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My CPU suppports SSE 4.2: will it work with the Oculus Rift S?

LecLightning58
Honored Guest
I have an older generation Intel i7 processor (875K) which supports SSE 4.2 and which I can overclock to about 4.0GHz. I understand that a number of people have expressed that their older CPUs are being blocked by Oculus software, rendering the Rift unusable. Whereas I appreciate that the VR experience is undoubtedly better with a very recent and powerful processor, will I be prevented from using the Rift S with my current CPU? 
15 REPLIES 15

trek554
Adventurer
why on earth have you not upgraded from that nearly 10 year old relic? the minimum cpu listed is nearly 50% faster than your cpu so SSE is not your only worry.  please list the rest of your specs too as it will be funny to see how outdated they are. and if you did upgrade to a gpu good enough for VR then it would be severely held back by your cpu anyway.  going out and buying a $400 VR headset when you cant even upgrade to modern hardware makes zero sense.  
WIN 11 | 13700KF | MSI MPG Z790 CARBON WIFI | G.SKILL 64GB 6400MHZ CL32 | GIGABYTE RTX 4090 | SEASONIC FOCUS GX-1000

LecLightning58
Honored Guest
First and foremost money: not all us us are super-rich and can afford/justify the expenditure on hardware upgrades specifically for e.g. a VR experience. I am merely seeking opinion and advice on the matter if anyone is any the wiser. As it happens, for what I enjoy with my PC, my (joke?) CPU is more than capable of delivering when overclocked to about 4.0GHz. I am reluctant to invest heavily in new kit largely because of uncertainties in how the technology will evolve in a particular field of gaming (flight simulation), when recent developments suggest that flight simulation may become more GPU-intensive.

Anyone, for what they are worth for the world have a laugh at, my specs are:

RTX 1070 Super with 8GB RAM
16GB RAM
Intel i7 875K processor overclocked to 4.0GHz

And yes, I do not intend to invest in VR at the present time largely on grounds of is own evolving technology and doubts raised over current display resolution in the niche world of flight simulation (e.g. reading cockpit instruments etc.). It seems curious to me that some people are quite happy to upgrade from one VR headset to the next iteration at some expense in order to experience improved performance: I think that I would prefer to watch from a distance until such time that VR products mature into something that satisfies the criteria and PC requirements for future flight simulation applications become more widely known to the community before I commit myself to a major overhaul of my hardware. It is interesting that Microsoft is developing a new Flight Simulator product at this present time and is not dedicating anything to VR-integration with this product. In truth, the early adoption of VR into flight simulation products may have been a bit of a con on account of the poor resolution of some of the earlier VR headsets which rather negates the use of VR for the purpose of reading instruments and displays.

Anyway, if you feel that my CPU is too weak and the VR experience is unlikely to impress then so be it: better not to have wasted my time and money and thanks for the advice. 

Richooal
Consultant
Have you already run the Oculus compatibility test?

A quick google shows at least one website that thinks your CPU will be okay..................
https://www.game-debate.com/games/index.php?g_id=23226&canMyCpuRunIt=Oculus%20Rift

I'd want to hear from other users though if it was me.

i5 6600k - GTX1060 - 8GB RAM - Rift CV1 + 3 Sensors - 1 minor problem
Dear Oculus, If it ain't broke, don't fix it, please.

LecLightning58
Honored Guest

Richooal said:

Have you already run the Oculus compatibility test?

Yes, I did manage to find a download for the compatibility test but it failed me on the CPU (does this mean that Oculus is a non-starter for me full stop?). What I don't know is whether or not SSE 4.2 is a definite prerequisite for Oculus and also if the test is based on the raw specifications of the CPU, not on its overclocking capabilities. I have no way of knowing whether or not Oculus software will tell me to upgrade my CPU/PC and block from me using e.g. the Rift S. All I know is that SSE 4.2 may be a definite requirement governing Oculus's acceptance of the CPU for VR applications, based on other postings from people with older CPUs, who have (putting it impolitely) been told by Oculus software to go away and upgrade their systems (even when such people claim they could happily use Oculus before software policies changed towards older CPUs that Oculus feels do not meet the minimum requirement).

