Future Laptop support?

"cybereality" wrote:
Older Oculus software was very very different to how it works now.

So it was working, new software its not. And you not going to make it work again? Because ... ?

I think oculus is experiencing a monopoly at this time, but it will not last long.

"Pr0xY" wrote:

"cybereality" wrote:
Older Oculus software was very very different to how it works now.

So it was working, new software its not. And you not going to make it work again? Because ... ?

Because it goes too much into video card drivers and the cards itself.

Mobile PCs are an issue mostly because you do not have a direct access to a discrete GPU. This thing called Optimus and how it is designed is in the way. For AMD there is probably something similar.

Extended Mode and old Direct to Rift were only a placeholders. The goal always was current Direct Driver Mode, which integrates deeply into whatever drivers nVidia/AMD provide and allow the GPU to access Rift's screen directly, thus reducing latency.

The Runtime won't go back to Extended, or old Direct, because they are worse compared to Direct Driver. Previous Runtime versions were in-development versions, and it was mentioned multiple times already that things could change.

And the final reason is what everyone experienced when Extended Mode was available. Every demo worked differently. Developers used the Extended Mode, because it was easier. As a result, the users suffered mindless hours of configuration and trying to make the game work with it, which in term would make the product, the Rift, suffer. Plus, it was slower, even compared to old Direct to Rift.

Yes, hopefully vive will support extended mode. I am creating data visualization which has very minimal graphic requirements and my customers mostly use laptops.

How I transformed my laptop (with Optimus) SteamVR score from a 0 to a 6.2 (High) in less than 5 minutes...

Thought you guys might like to hear about some experimenting I was doing this morning:

Link to results at the 3 different stages: http://imgur.com/a/FdXAR

I'm sure other people have already worked out how to do this, but thought I'd share anyway.

So first, my laptop specs:
Medion Erazer X7835 laptop (with Optimus) Intel® Core™ i7-4710MQ processor NVIDIA® GeForce® GT 980M Memory size: 16GB

I decided to download the Steam VR performance test this morning.

At the point I have to admit that I'm in a bit of a rare situation, where my GTX 980m is directly attached to my HDMI port, which makes bypassing the Optimus stuff a lot more straight forward: http://i.imgur.com/qocbmpH.png

So, after my initial run of the SteamVR test, I got 0, all frames below 90 fps (1st screenshot). I realised that this is because the software was just using my integrated Intel graphics (even after having set my NVidia control panel to use my GTX 980m for the SteamVR test)

I struggled for a bit trying to find a way to disable the integrated graphics through my bios (no such option), so decided to hook up my laptop's hdmi to my Samsung TV, and then disabled the intel graphics through the 'device manager' in the control panel.

Once I'd done this, I ran this test again and got a much better 5.5 and 0 frames below 90 fps (2nd screenshot). I then used MSI Afterburner and overclocked my GPU a little and got a decent 6.2 (3rd screenshot).

If you are in a similar position as me, and have a high-end gaming laptop with a direct link from your graphics card to your HDMI, maybe let me know how it goes!

(Disclaimer: obviously at this stage it's probably still a bit of a gamble to pre-order either the Rift or Vive for a laptop, but I hope this info helps maybe a little?)

Hey Guys,

I'm thinking about get a new laptop, with GTX 980M, 16GB RAM, i7-4720HQ 2.6GHz. You think that could make Oculus Rift works?

Tks!

No, please don't buy a laptop for Rift usage.

See here: viewtopic.php?f=26&t=28836&start=20#p328120

"rafaelbferrari" wrote:
Hey Guys,

I'm thinking about get a new laptop, with GTX 980M, 16GB RAM, i7-4720HQ 2.6GHz. You think that could make Oculus Rift works?

Tks!

Hey Rafael, my laptop is almost the same as your proposed spec (mine's a 4710MQ). Thought I'd throw in my 2 cents, albeit not specifically the Rift.

Check if it has Optimus technology, if not, great stuff.

If it does, try and find out if your 980M is connected directly to the HDMI port (without first having to go through the integrated graphics).

With my laptop, after disabling the onboard graphics through device manager and connecting through the HDMI, I'm getting a SteamVR performance test score of 6.3 (green - 'VR Ready'). I've since managed to get my hands on a Vive Pre and it works beautifully, everything that I've tested (so far) has given me 90fps consistently.

I know that this is all anecdotal, and not specific to the Rift, but thought I should share! Obviously if you can try before you buy, perfect.

But it might be worth waiting for the laptops that come with 980 GPUs instead, they'll handle VR. (I'm in my position because I bought mine last year before I decided to get involved in VR)

Hey man, awesome feedback. Thanks for the support here. I was thinking the new asus laptop with USB C, so in the future I can buy a new video card and just plug in.

I'll make sure to double check the conection of 980m on HDMI port.

Hope to find some good laptop to work with VR here.

Tks again!

"whato1986" wrote:

"rafaelbferrari" wrote:
Hey Guys,

I'm thinking about get a new laptop, with GTX 980M, 16GB RAM, i7-4720HQ 2.6GHz. You think that could make Oculus Rift works?

Tks!

Hey Rafael, my laptop is almost the same as your proposed spec (mine's a 4710MQ). Thought I'd throw in my 2 cents, albeit not specifically the Rift.

Check if it has Optimus technology, if not, great stuff.

If it does, try and find out if your 980M is connected directly to the HDMI port (without first having to go through the integrated graphics).

With my laptop, after disabling the onboard graphics through device manager and connecting through the HDMI, I'm getting a SteamVR performance test score of 6.3 (green - 'VR Ready'). I've since managed to get my hands on a Vive Pre and it works beautifully, everything that I've tested (so far) has given me 90fps consistently.

I know that this is all anecdotal, and not specific to the Rift, but thought I should share! Obviously if you can try before you buy, perfect.

But it might be worth waiting for the laptops that come with 980 GPUs instead, they'll handle VR. (I'm in my position because I bought mine last year before I decided to get involved in VR)

"rafaelbferrari" wrote:
Hey Guys,

I'm thinking about get a new laptop, with GTX 980M, 16GB RAM, i7-4720HQ 2.6GHz. You think that could make Oculus Rift works?

Tks!

Maybe there will be people to hack the software to make it work but it won't be native. If the laptop supports Thunderbolt 3.0 it would work.. An external graphics card box can be connected through Thunderbolt 3.0 for 970GTX+ video card support.

https://www.google.com/webhp?sourceid=c ... 03.0%20dk2