Question for PC & VR players

[kilvenny]

Before getting VR (Rift) I did a lot of research and concluded minimum was a 1080 GPU. I had already upgraded memory to 16GB as a result of a move to Win 10 and an SSD was in from the get go alongside an I7 4770. VR seems fine and I am still air cooled albeit serious after market extra fans. It all seems to work ok, albeit the fans do spin up nicely in VR.
I suffer massively from motion sickness and had the same in VR, but was able to overcome it, so it is possible to overcome.
The big negative for me has been the negative vibes from my wife, who hates the fact I disappear inside "that stupid headset". It's got so bad recently I have stopped playing just to keep the peace, so make sure your gf is tolerant if you go for it.

 

[cmdrrdmc]

I disappear inside "that stupid headset"

I never understood this. If you were sitting at the chair not speaking to her and playing a game, but without a headset, that's fine?

 

[777Driver]

I never understood this. If you were sitting at the chair not speaking to her and playing a game, but without a headset, that's fine?

It is anti social, my ex hated it. Advisable to make eye contact when your wife/girlfriend speaks to you It was a hassle taking off the headset every time she had something important to say

Didn't help that she moved abroad with me and had nothing to do at home in a foreign country.

 

[Rowander]

HOTAS is not a must for VR, actually I think KB+M has its advantages, you don't need voice attack and can use the chat function. I'm flying VR and will not buy HOTAS.
+1 for forgetting the laptop.

Though I admit that coming from consoles, learning to play with KB+M is a challenge.

Sorry but I don't agree with your view at all. Unless you've got godly keyboard skills with ALL the keys, you're in for a very frustrating time. Elite uses a hell of a lot of controls, and while in VR you can't see the keys. You definetly need a good hotas that you can customize and map most of the commands to. It surely can be done with a keyboard, yes. But it won't be the same experience, believe me.

Apart from that, and back on topic... yes, forget the laptop or be prepared to fork upwards of 2.000$ for a very powerful gaming laptop with roughly the same power of a 1.000$ desktop.

Edit: don't back off from VR. If you love Elite Dangerous, you HAVE to play it in VR. It's so much more that way...

 

[cmdrrdmc]

It is anti social, my ex hated it. Advisable to make eye contact when your wife/girlfriend speaks to you It was a hassle taking off the headset every time she had something important to say

Didn't help that she moved abroad with me and had nothing to do at home in a foreign country.

Yet they'll have no problems pulling out the phone when you're watching a movie together.

 

[[VR] optimal_909]

I beg to differ. I've been playing exclusively in VR for last 12-18 months now and couldn't survive without my T Flight HOTAS and VoiceAttack. Sure, I'll conceed I can't chat very easily - but I have a few VoiceAttack commands to open chat, send a greeting and close again if I feel like being sociable and I only have to say 'Send Greeting'. I don't think I'd enjoy the learning curve of trying to play something like ED in VR on a keyboard. You've proved it's doable, but even with touch typing skills, I find a joystick light years ahead in the useability race.

To the original question: you know the equipment needed - good laptop with good GPU - good VR kit (Rift of Vive I would suggest). The rest are optional, but I'd seriously recommend a HOTAS set up and VA.

Having played for two years on KN+M the switch to VR was not an issue at all.
Also, KB+M is great as you can rest your arms - this is especially great when doing relaxing stuff (i.e. anything else than combat).

 

[CMDR Woland92]

I never understood this. If you were sitting at the chair not speaking to her and playing a game, but without a headset, that's fine?

Nope - that’s not fine either. Any time spent “playing that stupid space game” is time wasted. In stark contrast to the many hours spent watching “real housewives of [insert location]” or some other Bravo network monstrosity (if there is an antichrist, I remain convinced that it is Andy Cohen).

Consequently, I’m limited to playing late at night, occasionally on weekend, and every waking hour not spent at work when my wonderful lady (and she IS wonderful, the aforementioned gripes notwithstanding) is away .

 

[777Driver]

Nope - that’s not fine either. Any time spent “playing that stupid space game” is time wasted. In stark contrast to the many hours spent watching “real housewives of [insert location]” or some other .

I was forced to watch multiple seasons of Buffy, where is the justice?

