Couldn't agree more.
Mac owner with an Oculus VR dilemma
- Thread starter PIXEL
- Start date
Couldn't agree more.
I expect hell to freeze over before the Rift is Mac compatible yet I certainly can't sell my gift as 'er in doors' is just as excited as me to get this thing running.
Might just have to buy an ol Mac pro and do some 'one off' tweaking to get it to work - tho I confess sadly it will be running an inferior operating system to use it... for the time being anyway
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One day "er in doors" is gona be using that rift to play elite, when addicted will lead her to these forums for whatever number of logical reasons, which will lead 'er' to this thread by chance so I'd jus like to say hi 'er' lol, best of luck with that oneI expect hell to freeze over before the Rift is Mac compatible yet I certainly can't sell my gift as 'er in doors' is just as excited as me to get this thing running.
Might just have to buy an ol Mac pro and do some 'one off' tweaking to get it to work - tho I confess sadly it will be running an inferior operating system to use it... for the time being anyway
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One day "er in doors" is gona be using that rift to play elite, when addicted will lead her to these forums for whatever number of logical reasons, which will lead 'er' to this thread by chance so I'd jus like to say hi 'er' lol, best of luck with that one
She's perfect, and a woman so she knows more than me..
It's a tough job being honest but I'm confident she'll appreciate everything I've said on this forum.... since she's had to live with me moaning about ED since they announced 'offline mode no go'
Do you want her email address to give it a try ?... tho I think it might bounce (-:
I really can't see any dedicated console running the Rift CV1.
You may have better luck with the HTC Vive running on a future version of the Steam Machine. They're both Valve products, and Steam Machine runs Linux.
The HTC Vive is priced $200 more than the Rift, but that includes the motion controllers. We don't know how much the Rift motion controllers will be, but I'm expecting it to be a wash.
You may have better luck with the HTC Vive running on a future version of the Steam Machine. They're both Valve products, and Steam Machine runs Linux.
The HTC Vive is priced $200 more than the Rift, but that includes the motion controllers. We don't know how much the Rift motion controllers will be, but I'm expecting it to be a wash.
I'd recommend building a system for VR, really, but if you wanted to experiment with the Mac, you might get away with an eGPU setup.
Provided the Mac has Thunderbolt ports, you should be able to bolt an external GPU and monitor to it. Run under Windows this should work to drive the Rift (I can drive my Rift DK2 from my 2012 Macbook on Windows with the latest 0.8 runtime, via a GTX 970 which is connected over Thunderbolt). The reason it works, I believe, is because we're removing the iGPU/Optimus hardware limitation that prevents the Rift being detected on most normal laptop/GTX-M setups. With an eGPU, as far as the Rift runtime is concerned, it can see a headset plugged into a desktop graphics card sat on the PCIE bus... just like in a normal PC.
However it really hinges on Elite being updated to not rely on SteamVR for the latest runtime, as although I could play plenty of stuff with this setup, SteamVR for the most part didn't want to know (the HMD would never turn on). So the one thing I most wanted to try (Elite) wouldn't work!! Eve Valkyrie worked a treat though.
Again probably just best to build a proper PC. It'll be worth it to go the proper route.
Do stay away from buying laptops - worst decision you can make to buy one for VR unless you absolutely, positively, completely MUST have a laptop that also happens to be VR capable. Not only are most not compatible but the ones that are will run hot and loud and will be far more expensive than a desktop equivalent.
Having said that... if buying laptops... aim for one with Thunderbolt 3 over USB-C. Then later in the year you can buy one of the external graphics enclosures that will be coming out which should work just fine with the Rift. Something like the Razer Blade Stealth and Razer Core will probably do the trick. It will probably work out cheaper overall than a all-in-one high-end desktop replacement, while being lighter and having better battery life, and you simply plug the external graphics enclosure in if you need the extra power/need to use VR.
Provided the Mac has Thunderbolt ports, you should be able to bolt an external GPU and monitor to it. Run under Windows this should work to drive the Rift (I can drive my Rift DK2 from my 2012 Macbook on Windows with the latest 0.8 runtime, via a GTX 970 which is connected over Thunderbolt). The reason it works, I believe, is because we're removing the iGPU/Optimus hardware limitation that prevents the Rift being detected on most normal laptop/GTX-M setups. With an eGPU, as far as the Rift runtime is concerned, it can see a headset plugged into a desktop graphics card sat on the PCIE bus... just like in a normal PC.
However it really hinges on Elite being updated to not rely on SteamVR for the latest runtime, as although I could play plenty of stuff with this setup, SteamVR for the most part didn't want to know (the HMD would never turn on). So the one thing I most wanted to try (Elite) wouldn't work!! Eve Valkyrie worked a treat though.
Again probably just best to build a proper PC. It'll be worth it to go the proper route.
