Oculus Rift VR

[Syt]

Well, the device is available for consumer pre-order.

System requirements:

Video Card NVIDIA GTX 970 / AMD R9 290 equivalent or greater
CPU Intel i5-4590 equivalent or greater
Memory 8GB+ RAM
Video Output Compatible HDMI 1.3 video output
USB Ports 3x USB 3.0 ports plus 1x USB 2.0 port
OS Windows 7 SP1 64 bit or newer

Price: $599.-

Includes: headset, sensor, Oculus Remote, cables, Xbox One Controller, EVE: Valkyrie, and Lucky's Tale

[Liep]

How does one find out if one's video card is equivalent or greater than that?

Not that mine meets the other requirements anyway.

And $599 seems very high for an entertainment system that also requires a high end computer.

[Eddie Teach]

Those look neat, but I have a feeling I'd get headaches and/or dizziness if I used it.

[Syt]

Liep: They have an app on their webpage (I'm at work so can't check) to test compatibility.

I would be eager to try one out, but my computer would be too weak (and I think I don't have enough free USB 3.0 ports). I thought about getting a new computer this Christmas, but found that it was still good enough for what I do.

If there are good games for VR by the end of next year (or the forseeable future) I would probably upgrade then, with VR in mind. Damn, imagine an X-Wing or TIE-Fighter game with modern graphics and VR.

Not too shocked by the $599.- price tag; I was guessing $499 for the headset alone, and with controller and a few things added 599 is pricey but not outrageous IMHO.

[Liep]

Liep: They have an app on their webpage (I'm at work so can't check) to test compatibility.

Failed on 3 out of 5 tests.

And 599 alone might not be outrageous, but then you need a good PC that can run it which will cost probably around $800+.

[Syt]

https://www.rockpapershotgun.com/2016/01/06/oculus-rift-price/

The bad news is that it'll cost you a terrifying $600 before tax and shipping if you're Stateside, and it gets even worse if you're based in the UK or Europe – £500 for the former, €700 for the latter – before shipping.

Ok, €700 (or $750 at current rate) plus shipping is a bit pricey for my tastes

EDIT: And it doesn't let me select Austria as shipping country, anyways.

[Norgy]

To get the most out of Oculus Rift, it has been suggest you should at least SLI GTX 970s.  It's prohibitively expensive, I think.

And I doubt that being an early adopter will be a wise choice in this matter.

[Syt]

Agreed. A year or two later there should be more affordable offers out there, and hopefully with any early kinks worked out.

[Grey Fox]

This is wave 1 and it's already sold out.

It's like buying a 3d TV in 2009.

[viper37]

How does one find out if one's video card is equivalent or greater than that?

For Nvidia, look at the list here:
http://www.geforce.com/hardware
Anything above GTX 970 is ok in the GTX column.

For AMD, it's here:
http://www.amd.com/en-us/products/graphics/desktop/r9#
Anything to the right of R9 200 specs is above.

For equivalent, that would be non consumer video cards.

[The Brain]

OMG OMG OMG VR THE FUTURE IS NOW

I think I'll pass.

[The Minsky Moment]

I've imagined a computer in my head with the necessary specs.  That should be enough for VR, no?

[Josephus]

VR was all the rage back in the early 90s....never caught on then...

What I want is a holodeck

[Eddie Teach]

VR was all the rage back in the early 90s....never caught on then...

Technology is constantly improving, today's VR is probably cheaper and more convincing.