About a month back, Microsoft had announced the release of its VR headsets for Windows 10 at its Surface event .True to its words, Microsoft had today detailed the minimum PC specs for using its Windows 10 VR headsets. The minimum specifications were shared by the company during its WinHEC hardware event in Shenzen. These specifications beat the minimum essentials for Oculus Rift or HTC Vive.
For now, here is all you need to experience Windows 10 VR headsets:
- CPU: Intel Mobile Core i5 (e.g. 7200U) Dual-Core with Hyperthreading equivalent
- GPU: Integrated Intel® HD Graphics 620 (GT2) equivalent or greater DX12 API Capable GPU
- RAM: 8GB+ Dual Channel required for integrated graphics
- HDMI: HDMI 1.4 with 2880 x 1440 @ 60 Hz
HDMI 2.0 or DP 1.3+ with 2880 x 1440 @ 90 Hz - Storage: 100GB+ SSD (Preferred) / HDD
- Bluetooth: 4.0 and above for accessories
As perceived, VR on Windows 10 would work with integrated graphics i.e. Intel’s seventh-gen Kaby Lake processors for starters. Though the company claims that computers with dedicated graphics like Nvidia , AMD or GPU would also be able to handle the load. Microsoft is currently engaged with Intel to bring Mixed reality (augmented reality) for its users through Windows 10 platform. The project has been named as Project Evo. It is predicted that Microsoft will allow developers to test windows 10 VR headsets by February, most likely at the Game Developers Conference.
Apart from it, Microsoft also announced about its partnership with headset manufacturer 3Glasses. 3Glasses is a Chinese company specialized in manufacturing amazing VR units across globe. The partnership is in regard with the Windows Holographic platform. 3Glasses would be supporting Windows 10 for its S1 HMD next year. 3Glasses is hence an addition to the Microsoft hardware partners such as Asus and Dell.
Microsoft is yet not done with its plans, it is also planning to roll out its Hololens by first half of 2017 in China. With Hololens in market and minimum specs as detailed, it would be an all together different experience of VR. Previously Microsoft stated,” We’ve lowered the specs you need for a PC from a $1,500 system to a $500 one. So now what used to cost you $2,000 [including the headset and PC], now you can get into for $800 and it’s the most powerful, most immersive experience.”, which now seems being replicated.
