The Furious Angels
FA Discussion => VR Gaming => Topic started by: likwidtek on June 26, 2014, 05:33:01 pm
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With the DK2 shipping soon, I'm building a new HTPC / Steam Machine for the living room but I'm not going light on specs. It'll need to be powerful enough to run the Oculus Rift DK2 as well as all of my Steam Library natively. Any suggestions for a great case? Something that looks great in an entertainment center but will still fit a nice GPU.
Speaking of GPU, what do you think my options are for a graphics card? It'll need to fit in a small form factor case and be quiet enough to not make the living experience a bummer.
I was really expecting the Nvidia 800 series would be out by now so this is kinda of a terrible time to buy a gpu. :( Anyway, what do you guys think? (I won't be running SteamOS, at least not yet. Will be running Windows with Steam Big Picture mode for now.
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Haha, I saw your Reddit post.
I've been updating a list based on price and availability. Here it is at the moment: http://pcpartpicker.com/user/TheTbone/saved/wqXfrH (http://pcpartpicker.com/user/TheTbone/saved/wqXfrH)
Cybereality estimated that GTX 770 is probably going to be the minimum to do most things. However, this is before Time Warp and other advancements they may be working on.
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I'm wondering if I should just hold out for the Nvidia 800 series though.
That's a nice build. Thanks, I'll play around with some ideas.
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Let me know what you come up with. I need to build a new PC, but I have no funds right now. I'm hoping I can find the cash somewhere. Or get another credit card I guess lol
Edit: Updated CPU to 4590. Cheaper than 4670k with about the same performance. I check Tom's Hardware each month.
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Seriously those Anandtech and Toms Hardware buying guides are amazing.
Basically, where I'm at is I need to upgrade for the Oculus, my current rig just won't cut it. But I'm also ditching my console and wanting a better gaming experience in the living room. So basically I'm killing 2 birds with 1 stone by making my HTPC bitchin enough to become my new console (couch gaming experience) and be able to run all my fun Oculus experiences as well.
I'll draw up some sample builds and post them here when I can.
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My build in progress (http://thefuriousangels.com/index.php?topic=8356.msg128011#msg128011)
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I've managed to decide on... A CASE! heh, that's about it.
This will blend in perfectly into my entertainment system plus be big enough so I can put lots of quiet and cool components.
http://www.amazon.com/Silverstone-Tek-GD05B-USB3-0-Aluminum-Computer/dp/B008J0ZOV8/ref=sr_1_3?ie=UTF8&qid=1403965771 (http://www.amazon.com/Silverstone-Tek-GD05B-USB3-0-Aluminum-Computer/dp/B008J0ZOV8/ref=sr_1_3?ie=UTF8&qid=1403965771)
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I think this is the card I'm going to go with for now: http://rog.asus.com/338932014/gaming-graphics-cards-2/pr-asus-announces-strix-gtx-750-ti-oc/ (http://rog.asus.com/338932014/gaming-graphics-cards-2/pr-asus-announces-strix-gtx-750-ti-oc/)
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Update: http://www.reddit.com/r/buildapc/comments/2iw64o/build_help_oculus_rift_dk2_advanced_htpc_steam (http://www.reddit.com/r/buildapc/comments/2iw64o/build_help_oculus_rift_dk2_advanced_htpc_steam)
Would you guys mind looking over my build?
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Looks good to me! There's been some debate as to whether two 970s will be better than one 980 when SLI/Crossfire gets fixed for the Rift (apparently it will be), but I personally feel like the less complications the better when it comes to VR, so I'd stick with one card that's powerful.
I'm not sure about your RAM voltage issues, but I'd definitely make sure that things are compatible. All of my parts were compatible and it was still a nightmare to put together. I'm fairly certain a faulty PSU screwed up my MOBO and my first video card. One of my PCI slots and one of my front USB ports don't work :(
Hopefully you have better luck than I did!
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Hopefully ordering soon. I'll post back when it's all built and ready
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OK, pulled the trigger and purchased everything yesterday. This will be my couch gaming / HTPC / Oculus couch machine. SOFUCKINGSTOKED.
