Almost immediately after Oculus VR announced the pricing and pre-order details of the Rift headset, chip-maker Nvidia said that it will launch a new program aimed at making PCs more virtual reality-compatible.
According to the company, this program, dubbed as VR Ready, will be composed of high-powered graphics cards based on the GeForce GTX system. In addition, the company will also collaborate with other major PC makers for a new line of add-on graphics cards.
As noted by ZDNet, one of the factors hindering most people from pre-ordering the Oculus Rift is its system requirements for the PC's graphic horsepower. But, based on the recommended specs released by Nvidia, building a VR-ready rig is clearly not an impossible feat. For one, most of its requirements are similar to those of today's high-end games such as 8GB of RAM, an Intel Core i5 4590 or higher and the Windows 7 OS or newer versions.
For the VR Ready program, the GeForce chips that will be included in the system are the GTX 970, GTX 980, GTX 980 Ti and the Titan X. Of course, aside from these chips, gaming rigs should also satisfy the other requirements stated above.
Earlier this week, Oculus VR announced that consumer can already begin pre-ordering the Oculus Rift headset. But, at a retail price of $599, a lot of people are still undecided if they really want or need the new gaming device. After all, at this price, some consumers will probably have to shell out a total of almost $2000 just to use the headset with a properly upgraded PC.
Given the expensive price of the Oculus Rift, which is a few hundred dollars more than next-gen gaming consoles, one might think that only a handful of consumers will pre-order it. But actually, the surge of those wanting to buy caused Oculus VR's website to crash, according to CNN.
The first batch of Oculus Rift headsets will arrive to those who pre-ordered it on March 28. It will then debut in selected retail stores sometime in April.
For the price of $600, customers will receive the headset with built-in headphones, an Xbox One controller, a VR sensor and the Oculus Remote, which, according to the company, can make it easier for users to navigate through their virtual reality environment. In addition, they will also get a free copies of "Lucky's Tale" and "EVE: Valkyrie."
Oculus VR is also offering a $1499 package which includes the Rift and a VR-ready PC.
