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Nvidia & AMD on BBC reference VR

Aye, saw that. Nice to see some mention of PC hardware being an actual thing in the news, you'd think the PC gaming industry was tiny from the coverage it gets. And no mention of Apple, the BBC are slipping! :p
 
Less than 1% of of the PCs expected to be in use globally in 2016 will be powerful enough to run the best virtual reality technology, graphics-chip company Nvidia has said.
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Well yes, obviously if you include all the personal computers that are not used for gaming, but VR doesn't target those people.

Immersive VR requires seven times the graphics processing power compared to traditional 3D applications and games
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Mmmmm not sure about this. I have previously owned OR headsets and depending what he means by traditional 3d applications and games, this is a massive exaggeration.

They also need an Intel i5-class processor, more than 8GB of memory, and two USB 3.0 ports - all of which pushes up the price of a PC considerably.
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This will make the average person feel that VR is just not possible at the moment for anyone who isn't rich. In reality, this sort of rig is not that costly and not all that uncommon for PC gamers.

I cant help but feel that this article is a bit negative towards VR. It is written as if the average person should just be able to pick up some goggles and get going with VR. Though that might be what the average person expects (i dunno, i am an enthusiast) it is not so ridiculous to talk about a few hundred quid to own a new gaming platform. VR is aimed at gamers of which some already own half decent PCs. I personally treat the Oculus as a new gaming platform and since people are prepared to spend £500+ on console packages and bundles on release, I dont find it so unreasonable to expect to spend that much money on a headset and upgrading your gaming PC?

I am disappointed in the delay of the controller. I dont want it to ship with an xbox controller as i think OR could start a revolutionary trend in PC gaming to really adopt inivative and dynamic VR, rather than just a half arsed attempt to implement a different way of viewing games. The controllers are designed to really enhance VR motion control and add a different dimension to VR and i think that releasing the controllers at a different date will cause devs to rethink developing games which will rely on the extra features VR can offer to gamers.
 
The occulus changed their requirements to 4 USB ports before Xmas. Seems a little excessive, guess they are for power.
 
So three USB 3 and one USB 2 ports.

Couldn't run one on my system then, only two USB3 ports. X58 for the lose....:(
 
ppl need to stop about this VR need too much power, no it doesnt, it does require a good ammount to have it at optimal level, but it can actualy accomodate way lower specs.
what you need is a rig that runs 2160x1200 resolution, at a minimum of 45 fps, and believe me a lot of PCs can do that, especialy when it all depands on the developpers, and their games, first most games will be basic, and simplistic, not like a crysis 3 level of detail, but more like unreal tournament, games that turn at like 400 fps on mid range PCs.
and still even with Big ambitious VR projects, you will still need to only run 2160x1200 at 45fps, to get ride of most artifacts, that strips your immersion or motion sickness, and you get a decent experience, like most of players right now they dont have optimal experience but they have a decent experience while gaming on monitors with their current configs.
now if you want an optimal experience, you need to push 120 fps, max detail etc, then you need like crossfire 390 or 980 sli, and manufacturer dont give you this distinction, but rather ust the latter.
 
Just like games now, but it doesn't stop us all wanting to run things with the best settings and fastest framerate possible.
 
AlamoX said:
ppl need to stop about this VR need too much power, no it doesnt, it does require a good ammount to have it at optimal level, but it can actualy accomodate way lower specs.
what you need is a rig that runs 2160x1200 resolution, at a minimum of 45 fps, and believe me a lot of PCs can do that, especialy when it all depands on the developpers, and their games, first most games will be basic, and simplistic, not like a crysis 3 level of detail, but more like unreal tournament, games that turn at like 400 fps on mid range PCs.
and still even with Big ambitious VR projects, you will still need to only run 2160x1200 at 45fps, to get ride of most artifacts, that strips your immersion or motion sickness, and you get a decent experience, like most of players right now they dont have optimal experience but they have a decent experience while gaming on monitors with their current configs.
now if you want an optimal experience, you need to push 120 fps, max detail etc, then you need like crossfire 390 or 980 sli, and manufacturer dont give you this distinction, but rather ust the latter.
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Exactly, moaners gonna moan
 
I use a Gigabyte OC z87 board. I dont consider it to be a top end Z87 motherboard but it has four usb 2.0 and six usb 3.0, a further two headers for usb 3.0 and two more for usb 2.0.

Now this gives me a minimum of:

8 USB 2.0
10 USB 3.0

I have a lot of devices plugged in but am never lacking in USBs and have not even used half the headers available on the mobo.

What devices are you using that you have ran out of ports and what motherboard do you have?

If i ever need more USB ports i would just get a USB bay for my case and use the other USB headers on my motherboard.

