PC upgrades for VR

[wilpower]

Hi there,

Built my PC (friends helped out a lot..!) at least 6 years ago and now looking to upgrade to jump into the beautiful world of VR. Currently looking at the Oculus Rift unless anybody can sway me massively to the Vive..

ANYWAY: Here's what the oculus tester came up with:

Processor You have an Intel(R) Core(TM) i5-3570K CPU @ 3.40GHz, which meets or exceeds our minimum system specification.

Graphics Card Your NVIDIA GeForce GTX 560 Ti graphics card doesn't meet our recommended specification, which is an NVIDIA GTX 970 / AMD 290 equivalent or greater. Learn more.

Memory You have 8 GB of RAM, which meets or exceeds our recommended system specification.

Operating System You're running Windows 10 64-bit, which meets or exceeds our recommended system specification.

USB Some of the hardware that powers your USB ports is incompatible with Rift. Here is the hardware that is incompatible: ASMedia USB 3.0 eXtensible Host Controller - 0.96 (Microsoft)

I understand it's an open question but would should my next step be? Any help is much appreciated.

 

[Wolfshadw]

The only thing that doesn't meet or exceed the requirements is your graphics card. That is what I'd upgrade first. Then I'd test it for functionality to see if it's lagging anywhere (memory/CPU).

-Wolf sends

 

[wilpower]

The only thing that doesn't meet or exceed the requirements is your graphics card. That is what I'd upgrade first. Then I'd test it for functionality to see if it's lagging anywhere (memory/CPU).

-Wolf sends

Hi Wolf,

Thanks for the reply. That's a big relief, I was worried it might have been a better option to throw in the towel and admit defeat or have to buy a whole new system..!

I'm currently looking at these cards, do you have any specific recommendations?
https/www.scan.co.uk/shop/computer-hardware/gpu-nvidia/nvidia-geforce-gtx-1060-6gb

 

[Wolfshadw]

No. Any GTX1060 with dual fans for cooling should be sufficient.

Of course, a new system would make things a lot easier on your VR experience. That's why I recommended the GPU upgrade first, then see how it goes. If you're not happy with the experience, then you can upgrade the rest of your system.

-Wolf sends

 

[wilpower]

No. Any GTX1060 with dual fans for cooling should be sufficient.

Of course, a new system would make things a lot easier on your VR experience. That's why I recommended the GPU upgrade first, then see how it goes. If you're not happy with the experience, then you can upgrade the rest of your system.

-Wolf sends

Hi Wolf,

Of course. Would the GTX1060 be able to run the vast majority of VR games decently? Would it be worth stretching to 1070 or is there not a significant enough difference?

My current system is obviously quite messy, so it's tempting to go for a new system but the £1000+ price tag is difficult to swallow.

One future question: what would be next to upgrade priority wise?

Thanks again, really appreciate your advice.

 

[Wolfshadw]

That's up to you. It's your budget. Only you know what you can get away with financially. Personally, if I could afford it, I'd go with the 1070 (or better), but the GTX 1060 is as low as I'd go for VR.

As for the next upgrade, that again depends on your budget. If you're not ready to build a new system, I'd probably start with a RAM upgrade to 16GB and then an Intel Core I5-4770 (if compatible with your motherboard).

-Wolf sends

 

[wilpower]

That's up to you. It's your budget. Only you know what you can get away with financially. Personally, if I could afford it, I'd go with the 1070 (or better), but the GTX 1060 is as low as I'd go for VR.

As for the next upgrade, that again depends on your budget. If you're not ready to build a new system, I'd probably start with a RAM upgrade to 16GB and then an Intel Core I5-4770 (if compatible with your motherboard).

-Wolf sends

Brill, thanks for all your help! Food for thought..