | NVIDIA GTX 1060 or better / AMD Radeon RX 480 or better |
| CPU | Intel Core i5-4590 / AMD FX 8350 or better |
| RAM | 4GB of RAM or more |
| Video Output | 1x HDMI 1.4 / 1x DisplayPort 1.2 or later |
| USB Ports | 1x USB 2.0 or newer |
| Operating System | Windows 7 SP1, Windows 8.1, Windows 10 |
| Website | HTC Vive on vive.com |
HTC Vive Cosmos
The HTC Vive Cosmos headset comes without the external tracking accessories. Unlike HTC Vive, Vive Cosmos’ tracking system is integrated into the headset and features six front-mounted cameras.
| Graphics Card | NVIDIA GTX 970 4GB or better / AMD Radeon R9 290 4GB or better |
| CPU | Intel Core i5-4590 / AMD FX 8350 |
| RAM | 4GB of RAM or more |
| Video Output | DisplayPort 1.2 newer |
| USB Ports | 1x USB 3.0 or newer |
| Operating System | Windows 10 |
| Website | HTC Vive Cosmos on vive.com |
HTC Vive Pro
The Pro version HTC Vive headset is equipped with a high resolution 3.5-inch OLED displays with a resolution of 1,440 x 1,600 per eye at 90Hz. The higher resolution Vive Pro provides a much better picture quality.
| Graphics Card | NVIDIA GTX 1070 / Quadro P5000 or better / AMD Radeon Vega 56 or better |
| CPU | Intel Core i5-4590 / AMD FX 8350 or better |
| RAM | 4GB of RAM or more |
| Video Output | DisplayPort 1.2 or newer |
| USB Ports | 1x USB 3.0 or newer |
| Operating System | Windows 10 |
| Website | HTC Vive Pro on vive.com |
HTC Vive Pro Eye
The Vive Pro Eye is a newer version of the HTC Vive Pro with an integrated eye-tracking system for eye control. This eye-tracking system has been designed primarily for companies or enterprise users who wish to use them for virtual meetings and training.
| Graphics Card | NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1070 / Quadro P5000 or higher, or AMD Radeon Vega 56 / Pro WX7100 / FireProW9100 or higher. |
| CPU | Intel Core i5-4590 or better / AMD FX 8350 or better |
| RAM | 4GB of RAM or more |
| Video Output | at least DisplayPort 1.2 |
| USB Ports | 1x USB 3.0 or newer |
| Operating System | Windows 10 |
| Website | HTC Vive Pro Eye on vive.com |
Oculus Rift
The Oculus Rift headset was Oculus’ first virtual reality glasses following its acquisition by Facebook in 2014. The headset was launched in March 2016. In December 2016, Oculus followed up with the Oculus touch controllers which are still the standard input device for the Oculus headsets. On January 14, 2020, support for both Windows 7 and Windows 8 will be discontinued.
| Graphics Card | NVIDIA GTX 1060 / AMD Radeon RX 480 or better |
| CPU | Intel i5-4590 / AMD Ryzen 5 1500X or better |
| RAM | 8GB of RAM or more |
| Video Output | Compatible HDMI 1.3 video output |
| USB Ports | 3x USB 3.0 plus 1x USB 2.0 |
| Operating System | Windows 10 |
| Website | Oculus Rift (S) on oculus.com |
Oculus Rift S
The Oculus Rift S headsets are the successor to Facebook’s first virtual reality headset, the Oculus Rift. The Rift S relies on a built-in tracking system, has higher resolution and better lenses. The Rift S has impeccable tracking performance and at just $399, provides excellent value for money.
| Graphics Card | NVIDIA GTX 1060 / AMD Radeon RX 480 or better |
| CPU | Intel i5-4590 / AMD Ryzen 5 1500X or better |
| RAM | 8GB of RAM or more |
| Video Output | DisplayPort 1.2 (Mini DisplayPort to DisplayPort Adapter included) |
| USB Ports | 1x USB 3.0 |
| Operating System | Windows 10 |
| Website | Oculus Rift S on oculus.com |
Oculus Quest + Oculus Link
Facebook announced the Oculus Link connection for its standalone virtual reality headset Quest during the Oculus Connect 2019. Through a simple USB-C cable, users can connect the standalone virtual reality headset to a PC and gain access to the high-quality PC games on Rift.
