VR Computer specs vs gaming rig

[Rigo]

G'day folks,
A customer asked me to spec out a VR PC for him?
As far as I read the requirements would be similar to a high performance gaming rig (he's already got one).
Unless I've missed something.
Which are the critical components to watch out for in these? Anyone using one and willing to share the build please?

 

[Markverhyden]

What's the purpose of a VR PC? Historically VR, as in games, has been run off of server farms since a single PC can't match the performance. Are they looking at a particular application? There's already dozens of VR headsets specifically designed for standalone use.

 

[Rigo]

I've absolutely no idea about VR stuff except that it stands for Virtual Reality. Can be used in gaming or other simulations for immersive experience.
Some of the stuff I read since seem to indicate that a stand-alone VR PC can give a better performance than the off-the-shelf headsets. Hope I got that one right.

 

[phaZed]

PC's these days will have no problem with VR. You will need a decent/fast processor, and as always, a good video card.

My VR headset is essentially two 1440 displays - so, your video card will need to be able to run two screens (one per eye) and be able to keep the frame up fairly high to avoid skips and judders, etc.

I've got a 5950x and a RTX3090.


Yes, PCVR will blow standalone and console (PSVR) headsets out of the water.

 

[Markverhyden]

Yeah I'd expect a properly built high end PC will far out perform any headset. But for the immersive stuff to kick in you need the head set or something else to keep the "outside" out. Sitting in front a monitor just isn't going to cut it. Unless someone builds one of those enclosed rigs. Like used flight simulators. If it was me I'd try to get them to provide me concrete example(s) of what they want.

 

[Rigo]

I'd try to get them to provide me concrete example(s) of what they want

Good point
This doesn't appear to be just a general purpose gaming rig

 

[frase]

GFX card, CPU are the most important hardware spec. I have a VR Set and use it for Simulators like FS2020 for example.
I use a GEFORCE 3080 with a i5-10400 CPU.

The inbuilt specs of a set are pretty limited in regards to GFX and CPU power. I connect to mine via wifi to connect so no cables.
So if the user wants to play games that are linked to Steam via SteamVR, they will need a decent rig to get a good experience.

There is also a program I use that can run any game in VR is called VorpX

 

[HCHTech]

I'm with @Markverhyden - get some examples of the games/programs he wants to run, then lookup the requirements for those. Combine that with the requirements for the headset he wants to use and you should have the continuum to quote. We have a handful of architecture firms, and this is what we do there. You can also lurk in the VR world to see how others have answer user questions of "It's too slow" or other problems, so you know where the common bottlenecks are. It's probably not much different that spec-inc a normal PC. More, faster RAM = better. Faster drive access = better, faster/more-cores CPU = better, etc. Use the research to come up with the minimum spec, then address the common bottlenecks for the "better" spec, then max everything out for the "best" spec. Dual GPUs, insane CPUs, Stupid amount of RAM, RAID 0 NVMe for the OS drive, etc.

You might be surprised at what folks will spend given the choice - I put together two $6K machines for a mechanical engineer client a couple of years ago - Threadrippers, 128GB RAM, High-end Quadros. The only issues we've had are with graphics drivers - and now he says his "regular" PC just seems so slow - haha.

 

[Blues]

Do you have the specs of the customers current rig? I would be curious to know where it compares to a current top end gaming rig to really determine the follow up questions you might need to ask the client.

 

[Rigo]

Upgrade components I got for him as follows, we kept the original CPU that was an i7...:

ASUS nVidia GeForce ROG-STRIX-RTX4070-O12G-GAMING 12GB GDDR6X OC Edition
Corsair Vengeance LPX 64GB (2x32GB) DDR4 3600MHz C18 Desktop Gaming Memory Black
Antec NE 850w 80+ Gold, Fully-Modular, ATX 3.0, PCI-E 5.0, 120mm Silent Fan, Japanese Caps, ATX Power Supply
Samsung 870 EVO 2TB 2.5" SATA III 6GB/s SSD 560R/530W MB/s 98K/88K IOPS 1200TBW AES 256-bit Encryption
ASUS GT501 TUF Gaming Case White ATX Mid Tower Case With Handle, Supports EATX, Tempered Glass Panel, 4 Pre-Installed Fans 3x120mm RBG 1x140mm PWN
CORSAIR QX RGB Series, iCUE LINK QX140 RGB Black, 140mm Magnetic Dome RGB Fan, Starter Kit

He said he would be using a VR headset, I didn't record which one during our conversation as he was going to text the details to me.
I gave him a summary of the discussion thread that made him say that he was going to do some more research and review his requirements then get back to me.

 

[Blues]

Those specs listed should handle any current home VR needs I am not certain on the PSU requirement for the GPU and an i7 but that is the only piece I can't answer to without checking some calculators for power needs. I tend to give my PSUs a boost over requirement I also am a big fan of Seasonic PSUs.

 

[Sky-Knight]

The RTX 4090 is designed to play a game at 4k while also streaming it at 4k. This also means it can simulate a game twice at 4k, essential to drive both lenses in a VR headset.

My son's desktop has an RTX 3060 in it, and he plays VR games on it regularly.

Gaming machine and VR machine are functionally equivalent designation these days, so to be successful in designing a machine to support this request, you need to know specifically what games he'd like to play now, find the system requirements, and then have a conversation about budget. The machine you've spec'd above is a mid to high range unit.

 

[frase]

To follow on with this I just tried UEVR, it has the ability to run any Unreal Engine game into a VRInjection then runs via SteamVR.
I was just playing Robocop and was great, immersive on a big screen with a headset [the built in volume on the VR sucks really].
FPS was great no lag or framerate drops on Ultra settings.

UEVR can be found HERE

 

[phaZed]

UEVR can be found HERE

Nice! I'm going to try this out.