Before you can buy the Oculus Rift or even use it you’ll need a pretty beefy computer. The Oculus is set for a release next year which means you’ll need to start building a costume machine to use the Rift.
In order to run the VR headsets graphic intensive the recommended specs are fairly high:
- NVIDIA GTX 970 / AMD 290 equivalent or greater
- Intel i5-4590 equivalent or greater
- 8GB+ of RAM
- Windows 7 SP1 or newer
- 2x USB 3.0 ports
- HDMI 1.3 video output supporting a 297MHz clock via a direct output architecture
Oculus Chief Architect, Atman Binstock, explained that these specs are needed to run the ideal VR experience. The Rift is pushing 400 million shaded pixels per second, which is about 3x the GPU power of 1080p rendering. The average consumer won’t be able to run the Oculus, and most gaming set ups will need a little modification to have all the features.
Even as the Oculus is set for a release next year many consumers won’t be able to run or afford the Oculus and a new PC set up. PC set ups have dipped in price over the years but it’s still pricey to run the Oculus so users can be immersed in their virtual world.
Tell us in the comments below what you think about the recommended specs and if you’d upgrade so you could run the Oculus.