VR headset with these PC specs?

je11693 · 11 Mar 2020 at 21:53

Hi guys, would I be able to use any VR headset with the below PC components? I am hoping to use it for sim racing games.

Ryzen 5 2600 Gen2 6 Core AM4 Processor
MSI GeForce GTX 1050 Ti 4GB OC GDDR5 Graphics Card
8GB RAM (2x 4GB Corsair Vengeance LPX)
MSI B450M PRO-VDH AM4 DDR4 mATX Motherboard

Ravenger · 11 Mar 2020 at 21:58

Unfortunately A1050ti is borderline for VR. It's fine for quite a few experiences, but racing games are one of the most demanding use-cases (flight sims are probably the most demanding).
It may work at lower detail levels plus you will probably get reprojection, where the frame-rate is too low and the computer interpolates the frames, which can lead to visual artefacts.

Do you know someone who has a headset you can try on your PC to see how well it works?

je11693 · 11 Mar 2020 at 22:04

Ravenger said:
Unfortunately A1050ti is borderline for VR. It's fine for quite a few experiences, but racing games are one of the most demanding use-cases (flight sims are probably the most demanding).
It may work at lower detail levels plus you will probably get reprojection, where the frame-rate is too low and the computer interpolates the frames, which can lead to visual artefacts.

Do you know someone who has a headset you can try on your PC to see how well it works?

Unfortunately (frustratingly!) I don't (I'm not even sure where I can test one out as I'm not aware of any stores that do that). If I can't use VR could I add two monitors to my current monitor (Asus VP247 23.6 inch) and go that route do you think? I'm trying to make it as realistic as possible when playing, so trying to increase the FoV. Ideally it would be with VR as the level of immersion in racing games seems much better this way, but if that's not possible I'll have to settle for something else.

lego · 12 Mar 2020 at 11:08

Whats your budget? It may be an option the purchase a second hand first gen headset and a second hand beefier graphics card?

je11693 · 12 Mar 2020 at 12:19

lego said:
Whats your budget? It may be an option the purchase a second hand first gen headset and a second hand beefier graphics card?

I hadn't set a budget as I thought my current card/CPU/etc would be able to use one. Guess I was wrong! What do they typically go for in the second hand market?

lokiss · 12 Mar 2020 at 13:00

A mate of mine was running his Vive on a 1050ti laptop. While you won't be nailing everything, it does work.

je11693 · 12 Mar 2020 at 13:56

lokiss said:
A mate of mine was running his Vive on a 1050ti laptop. While you won't be nailing everything, it does work.

Do you know what kind of games he was playing? My understanding is that sim racing games are at the upper end of power requirements, so if he was playing something similar and managing then that gives me hope!

Ravenger · 12 Mar 2020 at 13:57

Second hand Rift CV1's are going for around £200. For sims probably the best headsets to get on a budget are the Windows Mixed Reality headsets which you can find pretty cheap. The relatively poor hand controllers aren't an issue if you're sim racing, and the headsets are reasonable quality.

You can always get a headset, then upgrade the graphics card later if you need to.

je11693 · 12 Mar 2020 at 14:42

Ravenger said:
Second hand Rift CV1's are going for around £200. For sims probably the best headsets to get on a budget are the Windows Mixed Reality headsets which you can find pretty cheap. The relatively poor hand controllers aren't an issue if you're sim racing, and the headsets are reasonable quality.

You can always get a headset, then upgrade the graphics card later if you need to.

I'm fairly new to VR so apologies if this is a basic question, bu why are the Windows mixed reality the best headsets for sim racing?

lego · 12 Mar 2020 at 15:32

je11693 said:
I'm fairly new to VR so apologies if this is a basic question, bu why are the Windows mixed reality the best headsets for sim racing?

It's simply down the the cost factor, you can pick up a second hand one quite cheap now, and the HMD will perform just the same as any other first gen display. The "negatives" of mixed reality sets were the controllers and tracking compared to other models, but as others have said, if your main use is Simulators, then it become a non issue as you'll be using a wheel.

It would be the cheapest way for you to dip your toe into VR, and would allow you some flexibility even with the 1050 to play some lesser demanding titles

lokiss · 12 Mar 2020 at 18:53

je11693 said:
Do you know what kind of games he was playing? My understanding is that sim racing games are at the upper end of power requirements

He did fire up the free version of the original project cars when I tossed him my old G25. I was surprised to hear it ran ok when I asked. While you've no chance on modern sims like PC2 or ACC, lots of the older titles use dated engines that perform well in VR. If motion smoothing or the Oculus version of it works out, then you should be able to nail 45fps I would have thought?.

