Oculus VR Headsets System Requirements

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Don’t be fooled by classic listings of Oculus VR system requirements. When connected to a PC, you’re not getting anywhere near good enough settings and frame rates without at least investing in a modern (Ryzen 3000/Intel 10th Gen or later) 4-core processor and a Geforce GTX 1060 6GB or Radeon RX 580 graphics card. Even then, your resolution would most likely require scaling down to achieve the minimum frame rates necessary for an improved immersive experience.

Of course, there will still be some variations between Oculus VR headsets, which we will point out through our system recommendations below. Though you have to remember, it’s not just enjoyability that is at stake when playing VR at less optimal hardware configuration. Your very well-being is involved. Visually disturbing sub-60 Hz refresh rates aside, intermittent stutters, and screen flickering would outright cause motion sickness if not paid attention to properly. But that should be a worry as long as your PC meets at least the minimum system requirements provided below.

How to Check Your Computer Specs

How to Check if Your Computer is VR Ready

Aside from comparing the relative performance of your individual CPU and GPU to systems that have been tested on actual VR games, you can also use several benchmarking tools to get a more quantitative measurement.

For example, the SteamVR Performance Test uses a 2-minute rendered in-game sequence, determining if your system can handle the resolution and can maintain the target 72 FPS throughout the brief session. Aside from a base performance chart and score, you will also get an assessment of which components are the bottlenecks, those that would require upgrades or replacement.

Other VR benchmarking tools available for the Oculus Quest and Quest 2:

VRMark – more benchmark fine-tuning options, frame-by-frame analysis
FCAT VR – Nvidia’s own VR benchmarking tool
OpenVR – optimized for actual headset testing and community comparisons

Official website: oculus.com

Oculus Quest and Oculus Quest 2 System Requirements (With Air Link PC)

Official recommended computer requirements for Oculus Quest and Oculus Quest 2

CPU	Intel Core i5-4590 AMD Ryzen 5 1500X or greater
GPU	NVIDIA GTX 970 AMD Radeon RX 480 or greater
Memory	8GB+ RAM
OS	Windows 10, Windows 11
USB Ports	x1 USB 3.0 port
Video Out	Strong and stable WiFi connection

Ideal minimum computer requirements for Oculus Quest and Quest 2

Based on stable frame rates low to medium settings for around 80% scaled resolution per eye targeting 72 FPS average. Use DLSS 2.3 and FSR 2.0 as necessary.

CPU	AMD Ryzen 3 3100 (4C/8T, Zen 2) Intel Core i3 10100(F) (4C/8T, 10th Gen Comet Lake)
GPU	NVIDIA Geforce GTX 1660 AMD Radeon RX 590
Memory	16GB+ RAM
OS	Windows 10, Windows 11
USB Ports	x1 USB 3.0 port
Video Out	Strong and stable WiFi connection

The ideal recommended computer requirements for Oculus Quest and Quest 2

Based on stable frame rates for medium per-eye 1440p full resolution targeting 75 FPS average.

CPU	AMD Ryzen 5 3600 (6C/12T, Zen 2) Intel Core i5 11400(F) (6C/12T, 11th Gen Rocket Lake)
GPU	NVIDIA Geforce RTX 2070 Super / Geforce RTX 3060 AMD Radeon RX 5700 XT / RX 6600 XT
Memory	16GB+ RAM
OS	Windows 10, Windows 11
USB Ports	x1 USB 3.0 port
Video Out	Strong and stable WiFi connection

Oculus Quest and Oculus Quest 2 supported GPUs

The Oculus Link cable itself is not an absolute necessity, as you can use any third-party cable with one USB-C and one USB Type-A connection at each end. That being said, you still need a sturdy, certified USB 3.0 signal-carrying cable that maintains data fidelity at more than three meters to ensure that no data stutters intermittently occur.

If your GPU has a relatively new architecture (year 2020+) and is not listed here, it is possible to still make the Oculus Quest and Oculus Quest 2 work. There are no absolute guarantees on compatibility, however.