 

[Lobey]

Wow thanks so much for all the great advice. I was thinking the laptop would be a good option for increased mobility and the VR would solve the small screen issue. It sounds like you’re better off with a desktop though. I’m playing on an original XB1 right now so anything would be a huge upgrade in terms of graphics and processing power. I’m not sure if I can justify two fixed gaming stations to my girlfriend. Maybe I’ll just upgrade to an XB1X. I do already have a 4K tv.

The thing that keeps pulling me back, though, is that VR. It looks absolutely incredible and I’m dying to try it...

Why not build\buy a decent media centre style pc and hook it up to the tv - can even still use xbox controller if you want (Hotas is far superior though) - maybe try an EdTracker at first as well.
Budget AM4 board (Gigabyte would be my first choice), Ryzen 2600, 8gb DDR4 ram and say a 6gb 1060 (Zotac mini is a good choice) or a 1070 and a 250gb ssd, case and psu - should come in at around £600- £700.
Can perhaps pick up Vr headset cheap - I picked up my original Oculus DK2 for £100 second hand from CEX still works fine in most games albeit at a lower res than the cv1.

Choosing a Zotac 1060 and the spec above I got a price of £616.13 or with Zotac 1070 of £716.13 including VAT and delivery from a very quick run round the Overclockers site (other suppliers are available etc - just handy and where I use).

 

[Alderius]

I tried running ED on my work laptop when out of town on business, the performance was pretty poor although the laptop is good enough to run Autocad. As I understand it, adding VR would add more workload to the video card, so I'd be pretty careful about going that route. I actually stopped using the laptop for ED, even mining solo was brutal on frame rates, the lag in combat would have been deadly.

 

[Lobey]

I tried running ED on my work laptop when out of town on business, the performance was pretty poor although the laptop is good enough to run Autocad. As I understand it, adding VR would add more workload to the video card, so I'd be pretty careful about going that route. I actually stopped using the laptop for ED, even mining solo was brutal on frame rates, the lag in combat would have been deadly.

Check if it has an express card slot - if so you can get an egpu relatively cheap - I have one of these https://www.amazon.co.uk/XCSOURCE-E...BRH472WA65Q&psc=1&refRID=9QEC6WMT6BRH472WA65Q
I also have the cable for connecting to Internal PCI-E, but much to my surprise I found the express card slot to run at a much better bandwidth - will vary with laptop - this is on an older MSI GX660r with an upgraded I7 and a 6gb 1060 in the dock. Same setup works well on a second hand Lenovo x220 (i5) and on that one it outputs on the laptops screen as an added bonus
Like I said before I do this nonsense for both work and pleasure and if anyones really interested I can post some Futuremark benches with the above connected to different kit.

This might be of interest to anyone looking for a cheap card to run Vr on and you don't mind a bit of "hands on" - I might get one for the eGPU -

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TY4s35uULg4

 

[The Lawful]

FWIW, I have a newish Acer 17" laptop that has a GTX1060, 16GB DDR4, an SSD and an 8th gen i7, but TBH I never tried sticking the Oculus to it. Performance-wise, it might manage it, but then, it starts with the number of USB ports required (Oculus is picky and needs a whole lot of them). The thing has only 4 of them available, 3x 3.0 and one 3.1, hm. One for the Rift, one for each sensor, makes 3. Ok, the Rift can be run with a single sensor at minimum. Add HOTAS + TWCS + Rudders, out of options. Mouse (simply hate touchpads)? Then VR is rather heavy on the GPU, and that one tends to get hot, into the 80s or beyond if stressed. Don't think it would be fun, and I don't want to risk it anyway. You're definitely better off with a desktop PC which also is upgradable. Paid 1500 EUR last year, and the thing is really nice and fast, but for ED, pancake mode it is (luckily, it has a nice screen).

O7,
[noob]

 

[Zed]

I have this spec and I feel fine, even if a bit borderline so don't take anything less than this:

Oculus Rift
CPU: i7700k (also i7700 is fine, cause mine is not overclocked)
Graphic: GTX 1080
Ram: 16 GB

Me too and very happy with my VR experience.


Also I was surprised to find that if you have two accounts you can get both running in VR and alt/tab between. It's not very practical but who cares