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Question: VR PCs? (Edited)

7 years ago618 words

On a ridiculous whim, I bought an Oculus Rift the other day. Shockingly, it doesn't work with my couple-of-years-old laptop. I've been meaning to replace my computer anyway, but since I know so little about hardware and people who read this might have more interest in and knowledge about such things, I thought I'd ask for some opinions about what I should get.

I've been wanting to explore VR for aaaages now, and was motivated to finally get an Oculus Rift after we talked about them in a robotics academic journal club here at university (something I'm taking part in for my dissertation; I can't be bothered to explain). I was feeling quite out of my mind when I bought it though, and didn't really consider whether it'd work on my current computer or not. I thought since this oldish laptop runs some relatively modern games without much issue, and I've pretty much always got dozens of fairly hefty programs running at once without a problem, I'd at least get a mediocre if not silky-smooth experience. But it doesn't even run at all.

I'm not going to say what the specs of my computer are, because if you're into hardware, you'd probably laugh about how I could be such a fool to think an Oculus Rift would work with them. But not all of us enjoy understanding what the numbers mean, building our own computers, things like that. I certainly don't. I've tried to look into it in the past since I felt it was important, but it was very much a chore and I don't feel that I really made the best decisions since I was making them from a position of reluctant naivete rather than passion.

I've got enough money saved up that I could afford something expensive, but I'd prefer not to spend a fortune if I can help it since it's not like I have a proper income. I imagine a desktop would work better than a laptop, and it's not like I take my computer anywhere anyway so that's probably what I'll get. Something that runs VR well and will last a while.

A couple of things I've found from brief searching are ∞ this alarmingly expensive Corsair ONE ∞, and ∞ this not-actually-much-cheaper Alienware Aurora ∞, because they were recommended by articles with titles like "the best desktops for VR" or something.

I want to get something that could arrive very quickly; pre-made computers from Amazon have almost next-day delivery, while custom-made computers seem to take almost a month to arrive from what I've seen? But I don't know. It's not like any of this is my area of expertise.

Anyway, if you have knowledge about computer hardware and have a good suggestion for something I could get to handle VR well, I'd appreciate hearing your thoughts!

#EDIT: I ended up buying ∞ this one ∞, as recommended by Monty Callay, because it very much suits my needs and I couldn't find a better one. I'm usually really frugal, and I'm definitely not rich, so spending £1100 (I also bought a good monitor and a keyboard) all at once is something that triggers all kind of worry and doubt and everything... I did save myself about £1000 though, so I'm glad I asked here! Now I just hope it arrives soon and I can experience VR for myself...