The bottom line is if my CPU is too weak even overclocked at 4GHz then so be it. I am happy to sit on the fence until such time the technology improves and hopefully the future of, in my case, flight simulation becomes more apparent in terms of the evolving technology we are seeing now with Microsoft's latest iteration of Flight Simulator and what this means in terms of hardware requirements.

Anonymous
Not applicable



Richooal said:

Have you already run the Oculus compatibility test?

Yes, I did manage to find a download for the compatibility test but it failed me on the CPU (does this mean that Oculus is a non-starter for me full stop?). What I don't know is whether or not SSE 4.2 is a definite prerequisite for Oculus and also if the test is based on the raw specifications of the CPU, not on its overclocking capabilities. I have no way of knowing whether or not Oculus software will tell me to upgrade my CPU/PC and block from me using e.g. the Rift S. All I know is that SSE 4.2 may be a definite requirement governing Oculus's acceptance of the CPU for VR applications, based on other postings from people with older CPUs, who have (putting it impolitely) been told by Oculus software to go away and upgrade their systems (even when such people claim they could happily use Oculus before software policies changed towards older CPUs that Oculus feels do not meet the minimum requirement).

The bottom line is if my CPU is too weak even overclocked at 4GHz then so be it. I am happy to sit on the fence until such time the technology improves and hopefully the future of, in my case, flight simulation becomes more apparent in terms of the evolving technology we are seeing now with Microsoft's latest iteration of Flight Simulator and what this means in terms of hardware requirements.


It sounds like you are just beating a dead horse. Any CPU release in the last 6 years now has support for it and there are MANY reasons to upgrade now more than ever. In the last 6 years you could see a 50-200% or more improvement witch is the level of performance you wanna see at this point for any upgrade cost value. GHz means nothing anymore - and trying to claim it is is silly. Hell - we have 5GHz normal cpus if you wanna compare that now...  Just saying - technology pushing forward - there is little reason not to have hardware at this point that doesn't support min specs of the hardware now. Not trying to be rude or anything - so sorry if it sounds like I am - it's just - that out of date - I dont think you would have a good time in VR or any time for that matter now. Yes, if you can, I really recommend upgrading - go a Ryzen build if money is on the tight. I just built one and was able to get some pretty extreme FPS increases without blowing the bank (upgraded from an Intel Core i7-3770).

https://www.cpubenchmark.net/cpu.php?cpu=Intel+Core+i7-875K+%40+2.93GHz&id=846

Honestly, I am not even sure how that RTX 1070 Super is being feed enough data to keep up - almost a waste of performance/money to have (again, not trying to be rude). 

Anonymous
Not applicable
I definitely would not purchase VR HMD with that CPU.

LecLightning58
Honored Guest

Mradr said:




Richooal said:

Have you already run the Oculus compatibility test?

Yes, I did manage to find a download for the compatibility test but it failed me on the CPU (does this mean that Oculus is a non-starter for me full stop?). What I don't know is whether or not SSE 4.2 is a definite prerequisite for Oculus and also if the test is based on the raw specifications of the CPU, not on its overclocking capabilities. I have no way of knowing whether or not Oculus software will tell me to upgrade my CPU/PC and block from me using e.g. the Rift S. All I know is that SSE 4.2 may be a definite requirement governing Oculus's acceptance of the CPU for VR applications, based on other postings from people with older CPUs, who have (putting it impolitely) been told by Oculus software to go away and upgrade their systems (even when such people claim they could happily use Oculus before software policies changed towards older CPUs that Oculus feels do not meet the minimum requirement).

The bottom line is if my CPU is too weak even overclocked at 4GHz then so be it. I am happy to sit on the fence until such time the technology improves and hopefully the future of, in my case, flight simulation becomes more apparent in terms of the evolving technology we are seeing now with Microsoft's latest iteration of Flight Simulator and what this means in terms of hardware requirements.


