360 rumors

​ A couple of days ago, NVidia announced that they were making VR-ready desktop GPUs available for notebooks.  Specifically, NVidia would put the VR-Ready GTX 1060, GTX 1070, and GTX 1080 in notebooks.  These aren't watered-down M versions, but nearly identical to their desktop counterparts.  This achievement was made possible by the efficient Pascal architecture.  See the official announcement here . I wondered how long it would take for the actual products to show up.  To my surprise, they're actually now available and in stock at B&H , starting at $1499. Please note that these notebooks have VR-ready graphics cards, but you'll also need to make sure the USB ports are compatible.  In that regard: - Oculus Rift requires three USB 3.0 and one USB 2.0 port .  When the Oculus Touch comes out, it will add a second sensor, which I believe will require another USB 3.0 port .  One of the USB 3.0 ports will be for the upcoming Oculus Touch,...

The cost of a VR-ready PC is steadily decreasing, thanks largely to lower cost VR-ready graphics cards, like the GTX 1060.  In my case, I've been able to get a VR-ready PC for around $540.   I got an old Dell T3500 workstation from eBay for $270, which worked surprisingly very well for stitching 360 videos .  I then added a GTX 1060 graphics card .  The previous card I got was the NVidia Founders Edition, but it wouldn't fit my case.  I then ordered the smaller Zotac GTX 1060 Mini.  I got mine from B&H Photo for $270. Compared to the Founders Edition, the Zotac looks very simple, almost spartan.  But it's also much more compact, which is what I need. Here it is, next to my previous EVGA GTX 750 Ti card. I was relieved to find that it did indeed fit the case -- just barely. I ran the HTC Vive VR Readiness test.  As with the Founders Edition, it's rated "high," although the score is a little lower than with the Founders Edition (7.9 vs. 8.1). Z...

The VR-ready GTX 1060 graphics card is in stock at Amazon for $255 (just $5 over MSRP), with Prime shipping!  By comparison, the street price for the GTX 1060 has been around $300 to $350. This deal is not going to last! Update : yup, it didn't last.  Sold out at $250.  Now back to $292.39 + $9.63 shipping. RELATED POSTS: VR-ready PC for under $600 with GTX 1060 Brand new VR-Ready PC for $720

​ NVidia offered to settle the GTX 970 class action lawsuit by giving buyers a $30 rebate. In February 2015, NVidia was sued for false advertising in connection with its GTX 970 VR-ready graphics card.  Users noticed that although the GTX 970 was advertised as having 4GB of RAM, its performance dropped when the RAM usage exceeded 3.5GB.  It turned out that the GTX 970's RAM was made up of two components: a 3.5 GB component and a much slower 512MB component.  The GTX 970 also had only 56 render output processors (ROPs) instead of the advertised 64. The GTX 970 average retail price was around $350 in February 2015.  NVidia's settlement offer is not final until approved by the court.

One of the obstacles to using a desktop VR system such as the Oculus Rift (previewed here) or HTC Vive is the high cost of a VR-ready PC, which is generally at least $1,000.   However, I was able to cobble together a VR-ready PC for $600, thanks to the new NVidia GTX 1060.  Hit the jump to see its performance! I got an old Dell T3500 workstation powered by an Intel Xeon W3565 quad-core processor.  I got mine for just $270 (with 15GB RAM).   It performs very well for 4k video rendering .  You can get one on eBay for around $250. Then I got a new graphics card, the new NVidia GTX 1060.  The one I got was the Founders' Edition ($299 + tax).  It came in a handsome reinforced cardboard box. It looks really high-tech, like a piece of alien technology! It is quite heavy -- heavier than my DSLR, for example -- although I've never bought a high-end graphics card before, so I don't have much frame of reference. Here is the top part, which has the logo and ...

​ The VR-ready Radeon RX 480 will be available at B&H tomorrow for $249.99 .  (You can preorder it now.)  The Radeon RX 480 is a VR-ready graphics card that is designed to be more affordable, while providing similar performance to the NVidia GTX 980.  The RX 480 is positioned against the NVidia GTX 1060 which also provides similar performance to the GTX 980.  However, the RX 480's MSRP is $200, while the GTX 1060's MSRP is $250.  Due to demand, the street price for the RX 480 is around $250 or more, while the GTX 1060 is selling for around $300.  Even at $250, the RX 480 is not easy to find in stock. Meanwhile, the GTX 1060 will be available at B&H on August 6 for $269.99  (you can also preorder now).

​ One of the most expensive components for a VR-ready PC is the graphics card.  NVidia is targeting more budget-conscious users with the GeForce GTX 1060.  At an MSRP of $250, it costs almost 1/3 less than the recently-released GTX 1070 ($380 MSRP).  At the same time, because of its advanced Pascal architecture, it offers better slightly performance than the Maxwell-based GTX 980, at a lower price (the GTX 980 is currently over $400 street). The GTX 1060 is scheduled for release on July 19.

So you might recall the old workstation that I got recently, a Dell T3500, which performed very well for rendering 4k video - 12x faster than my ~4-yr old i5 Sandy Bridge laptop ( see here ).  However, it could not stitch the photos or videos from the Samsung Gear 360 because its graphics card (Radeon X300) was very old and had no Windows 10 driver. I decided to get a decent graphics card for it.  I wanted to get the new Radeon RX 480 VR-ready graphics card so that I could use it in a future PC but I was worried about compatibility with the Dell T3500, plus it was selling around $50 more than the list price due to demand.  I opted instead to get a more modestly-priced graphics card, the NVidia GeForce GTX 750 Ti (around $120), which I had read was compatible with the T3500.  Moreover, it had low power consumption and a lower operating temperature.  And it didn't even need external power. I was tempted to get the FTW version with two huge fans but it would not ...