PC Deidicated For VR Gaming

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Durvelle27

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So I’m new to the whole VR world, I kinda dipped into it a little back when oculus was first announced years ago but never tried again. Now I want to build a dedicated rig just for VR gaming and VR movies. What would I be looking at in terms of specs. Is the processor important or the GPU more important ? I got to software will be SteamVR on top of Windows 10
 
Do you have a set price range? I mean with the new HMD's coming out the minimum will be going up. I have the 1080ti and I have run games that run it hard.
I also have Rift AA set to 1.5. So it depends on the experience you want.
 
Hagrid said:
Do you have a set price range? I mean with the new HMD's coming out the minimum will be going up. I have the 1080ti and I have run games that run it hard.
I also have Rift AA set to 1.5. So it depends on the experience you want.
Click to expand...
No price range

Looking to build 2
 
6/8 core, 16gb, 1080ti/2080 min. Basically you want a higher end gaming machine since the resolutions you are working with are high(x2).
The cpu might come more into play if you are playing more MP games.

My 2cents for a good gaming VR machine.
 
Hagrid said:
6/8 core, 16gb, 1080ti/2080 min. Basically you want a higher end gaming machine since the resolutions you are working with are high(x2).
The cpu might come more into play if you are playing more MP games.

My 2cents for a good gaming VR machine.
Click to expand...
I was looking into the HTC Vive if that matters
 
CPU clock speed is probably more important than cores. My 6600k @ 4.6 is a nice pair with the 1080ti for vr. However, if you are planning on wireless or streaming, that changes everything.
 
bluesynk said:
CPU clock speed is probably more important than cores. My 6600k @ 4.6 is a nice pair with the 1080ti for vr. However, if you are planning on wireless or streaming, that changes everything.
Click to expand...
Everything will be local
 
If money is no object than the question really is moot. Like said above a highend gaming rig will guarantee you the best experiance. I seem to get by on much lower hardware than most it seems so either its the titles i play or i personally am not as sensitive to FR. I just cobbled parts together from what i had laying around. i7 2600, Z77 mobo, 32GB DDR3, 500GB sata SSD, RX 580 using a Rift CV with 3 sensors.

If no price range was my attitude and the limit for dedicated VR build that was sensible for right now....I would buy 2600x, mid spec x470, 32GB DDR4, 2TB nVME SSD, RTX 2080.

Though with news about AMD lately might be better value to wait for testing results on Zen 2 CPU, mid spec X570 mobos and Navi <- this along with Index is probably my next VR setup later this year
 
i would suggest trying vr for at least an hour non stop and see how your body handles it.
I really wanted to get into racing sims with VR but I was so seasick afterwards I didn't recover until next day.
 
Durvelle27 said:
I was looking into the HTC Vive if that matters
Click to expand...

Don't build an expensive PC and then buy the Vive. Vive and Rift are old news.

depending on how long you can wait, the Valve Index is the best on the market right now.
 
You can get away with a pretty old CPU - my 5820K did fine in all the OG Rift games I played.

What you can't get away with, though, is a weak graphics card. It's just my humble opinion, but you really need at least a 1080 or similar to get the most out of the first gen headsets. Luckily, that's not terribly expensive anymore.
 
RazorWind said:
You can get away with a pretty old CPU - my 5820K did fine in all the OG Rift games I played.

What you can't get away with, though, is a weak graphics card. It's just my humble opinion, but you really need at least a 1080 or similar to get the most out of the first gen headsets. Luckily, that's not terribly expensive anymore.
Click to expand...
I currently have a 2070 and may pickup some 290s
 
Durvelle27 said:
I currently have a 2070 and may pickup some 290s
Click to expand...
290s? Like, Radeon 290s? Those will likely struggle, and you can't really use Crossfire, unfortunately. At least, few VR games support it.

You'll be fine with the 2070, though. The only game you may have trouble with that I've played is Elite Dangerous, which seems to be an outlier in terms of how unforgiving it is of weak hardware. Even that will be playable - you'll just get reprojection in busy scenes, which is extra distracting, because the HUD contains a lot of vertical lines that visibly turn into diagonal lines when it tries to reuse the last frame.
 
