| You can go really cheap: AMD 8300+$40 mobo/stock cooler +500w psu + gtx 970 + generic mouse/keyboard/monitor + $30 case + 8GB ram + $20 SSD and come out around ~$600. For an upgradeable Intel solution with a decent SSD/HDD, 16GB of ram, huge case, and a hybrid water cooler: ~$945. In my situation, I bought a 980ti, Corsair 750w PSU, GPU/CPU hybrid coolers, and new case. It was around ~950, but my older 2600k is keeping up with the times. I'm also doing neural networks/Vive game dev. I really wanted to wait for Nvidia to relase their Pascal line before buying a video card. That makes my jump into VR/AI cost around 2k (~1000 PC components, ~900 Vive). Yet, a long awaited upgrade. My 4850 video card is from 2008 and could still play current games in lower settings/resolutions. Side bar: because my GPU wasn't a reference board the hybrid cooler would not mount. I had to hacksaw my brand new card's heatsink and zip tie the fan back to it for the VRM/ram cooling. Anxiety was an understatement. Luckily, the 980ti idles at 75F now and maxes at 120F (from idle 120F/max 180F). http://i.imgur.com/mgdPXwE.jpg |
These solutions here are on the low end. Will they still be able to run new VR games in three years? That's another barrier. If I'm shelling out a bunch of money for dedicated PC for my VR headset, I expect it to run new games for at least five years.
On top of that, all of these solutions require people to build their own PCs. Most people don't do this. So the more relevant question is, how much will it cost a consumer to get an off-the-shelf PC that can run all of the launch Rift games?
I'm waiting at least a few years before trying VR. I don't have a desktop, and if I got one just for VR, I would want to make sure the VR solutions are really mature and must haves. Nothing today is anywhere near there, and I expect most consumers feel the same way.
It may be that VR doesn't take off until there are good Playstation and Xbox VR solutions that work right out of the box.