PCPartPicker part list (http://pcpartpicker.com/p/yhwxVn) / Price breakdown by merchant (http://pcpartpicker.com/p/yhwxVn/by_merchant/)
CPU: Intel Core i5-4670K 3.4GHz Quad-Core Processor (http://pcpartpicker.com/part/intel-cpu-bx80646i54670k) ($231.93 @ OutletPC)
Motherboard: ASRock Fatal1ty Z97M Killer Micro ATX LGA1150 Motherboard (http://pcpartpicker.com/part/asrock-motherboard-fatal1tyz97mkiller) ($134.99 @ Newegg)
Memory: Corsair Vengeance Pro 16GB (2 x 8GB) DDR3-1866 Memory (http://pcpartpicker.com/part/corsair-memory-cmy16gx3m2a1866c9r) ($157.99 @ Newegg)
Storage: Intel 520 Series Cherryville 240GB 2.5" Solid State Drive (http://pcpartpicker.com/part/intel-internal-hard-drive-ssdsc2cw240a310) ($109.99 @ Amazon)
Storage: Intel 520 Series Cherryville 240GB 2.5" Solid State Drive (http://pcpartpicker.com/part/intel-internal-hard-drive-ssdsc2cw240a310) ($109.99 @ Amazon)
Video Card: Zotac GeForce GTX 980 4GB AMP! Edition Video Card (http://pcpartpicker.com/part/zotac-video-card-zt9020410p) ($548.99 @ SuperBiiz)
Case: Silverstone GD09B HTPC Case (http://pcpartpicker.com/part/silverstone-case-gd09b) ($82.98 @ Newegg)
Power Supply: EVGA SuperNOVA NEX 650W 80+ Gold Certified Fully-Modular ATX Power Supply (http://pcpartpicker.com/part/evga-power-supply-120g10650xr) ($49.99 @ Newegg)
Optical Drive: LG UH12NS30 Blu-Ray Reader, DVD/CD Writer (http://pcpartpicker.com/part/lg-optical-drive-uh12ns30) ($34.99 @ Newegg)
Total: $1461.84
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2014-10-28 12:45 EDT-0400
The idea behind this build was to replace my current HTPC and my XBOX 360. It will be running XBMC but I will also be playing my Steam library on it as well. It's a bit thirsty on power for an HTPC and I know I'll be using more power while it's on. It's estimated wattage is about 337 so it's not terrible. The new 980 card is pretty power efficient and quiet too so that helps. Either way, it will be set to sleep when not in use.
I already have the CPU and the SSDs so I built around those two items. Aside from that the biggest goals were for the machine to be as quiet as possible, blend in with my entertainment center, while still being able to run the most demanding content that I can throw at it (basically all the DK2 content). I think I did a pretty good job at balancing all of those things.
I was hoping to get faster RAM in the build but in the end, I stuck with 1.5V RAM to stay within Intel's spec. That said, I got the lowest CAS latency RAM I could get at that voltage and frequency. I was hoping to get higher than 1866 frequency but it's CAS 9, so I'm sure I won't notice much difference. The whole system will support Intel's XMP memory overclocking so hopefully I'll see a boost there.
Everything else should work out pretty great. I'll be using XBOX 360 controllers for the couch gaming stuff but I'm still really excited for the Steam Controller to come out. My wife is pretty stoked to be able to use a controller on the couch to play things like CIV 5.
Anywho, This was fun planning this machine. Hopefully everything works out great. I'm excited to retry all of the Oculus stuff once this is built. I'll post pics when it's done. :D
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So I am ashamed to say that I had not hooked the DK2 up to the new machine until yesterday. It works really well.
I've tried the built in Tuscany Demo, the Desk Demo, BlazeRush, Windlands, and Titans of Space in that order so far.
Keeping only the newest and best experiences for the DK2 in mind, what are your choices for the all time top 5 DK2 experiences so far?
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(http://i.imgur.com/cX6oFYa.jpg)
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So I am ashamed to say that I had not hooked the DK2 up to the new machine until yesterday. It works really well.
I've tried the built in Tuscany Demo, the Desk Demo, BlazeRush, Windlands, and Titans of Space in that order so far.
Keeping only the newest and best experiences for the DK2 in mind, what are your choices for the all time top 5 DK2 experiences so far?
You should do Welcome to Oculus, From Ashes, Birdy King Land, Apollo 11, JanusVR, LiveViewRift w/ 3D movies, and DolphinVR if you can figure out the settings. Things worth buying are BlazeRush, Shufflepuck Cantina, and Elite: Dangerous.
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Thanks man!
Trying to get my controller to work in minecraft: http://www.reddit.com/r/oculus/comments/2x2u9n/minecrift_xbox_controller_support/ (http://www.reddit.com/r/oculus/comments/2x2u9n/minecrift_xbox_controller_support/)
Will get to your list soon!