ArmitageShanks · 12 Mar 2020 at 19:02

lokiss said:
He did fire up the free version of the original project cars when I tossed him my old G25. I was surprised to hear it ran ok when I asked. While you've no chance on modern sims like PC2 or ACC, lots of the older titles use dated engines that perform well in VR. If motion smoothing or the Oculus version of it works out, then you should be able to nail 45fps I would have thought?.

I found PC2 looks and runs a shedload better than PC1 in VR on my system.

je11693 · 12 Mar 2020 at 19:02

lokiss said:
He did fire up the free version of the original project cars when I tossed him my old G25. I was surprised to hear it ran ok when I asked. While you've no chance on modern sims like PC2 or ACC, lots of the older titles use dated engines that perform well in VR. If motion smoothing or the Oculus version of it works out, then you should be able to nail 45fps I would have thought?.

Thanks. If I went down the triple screen route instead (I use an Asus VP247) do you think I could play on the current components using three of those screens?

ST_Craig · 12 Mar 2020 at 19:58

je11693 said:
Thanks. If I went down the triple screen route instead (I use an Asus VP247) do you think I could play on the current components using three of those screens?

Not with that 1050 Ti card, you won't. I have a 1050 Ti 4Gb here, it's in my emulation machine, and it copes with multi-shader emulators quite well, but PC games are a bit hit and miss. The problem of 3 screens is the resolution, it will be too high for the 1050 to cope. In my Arcade 1-up emulation PC, the resolution of the screen is 1280x1024, and the 1050 Ti in there just about copes with a few PC arcade-type games. While Retroarch emulators using multiple CRT shaders, it copes rather well.
With VR, you would need to run at the headset's native resolution and refresh rate, and the card would need to keep that without losing fps - or you can suffer from lag, and lower fps - which can make a few VR users quite sick.
My Rift S has a single LCD display with a 2560x1440 resolution at 80Hz, a 1050 Ti would not be able to cope with such a high res and refresh rate in few, or any VR games. Even the older CV1 had a OLED display with 2160x1440 resolution and 90Hz refresh rate, and a 1050 Ti would still not cope with that.

Personally, I would look for a second-hand GTX 1070, if you have the money. I often see them on ebay for around £150 - £200.

je11693 · 12 Mar 2020 at 21:52

ST_Craig said:
Not with that 1050 Ti card, you won't. I have a 1050 Ti 4Gb here, it's in my emulation machine, and it copes with multi-shader emulators quite well, but PC games are a bit hit and miss. The problem of 3 screens is the resolution, it will be too high for the 1050 to cope. In my Arcade 1-up emulation PC, the resolution of the screen is 1280x1024, and the 1050 Ti in there just about copes with a few PC arcade-type games. While Retroarch emulators using multiple CRT shaders, it copes rather well.
With VR, you would need to run at the headset's native resolution and refresh rate, and the card would need to keep that without losing fps - or you can suffer from lag, and lower fps - which can make a few VR users quite sick.
My Rift S has a single LCD display with a 2560x1440 resolution at 80Hz, a 1050 Ti would not be able to cope with such a high res and refresh rate in few, or any VR games. Even the older CV1 had a OLED display with 2160x1440 resolution and 90Hz refresh rate, and a 1050 Ti would still not cope with that.

Personally, I would look for a second-hand GTX 1070, if you have the money. I often see them on ebay for around £150 - £200.

Ok, thanks. Just to make sure, but would the 1050Ti actually even be able to run sim racing games on the one monitor I have at the moment?

ST_Craig · 12 Mar 2020 at 22:37

je11693 said:
Ok, thanks. Just to make sure, but would the 1050Ti actually even be able to run sim racing games on the one monitor I have at the moment?

At 1080p or lower, medium details, should be ok. The big killer for that card would be AA (Anti-Aliasing), so keeping that off should make running those games much easier on the card. It's not a bad card, just don't expect console quality gaming.

je11693 · 12 Mar 2020 at 22:40

ST_Craig said:
At 1080p or lower, medium details, should be ok. The big killer for that card would be AA (Anti-Aliasing), so keeping that off should make running those games much easier on the card. It's not a bad card, just don't expect console quality gaming.

What is "anti-aliasing"?

ArmitageShanks · 13 Mar 2020 at 08:31

je11693 said:
What is "anti-aliasing"?

Short answer: techniques for smoothing out jagged edges. Depending on the algorithm used it can be expensive computationally.