Buy the best laptops for VR at bestware

What is a VR Ready laptop and what must it be able to do? Notebooks for VR games are characterised by two features: Only the fastest possible graphics card with enough graphics memory and the right connections for your VR headset make your laptop a VR Ready laptop. However, not every gaming laptop is automatically suitable for every VR headset.

In this buying guide, we explain what you need to look out for when buying a VR Ready laptop. Because only the right, high-performance hardware and equipment guarantee you a smooth display and thus an immersive VR experience.

These are the minimum hardware requirements for a VR Ready laptop

The basic equipment for a notebook for VR gaming is as follows - note that the recommendations are the minimum requirements and faster hardware is always better:

• Your VR laptop should have at least an NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4060 graphics card.
• Make sure that your laptop for VR has at least a current Intel Core i7 or AMD Ryzen 7.
• 16 GB RAM is the minimum for VR gaming.
• Your VR Ready laptop should have a DisplayPort, Mini DisplayPort or USB-C port with an integrated DisplayPort stream that connects directly to the powerful NVIDIA graphics card.
   

What graphics card does a laptop need for VR (Virtual Reality)?

The best laptops for VR should be as fast and powerful as possible and have a graphics card with enough memory. This is especially true if you are using a high-end VR headset such as the Varjo Aero or HTC VIVE Pro 2. Inexpensive VR goggles like the HP Reverb G2, the Pico 4 (256 GB) and Pico 4 (128 GB) or the Meta Quest 2 have a somewhat lower resolution and get by with a little less graphics power.

But even here, a faster graphics card is the better choice if you want to play demanding VR games with high FPS values.

Your goal should be to achieve an average of about 90 frames per second (FPS) in virtual reality games with your VR Ready laptop. If the immersive 360-degree VR games run as smoothly as possible on your laptop, you will prevent the occurrence of motion sickness. Modern VR glasses are therefore designed in such a way that even models from the low-priced middle class can reach 90 FPS.

For particularly demanding games such as Microsoft Flight Simulator, your notebook should ideally be equipped with an NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4090 with 16 GB GDDR6 memory (VRAM). This applies at least if you expect a high FPS rate at very high quality settings. Otherwise, an NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4080 with 12 GB of memory already offers plenty of performance for your VR Ready laptop.

The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4070 and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4060 are a good entry-level configuration with 8 GB each. However, for some particularly demanding VR games, you will no longer be able to play at very high graphic details with these GPUs.

By the way: Even graphics cards of the last generation sometimes still offer sufficient or even high performance. If you find a cheap notebook for VR on offer, you can definitely go for it. Suitable for VR are the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3080 and 3080 Ti, the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3070 and 3070 Ti and, at least for simple VR games, the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3060.  

Unfortunately, many buying guides on the subject of laptops for virtual reality still recommend a GeForce RTX 1060 as an entry-level graphics card for VR. However, this information is outdated; this model is now much too slow.

If you only use your laptop to watch VR videos or for very simple VR apps, you need less performance than for VR games with 360-degree panoramic views.

The amount of graphics memory is crucial for high resolution and graphics details on your VR Ready laptop: High resolution textures require a lot of memory to get the best display quality. 8 GB of graphics memory is the minimum for high-resolution textures in VR games.

Depending on the game, make sure your notebook for VR has an Intel Core i7-13700H, Core i9-13900H or Core i9-13900HX. Microsoft's Flight Simulator is a CPU-limited VR game. If you want to play at high FPS, your laptop not only needs a fast graphics card, but also a fast processor.

What connections does a VR Ready laptop need?

Most VR glasses use a DisplayPort as a connection. HDMI no longer plays a role in VR laptops and is only used by very old VR headsets such as the Oculus Rift, which are no longer available for purchase. A notebook is therefore only VR ready if it has a dedicated DisplayPort, a MiniDisplay Port or a USB-C or Thunderbolt 4 port with an integrated DisplayPort stream.

If your notebook has a MiniDisplay port or USB-C port with integrated DisplayPort function, you can connect your VR headset via a suitable adapter. Not all USB-C to DisplayPort adapters are compatible with all current VR glasses. For this purpose, we recommend the Cable Matters USB-C to DisplayPort 1.4 adapter, which works with all laptops for PCVR from XMG and SCHENKER.

