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Guru3D.com » News » Valve working on solution to run SteamVR on weak GPUs

Valve working on solution to run SteamVR on weak GPUs

by Hilbert Hagedoorn on: 03/21/2016 08:49 PM | source: | 21 comment(s)
Valve working on solution to run SteamVR on weak GPUs

I should refive the title a bit, basically Valave wants their SteamVR solution to be able to run on older GPUs from 2012, say a GTX 680. Valve programmer Alex Vlachos spilled beans on the development of the Unity-plugin during a presentation on GDC last week.

The claims is, as long as the GPU can do 45 Hz we want them to be able to run VR. Considering that you need a 90 Hz refresh rate to battle motion sickness the plugin from Vlachos should at least double the FPS as reported on uploadvr.com;

“As long as the GPU can hit 45 HZ we want for people to be able to run VR,” Vlachos told UploadVR after the talk. “We’ve said the recommended spec is a 970, same as Oculus, but we do want lesser GPUs to work. We’re trying to reduce the cost [of VR].”

Neither Oculus nor Valve have released a “minimum” specification to run their respective VR platforms. What they’ve released instead is a “recommended” specification. Both consumers and developers have been told by PC-powered headset manufacturers to have at least an NVIDIA GTX 970 or AMD 290 in systems to run VR at 90 HZ. This means the graphics cards in a Rift- or Vive-ready PC are expected to pump out a stream of images, 90 of them for each eye every second, to smoothly trick the mind into perceiving a virtual world. The recommended specification means the most expensive single component in a VR-ready PC costs buyers around $300-$400. The high cost of this one component bumps up the price of the overall PC needed for VR to around $1,000.

If the “minimum” requirements for the Vive or Rift could be lowered, but still hit that magic number of 90 frames each second, however, then early adopters have more options for bringing the technology into their homes. A dedicated PC gamer could, for example, buy a Vive for $800 and use their existing PC to run it at the minimum specification. The visuals seen in VR might not look as good as the “recommended” specification but they also might not be stomach-churning.

In his talk, Vlachos outlined a series of strategies grouped together as “adaptive quality” that would essentially cut corners rendering images for VR in ways that are less perceivable. One example called “fixed foveated rendering” reduces the graphics load for a GPU by prioritizing the pixels in the center of an image because those near the edges are less likely to be noticed. If high-quality eye-tracking sensors make it into future VR headsets, similar technology can further reduce the graphics requirements necessary to make highly immersive VR work by only rendering the pixels directly in front of the eye. The approach Vlachos described, however, didn’t rely on eye-tracking.

“I can run Aperture [a graphically rich Valve-built VR experience] on a 680 without dropping frames at a lower quality, and, for me, that’s enough of a proof of concept,” Vlachos said. “Most art we’re seeing in VR isn’t as dense as that. So we should be pretty good to go…everything should be able to support that low-end hardware. But we need the right safety nets in place.”

PlayStation VR this week made big headlines by announcing its headset starts at $400. When combined with the PlayStation 4 and accessories, the overall package is much less expensive than a PC-powered system. We don’t know what Oculus is planning yet, but it seems Valve is trying to reduce the cost disparity. We’ll bring you updates as we learn more.



Valve working on solution to run SteamVR on weak GPUs Valve working on solution to run SteamVR on weak GPUs




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fantaskarsef
Senior Member



Posts: 13086
Joined: 2014-07-21

#5248154 Posted on: 03/21/2016 09:59 AM
How would it work with doubled 45fps? Technically it would be 90, sure, but wouldn't duplicated 45x2 frames act exactly the same as 45 fps? Not sure I'm getting this...

With 45fps each frame takes 22,2ms display time.
90fps would end up in 11,1ms then.
But... displaying 45fps and doubling the frames would only mean that each frame is once again displayed 22.2ms. What's the gain here?

Locoyote
Senior Member



Posts: 174
Joined: 2005-12-18

#5248190 Posted on: 03/21/2016 12:27 PM
All they can give is a minimum recommended spec, because there are so many variables, just like running any PC game. I have a GTX660ti which is below the recomendation, but the requirement to run 2160x1200 @ 90Hz is not beyond my card at all.

It would entirely depend on the detail level of the game/3D app. eg. I can run most games at 1080p 60Hz in ultra, but if I wanted 2160x1200 90Hz, I could reduce the detail to medium for example and still have a good gaming experience.

Also, as games get more complex and detailed, even high-end cards will fall below the required 90Hz if full detail is used.

So, I'm pleased that it's going to be possible to use my current set-up to initially try the Vive, at lower detail levels and upgrade to a next gen GPU in due course. I'll propably get a GTX 1070ti OCed or something like that in the £250-300 range, Xmas 2016 or early 2017.

jimdove
Senior Member



Posts: 345
Joined: 2010-12-04

#5248203 Posted on: 03/21/2016 01:33 PM
680 "weak". Maybe compared to say a 980ti but its still a MONSTEROUS gpu, certainly in terms of the kind of garbage inside the consoles of today.

vbetts
Moderator



Posts: 15139
Joined: 2006-07-04

#5248227 Posted on: 03/21/2016 02:28 PM
680 "weak". Maybe compared to say a 980ti but its still a MONSTEROUS gpu, certainly in terms of the kind of garbage inside the consoles of today.


Wouldn't say the GPU's are garbage in the PS4 or the One, the PS4 can push near 2000 GFLOPS while the 680 only does 3000 GFLOPS.

There are also more factors to consider in this, there is more running on a PC compared to a dedicated gaming machine for example. PC has always needed more resources for numerous reasons.

That being said, please do not turn this into a console war.

On topic, I kind of wondered why some of the older high end GPU's weren't included in the VR phase. I kind of thought it was a decision from Nvidia and AMD on that one, aside from memory restraints.

AlmondMan
Senior Member



Posts: 916
Joined: 2007-09-03

#5248231 Posted on: 03/21/2016 02:51 PM
Well, I have a GTX 680 and running the Valve VR test from steam gives me the message that my system is sort of able to run it, if it's on lowest settings. The CPU and memory is listed green, but it says I should upgrade the GPU.

But, without any further information and with possibly the greatest leap in performance in many years coming this Q2/3 I don't have any rush to run out and buy 1st gen VR headsets or last-gen graphicscards.

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