What the inflated cost of GPUs means for VR — and what you can do about it

Why the price of graphics cards is ruining your VR fun (and what you can do about it)

Some of the all-time VR experiences a person tin take come from a arrangement that's hooked up to a PC. Whether it'south Windows Mixed Reality (WMR), HTC Vive, or Oculus Rift, the library of high quality, AAA titles available continues to abound, many requiring bulky hardware in order to run properly. The RAM and processor (CPU) are both important, only the main piece of a high-stop VR-ready PC is the graphics menu (GPU). If yous've been shopping for a gaming PC lately, you've no dubiety discovered that GPU prices are awfully inflated, frequently to the bespeak of beingness prohibitively expensive. While high-finish GPUs normally don't come inexpensive, in that location's a main reason why you now take to re-mortgage your dwelling house to buy an NVIDIA GTX 1080 Ti ... if you can find one at all.

Cryptocurrency mining has taken off in a big way

If you await at where most GPUs are going these days, it's into the cryptocurrency mines. There'due south been a lot of press surrounding Bitcoin and its ups and downs, but for the most part, it's not being mined with the GPUs we've come to expect at a consumer level.

Yet, at that place are plenty more than cryptocurrencies getting a start, and some, like Ethereum, can exist mined with GPUs that would unremarkably drive a great gaming and VR feel. Ownership a new GPU (or eight) isn't every bit big of a deal if y'all await to get a massive return on your investment, and so they're being gobbled up a lot quicker than ever before.

An average gamer won't turn a profit by running a Vive or Rift, so information technology's more than difficult to justify a purchase.

Even as prices rise, crypto-miners will continue to buy out stock since the return on investment remains high. Most gamers who are looking to upgrade an existing PC or build a new one from scratch generally take time and care to plan out a build, simply when it comes time to pick a GPU, there'due south likely going to exist a big letdown.

An average gamer won't exist turning a profit past running a Vive or Rift, then it's much more difficult to justify a purchase. VR games and headsets are merely going to become more GPU-intensive, and there doesn't seem to be much of a stopping point to crypto mining, at to the lowest degree until (or if) the bubble bursts.

Don't purchase a graphics card right now unless you lot really take to

Can y'all still have a virtual good time?

Can you still have a virtual good time?

If you lot were lucky enough to upgrade your PC before the crypto-GPU inflation, you're likely sitting pretty, enjoying an awesome VR feel. If, yet, y'all were waiting to upgrade and are now stuck in limbo with an old GPU that can't quite break into the VR sweet spot, all hope is not lost.

Software updates, including asynchronous reprojection, asynchronous spacewarp, and asynchronous timewarp, have increasingly brought down the minimum arrangement requirements for the Rift and Vive. Y'all still need a decent PC to run the higher-end games, but at an entry level, yous'll still be able to detect some affordable GPUs. WMR, the lightest (on newspaper) of the VR systems when information technology comes to PC requirements, is still appreciative to the requirements of individual games.

WMR system requirements (and how they compare to Rift and Vive

For a PC that's seemingly merely on the edge of a decent VR experience, you might be able to eke out a fleck more than performance with some tweaks. Employ our guide to your advantage!

How to ensure the best VR performance from your PC

Buy an acting GPU

Buy an interim GPU

While upgrading your PC with a new GTX 1080 Ti GPU likely won't happen for quite some time without seriously damaging your upkeep, in that location are still plenty of affordable options that sit lower on the performance spectrum. Y'all might not have the all-time VR experience possible, but you'll however be able to have a lot of fun with a headset strapped to your face up.

Exist certain to bank check out our continuously-updated roundup of the best deals on GPUs for anyone who tin't wait for prices to return to normal.

All-time deals on graphics cards nosotros could find

If you're curious almost other GPU options and upgrading your PC, crypto-inflation or not, take a look at these other articles that contain way more than data.

Best GPU for gaming in 2022
The ultimate GPU heir-apparent's guide
How to upgrade your PC's GPU
Everything you need to know about the GPU

Buy a pre-built PC

People without a PC that tin can properly power VR might likewise be interested in a new pre-congenital rig. You don't get the same satisfaction from powering on your cosmos for the first time, but ultimately it's going to deliver the performance needed to accept a good experience.

Whereas you lot or I walking into a store and picking out a GPU will see a certain price, huge manufacturers like Dell, HP, and Lenovo aren't quite as beholden to the inflated market. If you don't mind ownership a completely new setup, have a look at our collection of laptop and desktop PC roundups of devices suitable for VR.

Best desktop PC for VR in 2022
Best laptop for VR in 2022
All-time Dell PC for VR in 2022
Best desktop PCs for WMR in 2022
Best laptops for WMR in 2022

Your thoughts

What type of GPU are you using in your gaming rig? Are y'all stuck with what you take because of inflated prices? How soon practise you think the cryptocurrency chimera volition pop, if at all? Allow us know in the comments department!

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