shall I build a VR box or buy ?

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fran1942

82 posts

Master Geek

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#196770 12-Jun-2016 08:51

Hello, just getting back in to gaming after 20 years !

I have an Oculus Rift on the way any day now. I need to buy a new PC box to run it on.

Firstly, will I save much if I build my own box, or should I just buy one pre-built.

Secondly, do I really need an Nvidia 1080 card, or would the cheaper 1070 be quite suitable for VR use ?

Thanks kindly for any advice.

JWR

799 posts

Ultimate Geek

#1570442 12-Jun-2016 13:12

1. Firstly, will I save much if I build my own box, or should I just buy one pre-built.

I don't know that you save much, if any, in upfront costs by building a PC.

But, as a long term strategy, it makes sense.

You can upgrade individual components and reuse others and save in the longer term.

The other big advantage of building your own is that you can select all the components.

Often build deals/pre-built will have components that you wouldn't choose yourself. But, are cheap.

2. Secondly, do I really need an Nvidia 1080 card, or would the cheaper 1070 be quite suitable for VR use ?

This isn't known at the moment.

However, the recommended graphics specs are for a GTX970 card or better.

It is pretty safe to assume that a GTX1070 will be even better and GTX1080 will be the the best for VR (for now).

Also unknown, is how good the new mid range (and much cheaper) AMD Polaris-based cards will be.

There have been claims that they will be in the GTX970 + class for VR.

afe66

2464 posts

Uber Geek

Lifetime subscriber

#1570513 12-Jun-2016 15:46

I got a Asus 980 + i7 4970 driving an HTC Vive with no issues.

(Daughter 3 feet away running around the study playing job simulator - sell the Rift and buy a Vive)

shrub

551 posts

Ultimate Geek

#1570572 12-Jun-2016 17:05

Sorry to throw another spanner but AMD is dropping the arse out of there pricing later this month when the RX480 is released. This is supposedly going to be the same as a 1070 and they have promised a price of $200USD. I'm holding off until these flood the market.

fran1942

82 posts

Master Geek

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#1571178 13-Jun-2016 17:45

thanks for your comments. I might hold off until the AMD cards are out.

Regarding people backing the Vive at present and saying ditch the Rift.

From what I read, the only real benefit of the Vive at present is the hand controllers (which Oculus will release soon anyway - and potentially better ones).

So based on that, why do you recommend ditching the Rift for a Vive ?

Also, remember long term Facebook have a ton more money to support the Rift than HTC has to back the Vive.

Do you still recommend I cancel my Rift order ?

LostBoyNZ

374 posts

Ultimate Geek

#1571215 13-Jun-2016 18:41

I imagine you'll save more building.

Graphics card wise, as shrub said, you could wait for the RX480, but with the Oculus on its way, I imagine you'd rather have a PC up and running sooner. Personally I'd recommend either a GTX 970 or maybe a 1070 if you have the budget, but it really isn't needed.

Oculus is trying to treat the Rift like a console, with the idea that as time goes on, the price of hardware to run it should come down, rather than the requirements go up as hardware gets more powerful. Of course who knows if they'll stick to that, and when 4K headsets come out, then you'd need a 1080 I imagine, but you could always upgrade your graphics card at the time. The idea of "future proofing" with PC hardware doesn't always work as intended.

For a CPU, something like an i5-6500 (about $330) or less would be no trouble, 8GB of RAM (about $60 or so), a power supply, motherboard, ssd, case... including a GTX 970 (about $550), I think there should be no reason why building a PC for VR can't be under $1,500. Don't worry about expensive RAM (a frame or two per second more), overly fancy features on the motherboard and you'll get some great value.

For Windows, look for cheaper copies of Windows 8 around, as until end of July you can use the serial to upgrade to Windows 10 for free.

As for which headset to get, that's a tough one. Yes the Vive has the motion controllers and being able to walk around, but it's also about $600 more. And Oculus will bring out motion controllers this year (no pricing yet), and they're "looking into" being able to walk around by adding another one of their cameras. No guarantees on the walking around bit, but personally I'd be surprised if they didn't do that at some point.

Hopefully that helps.

Renting Virtual Reality gear New Zealand wide since 2013 - https://www.virtualrealityrental.co.nz/

darylblake

1028 posts

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#1571286 13-Jun-2016 20:28

On the card I don't think you would need a 1080. A 1070 is an awesome card from what I have read.

Have a look at the ATI Radeon RX480. It seems to be good bang for buck but it has not come out just yet.

To be honest if you wait about a month or two the video card prices should come down. If you want an Nvidia card I would go 1070.

I just upgraded my pc new skylake i5, and got a cheap GTX780 which is not quite gonna do VR, but I got it for a really good price.. SO i am gonna wait till I get a bit more money and later on in a few months look at getting an HTC Vive and a 1070 or 1080.

IM actually like you, have not played games for the last 5 years because my kids were really little. They getting a bit older now so I kind of have a bit more time.

afe66

2464 posts

Uber Geek

Lifetime subscriber

#1571288 13-Jun-2016 20:34

fran1942:

thanks for your comments. I might hold off until the AMD cards are out.

Regarding people backing the Vive at present and saying ditch the Rift.

From what I read, the only real benefit of the Vive at present is the hand controllers (which Oculus will release soon anyway - and potentially better ones).

So based on that, why do you recommend ditching the Rift for a Vive ?

Also, remember long term Facebook have a ton more money to support the Rift than HTC has to back the Vive.

Do you still recommend I cancel my Rift order ?

Happy to admit to being very happy and trying to raise the Vives profile a bit.

I think the difference with the Vive is the two sensor units you put on the wall which creates a virtual space thats you can physically move around in, rather than needing to sitting/standing in one place and lookng around you and . There are static games where you are sitting such as Elite Dangerous for Vive but you will also get some games where you can walk in a 3D space

Yesterday my daughter wanted to use the google draw game to draw a house, so I drew one about 3m by 3m from inside it. We drew 3d pictures of the furniture and you could walk around inside the house we drew.

Playing Forgotten Relms (D+D) where I could dodge the attacking skeletons while using left hand as a shield and right as the sword.

There are basic first person shooters where you can move to dodge incoming bullets rather than using a slide key.

You are right about Facebook (and Sony) having a large wallets to drive development of games for their own system so you might have more of a 3D VR experience with the vive but there might be more games with the Rift. Hopefully with more systems being developed they will use the Steam VR system.

Hunt out the reviews where the same person has trialed both the Vive and the Rift.

Brumfondl

1125 posts

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#1571290 13-Jun-2016 20:35

shrub:

Sorry to throw another spanner but AMD is dropping the arse out of there pricing later this month when the RX480 is released. This is supposedly going to be the same as a 1070 and they have promised a price of $200USD. I'm holding off until these flood the market.

Pretty sure the RX480 is on par with the 970 not the 1070.

As an FYI, from the current benchmarks on Guru3d the 1070 is about 50% faster than a 970 and the 1080 is about twice the speed of a 970. VR aside, if you plan to game at anything higher than 1080p than I would at least get a 1070. If 1080p will be your max then the RX480 sounds like a real winner.