Nvidia launches ‘VR Ready’ program with PC manufacturers

Nvidia has started a program to create the most complete virtual reality systems possible. The GeForce GTX VR Ready program aims to bring the best combinations of GPUs and drivers to Nvidia partners involved in VR.

This concerns PC and laptop builders, but also producers of video cards that will be allowed to carry the label ‘GeForce GTX VR Ready’. This label is intended to provide end users with some assurance about the minimum expected quality of the virtual reality experience. The latter means that games and other VR images can be sent to the end user with as little latency as possible.

Nvidia itself believes that for a good immersion in a virtual world, frame rates above 90 fps per eye should be achieved. The company makes the comparison with a PC game that runs on a normal screen with a resolution of 1920×1080 pixels at 30fps. It must run on a VR headset with 1680×1512 pixels and 90fps per screen. Nvidia itself says that rendering the total resolution of 3024 by 1680 pixels for the two screens requires seven times as much from a GPU than rendering a normal in-game image.

The current generation of Maxwell GPUs from the higher segment must have sufficient computing power to carry the label. These are the GeForce GTX 970, GTX 980, GTX 980 Ti and Titan X in combination with the Game Ready Drivers and GameWorks VR and DesignWorks VR technology. Furthermore, at least an Intel Core i5 4590 or similar is required, in addition to 8GB of ram, two USB 3.0 ports, HDMI 1.3 and Windows 7 with SP1.

Bullet Train VR Demo from Epic Games featuring Unreal Engine 4 in partnership with Nvidia. Source: Nvidia Blog