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Is My Laptop VR Ready?

VR is the god of 3D. They make even the dullest scenario come to life. With the growing number of demands, companies are making more and more affordable headsets with great specs and configurations.  It is truly a nice time to invest in a VR headset if you haven’t already. 

And if you are planning to invest in one question that will surely catch your attention: is my laptop VR ready? You see Virtual Reality headsets come with recommended specs. This provides you a generic idea of what your laptop’s configuration should be to properly sync with the headset. While an everyday computer won’t really be a VR-ready PC, an overwhelming number of gaming laptops from the last five to six years already have what it takes to play VR games. 

In this article, I am going to give you a detailed idea about what VR ready laptop actually is and if your existing pc can accommodate VR. 

VR ready Laptops 

VR-ready laptop is equipment through which you can run your VR headset and enjoy the world of simulated reality. Simply put it is the laptop meets all the recommended specs criteria ( At least the bare minimum). 

The laptop has the required graphics, processor, memory, storage, and of course the operating system.  Retailers nowadays put a label on the laptop to signify that the device is VR- ready. While many retailers are labeling several of their more impactful products as ‘VR-Ready,’ you’ll find that many machines contain components capable of providing seamless gameplay through a headset. 

However, only a few daily (non-gaming-oriented) computers will have the necessary graphical power, so we highly recommend gaming laptops here. 

Specs of VR-ready laptops

Before we answer your question on is my laptop VR ready, let’s get a bits about what VR ready laptops actually needs. When it comes to VR-ready laptops you should look through the CPU, graphics, GPU, and USB. Video output is also important and should be tailored to the specific VR headset. While RAM and storage are important, they are not as important to the basic VR experience as the other parts.

Manufacturers of headsets and VR/AR/MR platforms usually include both the minimum and maximum system specifications for their headsets. Most experts, however, suggest getting a device that’s the closest to the advised specs. Because VR-style experiences degrade quickly if your Laptop can’t keep up.

With that being said let’s dive a little bit deeper: 

Graphics 

A graphics card or GPU is the first and foremost thing you need to run the VR headset. VR requires a lot of graphical horsepowers to function properly so a laptop without dedicated graphics will most likely be unable to access a VR headset. However, if you’ve purchased or already have a gaming laptop, there’s a good chance you already have just enough influence under the hood.

GPU is capable of rendering complicated, 3D-style visuals that tend to make VR so immersive. Furthermore, VR-quality games are introduced at higher frame rates (FPS) than non-VR games, with separate images for each eye instead of just a single image.

The HTC Vive Pro 2 needs at least an AMD Radeon RX 480 or Geforce GTX 1060 graphics card. However, the minimum recommendation is  RTX 2060 or RX 5700.   In general, if your GPU is no more than two or three years old, you should be able to operate a VR headset smoothly.

Processor 

While not as important as the graphics card for VR, your CPU should have enough cycle times,  cores/threads, and cache allotments to handle the intensive I/O demands of sophisticated, multiplayer VR games.

The minimum recommended specs for HTC and Oculus headsets are an Intel i5-4590  or AMD Ryzen 5 1500X. So it appears that a lot of gaming PC purchased over the last four to five years meet the requirements of the newest VR headsets.

Ports 

One thing you can’t forget here is the ports. It is an important part. Different VR headsets use different types of connectivity systems. Before buying the headset you need to make sure your laptop has that method’s connectivity port. 

The HTC Vive Pro 2, needs a DisplayPort 1.2 link as well as a USB 3.0 or modern port. The Oculus also requires a spare USB 3.0 port. Because not all laptops include Display port support, it’s important to double-check any potential purchases.

Memory 

In terms of Read-only memory, the bare minimum for VR is 8GB of RAM, which is similar to what is required for any generic computer gaming. Storage requirements are primarily determined by how many VR games you intend to save for later play. 

Is Your Laptop VR Ready?

Now then after all this talk about recommended specs, let’s focus on the real thing. How would you know if your laptop is actually VR-ready?  Well, there are a few ways for this. You can pick one and go. 

Steam 

Steam is one of the most well-known video game distribution services. They provide software that helps to identify whether your system is capable of handling VR. You can use that to know whether your laptop is VR ready, The Steam Performance Test lasts about two minutes and simulates a VR model program of determining your PC’s capacity to alter it quickly enough for a good experience. If your system fails, Steam will even tell you whether the problem is with the CPU or the GPU. You should definitely use this system if you are planning to use VR games in this platform. 

Manual 

You can also check the specifications of your laptop manually. The downside is that you have to check every aspect using different commands. 

GPU/ Graphics

At first you need to make sure your laptop has the integrated graphics card for this 3D ride. For that follow these steps: 

  • Go to your start menu 
  • From the list find device manager. ( You can search it in the search button) 
  • You will get a pop up menu. In there you wil see many options. Click on the arrow at the right side of your Display adapters options. 
  • You will find your graphics cards name right under the integrated system. If your laptop is not a gaming one or doesn’t have gpu no graphics card name will show up. 

Processor 

Next up we are going to find out which processor we are working on. If you still remember the processor’s name and memory then that’s fine. You can just go with your memory. But nevertheless, it’s best yo double-check, just in case something misses out. 

  • Head to the setting menu in your windows. ( Start>Search bar> type setting) 
  • From there choose the system option. It is the first point in the right side list and by default, it will open up first. 
  • Now on the left side you will see different options. The last option is about. Click on it and you will get different specs of the laptop including processor, RAM, etc. 

Ports 

Your laptop comes with different ports. If you are not sure which port is which or if you have the port required for VR headset we have a solution for you. 

  • First, go to device manager ( Start> Search bar> Type Device Manager) 
  • Now from the list click on the arrow beside the option ‘Universal Serial Bus controllers.
  • The names of your ports will flash in front of you. Look if you have USB 3.0 option among them because that’s the one you will need. 

Note: If you still have your laptop’s manual guide with you, you can also check the ports from there. Most of the Laptops with display port tech will mostly support Version 1.2. 

Bottom Line 

Reading this far I am sure you have your answer. We have covered every ground here. Just do the steps we have told you and you will do fine. Whenever you are unsure and the question is my laptop VR ready pops up in your mind, just see the list of required specs of your headset and check if your laptop has those configurations. 

Most of the time it is the Processor, RAM, and graphics that differ. Almost all laptops have the same ports. So you don’t have to worry about that. And If you have the latest generation’s gaming laptop, you can go nuts on just about any top-notch headset. They will definitely have all the specs and more.