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>Welcome to Oculus,
I got a little misty
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Anyone have luck with one of these at 10 feet?
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00J2CCVLS/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o05_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1 (http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00J2CCVLS/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o05_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1)
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HDMI is digital, the signal would have to be highly distorted to run into issues. And the issues would probably look like the digital TV blocks when the signal goes bad. My guess is under 100' HDMI wouldn't need a boost.
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Understood. There are some HDMI limitations. For example, getting over 75hz with HDMI gets difficult. Not sure a lot of the technicals, but I heard some warnings about not being able to get a blue light on the DK2 with lower quality cables or runs that were too long.
I picked up some 10 foot HDMI and USB extensions, so I'll like you know. I don't expect much trouble but thought I'd check to see if any of you have had experience with getting much more length.
Excited to chill on the couch while rifting.
I picked up 1 of these: http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0069A75JE/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o00_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1 (http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0069A75JE/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o00_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1)
and 2 of these: http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B001MT1EQM/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o00_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1 (http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B001MT1EQM/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o00_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1)
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That's true, HDMI is retarded when it comes to refresh rates and screen resolutions. Blame all the content distributors and their medieval encryption requirements of HDMI content. I believe there are different revisions of the HDMI standard. I have an AMD card that is two years old and it appears to handle the 75Hz ok. Luckily, I haven't had any issues.
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OK so this is really weird. I purchased those 2 USB 10 ft extensions as well as the 10 foot HDMI extension. So the HDMI part works great, and as expected I had to reposition my IR camera to stay within the volume. What I didn't expect was that adding a 10 foot extension to the HMD USB, caused some really weird effects. It technically works but it gives you a very minor case of VR parkinsons.
You can easily tell by loading up the Oculus Desk Demo, turn on the camera bounds option and try and sit as still as you can and stare at the plant or lamp or something. You'll notice the view twitch and spaz out just a little. It's really hard to notice for a newbie though. Regardless, it's bad.
To further ensure I wasn't crazy, I left all cables stock except for the HMD USB, sat just as I would if I had no extensions and I had lots of problems. Twitchy spazzy view. So I closed the demo, removed the USB extension, fired the demo back up and it was perfectly smooth and still as it should be.
Very unexpected!
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Keep trying and see if it fixes itself. I think I know the twitch you're talking about. Sometimes unplugging and replugging and restarting things will fix it. I haven't used any custom cords, but even the default ones can be testy like that.
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Posted about it on reddit too: http://www.reddit.com/r/oculus/comments/2xpl2a/i_was_attempting_to_extend_my_oculus_dk2_setup_by/ (http://www.reddit.com/r/oculus/comments/2xpl2a/i_was_attempting_to_extend_my_oculus_dk2_setup_by/)
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You may be further along in your build process for this not to be a consideration, but have you seen this...
http://shield.nvidia.com/ (http://shield.nvidia.com/)
Nvidia Shield Android TV Console
Part media streamer, part gaming rig, the Nvidia Shield Android TV Console is the latest device to vie for that spot next to your TV. It's powered by an Nvidia Tegra X1 processor, a 256-core Nvidia Maxwell GPU with 3 GB RAM, and Android TV, giving it the ability to support 4K output and a new class of Android games. But in addition to its ability to pump TV and movies into your living room and play games locally, it also supports Nvidia's Grid service, which lets you stream PC-quality games directly to the box and makes that ugly HTPC a thing of the past.
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You may be further along in your build process for this not to be a consideration, but have you seen this...
http://shield.nvidia.com/ (http://shield.nvidia.com/)
Nvidia Shield Android TV Console
Part media streamer, part gaming rig, the Nvidia Shield Android TV Console is the latest device to vie for that spot next to your TV. It's powered by an Nvidia Tegra X1 processor, a 256-core Nvidia Maxwell GPU with 3 GB RAM, and Android TV, giving it the ability to support 4K output and a new class of Android games. But in addition to its ability to pump TV and movies into your living room and play games locally, it also supports Nvidia's Grid service, which lets you stream PC-quality games directly to the box and makes that ugly HTPC a thing of the past.
I'm pretty sure the Shield console is gonna be vaporware. It's $200 and requires a subscription. It can only play Xbox 360 quality games. The frames per second in the demos they were showing were very sad. If you're going to pay that much money, you might as well get something that will let you play today's games.
I would be more likely to get something like Steam Link. Have a high powered gaming PC in one room but be able to play the games in your living room.