Some laptops mix the GPU with the integrated gfx (the onboard crappy video) and they both share the same single HDMI port. The integrated gfx causes problems because the rift may see that instead of the 1050 and not even send the video to the headset. This is a fault of the Laptop manufacture for selling their product as VR ready and not testing it properly with at least one of the major VR hardware providers. If your laptop has a displayport out, you might be able to use a displayport to hdmi adaptor to connect your rift to the laptop.
Mine is a desktop, there's no way to mix the two ports on this setup. The 1050 itself should be enough to power the rift just fine.
If yes and everyones saying this can work then yes.
I would also link the actual page here for a final discussion.
Another member swore blind that his laptop was fine and oculus was broken only to learn it was underpowered and not even VR ready and unable to power a hmd
If not post links to other models, people here help you make the right choices 🙂
Look, man. I only need to know one thing: where they are.
Honestly, if you look at various gaming brands that release laptops (Asus, Razer, MSI, Acer etc) You find a common trend. They all have a GTX 1060 or higher as minimum and are clearly branded as VR ready.
If the laptop isn't clearly labeled as VR ready on the makers website or in a store, it is most likely, nearly 100% not going to run VR or if it does run, it won't be a good experience. the GTX 1050 really is, as i said before, the bottom line. It is what you require to run VR at the very minimum specifications and will not give you a great experience in most games.
For example, the Razer Blade 2017 model, starting at 1899 USD (1800 Euro) sports a GTX 1060 GPU, with the Razer Blade Pro(4000 USD) sporting a whopping 1080. https://www.razerzone.com/gaming-systems/razer-blade
1) His laptop may not have thunderbolt and 2) External GPU cases + the GPU are not cheap. That can be half the cost of a new laptop. Money may be better spent on building a desktop for VR.
That said, I'm using an Alienware 15 R2 with the Alienware Amplifier eGPU on an AMD 290x and it works very well. I'm about to upgrade it to an AMD Vega RX 64 or Nvidia 1080. Waiting to see the Vega results.