How to Build a PC for Oculus Rift, HTC Vive, and VR Gaming

Oculus-Rift-Inside

As we approach the Q1 2016 release dates for the Oculus Rift and HTC Vive, many PC gamers are wondering how to best prepare their computer for VR gaming, while others are planning new builds from the ground up. We would know: Every year, more than a million visitors come to our website looking to build the best PC for their budget, and an increasing number of them ask us about VR headsets.

We just published a Guide to Building a PC for Virtual Reality. (Click the link to see the real guide.)

Our goal with this guide is twofold:

1. Help as many people as possible prepare their PCs for gaming on the Oculus Rift and HTC Vive. Simply put: Everyone wins if we ensure more high-quality VR experiences.

2. Establish the true, hard facts about the graphical demands of these headsets. Rendering graphics on a VR headset is a highly intensive process compared to traditional rendering on a monitor or TV. Many gamers want to understand this difference, but few sources have explained it both thoroughly and in plain English.

To guarantee that our guide was both comprehensive and factually air-tight, we sought extensive feedback from the Oculus VR development community through multiple drafts.

In our opinion, Oculus and HTC aren’t doing enough to prepare PC builders for an optimal VR experience. Aside from publishing recommended specs, the companies have left a lot of room for misinterpretation when it comes to the hardware demands of these headsets. Our guide lays out detailed build advice in an easy-to-understand format.

Check it out, digest the information, and let us know what you think!

The link, once again: Guide to Building a PC for Virtual Reality