It sounds like you are just beating a dead horse. Any CPU release in the last 6 years now has support for it and there are MANY reasons to upgrade now more than ever. In the last 6 years you could see a 50-200% or more improvement witch is the level of performance you wanna see at this point for any upgrade cost value. GHz means nothing anymore - and trying to claim it is is silly. Hell - we have 5GHz normal cpus if you wanna compare that now...  Just saying - technology pushing forward - there is little reason not to have hardware at this point that doesn't support min specs of the hardware now. Not trying to be rude or anything - so sorry if it sounds like I am - it's just - that out of date - I dont think you would have a good time in VR or any time for that matter now. Yes, if you can, I really recommend upgrading - go a Ryzen build if money is on the tight. I just built one and was able to get some pretty extreme FPS increases without blowing the bank (upgraded from an Intel Core i7-3770).

https://www.cpubenchmark.net/cpu.php?cpu=Intel+Core+i7-875K+%40+2.93GHz&id=846

Honestly, I am not even sure how that RTX 1070 Super is being feed enough data to keep up - almost a waste of performance/money to have (again, not trying to be rude). 

Thanks for the kind advice on the subject. I don't think that I am so desperate for VR that I am likely to trash my existing PC quite so quickly. In the field of flight simulation it would appear that we are a cat chasing its tail with ever-increasing hardware requirements to enjoy the experience to the full: all this may change with the flight simulator software currently under development by Microsoft. 

On the subject of the graphics card, I see your point but it was only until I upgraded to this card that I managed to get G-Sync working without black screens occurring ever so occasionally (and prolonged) so the upgrade can be justified. 

Finally, I was only really seeking the opinions of the community at large (which has been achieved), but I made a point earlier that some Oculus users who claim to have previously enjoyed the VR experience successfully have now been blocked by Oculus on grounds of their out-of-date CPUs, irrespective of the fact that these CPUs were quite adequate for what the users had intended. I would view this situation as not so much a reluctance to upgrade on the part of those users concerned, but praiseworthy performance by the Oculus equipment itself. More the pity that Oculus do not see it this way and opt to oust certain individuals out of enjoying their own products, merely because they view their CPUs as inferior and sub-standard when the user's experience is quite the opposite. Each to his/her own when it comes to choice of equipment for the desired purpose, but in this case those users affected may feel somewhat discriminated against. I think that this is the issue that I sought to raise in this thread, namely there is always an element of uncertainty governing the usefulness of the product for your intended applications. The manufacturer may specify minimum/recommended hardware requirements but perhaps instead of blocking users completely the apparatus should still be useable and let the user determine what the limitations are for their specific application: if for example text cannot be read easily then perhaps higher resolution VR equipment is required - something that even the manufacturer cannot wholly guarantee in the minimum hardware requirements if they have never tested the equipment with the specific software concerned (and presumably for which they can never vouch having satisfactory compliance).

Anyway, I have had my say and thank for all for your comments unless there are any people out there who claim to use Oculus equipment with less-than-ideal processors who nevertheless do boast a satisfactory and enjoyable experience: surely this is commendatory to Oculus as opposed to viewing such individuals as somehow operating Fred Flintstone equipment. My original question has not been answered directly and it is only out of interest's sake not necessarily that I endeavour to dive in and buy the equipemnt posthaste (on the obvious premise that I could be taking a gamble with its performance with my weaker system).

I shall watch developments with interest and maybe take the plunge later, when circumstances are right both in terms of the maturity of the intended applications (flight simulation, which is thought to be currently inadequate), and also improvements to VR technology.

kojack
MVP
MVP
I don't know if other aspects might stop it, but SSE 4.2 is a requirement that has stopped some very old CPUs from working.

Windows VR headsets like the Odyssey and Reverb are even fussier than the Oculus ones, they need AVX support in addition to SSE 4.2. So Oculus has wider support for older CPUs than some of the competitors.

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LecLightning58
Honored Guest

kojack said:

I don't know if other aspects might stop it, but SSE 4.2 is a requirement that has stopped some very old CPUs from working.

Windows VR headsets like the Odyssey and Reverb are even fussier than the Oculus ones, they need AVX support in addition to SSE 4.2. So Oculus has wider support for older CPUs than some of the competitors.


I think this answers my question, but it may be that other aspects might stop my system, let alone how well the headset performs with a weaker system even if the Oculus software does oblige.