It has plenty of USB ports on the back, including a USB-C port and 10 USB-A ports. In keeping with the spaceship aesthetic, Alienware Aurora R12 comes in two colors: "Lunar Light" and "Dark Side of the Moon." Its air flow is also guaranteed thanks to well-engineered intakes and exhausts.Ī front-panel USB-C 3.2 Gen 2 port, as well as three USB-A ports, make it easy to connect VR headsets without having to reach around the back like with other PCs. However, the R11 is more likely to be found in retail than the R12, so we included specs for both as only RAM and storage are differentiating factors. Compared to the 16 GB of memory in its predecessor, the R12 went up to 64GB of RAM, and storage was boosted from a 512GB SSD plus 1TB HDD to a 1TB SSD plus a 2TB HDD, all for the same initial retail price. When upgrading its Intel i7 offering -there is a sibling with AMD Ryzen for those who prefer AMD CPUs- Alienware chose to stick with the same 11700F CPU with liquid cooling and the same beefy Nvidia RTX3080 graphics card with 10GB of VRAM, while increasing storage capacity and RAM.
Those who work in VR design will appreciate its futuristic look. In terms of design, the Alienware Aurora series stands out because it ditched the "square box design with a glass side panel" common to other gaming PCs in favor of a spaceship inspired design. It's a shame, however, that the USB-C port placement is at the back.
It has an array of USB ports -even USB 3.2 Gen 2 at 10Gbps - so hooking up your VR positioning sensors will be easy. Its semi-transparent tempered glass side panel shows off these features but at the same time allows easy access to the components without needing tools. There are other configurations available at retail, such as one with a 2TB SSD plus 2TB HDD with 64 GB RAM. It features a fast PCIe SSD along with a powerful 1TB hard drive for plenty of room for VR development and apps. We went with the AMD Ryzen 5 with six cores and 16GB of RAM.
This PC is a consumer market PC rather than a workstation, so you will pay a fair price. This sleek PC from HP, called the Omen 30L, packs some seriously fast components into a narrow and elegant chassis with nice design elements that enhance its aesthetics.
With the industry moving fast, it is easy to get on the wrong train when you're working with portable VR and end up with old equipment or outdated technology.Īs gaming PCs are resource-intensive in terms of CPU, RAM and GPU, they are very well suited to virtual reality.
If you are using a PC for VR, you can upgrade it as your or your headset requirements grow, either by adding more RAM or upgrading the GPU. standalone VR, but so far many users confirm space tracking is more accurate on a PC VR headset than on a standalone unit and that's leaving aside the upgradeability issue altogether.
There is still much debate about PC-bound vs.
However, they have fixed specs and cannot be upgraded. This is because standalone VR headsets include their own processor, memory, and GPU, along with their own batteries, they do not require a PC to deliver a VR experience. Those new to the field might be tempted by the cheaper option: standalone virtual reality headsets.
In this way, developers can create a truly immersive VR experience in high-definition thanks to GPUs and CPUs at the cutting edge of technology, thus enabling VR to develop to its full potential. The benefits of virtual reality on a PC are better graphics and a higher processing speed in comparison to a standalone VR system. (Image credit: Craig Russell / Shutterstock) Why go PC-bound and not solo?