So based on price/performance, along with recommended specs, I'm assuming that the GTX 970 is the way to go.

Done some quick googling, and it seems that the MSI Gaming 4G is the go-to card:

http://www.amazon.com/MSI-GTX-970-GA...n%3A3242350011

Listed at $319 right now - wondering if anyone has suggestions on other GTX 970 cards to look at and/or what price I should be waiting for before buying it.

I'd think a single 970 is pretty borderline - already Elite Dangerous minimum spec for VR is a 980 w/ 4GB

I'm stoked for 2016 to see this VR space take off! I'm going in cheap, PSVR is my choice I think.

I was going to post about this actually. I also have been impressed with PSVR. I really didn't think theyd be able to put forth as compelling of a VR experience on Playstation 4 hardware as it seems they will. Reproduction and other things they've been implementing really seems to be pushing that bar. As a PS4 owner I'm pretty happy about that and sold.

Having said that, I'm still debating building a gaming PC for VR. The question I had was basically what you guys were just talking about. I want to build on a budget as much as I can, but not at the expense of sacrificing a top flight Rift or Vive experience. Rift put out the 970 in its recently published min spec requirements.

Basically I was curious if anyone has tried the Rift dev kit on a 970 and also tried it on a better card like a 980TI, the unit Id obviously land on if I decided a 970 would be inadequate. Is the overall VR experience on most current games going to be significantly better with the 980TI to warrant spending the extra $300 or whatever? I know that obviously getting the better card is better for future proofing and basically everything else. But just as we speak today, worrying only about the day the Rift CV comes out and really trying to budget, Id be curious to hear from those with some experience using the dev kit with different video cards or PCs ect.

See - this concerns me. I've only done a little research into video cards - but isn't the 980 like the 3rd most powerful card out there?

Are VR graphics similar to regular 2d: Can I just reduce a couple settings under Options and still get a decent VR experience, or am I going to be getting motion sickness unless I drop $700 for a card?

Request we temporarily rename this thread: Good deals you've found on 970 GTX cards...

Lowering graphic settings is fine. The #1 priority is fps. You want to ensure that you can hit a rock solid 60fps at a bare minimum, while aiming for 90, ideally.

As a complete noob who stumbled upon this by accident, whats the main reason this isn't a huge mainstream thing yet?

As an avid gamer, I heard about this like 2-3 years ago and remember thinking: wow that's cool. Never thought/heard much about it after until recently.

Is it because the options are limited at this point? Downsides in motion sickness? Too hard to install/use because of technical requirements?

Well, it doesn't ship until sometime this quarter (q1 2016). Also, first gen is going to cost up to 1500 for the rift itself (they haven't announced a price afaik, have said >350, implied <3000, and that 1500 comes from I think a USA today article I read). And you will need a solid machine with a great video card according to the few posts above yours.

I'd guess the complete cost of a good setup will drop to the 2K range by xmas 2016, then down further in 2017; I would guess it to become a mainstream thing next year when it is consumer tested, more affordable, and there is a good content base for it.

I wonder how rift games will stream? 3D streaming seems both really cool and technically challenging.

Well, imo, there is not much point releasing the hardware if the software volume isn't up to speed.

Imagine if they released 1.5 years ago with 2 games... the real key to their strategy is to get the right developers onboard and see where the software side of the industry "takes itself"... to get the consumer the right level of options.

I just hope the "oculus store" doesn't end up being like another "google play" or "applestore" just flooded with absolute ****. But to begin with there has to be an element of that and then they need to totally ramp up their entry level requirements.

It's because they aren't selling them yet.

Link? I haven't heard anything nearly as high as what you're saying, but it's been a while since I've read anything. The last prices I remember seeing were in the $300-400 range.

It's not going to be $1500 for the Rift. The general consensus is that it is going to cost ~$1500 for a PC (with the recommended 970 or better)+Rift. Palmer Luckey just hinted a few days ago at the price and release date coming at CES this week.

Oh okay, that makes more sense. Thanks

I think maybe I misread something like this:
http://www.azcentral.com/story/tech/...eets/77762730/

which talks about the cost of the headset PLUS the computer.

The only thing I have seen from the company was when asked if it would be $350, they said something like "in that ball park, but not that low", so I am most likely just wrong on what I thought the price was.

Edit - what the post below your's said

The video card you'll need will be more than the headsrt itself. Been looking around and i wouldn't be surprised if their 970 gtx 'recommended' became 'minimum' sooner rather than later - at least when dealing with cutting edge games.

Yeah, for anyone who doesn't already have a PC that meets the requirements, it's probably best to just wait for Pascal to upgrade.

Thanks for the replies, all makes sense. My friends dad just bought one so I figured they were already selling them.

I'm pretty excited for this but I don't know why. I really wanna try one out now.

What you can buy right now are Rift "developer kit" versions - fully working, but perhaps not quite so refined / "plug and play" as the first commercial versions and more aimed to get the programmers building content so there is something for the normal people to play once they're available.

Ah that explains it.

https://www1.oculus.com/blog/oculus-...-on-january-6/

Preorders open 8am PST on the 6th - guess the pricing is going to be kept secret until then. Palmer Luckey (Rift founder) also doing a Reddit AMA later that day.

It's happening!

Now just to hope it's under £600.

It looks like eye tracking and foveated rendering will a thing soon.

Pre-orders available for 20 countries - evidently these ones:

United States, United Kingdom, Australia, Belgium, Canada, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Iceland, Ireland, Italy, Japan, Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, Poland, Spain, Sweden, and Taiwan.

o_O

it will be way under 600 pounds

They added an amp, dac, headphones, carry case, xbox controller, +20% vat + getting ****ed on exchange rate.

I'm "optimistic" at £400-500. That'd be a nice surprise.