Nvidia GPUs

NVIDIA GeForce GTX 970
NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1060 (6GB, Desktop)
NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1070
NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1080
NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1080 Ti
NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1060M
NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1650
NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1650 Super
NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1660 Super
NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1660 Ti
NVIDIA GeForce GTX TITAN X
NVIDIA GeForce GTX TITAN Black
NVIDIA RTX 20-Series
NVIDIA RTX 30-Series

AMD GPUs

AMD 400 Series
AMD 500 Series
AMD 5000 Series
AMD 6000 Series
AMD Vega Series

Oculus Rift and Oculus Rift S System Requirements

Official minimum computer requirements for Oculus Rift and Rift S

CPU	Intel Core i3-6100 AMD Ryzen 3 1200, FX4350
GPU	NVIDIA GTX 1050 Ti AMD Radeon RX 470
Memory	8GB+ RAM
OS	Windows 10
USB Ports	1x USB 3.0, 2x USB 2.0 ports
Video Out	Compatible HDMI 1.3 video output

Official recommended computer requirements for Oculus Rift and Rift S

CPU	Intel Core i5-4590 AMD Ryzen 5 1500X or greater
GPU	NVIDIA GTX 1060 AMD Radeon RX 480 or greater
Memory	8GB+ RAM
OS	Windows 10
USB Ports	1x USB 3.0 port
Video Out	Compatible DisplayPort output

Ideal minimum computer requirements for Oculus Rift and Rift S

Based on stable gaming frame rates with low to medium settings for per-eye 1440p full resolution targeting at least 72 FPS on mildly demanding VR titles. Use DLSS 2.3 and FSR 2.0 as necessary for even better framerate stabilization.

CPU	AMD Ryzen 5 3600 (6C/12T, Zen 2) Intel Core i5 10400(F) (6C/12T, 10th Gen Comet Lake)
GPU	NVIDIA Geforce RTX 2060 AMD Radeon RX 6600
Memory	16GB+ RAM
OS	Windows 10, Windows 11
USB Ports	3x USB 3.0, 1x USB 2.0 ports
Video Out	Compatible HDMI 1.3 video output

Ideal recommended computer requirements for Oculus Rift and Rift S

Based on stable gaming frame rates with medium settings for per-eye 1440p full resolution targeting 80 FPS average. Again, use DLSS 2.3 and FSR 2.0 as necessary for even better framerate stabilization.

CPU	AMD Ryzen 5 5600 non-X (6C/12T, Zen 3) Intel Core i5 12400(F) (6C/12T, 12th Gen Alder Lake)
GPU	NVIDIA Geforce RTX 3060 Ti AMD Radeon RX 6700 XT
Memory	16GB+ RAM
OS	Windows 10, Windows 11
USB Ports	1x USB 3.0 port
Video Out	Compatible DisplayPort video output

Oculus Rift and Oculus Rift S Supported GPUs

All GPUs released at a later date than the ones listed here (Geforce RTX 16-series, 20-series, 30-series, Radeon RX 5000 series, 6000 series, ARC Alchemist) are also officially supported:

Nvidia GPUs

AMD GPUs

AMD Radeon R9 290
AMD Radeon R9 290X
AMD Radeon R9 390
AMD Radeon R9 390X
AMD Radeon R9 Fury
AMD Radeon R9 Fury X
AMD Radeon R9 Nano
AMD FirePro W9100
AMD FirePro WX7100
AMD FirePro WX7100 (Laptop)
AMD Radeon RX 480
AMD Radeon RX 570
AMD Radeon RX 580
AMD Radeon RX 580 Mobile

Final Thoughts

The Oculus Rift, despite being released as a complete, commercial product in 2016, had the correct design foresight to go with higher 1440p as the minimum fidelity standard. The Oculus Quest and Oculus Quest 2 at least though, for the most part, provided that portable VR gaming experience regardless of the enormous hardware challenges of these display requirements.

In fact, this focus on picture quality is still reflected in how the Oculus product series maintained almost the same resolution throughout the years. Later products simply opted for small reductions, in favor of higher refresh rates, even as we crawl very slowly towards high-refresh-rate 4K gaming. Thus, for the foreseeable future, any reliable 1440p (per-eye) gaming setup should be able to take on VR gaming using the Oculus VR headsets without having to worry about taking the user on a figurative vomit comet.

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