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Can my PC handle a VR upgrade?

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5 comments, last by SillyCow 6 years, 7 months ago

I recently got a 600 euro gift card for Amazon. And I like messing around with VR. I played some games, and I program hobby VR games in my spare time on mobile.I saw that my 5 year old CPU meets the specs for the Oculus rift. However my current graphics card does not.

I see that in Europe, I can get an "Oculus touch bundle" for 400 euros. And an Nvidia 1060(3GB) for another 200 euros. (coincidentally this is the same sum of my gift certificate)

The two possible problems:

  1. I only have 4GB of RAM (I don't think this will be a big deal, maybe just some more loading times)
  2. I am not sure my power supply can support a 1060 (I am not sure what the different WATTages that are printed on it mean )

Here is a photo of my power supply's spec: https://ibb.co/eaOOOR

20171125_000356.jpg

It was pretty basic even 6 years ago. Is it good enough to run a 1060? (I can only find a link for the 6GB model: https://www.geforce.co.uk/hardware/desktop-gpus/geforce-gtx-1060/specifications)

I am not interested in going through the trouble of replacing my power supply, and I do not want to spend more than 600 euros on this entire endavour.

 

And another question: Assuming I want to spend this money on VR, is there a better platform to spend this sum on?

I was going to wait for the Vive focus (I don't liike cables), but it looks like it's going to be a dud (only in china, no real ecosystem).

Facebook's claim of releasing a wireless rift for 200$ seem dubious to me. And since that price sounds like they are selling at a loss, there is no chance it will reach Europe for that price on official channels. 

 

My Oculus Rift Game: RaiderV

My Android VR games: Time-Rider& Dozer Driver

My browser game: Vitrage - A game of stained glass

My android games : Enemies of the Crown & Killer Bees

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Power draw depends on the entire system, and different power supplies provide different power connectors.

You are probably fine with that power supply, unless you've got something else in the box drawing a lot of power, such as an SSD in a PCI slot rather than a regular drive slot.

 

It looks like the GTX 1060 requires an 8-pin or two 6-pin power connectors depending on the version you get, with a power consumption of 120 Watts. 

The different numbers on your power supply describe how much power each different cable group has. The ones that are most important here are the two +12V groups,  the others are for the motherboard, for disk drives, and for a few legacy peripherals.  It looks like you have two sets, +12V1 and +12V2, each are 19 amps. Combined they can output 456 Watts. All that remains is looking at the connectors on the end of the wires.

A 6-pin connector allows for 75 Watts.  An 8-pin connector, also called a 6+2 since it can have a 2-pin applied next to a 6-pin to fit inside the 8-pin slot, allows for up to 150 Watts.  If your connectors match the pair on the motherboard -- meaning either an 8-pin or two six-pin connectors, you should be fine.

What's your current GPU? I use a GeForce 780, which causes the Oculus system software to warn me every time about having old HW, but most games still run at 90Hz. The Vive doesn't come with a harsh GPU recommendation, so many VR devs still try to support older GPUs. 

Many people will recommend getting a Vive over an Oculus. I've used both extensively and they're pretty identical, so if one's far cheaper, get the cheaper one. Oculus has better comfort and ease of wearing (the built-in headphones are amazingly good), but the Vive can track a larger space more reliably and is easier to set up (two external trackers that don't connect to your PC, VS Oculus' three that do) and has a wireless add-on already available. 

With the Oculus though, the Oculus+touch bundle only comes with two cameras,  while 3 are required for room-scale. Make sure you spend the extra ~US$80 to buy that extra camera too, otherwise a lot of content that was designed for Vive will be unplayable for you. Do the cost comparison with this in mind. 

@Frob, thanks for the detailed response. It's really helpful

@Hodgeman. Thanks. I would actually also prefer the Vive. I like HTC and Steam. I really like the Steam integration. However the Vive is tremendously expensive in Europe. HTC is selling it for 825 euros. (I can get it from other non-oficial importers for 700 euros). So it's really not in the same price range. I can  get 2 Oculusses for that price. So I think the Vive isn't an option for me.

 

My Oculus Rift Game: RaiderV

My Android VR games: Time-Rider& Dozer Driver

My browser game: Vitrage - A game of stained glass

My android games : Enemies of the Crown & Killer Bees

FWIW, SteamVR works just as well on an Oculus as it does on a HTC Vive ;)

That's good to know. I wasn't aware of that. So I'll be getting the Oculus then. SteamVR was the only thing I was worried about from a software perspective.

My Oculus Rift Game: RaiderV

My Android VR games: Time-Rider& Dozer Driver

My browser game: Vitrage - A game of stained glass

My android games : Enemies of the Crown & Killer Bees

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