Cheapest VR Gaming

[Sasha B]

I am looking for a cheap VR gaming experience. I haven’t built a computer myself yet, partially because of my lack of funds. I used my college’s HTC Vive and was amazed by the experience. I have briefly looked into the Oculus Go but wondered if that was the best option. How many many games supported? And what is the experience on it versus a Vive? I’m also not against PlayStation VR, if it offers more support than the Oculus Go. Please help!

[Tristerin]

Just now, Sasha B said:

I am looking for a cheap VR gaming experience. I haven’t built a computer myself yet, partially because of my lack of funds. I used my college’s HTC Vive and was amazed by the experience. I have briefly looked into the Oculus Go but wondered if that was the best option. How many many games supported? And what is the experience on it versus a Vive? I’m also not against PlayStation VR, if it offers more support than the Oculus Go. Please help!

A T3500 Workstation with an X5690 for $220 shipped off Newegg - 6 cores/ 12 threads, will need an HDD or SSD and an Operating system (free OS just stair at a watermark)

Add an HDD, cheapest possible, but I would get an SSD because...prices are good to go and much better than an HDD

Free OS

Buy a GTX 1060 3gb or RX 580 4gb

Buy the Lenovo Explorer headset and handsets for way cheaper and enjoy your very cheap VR rig.

[Happycowdance]

the minimum gpu is a 1060 or rx580 of you dont get one of those the experience can cause nausea 

as a cpu i would recommend at least an i5 or r5 2500 

 

for a headset read the review on the go if you are considering picking it up i only have used the rift and vive and they were pretty similar in experience 

 

[Sasha B]

5 minutes ago, Happycowdance said:

the minimum gpu is a 1060 or rx580 of you dont get one of those the experience can cause nausea 

as a cpu i would recommend at least an i5 or 2500 

 

for a headset read the review on the go if you are considering picking it up i only have used the rift and vive and they were pretty similar in experience 

 

Forgive my ignorance, but where can I find the review on the Oculus Go?

[Blancaster]

The absolute cheapest VR experience you can get would be the PSVR. You can get a PS4 for $200 and the PSVR for $200. So a total of $400 for a decent VR experience.

[iLostMyXbox21]

1 minute ago, Blancaster said:

The absolute cheapest VR experience you can get would be the PSVR. You can get a PS4 for $200 and the PSVR for $200. So a total of $400 for a decent VR experience.

not one with the headset, eye, and controllers, those go for about $300 but mostly come with a game too

[Happycowdance]

2 minutes ago, Sasha B said:

Forgive my ignorance, but where can I find the review on the Oculus Go?

search oculus Go review on youtube or on google 

maybe check the amazon review to

[Tristerin]

Damn they went up in price since Ive been espousing their awesomeness...T3500 with an X5690 is 240 shipped.

 

https://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=9SIAC0F7F37919&Description=X5690 workstation&cm_re=X5690_workstation-_-1VK-001E-0V0S5-_-Product $240

https://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820331049&Description=TeamGroup SSD&cm_re=TeamGroup_SSD-_-20-331-049-_-Product $55

Windows 10 - Free

https://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=9SIACYB88F2172&Description=Lenovo explorer&cm_re=Lenovo_explorer-_-9SIACYB88F2172-_-Product $190

https://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=9SIAD2C72R7991&Description=RX 580 4gb&cm_re=RX_580_4gb-_-14-150-797-_-Product $180

 

Can work in sales on the GPU and get an 8gb for same price

 

$665 VR ready PC.

 

[Blancaster]

1 minute ago, iLostMyXbox21 said:

not one with the headset, eye, and controllers, those go for about $300 but mostly come with a game too

Alright, so $500 for the complete package. Still the cheapest.

[Sasha B]

2 minutes ago, Blancaster said:

The absolute cheapest VR experience you can get would be the PSVR. You can get a PS4 for $200 and the PSVR for $200. So a total of $400 for a decent VR experience.

The Oculus Go is $250 and offers more games to the extent of my knowledge, but do you think the PSVR offers a better experience I’m open to it, but for $200 or $300 more I’m a little uneasy. 

[samcool55]

The thing with VR is, you either do it right, or don't bother with it.

I have a Vive myself and tried the oculus as well. There is a surprisingly big difference between the 2 and imo the vive is much better than the rift.

The thing that makes VR an actual good experience is roomscale stuff. Even if you play something that's designed for standing up the fact you can move around a bit helps a LOT immersive wise.

 

My personal rig has an R5 1600 and an rx 480, works surprisingly well but as other have said, it's the minimum for a decent experience.

[iLostMyXbox21]

1 minute ago, Sasha B said:

The Oculus Go is $250 and offers more games to the extent of my knowledge, but do you think the PSVR offers a better experience I’m open to it, but for $200 or $300 more I’m a little uneasy. 

but with the oculus go you still need a good pc which can cost about $500 or more.. and THEN the $250 headset so the minimum is around $750 for pc

 

plus PS4 is steppnig up its game when it comes to vr in fact i might get one soon idk 

 

 

 

[Sasha B]

6 minutes ago, Tristerin said:

Damn they went up in price since Ive been espousing their awesomeness...T3500 with an X5690 is 240 shipped.

 

https://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=9SIAC0F7F37919&Description=X5690 workstation&cm_re=X5690_workstation-_-1VK-001E-0V0S5-_-Product $240

https://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820331049&Description=TeamGroup SSD&cm_re=TeamGroup_SSD-_-20-331-049-_-Product $55

Windows 10 - Free

https://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=9SIACYB88F2172&Description=Lenovo explorer&cm_re=Lenovo_explorer-_-9SIACYB88F2172-_-Product $190

https://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=9SIAD2C72R7991&Description=RX 580 4gb&cm_re=RX_580_4gb-_-14-150-797-_-Product $180

 

Can work in sales on the GPU and get an 8gb for same price

 

$665 VR ready PC.

