2016 rMBP (15" base model) for VR?

[Policar]

I have a high end gaming PC in my apartment but am traveling for a month. I wanted to bring my Rift with me but my gaming PC is too big to bring on an airplane.

With the 2GB Radeon 450 card (and a Windows bootcamp install) could I use the Rift at a proof-of-concept level? To show family and to develop in Unity. Not ready to shell out $600 for the VR dev kit as I have a Rift, not a Vive. Thanks.

 

[Patcell]

I am almost certain that none of the GPUs used in the 15" MacBook Pros are VR ready. With a suitably powerful external GPU, the quad-core 15" Pro would likely have no problem with VR, but that doesn't solve your portability problem...

 

[Policar]

Thanks, yeah maybe I'll leave the Rift at home. If Apple had released the VR dev kit last year I might have bought that instead! Just glad to see them getting into the VR space, though,

 

[SoyCapitanSoyCapitan]

Sonnet has an external RX 580 in a mini case. If you don't want the big Breakaway box and just want something more compact.

 

[theitsage]

The Thunderbolt 3 15" MBP by itself won't be able to handle the Rift. Here's the SteamVR Performance Test results when paired with an RX 580 eGPU (similar to Apple dev kit).

I'm playing DiRT Rally with an eGPU + G27 racing wheel & racing seat + Oculus Rift.

 

[SoyCapitanSoyCapitan]

That's nice. I'm waiting for High Sierra final release before deciding which eGPU box to use. I'd want external storage in the case too so that I can transform my MBP into a more complete desktop station.

 

[Policar]

Thanks everyone. I ended up leaving the Rift behind. Hopefully I can spend some time being more productive in other areas when I'm not tempted to play Super Hot and Robo Recall all day.

The Apple Dev kit (I think it includes that same eGPU as the one above) seems like a great deal to me. I'm very glad to see Apple getting on board with VR. And while I'm a Rift owner, I significantly prefer the Vive's implementation of room scale. So Apple's kit seems like a good deal to me!

That's nice. I'm waiting for High Sierra final release before deciding which eGPU box to use. I'd want external storage in the case too so that I can transform my MBP into a more complete desktop station.

I bought the most stripped down 15" rMBP because I had just purchased a high end PC a couple months earlier, and I ended up not having enough internal storage. So I hear you. I wish I had 512GB instead of 256GB but I use a 750GB external SSD attached via a SATA to USB3 adapter and it's about as fast as the internal drive and powered via USB, so that's been useful and I don't think you need a big external box to add fast storage. But.... the Rift requires like four or five USB ports. So that's another issue; you need a USB hub, too, unless the eGPU has one already.

 

[SoyCapitanSoyCapitan]

Thanks everyone. I ended up leaving the Rift behind. Hopefully I can spend some time being more productive in other areas when I'm not tempted to play Super Hot and Robo Recall all day.

The Apple Dev kit (I think it includes that same eGPU as the one above) seems like a great deal to me. I'm very glad to see Apple getting on board with VR. And while I'm a Rift owner, I significantly prefer the Vive's implementation of room scale. So Apple's kit seems like a good deal to me!



I bought the most stripped down 15" rMBP because I had just purchased a high end PC a couple months earlier, and I ended up not having enough internal storage. So I hear you. I wish I had 512GB instead of 256GB but I use a 750GB external SSD attached via a SATA to USB3 adapter and it's about as fast as the internal drive and powered via USB, so that's been useful and I don't think you need a big external box to add fast storage. But.... the Rift requires like four or five USB ports. So that's another issue; you need a USB hub, too, unless the eGPU has one already.

The Rift headset requires one USB, one HDMI. It's one USB port per sensor. Two sensors are enough.

Game pad is another USB but you can go wireless.

Oculus is working on a cable free version but logically they would have to send video to the headset as a network streaming interactive video.

 

[Policar]

Two sensors are not enough for room scale. In my experience (yours may vary, and I have noticed that my two-sensor rig at home works worse than the two-sensor rig at work due to the space), when you don't have three sensors the tracking falls apart entirely when you turn around and it glitches out from time to time anyway. So IMO you really need the third sensor. It's a big issue in many games and I'm picking up a third sensor soon. The wireless Xbox controller is plugged in via a USB receiver, too, so even if you use it wirelessly, it's still consuming a USB port.

All I'm suggesting is picking up a USB hub with a lot of ports if you buy a Rift. If you use the Xbox controller's wireless adapter and three sensors and the Rift you're up to five USB ports being used by it. I think the Vive uses slightly fewer, but it's been a while since I used a Vive.