RazorWind said:
290s? Like, Radeon 290s? Those will likely struggle, and you can't really use Crossfire, unfortunately. At least, few VR games support it.

You'll be fine with the 2070, though. The only game you may have trouble with that I've played is Elite Dangerous, which seems to be an outlier in terms of how unforgiving it is of weak hardware. Even that will be playable - you'll just get reprojection in busy scenes, which is extra distracting, because the HUD contains a lot of vertical lines that visibly turn into diagonal lines when it tries to reuse the last frame.
Click to expand...
Yes R9 290 as that’s what the Vive and Oculus list
 
OP wants: "to build a dedicated rig just for VR gaming"...

Also OP: "No price range"...

Good... good... OP is then informed that a good gaming rig with a 1080Ti is a great starting choice for VR...

OP then decides to race to the bottom using 2016 GPU tech for VR: "may pickup some 290s"


SteamVR-Performance-Test-benchmark-AMD-Nvidia.jpg


You are going minimum spec for a GPU for VR... never go minimum spec. Especially x2.
 
Last edited:
Supercharged_Z06 said:
OP wants: "to build a dedicated rig just for VR gaming"...

Also OP: "No price range"...

Good... good... OP is then informed that a good gaming rig with a 1080Ti is a great starting choice for VR...

OP then decides to race to the bottom using 2016 GPU tech for VR: "may pickup some 290s"


View attachment 165854
Click to expand...
This.

The reason for me in having a better GPU is not worrying if I have to turn settings down. What settings can I have medium, low, ultra, blah, blah.
I want to set it for the best and go. Also not worrying about FPS dropping and making it jittery.
 
Hagrid said:
This.

The reason for me in having a better GPU is not worrying if I have to turn settings down. What settings can I have medium, low, ultra, blah, blah.
I want to set it for the best and go. Also not worrying about FPS dropping and making it jittery.
Click to expand...
I think more than the eyecandy, if the fps is low, its literally unusable.
 
I also have 2 RTX 2070s as well

I mentioned R9 290s because I saw some reviews with them performing decently while actually being cheap as dirt these days to get.

But I now set a budget of $2000 not including the HMDs

I was thinking of building one system and using VM to run separate OSs with one card dedicated to each and cores split between the two along with RAM

Like my current system

Ryzen 1700X
32GB DDR4
RTX 2070 X2

That would give both systems

4 Cores and 8 threads a piece
16GB of RAM a piece
And whatever GPU I decide a piece
 
Don't buy 290's, don't buy any card older or worse performing than a 1070. Yes, you can get by on lesser hardware, but, you will only be getting by. 1070 performance is bare minimum for a good VR experience.

Don't buy the Vive or the Original Rift at this stage. They are ok, I have both myself, but, they have had their day and things have moved on. Depending on your use there are much better headsets out there, The Vive Pro, Oculus Rift S, HP Reverb, Samsung Odyssey + or the Valve Index.

Or if you only want casual VR, good enough for some light gaming and watching VR movies, then you might consider the Oculus Quest. It's a completely wirefree headset and you don't need a computer to run it. It's getting real good reviews too. You should check it out.
 
reaper12 said:
Don't buy 290's, don't buy any card older or worse performing than a 1070. Yes, you can get by on lesser hardware, but, you will only be getting by. 1070 performance is bare minimum for a good VR experience.

Don't buy the Vive or the Original Rift at this stage. They are ok, I have both myself, but, they have had their day and things have moved on. Depending on your use there are much better headsets out there, The Vive Pro, Oculus Rift S, HP Reverb, Samsung Odyssey + or the Valve Index.

Or if you only want casual VR, good enough for some light gaming and watching VR movies, then you might consider the Oculus Quest. It's a completely wirefree headset and you don't need a computer to run it. It's getting real good reviews too. You should check it out.
Click to expand...
This. I love my Rift and it works great, but if I did not have it and was looking for VR, it would be a Odyssey+, Valve, Reverb, or the Rift S.
 
Durvelle27 said:
I think i settled on the Oculus Quest and Kat Loco for now
Click to expand...

