Best Value VR Ready Gaming PC - Updated Jan 2022

 

 

The VR Hardware Race

VR is now being taken seriously, thankfully, by game studios and hardware manufacturers, despite gamers telling them they were desperate for more titles to play on their expensive kit. The four main VR companies are Oculus, HP, HTC and Valve:

Oculus/Meta

Whilst Oculus may have discontinued the Rift line of products - a VR headset, controller and tracking bundle - there are still plenty of them on shelves around the country, priced around £275 for the Oculus Rift 2. The VR technology employed in the Rift headsets have come on in leaps and bounds, to a point where the tracking sensors and need for a powerful PC is no longer generally required, and the headset does it all.

Oculus/Meta Quest 2

The Meta Quest 2 - the latest VR headset - does not need to be hooked up to a PC as it can play games you download direct to the headset; but when you do connect to a gaming PC (via the Oculus Link cable) you can achieve 72Hz, 80Hz, or 90Hz refresh rates, and play PC VR games such as upcoming Star Wars Squadrons, and the the awesome Lone Echo and Half Life: Alyx. By connecting your Quest 2 to a powerful gaming PC, you can unlock the 100+ PC VR games available right now.

The Oculus Link cable and software unlocks the power of your PC to add stunning graphics and heart-pounding gameplay to your VR experience. Simply connect the premium fibre-optic cable from your PC to your Quest and you're ready to play. - Oculus Website

HTC

The latest headset from HTC is the VIVE Flow, which promotes "well-being and mindful productivity", and rather than being a bulky headset, looks more like a pair of chunky sunglasses.

HTC Vive Flow

The VIVE Pro 2 is predominantly aimed at gamers, however, with an industry leading 5K display, 120° horizontal field of view, and up to 120Hz refresh rate. The VIVE Pro 2 requires a high performance PC to get the best out of it.

Valve

One of the relative newcomers in VR, Valve Index, launched in 2019, and is capable of playing any SteamVR title, with 2x 1440×1600 LCD IPS Fast Switching Type Displays and 80 Hz, 90 Hz, 120 Hz, or 144 Hz refresh rates.

Valve Index VR Headset

HP

The HP Reverb G2 is a lesser known, but capable VR system which is also SteamVR compatible, 2160 x 2160 per eye and up to 90Hz refresh rate.

HP Reverb G2

A standalone VR solution, the Reverb G2 is aimed at both creators and gamers, and the general feeling about the headset is that it meets the needs of VR gamers, but is somewhat behind in the overall race for VR supremacy due to out-of-the-box tracking issues and usability curve. Independent reviewers have said that with some customisation and personalisation, and a mid to high-end PC, the Reverb G2 is a good headset, with excellent clarity over competitors.

VR PC System Requirements

All VR manufacturers provide system requirements to make it easier choosing a VR ready gaming PC, or provide online tools which allow you to check if your current system can hack it in the VR world. The system requirements for the PC-compatible headsets are:

Oculus Rift S

• Video Card: NVIDIA GTX 1060 / AMD Radeon RX 480 or greater
• CPU: Intel i5-4590 / AMD Ryzen 5 1500X or greater
• Memory: 8GB RAM or greater
• Video Output: DisplayPort
• USB Ports: 1x USB 3.0 port
• OS: Windows 10

Meta Quest 2

Again, the Quest 2 does not rely on a PC to work - but you can absolutely expand your experience with the latest VR games if you hook it up to a gaming PC.

HTC VIVE Pro 2

Best Value VR Ready Gaming PC

Horizon 3 Intel GTX 1660 VR Ready PC

Specifications:

The best value VR gaming PC, compatible with any VR headset, will require (at minimum) 8GB DDR4 RAM, and an Nvidia GeForce GTX 1660. Even though recommended manufacturer specs on these headsets require 4GB RAM, to play at high resolution, 8GB RAM or 16GB is recommended by VR enthusiasts and experts.

The GeForce 1660 6GB is recommended by VR gamers, as exceeds the requirements set out by Meta, HP, and HTC and should not break the bank in a gaming build. Once you start getting in to the RTX territory, the price of the GPU goes up considerably.

As an alternative, the AMD RX 6600 XT benchmarks extremely well with VR games, and will add around £80 - £85 to the cost of your build using our PC Building Tool and modifying the Horizon 3 Intel GTX 1660 VR ready gaming PC.

Read more about VR:

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