The world is slowly moving toward VR, and there’s no turning back. Along with this, laptops have also come a long way and have gotten significantly more powerful over the years.
Before we move on to the specs required for running every VR headset, it’s important that you first check your laptop specs.
Check your Laptop Specs
To check all the following specs, you can check them in Task Manager. Just right-click on the taskbar and click on Task Manager. After that, click on Performance, and you will have all the key specs on hand.
CPU
When it comes to your laptop’s CPU, you should at least have something like a 10th gen Core i5 processor.
Playing VR games is quite demanding, and you would need a CPU that is not only amazing at single-core performance but also excels at multi-threaded workloads.
Make sure your processor has at least 4 cores and supports hyperthreading.
GPU
Speaking of the GPU, your laptop should have something like a GTX 1070 mobile. Though if your laptop is anything modern and has something like an RTX 3060 or better, you should be fine
As I said earlier, VR games can be demanding for your laptop. And you would need a GPU that could do the heavy lifting for your games.
Make sure your laptop has an Nvidia GPU from the Pascal architecture or something newer.
Ports
Connectivity is often overlooked when we talk about specs. However, when it comes to connecting your VR headset to your laptop, you need to have the appropriate ports.
Your laptop should have at least one Displayport port via USB C, and it should also have at least one USB 3.0 Type-A port.
What specs do VR headsets require to function?
Specs required for HTC Vive
Minimum Requirements
- Intel Core i5-4590/AMD FX 8350 equivalent or better
- NVIDIA GeForce GTX 970, AMD Radeon R9 290 equivalent, or better
- 4 GB RAM or more
- HDMI 1.4, DisplayPort 1.2 or newer
- 1x USB 2.0 or newer
- Windows 10 or later
Recommended Requirements
- Intel Core i5-4590/AMD FX 8350 equivalent or better
- NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1060, AMD Radeon RX 480 equivalent, or better
- 4 GB RAM or more
- HDMI 1.4, DisplayPort 1.2 or newer
- 1x USB 2.0 or newer
- Windows 10 or later
Specs required for Valve Index
Minimum requirements
- Dual Core Processor with Hyperthreading
- 8GB RAM
- GeForce GTX 970 / AMD RX480
- Displayport 1.2 or newer and USB 2.0 port or newer
- Windows 10 or later, Steam OS, Linux
Recommended requirements
- A quad-core processor
- 16GB RAM
- GTX 1070 or better
- USB 3.0 port or newer for Headset Pass Through camera
Specs required for Meta Quest 2
NOTE: Meta Quest can function as a stand-alone VR headset without needing a PC. However, if you plan to play games on it via PC, here are the specs you need.
Minimum/Recommended requirements
- Intel i5 4590 / Ryzen 5 1500X or greater
- 8GB RAM
- Windows 10 or newer
- One USB port
- GTX 970 or GTX 1060 6GB or greater
- The following GPUs are not supported: GTX 1060 Mobile, GTX 1650, AMD 200 and 300 series.
Use tools to test your Laptop’s VR capability
Steam VR Performance Tool
To test if your laptop is VR-ready. You can download the Steam VR Performance tool from the Steam store. The tool evaluates your laptop’s ability to run VR games by running a 2min benchmark.
It test if your laptop’s is bottlenecked by a specific component, such as a poor CPU or a weak GPU. After evaluating your laptops, it shows you a scale that shows how capable your laptop is of running VR games.
You can download the Steam VR Performance tool from here.
You might also wanna read…
How to upgrade your laptop (Detailed Guide)
Is your laptop good for gaming? (Here’s how to check it)
Here’s why your Gaming Laptop is overheating (And how to fix it)