If i need more than that, i guess i can just use a PCIe card. If i need even more, i will probably decide that i need to reassess my life before getting any more USB ports, as i am clearly doing something wrong or have gained a very niche addiction.
 
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Avenged7Fold said:
I use a Gigabyte OC z87 board. I dont consider it to be a top end Z87 motherboard but it has four usb 2.0 and six usb 3.0, a further two headers for usb 3.0 and two more for usb 2.0.

Now this gives me a minimum of:

8 USB 2.0
10 USB 3.0

I have a lot of devices plugged in but am never lacking in USBs and have not even used half the headers available on the mobo.

What devices are you using that you have ran out of ports and what motherboard do you have?

If i ever need more USB ports i would just get a USB bay for my case and use the other USB headers on my motherboard.

If i need more than that, i guess i can just use a PCIe card. If i need even more, i will probably decide that i need to reassess my life before getting any more USB ports, as i am clearly doing something wrong or have gained a very niche addiction.
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I have

wireless headset
Joystick
Xbox controller
Mouse
Keyboard
Monitor (dell plugs into USB)
steering wheel

This leaves me with 1 usb i think on the back (97 sniper) I have two USB 3 on the front but hate cables coming out the front of my PC very OCD with this all my cables have to be hidden and controllers all sit in their place so no cables can be seen when not in use.

4 USB is still a joke imo should have gone with another type of connection or at least given the choice of a custom PCI card with a single cable or somthing.

Edit just checked online as i thought i was going crazy my Z1 Sniper G1 mobo have 4 USB 3 and 3 usb 2 so i have used them all
 
Your board seems to have

3 USB 2.0
4 USB 3.0

2 x usb 2.0 headers = 4 usb 2
1 usb 3.0 header = 2 usb 3.0

You say they should have chose another wire but there really isn't one they can choose without having some silly long extension direct from the PSU.

As for a custom PCIe card, you can just use a quad usb PCIe card and can be gotten for dirt cheap or a hub for all your lower power devices like keyboard/mouse/headset etc

Something like this to make use of USB headers:

31p2d9R-LFL.jpg

Or this if you used up all your headers and just want to use a molex from the PSU and a PCIe slot

usb-3-pci-card-100043916-large.jpg

If you have used all your headers and have no PCIe slots to spare on the mobo, don't worry, as since you are just using the USBs to power the device, you can just get a molex to USB splitter.

So many USB options
 
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Pricing is key for launch. If the total cost to run a VR capable machine is too high, you risk putting off those key early adopters for a new platform and before you know it partners stop supporting your product as the development costs are too high for a niche market and the whole thing stalls.

Just look at 3D TV's. Overpriced on launch, sales dried up as there was not enough content being produced, because there wasn't a big audience for 3D to justify the production costs.
A vicious downward spiral followed and the majority have forgotten about 3D and moved on already. Fingers crossed this doesn't happen for VR also.
 
You are right to an extent but it is as much down to developers of the games and GPU manufacturers as anyone else.

As for 3d TVs, i believe that a more appropriate comparison would be 3d monitors for gaming and they saw quite a few sales on release. Though the trend fizzled out a little, i cant imagine OR targets are too far off what 3d monitors managed to do on the first year of their release. The content for 3d monitors was there and rather than GPU power (and cost of that power) as well price of the monitors being the limiting factor for their success, i would say the main issue was general interest in 3d. People found it uncomfortable and was not impressed by 3d in cinema and such. I like to think that OR offers much more than what 3d monitors did and that there is as as much hype for it. Youtube has become an incredible platform to advertise the use of the rift without even offering the experience of it.

I believe the success lies in the content. If developers make use of the OR SDK and create games that not jsut can be used on OR but are also specifically made just for it, with innovative and dynamic gameplay (not just a rehash COD) then the rift will make way for a better model for the average consumer when it is cheaper to kit out PCs with the grunt to power these things.
 
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Sign me up for Elite Dangerous and Star Citizen in VR. Here's hoping my eye condition doesn't stop me from getting the full experience.

If the new GPUs really are as powerful as we hope then the cost of getting a system that's capable may not be as great as the article states.
 
If the condition is something glasses can fix, then there is no issue. If u are severely visually impaired in one eye then it will seem just as 3d as real life but with a lower resolution and smaller fov
 
Avenged7Fold said:
If the condition is something glasses can fix, then there is no issue. If u are severely visually impaired in one eye then it will seem just as 3d as real life but with a lower resolution and smaller fov
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I've got a condition called "keratoconus", thakfully it's mild in my right eye and can be corrected easily with glasses. However, my left eye is affected much more and my vision in this eye is very blurry and distorted even with glasses.
 
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