The world has been waiting nearly 3 years for Oculus Rift. It’s coming soon, and information is finally starting to roll out. This morning, an Oculus engineer shared some of the specifications, along with the recommended system requirements.
I’m going to start with the system requirements. This doesn’t really come as a surprise, but you’re going to need a pretty powerful computer to run the games designed for VR.
- NVIDIA GTX 970 / AMD 290 equivalent or greater
- Intel i5-4590 equivalent or greater
- 8GB+ RAM
- Compatible HDMI 1.3 video output
- 2x USB 3.0 ports
- Windows 7 SP1 or newer
This will undoubtedly cut many people out of the market for an HMD of thier own. Many gamers don’t have anything near as robust as a GTX 970, and don’t have the means to upgrade. Saving up for a Rift is already pushing the budgets of many VR fans.
There’s good reason for the required specifications, though. Most gamers play their games at 1080p @ 60hz, however it’s been proven for a long time that this is not nearly enough resolution for VR. The infamous screen-door effect is unmistakable. The upcoming retail version will have a dramatically higher resolution, which should ensure better immersion, but will come at a performance cost. The new HMD will run at 2160×1200 running @ 90Hz, which is effectively three times the resolution most gamers are used to, and 50% higher frame rate than most even bother shooting for. 60FPS will no longer be the benchmark target for graphics card performance.
Detail photos have yet to be revealed, and no word yet on when pre-orders will start. Price hasn’t been confirmed, but it’s still expected to be “affordable” (aside from the PC needed to run it).
The year of VR is fast approaching. Will you be able to afford it?