| Graphics Card | NVIDIA GeForce GTX 970, GeForce GTX 1060 (GeForce GTX 1070), NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1080 (GeForce GTX 1080), NVIDIA GeForce GTX 16 (All), NVIDIA GeForce RTX 20 (All) |
| CPU | Intel i5-4590 / AMD Ryzen 5 1500X or better |
| RAM | 8GB of RAM |
| Video Output | - |
| USB Ports | 1x USB 3.0 |
| Operating System | Windows 10 |
| Website | Oculus Link on oculus.com |
Pimax 5K and Pimax 5K Plus
The Pimax 5K VR headsets provide higher resolutions and very wide field of view. The Pimax 5K Plus has a resolution of 2,560 x 1,440 with a 1.440p LC display. The field of view is 180 degrees and it has correspondingly high PC requirements.
| Graphics Card | NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1070 / AMD Radeon Equivalent |
| CPU | Intel i5-4590 / AMD FX8350 Equivalent |
| RAM | 8GB of RAM |
| Video Output | Display port 1.4 |
| USB Ports | USB 2.0 / USB 3.0 |
| Operating System | Windows 8.1, Windows 10 |
| Website | Pimax 5K and Pimax 5K Plus on pimaxvr.com |
Pimax Vision 8K Plus
The Pimax Vision 8K headset has two displays with 4K resolutions installed although these two don’t necessarily amount to a true 8K resolution. However, as an advertising gimmick, Pimax advertises the VR headsets as “8K” resolution. The Pimax 8K has a resolution of just 2,560 x 1,440 pixels and scales the resolution to 4K.
| Graphics Card | NVIDIA GTX 1080 Ti / AMD Radeon Equivalent |
| CPU | Intel i5-9400 |
| RAM | 8GB of RAM |
| Video Output | DisplayPort 1.2 |
| USB Ports | USB 2.0 / USB 3.0 |
| Operating System | Windows 10 |
| Website | Pimax 8K Plus on pimaxvr.com |
Pimax Vision 8K X
Like the conventional Pimax 8K headsets, the Pimax 8K X headsets have two 4K displays rather than an 8K display with a resolution of 3,840 x 2,160 pixels.
| Graphics Card | NVIDIA RTX 2060 (upscale mode) / RTX 2080 (native mode) |
| CPU | intel i5-9400 |
| RAM | 8GB of RAM |
| Video Output | DisplayPort 1.2 |
| USB Ports | USB 2.0 / USB 3.0 |
| Operating System | Windows 10 |
| Website | Pimax 8K X on pimaxvr.com |
Valve Index
The Valve Index is the best reviewed of all the current PC VR headsets and provides the most technically advanced virtual reality package at the moment with very high resolution, a wide field of view, good wearing comfort as well as special finger tracking controllers. It also has an integrated audio solution. The headset is pricey but it is worth the money.
| Graphics Card | NVIDIA GTX 1070 or better |
| CPU | Quad Core |
| RAM | 8GB of RAM |
| Video Output | DisplayPort 1.2 (adapters are not supported) |
| USB Ports | USB 3.0 |
| Operating System | Windows 10 |
| Website | Valve Index on Steam |
Varjo VR-1
Varjo VR-1 is probably the best virtual reality headset for VR designers. Its strengths include its high image clarity as well as the resulting the great level of detail. It’s a very expensive headset costing upwards of $5,000. They are designed for enterprises uses by companies and professionals.
| Graphics Card | NVIDIA RTX 2080 / NVIDIA Quadro RTX 6000 |
| CPU | Intel Core i7-8700 / AMD Ryzen 7 2700 |
| RAM | 32 GB RAM |
| Video Output | 2x DisplayPort 1.2 |
| USB Ports | 1x USB 3.0 |
| Operating System | Windows 10 (64-bit) |
| Website | Varjo VR-1 on varjo.com |
Windows Mixed Reality
The Windows Mixed Reality is Microsoft’s software platform which has been designed to connect Windows 10 with both augmented reality and virtual reality. Unfortunately, the Windows Mixed Reality isn’t developing at all at this time. Microsoft hasn’t had any success either with adding VR to Xbox. Users simply don’t want virtual reality on the Xbox.
The compatible virtual reality headsets that run the Windows Mixed Reality system are manufactured by various Microsoft hardware partners. The Windows Mixed Reality headsets include the HP Reverb, Lenovo Explorer as well as the Medion Erazer x1000.
| Graphics Card | NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1060 / AMD Radeon RX 470/570 or higher DX12-capable separate GPUs |
| CPU | Intel Core i5 4590 or higher / Quad Core AMD Ryzen 5 1400 3.4 gigahertz or higher |
| RAM | 8GB DDR3 or higher |
| Video Output | 1x HDMI 2.0 or 1x Display Port 1.2 |
| USB Ports | 1x USB 3.0 Type-A or Type-C |
| Operating System | Windows 10 Case Creators Update or higher |
| Website | Windows Mixed Reality System Check |
