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The company that brought CyberPowerPC has just launched a brand new entry level Virtual Reality ready pre-made PC running on AMD’s Radeon RX 470 on board for only $499 at Amazon as well as Best Buy. This is the brand new low for a guaranteed high-quality VR-ready config, and it is likewise available as a bundle with Oculus Rift for $1,099.98, or exactly what one user would pay had he or she bought the two items independently of one other.
Notwithstanding the fact that there is no actual price break for this particular combo, this gets users closer to what we call the ‘Ready-To-Roll’ Virtual Reality rig and breakthrough Virtual Reality headset that will set you back for under $1,000 all included. The entry level machine has an AMD FX 4350 quad core and the Radeon RX 470 that has 4GB of video RAM GDDR5 for better pixel quality and better Virtual Reality experiences. There is also 8GigaByte of RAM for the system and a 1 TB for your hard drive storage which should provide more room for all of your programs or apps.
You’re still able to get into VR with more affordable PS4, which will cost $349 for the console, plus $399 for the headset, but Oculus and a PC will provide a better quality experience concerning graphics quality for demanding users.
If you are searching for a virtual reality set up, the brand new bundle is currently for sale at the Best Buy site. We are not sure if you will still need the Touch controls from Oculus to create a really good set up, but that is likely to set you back another $199. We are getting to the point where you can have a much affordable VR setup.
Virtual reality is moving towards a mainstream need. Regarding personal computer peripherals, VR gear has become an attractive add-on. The only other time a gaming peripheral was this attractive was when joysticks were still in vogue. Admittedly, joysticks still outsell VR rigs. However, the headsets and gesture sensitive gloves are getting there. The appeal of just gesturing in the air as against using a joystick or a controller is very tempting.
One thing to note about this entry-level computer setup is that it is designed to be a gaming computer from the ground up, and yet is very affordable. Another unique approach is the use of AMD Radeon, instead of the more popular and more expensive Nvidia graphics chips. Not to demean AMD, but this may be slower than other gaming desktops especially with the use of an AMD quad-core processor.
The allure of VR is not just the gaming experience, but more about the immersion into the game. With a VR headset, you would be able to see a 360-degree view of your environment. There are now a lot more games which afford the user a true 360-degree view. However, not all the VR capable games are even worth being made into a VR game.
There are other requirements for some VR systems. These include cameras setup towards the user. In most systems, these are two camera systems. The idea is that the cameras would be reading the user’s body and motions. The capturing is done in real time, and it shows in the way the user becomes an actor in the game. It would depend on what VR system would be used with the system.
VR for smartphones has taken a radical turn with the introduction of the Dreamview VR from Google. It has made smartphone VR systems more affordable. In the same manner, if the CyberpowerPC entry-level system works out, then it might make a good case for inexpensive VR systems. Before this, VR has always been marketed as an expensive toy or accessory.
If getting the masses interested in VR is the aim of the project, it may be more successful than anyone would ever have thought. The great news is that people might not be buying this for the VR capacity. Instead, regular users, as well as business users, would want this computer because it is inexpensive and can be bought for other uses. Engineering and CAD teams would be very much interested in this as a low-end VR viewer for drawings. It may be slower than other gaming rigs, but it can be retro-fitted for engineering use.
Home users would want to see what the VR fuss is all about, and this is the machine to bring it home. At these prices, it might be even worth it to buy more than one machine. This would be especially useful for multi-player gaming. Normally, multiplayer VR gaming is seldom done with players in the same room. With two rigs like this, anyone can set up two or more computers in the same room at a fraction of the cost of an expensive gaming computer.
Computer prices have a tendency to float to a standard price. Over the years, regardless of inflation, the price of entry-level computers have gone down. This is not to say that the high-end computer prices have also gone down. Interestingly enough, the price of high-end PCs has increased to as much as the market can bear. The price of gaming laptops has also increased to almost insane levels, with even more insane features.
It would be interesting to see if other manufacturers would start to sell entry-level gaming computers at the $500 price point. Now that would be a lot of fun.