 

I’m not sure I can scrape together $650 and a headset I’m afraid, considering I will also have to buy games. So in this case I think I will just wait this one out. 

[Arika]

google cardboard

 

https://vr.google.com/cardboard/

 

about $5

[Blancaster]

6 minutes ago, Sasha B said:

The Oculus Go is $250 and offers more games to the extent of my knowledge, but do you think the PSVR offers a better experience I’m open to it, but for $200 or $300 more I’m a little uneasy. 

I have not tried the Oculus Go, but I will say the PSVR is a good experience.

[Princess Luna]

Ryzen 5 1400 and a second hand GTX 980

[TopHatProductions115]

@Arika S But not all Android smartphones are VR capable. This will depend entirely upon what phone the OP has.

 

Perhaps this OEM build will do (sourced from eBay): 

•   150 USD :: https://www.ebay.com/itm/Dell-Precision-T7500-Workstation-Barebones-No-CPU-No-RAM-No-HDD-No-OS/172504815503
•     71 USD :: https://www.ebay.com/itm/Intel-Xeon-X5690-Six-Core-3-46GHz-SLBVX-CPU-12MB-Cache-CPU-Processor/163375772927
• (2)56 USD :: https://www.ebay.com/itm/1X-16GB-DDR3-HP-500207-071-Micron-MT72JSZS2G72PZ-1G1-4Rx4-PC3-8500R-ECC-REG/183554135852
•     30 USD :: https://www.ebay.com/itm/NetApp-108-00242-A0-Hitachi-0F10939-HUA722020ALA330-2TB-7-2K-RPM-3-5-Hard-Drive/323185598181
•     55 USD :: https://www.ebay.com/itm/Intel-545s-2-5-512GB-SATA-III-64-Layer-3D-NAND-Internal-Solid-State-Drive-SSD/382142736339
•   275 USD :: https://www.ebay.com/itm/NVIDIA-GeForce-GTX-1070-8GB-GDDR5-PCI-Express-3-0-Video-Card/323563835899
•  (2)5 USD :: https://www.ebay.com/itm/Hard-Drive-Caddy-YJ221-For-Dell-Optiplex-320-330-360-620-740-745-755-760-780-960/323279306512
• If onboard audio gets on your bad side, look for an audio card. Ask the T7500 seller if they can include a CPU cooler with the barebones, for convenience.
• The T7500 comes with an optical drive, and provides case+mobo+cooling+PSU for you.
• Used Windows 10 Pro/Enterprise keys can be had for under 10 USD, so happy hunting...

Total :: 642 USD

[Tristerin]

1 hour ago, Sasha B said:

I’m not sure I can scrape together $650 and a headset I’m afraid, considering I will also have to buy games. So in this case I think I will just wait this one out. 

That price includes the Lenovo Explorer + hand controllers fyi.  Look at reviews for all the products(Vive, Rift, Explorer), youtube is great.

[Sasha B]

3 hours ago, iLostMyXbox21 said:

not one with the headset, eye, and controllers, those go for about $300 but mostly come with a game too

Does PSVR just do 90 FPS or does it do more

[iLostMyXbox21]

9 minutes ago, Sasha B said:

Does PSVR just do 90 FPS or does it do more

i think just 90

[trufret]

13 hours ago, iLostMyXbox21 said:

but with the oculus go you still need a good pc which can cost about $500 or more.. and THEN the $250 headset so the minimum is around $750 for pc

 

plus PS4 is steppnig up its game when it comes to vr in fact i might get one soon idk 

 

 

 

The Oculus GO does not require a PC. It is a stand alone, 3 degree of freedom, headset most similar to the GearVR or other phone based VR headsets just without the need to put your phone in it.  You do not have fully tracked hand controllers and cannot move around the space or track depth.  It's more for watching media and more passive game experiences.

 

PSVR is better but requires a PS4 or better yet PS4 Pro. You do get 6 degrees of freedom for tracking but you must be facing the camera so experiences are only 180 degrees. You cannot fully turn around. The tracking accuracy for the wands and headset also aren't super accurate.

 

Oculus Rift, HTC Vive, Windows Mixed Reality Headsets are all 6 degree of freedom with fully tracked motion controllers and full 360 tracking but will require a decently powerful gaming PC (modern 4 core or better CPU with a 1060 or 580 or better GPU and 8 GB Ram) to have a good overall experience with most games.

 

Oculus Quest ,coming out in the spring, is a standalone 6 degree of freedom headset with tracked motion controls.  It uses hardware similar to phone VR but has the tracking capability of PC VR.  This will likely be the sweet spot for someone wanting to try good quality fully tracked VR for around $400 USD without having to buy a console or PC to power it.  It should also have decent quality games as it will use Oculus's curated store but you will likely be tied to only that store.

 

If you want a VR experience that can offer all of the things that the Vive does you're going to have to look at the PC VR headsets or the Oculus Quest when it comes out or to a lesser extent the PSVR if you are ok with the poorer tracking quality.

[iLostMyXbox21]

26 minutes ago, trufret said:

better yet PS4 Pro

you can have a ps4 slim with vr if you wanted.. which is the cheaper of all 3 ps4 systems

 

27 minutes ago, trufret said:

The Oculus GO does not require a PC

oh it doesnt? i thought it did my bad