Last week Bloomberg reported only about 1% of PCs are VR ready. That means 99% don’t meet the recommended specs for upcoming wired VR headsets like the Rift. That represents about 13 million computers, a number higher than many analysts are thinking VR will reach in 2016 but still a very small portion of the overall market.
NVIDIA, one of the leaders in graphics processing technology, is looking to change that with a new designation called “GTX Geforce VR Ready”. It’s a branding initiative by NVIDIA to designate computers as being ready for VR, something Oculus already announced they will be doing for PCs. The minimum specs for NVIDIA’s designation are very similar to those Oculus issued months ago.
- Desktop GPU: GeForce GTX 970 or better
- Mobile GPU: GeForce GTX 980 or better
- CPU: Intel Core i5- 4590 equivalent or greater CPU
- A PC with USB 3.0 support
- 8GB+ RAM of Memory/RAM
- 2x USB 3.0 ports and HDMI 1.3
- Windows 7 SP1 or newer
It is interesting NVIDIA would choose to designate their own certification, but not entirely unsurprising as they were announced as one of the partners in the ‘Oculus Ready’ program back at Oculus Connect 2. It seems odd, however, they would choose to go with their own brand for the certification, rather than partnering with other hardware manufacturers for a more generalized moniker. Will it confuse consumers rather than help? Do I need a PC that is Oculus Ready? Or GTX Geforce VR ready? Or whatever AMD decides to call their readiness? How about HTC Vive Ready? My head is spinning already.