Do stay away from buying laptops - worst decision you can make to buy one for VR unless you absolutely, positively, completely MUST have a laptop that also happens to be VR capable. Not only are most not compatible but the ones that are will run hot and loud and will be far more expensive than a desktop equivalent.
Having said that... if buying laptops... aim for one with Thunderbolt 3 over USB-C. Then later in the year you can buy one of the external graphics enclosures that will be coming out which should work just fine with the Rift. Something like the Razer Blade Stealth and Razer Core will probably do the trick. It will probably work out cheaper overall than a all-in-one high-end desktop replacement, while being lighter and having better battery life, and you simply plug the external graphics enclosure in if you need the extra power/need to use VR.
As much as you may not like a windows machine, and no I am not preaching it is better, it is the same hardware that is in both, but the answer generally is 'use windows for gaming' though you might be able to look into an alternative, your CPU is plenty powerful, and you can get external graphic cards docks now a days, buy one for your thunderbolt imac, and get bootcamp or similar so you can boot both mac and windows at the same time, and use windows exclusively for gaming, might be a cheaper alternative, and will allow you to keep your mac as is with near no reason to upgrade for quite some time.
Advice given, a lot of the things people feel about windows, at least in my experience don't happen, it seems to be a fear/prejudice that people seem to build up over time, maybe because they have only used OSX and iOS? I don't know, Windows and OSX are functionally more or less the same the main difference really being compatibility.
With windows, you can more or less buy any product and provided you find the right drivers (assuming they don't come with product) it will work.
With mac, you need to buy a product that supports mac, but then its just plug and work, note that any windows stamped device does the same with windows has for a while now.
Windows 10 will have dx12, vulkan and most everything else you can create of graphic api's.
Mac/OSX will only support Apple's own "metal" API, that's it no vulkan no nothing.
Does that make windows 'better' then OSX? well they use the same hardware now, so it is only the software that is the difference, and to me at least the limitations OSX would give me in my usage, are not appealing, others might not hit those limitations or mind them or whatnot.
Use what is best for you
that you are most comfortable with, but try not to write something off because of prejudice and a few bad experiences, bad experiences can happen everywhere, sure it might not happen on OSX for you, but it does for others, and same with windows, so use what you enjoy just know that windows isn't as bad as some make it out to be, from my experience repairing computers, Window's simply allows for many more user errors, but they are mostly, user errors. OSX limits people, so there's a limited amount of user errors there, a good thing when things need to just work though definitely, but the reason it usually doesn't "just work" is user error.
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Yeah, this is why PS4 has the little box with it, that there is extra processing and graphical performance, external gpu and cpu to assist ps4 from my understanding, smart move by them.
Great replies guys - thank you.
Just realised that Thunderbolt2+ could be required to run external GPU well enough to drive the Rift... sadly my iMac is the version just before T2 come on it so is only T1 capable )-:
...it has USB3 though
i don't mind windows that much but I've a hell of a lot of software that are Mac only versions so would only use a machine running windows for the purpose of getting into VR. Maybe later in the year folk will start selling of their capable machine to upgrade to the latest and/or prices will come down for the basic capable parts <wishful emoji>+<optimistic emoji> I used to build my PCs way back in Windows95 through to XP so it could be a fun new hobby on Win10
Just realised that Thunderbolt2+ could be required to run external GPU well enough to drive the Rift... sadly my iMac is the version just before T2 come on it so is only T1 capable )-:
...it has USB3 though
i don't mind windows that much but I've a hell of a lot of software that are Mac only versions so would only use a machine running windows for the purpose of getting into VR. Maybe later in the year folk will start selling of their capable machine to upgrade to the latest and/or prices will come down for the basic capable parts <wishful emoji>+<optimistic emoji> I used to build my PCs way back in Windows95 through to XP so it could be a fun new hobby on Win10
![[VR] Mad Mike](https://forums-cdn.zaonce.net/data/avatars/m/27/27910.jpg?1553527108){kind=avatar}
honestly, if you are not going to get a gaming pc if it were me, i think i would either cancel the rift, or gamble on profitiering from it on launch (fairly safe gamble if your conscience is clear ) and buy a ps4 with PS VR. It wont be as good a VR experience as a high end PC on vive or rift, but imo your mac is simply not up to it, even if you dual boot, and even if the mobile chip ends up running in VR, it is a long way off ED minimum spec.
I am not, i have a 6core i7 at 4.3ghz, and an overclocked gtx980 and yet still in places ED is a less than optimal experience, and that is on the less system demanding DK2. I am expecting to have to upgrade my GPU quite soon after i get cv1.
ps no mac hating from me, its just how it is imo.
I am not, i have a 6core i7 at 4.3ghz, and an overclocked gtx980 and yet still in places ED is a less than optimal experience, and that is on the less system demanding DK2. I am expecting to have to upgrade my GPU quite soon after i get cv1.
ps no mac hating from me, its just how it is imo.
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