HTC Updates the ‘Minimum Spec’ Requirement for Its Vive Pro VR Headset

Image: HTC

Earlier this year at CES 2018, VR Headset manufacturer HTC announced the Vive Pro. The headset has significant enhancements like upgraded resolution, integrated headphones, improved tracking features, a wireless adapter and much more.

HTC is a going to start shipping the Vive Pro next month (April 2018) and the company just released the ‘minimum spec’ requirement for the headset. These minimum specs are commonly referred to as the ‘VR Ready’ guidelines and they’re designed to help buyers get an idea of what type of hardware they will need for a smooth VR experience.

The ‘Minimum’ and ‘Recommended’ Specs for the HTC Vive Pro

The VR news outlet “RoadToVR” recently noted that HTC has upgraded the original PC recommended specs which earlier matched that of the existing Vive headset. For the Vive Pro, the company is now suggesting a more powerful GTX 1070 GPU as the ‘recommended’ specs. This is in contrast to the previously suggested GTX 1060 which is the standard used by other flagship VR headsets.

Image: Nvidia

Moreover, the new HTC Vive Pro comes with 78% more enhanced resolution compared to the original Vive. This means that, in the case of the Vive Pro, the GPU will need to do a lot of extra work to process all those pixels at 90 FPS target framerate. Dropping below this target can result in visual discomfort and artifacting.

Originally, the HTC’s official webpage for the Vive Pro listed the GTX 1060 as the ‘recommended’ GPU.” But based on NVIDIA’s testing” the company has now updated the page to recommend NVIDIA’s GTX 1070, Quadro P5000, or AMD’s Radeon Vega 56. However, the list of its ‘minimum’ specs still includes the GTX 1060.

Other changes made to the ‘minimum spec’ requirement of the Vive Pro include a USB 3.0 port (instead of 2.0) and a suspension of HDMI connectivity which now includes DisplayPort 1.2 and above.

On the software side, the ‘minimum’ spec requirement now shows Windows 8.1 or Windows 10.  The auto-resolution function of SteamVR will automatically adjust to the increased rendering demand of Vive Pro while still allowing the GPU to maintain the appropriate framerate. However, if the GPU used is a GTX 1060, this might result in reduced rendering resolution.

The jump in recommended specs will be a significant one for consumers in terms of pricing. The GTX 1070 is currently priced at approx $625 compared to the $325 of the GTX 1060. Cost aside, watching high-definition VR porn premium content with better rendering is going to be some real fun.