Oculus Announces its First “Oculus Ready PCs” and Bundles

Oculus may have faced extreme backlash after announcing original pricing strategy for the Rift VR headset, but it is back to ameliorate the situation a bit by announcing the first ever PC bundles as a part of the “Oculus Ready PC” program.

As we know, the Oculus itself is just a lone piece in the puzzle. To run it, you’ll need a combination of new chips, respectable RAM and obviously a beefy graphic card. These bundles, which include PCs from ASUS, Dell and Alienware initially, start at $1499 and give you a relatively cheaper (and easier, if you hate DIY) entry into the VR arena.

To be exact, the savings lie around the $100-200 according to the websites where these machines can be pre-ordered. Remember, these deals are still quite better than the absolute minimum required to properly use the Rift (i5-4590 and R9 290, if you’re into Radeons).

The cheaper models get the GeForce GTX 970 graphics, which are neither the latest nor the best option available right now but you’ll have to make do with it. The upper-end models do get the GTX 980 but if you want anything better, a custom build might be good for you.

Here are the specifications of the current lineup.  They vary from a svelte ASUS G11CD to the monstrous Area 51. There are two models each of the ROG G20CB and the X51 R3 each with varying specs:

ASUS G11CD Specifications

• Intel Core i5-6400
• Nvidia GeForce GTX 970
• 8GB DDR4 RAM
• 1 TB HDD storage
• MSRP: $1049
• Bundle: $949

ASUS ROG G20CB (1) Specifications

• Intel Core i5-6400
• Nvidia GeForce GTX 970
• 16GB DDR4 RAM
• 512 GB SSD
• MSRP: $1449
• Bundle Price: $1349

ASUS ROG G20CB (2) Specifications

• Intel Core i7-6700
• Nvidia GeForce GTX 980
• 16 GB DDR4 RAM
• 256 GB SSD + 1 TB HDD
• MSRP: $1600
• Bundle Price: $1599

ALIENWARE AREA 51 Specifications

• Intel Core i7-5820K
• Nvidia GeForce GTX 980
• 16 GB DDR4 RAM
• 128 GB SSD + 2 TB HDD
• MSRP: $2549

ALIENWARE X51 R3 (1) Specifications

• Intel Core i5-6400
• Nvidia GeForce GTX 970
• 8GB DDR4 RAM
• 1 TB HDD storage
• MSRP: $1199
• Bundle Price: $499

ALIENWARE X51 R3 (2) Specifications

• Intel Core i5-6400
• Nvidia GeForce GTX 980
• 16 GB DDR4 RAM
• 256 GB SSD
• MSRP: $1499

DELL XPS 8900 SE Specifications

• Intel Core i5-6400
• Nvidia GeForce GTX 970
• 8GB DDR4 RAM
• 1 TB HDD storage
• MSRP: $1199
• Bundle Price: $999

The bundles can be pre-ordered later this month from Best Buy, Amazon or the Microsoft Store.