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posted by takyon on Saturday May 16 2015, @08:18PM   Printer-friendly
from the 90-to-120-fps-gpu-sales-trick dept.

Baseline hardware requirements to run the Oculus Rift virtual reality headset have been determined. They recommend a NVIDIA GTX 970 / AMD Radeon R9 290 equivalent or greater GPU, an Intel i5-4590 equivalent or greater CPU, 8 GB RAM, 2x USB 3.0 ports and "HDMI 1.3 video output supporting a 297 MHz clock via a direct output architecture."

Oculus chief architect Atman Binstock explains: "On the raw rendering costs: a traditional [1920×1080] game at 60 Hz requires 124 million shaded pixels per second. In contrast, the Rift runs at 2160×1200 at 90 Hz split over dual displays, consuming 233 million pixels per second. At the default eye-target scale, the Rift's rendering requirements go much higher: around 400 million shaded pixels per second. This means that by raw rendering costs alone, a VR game will require approximately 3x the GPU power of 1080p rendering." He also points out that PC graphics can afford a fluctuating frame rate — it doesn't matter too much if it bounces between 30-60 fps. The Rift has no such luxury, however.

The last requirement is more onerous: Microsoft Windows 7 SP1 or newer. Binstock says their development for OS X and Linux has been "paused" so they can focus on delivering content for Microsoft Windows. They have no timeline for going back to the less popular platforms.

Are there any good alternatives that make use of a more open GPU (say, from Intel) from a VR manufacturer that provides proper support for FOSS platforms? Even better would be if the RAM requirement were lower, and something other than USB were used, perhaps Ethernet. And an alternative to HDMI that doesn't require a 10,000 US$ fee per manufacturer, regardless if you make 10 circuits or 100,000.

Tom's Hardware and Anandtech.

 
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  • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Saturday May 16 2015, @09:11PM

    by Anonymous Coward on Saturday May 16 2015, @09:11PM (#183827)

    Your comment reminds me of a famous song:

    Four three two one

    We are
    We are VR

    We are
    We are VR

    We are
    We are VR

    We are
    We are VR
    Troopers

    Virtual Reality
    Troopers Three

    Virtual Reality
    Troopers Three

    Virtual Reality
    Troopers Three

  • (Score: 2) by takyon on Saturday May 16 2015, @09:12PM

    by takyon (881) <reversethis-{gro ... s} {ta} {noykat}> on Saturday May 16 2015, @09:12PM (#183830) Journal

    cool story bro

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    [SIG] 10/28/2017: Soylent Upgrade v14 [soylentnews.org]
    • (Score: -1, Troll) by Anonymous Coward on Saturday May 16 2015, @09:30PM

      by Anonymous Coward on Saturday May 16 2015, @09:30PM (#183836)

      Please don't use the word "bro". It has sexist connotations.

      • (Score: 3, Funny) by Kell on Sunday May 17 2015, @02:46AM

        by Kell (292) on Sunday May 17 2015, @02:46AM (#183927)

        cool story non-gender-specific sibling.

        --
        Scientists ask questions. Engineers solve problems.
        • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Sunday May 17 2015, @11:45AM

          by Anonymous Coward on Sunday May 17 2015, @11:45AM (#184016)

          *TRIGGERED*
          *Snarkisian mode engaged*
          The word "gender" serves to describe an artificial social construct which exists purely to reinforce conceptions of restrictive social roles. When used to address an anonymous Internet user, "gender" serves as a reminder that the reader must confirm to the norm of their biological sex and makes non-sexual or asexually-curious readers feel unwelcome in the community. It's no surprise that this tactic is often used by males, who as victims of the toxic masculinity they have been nurtured with cannot help but to enforce an imposing environment in which they feel safe, as they feel threatened by any idea which questions the fundamental aspects of the patriarchy and see that as an attack on their insecurities. This creates a sense of unpleasant uneasiness known as cognitive dissonance, which prompts the male to aggressively defend the gender stereotypes and in doing so, inadvertently become the oppressor of women, agendered people, as well as himself.