Though a false start in the mid-90s via the Nintendo Virtual Boy and SEGA’s VR glasses threatened to sink the platform before its time, with the release of PlayStation VR, Valve’s HTC Vive and the Oculus Rift imminent, we’re standing on the cusp of an entirely new medium, and arguably one of the most exciting extensions to the video game industry in decades.
As if we needed a reminder, the pricing reveal of the Oculus drove home the point that owning a headset replete with the necessary hardware to run it won’t come cheap – particularly with the Oculus and Vive, which require beefy PC gaming rigs to support the taxing processing and video output. And while that may not have been communicated terribly well at first, Oculus and tech giant Nvidia have outlined the minimum PC requirements needed to run either the Rift or its competitor, Vive.
Graphics card (GPU): Nvidia GTX 970 / AMD R9 290, and GTX 980 for laptop
Processor (CPU): Intel i5-4590 or AMD equivalent
Memory (RAM): At least 8GB
Outputs and inputs: HDMI 1.3 port, 3x USB 3.0 ports and 1x USB 2.0 port
Operating system (OS): Windows 7 SP1 64 bit or newer
Bear in mind that this is the lowest point of entry for now, and we can expect both Oculus and Nvidia to reveal more information closer to the Rift’s May launch. Speaking of which, participating retailers such as Amazon and NewEgg are adding the following label to PC rigs that will be compatible with the Oculus Rift. So, if you’re in the market for a virtual reality experience, keep your peepers peeled for the logo below.