Ah I was going to reply why use VM would only complicate matters, your requirements do jump around the board, so no PC after all then.
And would second/third the comments not to go cheap on GFX card.
To note your current is quite capable of VR.


Havent tried the Quest, what i've read its decent as VR standalone experience.

Kat Loco is not a released product yet, they just started their Kickstarter, don't count on that release date of "aug-2019".
From their FAQ, its currently not compatible with Quest but "working on it".

 
my first VR setup as an AM3+ 8350 with a 1080. Worked great, and at the time I could max just about everything out. My main rig is still at am3+ but a 9570 and a 1080ti with 32gigs of ram. I'm also using a vive. Im very happy with the performance of things, and don't have issues. My main beef is the headset itself and the screen door effect. While I can adjust the lense width for my eyes, I wish I could adjust the headset focus. I don't regret my build, or the direction I went, but the wow factor wore off quickly. Im holding out for gen3 head sets that run 4k with no screen door effect in each eye before I get back into it.
 
kdh said:
my first VR setup as an AM3+ 8350 with a 1080. Worked great, and at the time I could max just about everything out. My main rig is still at am3+ but a 9570 and a 1080ti with 32gigs of ram. I'm also using a vive. Im very happy with the performance of things, and don't have issues. My main beef is the headset itself and the screen door effect. While I can adjust the lense width for my eyes, I wish I could adjust the headset focus. I don't regret my build, or the direction I went, but the wow factor wore off quickly. Im holding out for gen3 head sets that run 4k with no screen door effect in each eye before I get back into it.
Click to expand...
Close on the HMD, but the video card will be the hard part. :(
 
Durvelle27 said:
I also have 2 RTX 2070s as well

I mentioned R9 290s because I saw some reviews with them performing decently while actually being cheap as dirt these days to get.

But I now set a budget of $2000 not including the HMDs

I was thinking of building one system and using VM to run separate OSs with one card dedicated to each and cores split between the two along with RAM

Like my current system

Ryzen 1700X
32GB DDR4
RTX 2070 X2

That would give both systems

4 Cores and 8 threads a piece
16GB of RAM a piece
And whatever GPU I decide a piece
Click to expand...

I don’t know if it is still an issue but the early days of VM with pass through of GPU and USB addin cards caused issues. Can’t remember if it was stability or performance based. Strictly relates to VR.
 
I've played around a bunch with different systems/specs, and the answer is "it depends."

Are you ok with outside in tracking? Does screen door bother you? Does ghosting bother you? Are black levels important? Fov? Reprojection? Etc.etc.

I think the odyssey+ hits the best cross section of current devices - no external tracking, no screen door, excellent contrast, good fov, decent tracking. However, it's not as clear as a reverb, not as much fov as pimax, has black ghosting unlike some others, doesn't have as good controller tracking as the outside in or rift s, etc. Right now they all have tradeoffs and which one you pick will determine the pc specs you need.

Of course you could get a 9900k and 2080ti and it won't matter...
 
Picked up the following and rebuilt the HTPC to support my VR habit. No more moving my comp into and out of the living room.
Ryzen 1600 + mATX MB = $140
16gb 3000 RAM = $60
1060 3gb = $70 used eBay
Rest was repurposed old gear from previous HTPC

Ok so in reality I tried it with the 1060 and it worked well enough but I ended up moving my 1080ti from my main rig into the HTPC and the 1060 into my current gamer for the time being. But for $270 plus a few bucks for PSU, case, SSD, and Win10 key and you'd have a damn fine budget VR box for dirt cheap.
 
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Omegas said:
Picked up the following and rebuilt the HTPC to support my VR habit. No more moving my comp into and out of the living room.
Ryzen 1600 + mATX MB = $140
16gb 3000 RAM = $60
1060 3gb = $70 used eBay
Rest was repurposed old gear from previous HTPC

Ok so in reality I tried it with the 1060 and it worked well enough but I ended up moving my 1080ti from my main rig into the HTPC and the 1060 into my current gamer for the time being. But for $270 plus a few bucks for PSU, case, SSD, and Win10 key and you'd have a damn fine budget VR box for dirt cheap.
Click to expand...

HDMI and USB extension cables are cheap.
 
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