Windows seems to be the operating system of choice for PC gamers. Of late, the power of the PC and virtual reality gaming has enabled game developers to spring their fantasy worlds to life. As such, it has become essential to prepare Windows devices for Virtual Reality gaming. Fortunately, most devices running the latest version of Windows 10 feature this capability. Some can be made compatible if they lack this feature. In this post, we will first see what a VR ready PC is, and then we will show you how to check if your laptop is VR Ready
What does a VR ready PC mean
Virtual Reality or VR-ready PC means a device capable of offering immersive gaming with richly detailed, three-dimensional graphics, comfortable gear and natural movements. This helps create a lifelike environment, made possible via powerful processors and lightning-fast graphics cards that render systems breathtaking images and augmented reality.
Check if your PC is VR ready
There are some tools like Oculus Rift Compatibility Check Tool, HTC Vive Check Tool and the SteamVR Performance Test Tool that can help you quickly check if your Windows 10 PC is VR ready. Let us take a look at them.
Oculus Rift Compatibility Check Tool
Oculus, an American technology company, recently released a nifty tool that quickly scans your system and lets you know if it meets the VR headset’s requirements. It performs a thorough check of your system and gives details on what you can tweak to meet or exceed [the recommended] system specifications to make your PC virtual reality compatible.
To check if your PC meets the minimum or recommended system specifications to power Oculus Rift, download the Oculus Rift Compatibility Check Tool.
Now, run ‘Rift Compatibility Check’ tool on your PC.
After running, the compatibility check tool will display results and inform you whether your computer meets or exceeds the recommended system specifications. If your computer meets or exceeds the recommended system specs, you should be able to power the full Rift experience.
If not, you can expand entries that have a cross-marked against to check what you have currently installed and what you should do to upgrade. Please note that if your PC fails to meet the minimum system specs, it may not be able to run the Rift at all.
You can download the tool by clicking here.
By the way, here are the recommended and minimum system specifications needed to power Oculus Rift.
Recommended Specs
| Video Card | NVIDIA GTX 970 / AMD R9 290 equivalent or greater |
| CPU | Intel i5-4590 equivalent or greater |
| Memory | 8GB+ RAM |
| Video Output | Compatible HDMI 1.3 video output |
| USB Ports | 3x USB 3.0 ports, plus 1x USB 2.0 port |
| OS | Windows 7 SP1 64 bit or newer |
Minimum Specs
| Video Card | NVIDIA GTX 960 / AMD Radeon RX 470 or greater |
| CPU | Intel i3-6100 / AMD FX4350 or greater |
| Memory | 8GB+ RAM |
| Video Output | Compatible HDMI 1.3 video output |
| USB Ports | 1x USB 3.0 port, plus 2x USB 2.0 ports |
| OS | Windows 8 or newer |
Kindly note that certain experiences on the Rift require a computer system exceeding Oculus’s minimum or recommended specs.
Read: How to stream Xbox One games to your Windows PC with Oculus Rift.
HTC Vive Check Tool
The tool will scan your system to determine whether it meets the minimum recommended specifications to run Vive. The whole scan takes very little time (a few seconds to a few minutes). Once the test is complete, the results are displayed, informing a user whether his computer can run Vive or not.
If your computer doesn’t meet the requirements, you will be asked to upgrade to a fully compatible system.
Click here to download it.
SteamVR Performance Test tool
The tool grades a PC’s VR readiness by displaying three colors
- Red – indicates your PC is not ready or it does not support virtual reality.
- Yellow – Signals your PC is VR Capable and supports virtual reality environment.
- Green signals – Your PC is completely VR Ready.
Apart from these 3 grading systems, the HTC Vive tool also gives the average fidelity rating based on a numerical scale of Low/Medium/High/Very High.
When you run the test on your PC, the tool reveals the percentage of tested frames that were below the 90-frame-per-second recommendation.
The minimum essential required PC specs to run the HTC Vive headset include:
- 64-bit version of Windows 7
- 2.4 GHz dual-core CPU
Alternatively, if a CPU runs a quad-core processor and clocks a speed around 3.4GHz, then it is almost VR-ready. If the CPU speed exceeds this limit, then the PC fares well. Most PCs running the latest version of Windows—Windows 11/10—are VR-ready. Go get it here.
If your PC doesn’t meet the system specifications needed to power VT, you may need to upgrade your computer to ensure it meets the required components.
