For the purposes of VR, which is better, an iMac or a Dell? i7 or rhyzen 5? A friend wants to set this up. I hate to see him spend more than necessary. The rep at Dell saw him as a rich pigeon and I think, told him to bend over; virtual reality is on the floor. What came to the house was an expensive pile of shit. I would tell him what to do, but VR is out of my league.
Firstly, I don't know his budget, but I can find some low cost, high power solutions. Here you go. What I'm running: AMD FX-6300 (3.5Ghz) 24 GB DDR3 1333 RAM Nvidia Geforce GTX 1050 2 GB Video Card HP Windows Mixed Reality Headset Grand total: $515.00 But I built mine from scratch. Avoid Mac. For what you'll pay it's terribly underpowered. You can build a powerful, VR capable PC for 1/3 of the cost. Macs also don't work with Windows Mixed Reality, which is the least expensive VR option. You can build a fully VR capable PC, one that runs virtual reality smoothly, at 60-90Hz, in HD/4K, for far less than $1,000. If he wants something ready to go out the door, here's a few suggestions that will run VR setups without any problems: THE DESKTOPS This one's about $400. Acer Desktop (Intel i3, 8GB RAM): https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07CYGHL92?th=1 This one's about $500. Acer Desktop (Intel i5, 12GB RAM): https://www.amazon.com/Acer-Desktop-i5-7400-Windows-TC-780-ACKI5/dp/B073YHNPC6/ref=sr_1_3_acs_ac_2?s=electronics&ie=UTF8&qid=1542431002&sr=1-3-acs&keywords=desktop pc This one's $620: Skytech Archangel (AMD Ryzen 3 1200, 8 GB RAM, GeForce GTX 1050 Ti 4 GB Video Card): https://www.amazon.com/SkyTech-ArchAngel-Gaming-Computer-Desktop/dp/B01M3UKNVD/ref=sr_1_13?s=electronics&ie=UTF8&qid=1542431002&sr=1-13&keywords=desktop pc ^ You don't need to buy a card with that last one. THE VIDEO CARDS: This is $119. AMD Radeon RX550 4 GB Card https://www.amazon.com/XFX-AMD-Rade...?ie=UTF8&qid=1542432237&sr=8-2&keywords=RX550 This is $129. Nvidia Geforce GTX 1050 2 GB https://www.amazon.com/Gigabyte-Geforce-GDDR5-Graphic-GV-N1050OC-2GD/dp/B01MG0733A/ref=sr_1_1?s=pc&ie=UTF8&qid=1542432137&sr=1-1&keywords=GTX 1050 THE MONITORS This one's $99. Sceptre 24" 1080p Monitor (75Hz) https://www.amazon.com/Sceptre-E248...1_4?ie=UTF8&qid=1542431310&sr=8-4&keywords=24"+MONITOR This one's $129. Sceptre Ultra Wide 27" 1080p Monitor (75Hz) https://www.amazon.com/Sceptre-E275...1_4?ie=UTF8&qid=1542431366&sr=8-4&keywords=27"+MONITOR THE VR GEAR Lenovo Explorer WMR Headset ($150) https://www.amazon.com/Explorer-Headset-Windows-Reality-G0A20001WW-pc/dp/B0764L8YL7/ref=sr_1_7?ie=UTF8&qid=1542431437&sr=8-7&keywords=HP windows mixed reality Oculus Rift Bundle ($400) https://www.amazon.com/Oculus-Touch...F8&qid=1542431517&sr=8-6&keywords=oculus&th=1 If he buys the most expensive option in each category above, his cost will still come up to less than $1150. If he gets the least expensive option (and it will still run VR apps without any trouble!), he'll be paying only $750. $750 for a full VR capable set with everything, ready to go.
Well, I'm looking at budget. My 1050 has no problems playing Elite: Dangerous in VR, nor has issues watching 360° videos, or playing flight sims, all at 60Hz. It's at the lowest end of what I would recommend, but it does work quite well. The price gap between the 1050 and the 1060 is about 100+ dollars. You can almost buy 2 1050s for the price of one 1060. So it's just about budget. If they've got the money, I completely agree, though.
That's all great. I'll tell him. He wanted to drop 1800, and I'm still choking. I just don't know VR or I'd put him together a cheap but powerful system.
GPU is the decisive factor for VR. I recommend an NVIDIA GTX 1060 or greater. CPU does not matter so long as it is modern.
This. If he's got that kind of money, he can invest in a nice 1060, as @Bailey recommended as well. I always go for the "bargain basement but still works" method myself.
Oh yeah, I forgot Black Friday is coming. Might be a few deals out there. Well, relatively speaking. Video cards are still way too expensive for what they are thanks to that damnable cryptomining.
Anyone got a view on the Oculus Go self-contained VR headset? Or better to wait for the Quest which is supposed to launch this year?
All I know is that a new computer and an oculus setup might get me back into the realm of some good, sweaty exercise- like Worf with his holo-monsters, NOT Barclay with his Vulcan sex-slave and Riker-midget programs!
I'd hold off, because there's rumors that the Quest is going to be canceled. VR isn't taking off the way many people thought it would.