Please note: Not all laptops with a DisplayPort, Mini DisplayPort or USB-C port with DisplayPort function are automatically compatible with VR headsets. It is crucial that the respective port is directly connected to the powerful, dedicated NVIDIA graphics card (dGPU) and not only to the integrated graphics solution (iGPU) of the CPU manufacturer.

For this reason, we list in detail in the technical specifications of every single laptop that you can buy at bestware whether it is VR ready. You will also find detailed information about which graphics interfaces are connected to the dGPU (dedicated NVIDIA graphics card) and which are connected to the iGPU (graphics solution integrated into the processor).

These are the best laptops for VR

At bestware you can buy VR ready laptops for a wide range of price-performance requirements. That's why we would like to show you some of the best laptops for VR in 2023 below. The amount of RAM in each of these laptops is freely configurable with 16 GB, 32 GB or 64 GB, as are the SSDs.

XMG NEO 16 and XMG NEO 17 (E23)

Looking for the absolute best laptop for VR that gives you the optimal performance for VR gaming with high resolution and the highest possible details? Then look no further: The XMG NEO 16 and XMG NEO 17 (model generation E23) deliver top performance for all virtual reality applications.

Equipped with an Intel Core i9-13900HX and graphics cards up to NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4090, these high-end laptops offer you maximum VR performance. If you need a little less performance, the laptops are also available with a GeForce RTX 4080, RTX 4070 or RTX 4060. What makes these laptops so special in terms of performance is the option of connecting an XMG OASIS laptop water cooling system. This means that the XMG NEO series is quieter even under full load and you can squeeze the last reserves of performance out of your laptop.

You can connect your VR headset to the Thunderbolt 4 port (USB-C) using an adapter, whose DisplayPort stream runs directly via the dGPU.

SCHENKER KEY 17 Pro (E23)

The SCHENKER KEY 17 Pro (model generation E23) is also one of the fastest laptops for VR. The powerhouse combines Intel's Core i9-13900HX with an NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4090 or RTX 4080.

To connect VR glasses, you can either use the Mini DisplayPort or the two Thunderbolt 4 ports (USB-C), all with dGPU connection. This makes the KEY 17 Pro compatible even with absolute high-end headsets for PCVR, because the high-resolution Varjo VR-3, for example, requires two graphics interfaces.

XMG PRO 15 and XMG PRO 17 (E23)

The XMG PRO 15 and the XMG PRO 17 (model generation E23) already provide you with good performance for VR gaming with Intel's Core i9-13900HX and an NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4070 or RTX 4060.

Alternatively, you can buy the SCHENKER KEY 15 and SCHENKER KEY 17 VR Ready laptops from XMG's sister brand SCHENKER, which are identical in construction to the PRO series.

VR glasses are connected either via Mini DisplayPort or the USB-C slot, both of which are directly coupled to the dGPU.

XMG FOCUS 17, XMG FOCUS 16 and XMG FOCUS 15 (E23)

Based on Intel's Core i9-13900HX and an NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4070 or RTX 4060, the XMG FOCUS 15, XMG FOCUS 16 and XMG FOCUS 17 (model generation E23) also offer more than enough performance for VR applications.

However, we recommend the version with a GeForce RTX 4050, which is also available at bestware, for conventional gaming rather than VR games: The GPU performance is primarily suitable for gaming in Full HD resolution. All current VR headsets work with a significantly higher resolution.

There are also three identical sister models from SCHENKER for the XMG FOCUS series: the SCHENKER MEDIA 15, MEDIA 16 and MEDIA 17.

With these laptops, you connect your VR headset via a mini DisplayPort with dGPU connection.

SCHENKER VISION 16 Pro

Are you looking for a laptop that is as thin and light as possible, but still has enough power for VR? Then the SCHENKER VISION 16 Pro (model generation M23) offers the ideal balance of performance and portability. The model, which weighs only around 1.6 kg and is 17.1 mm slim, is the lightest high-performance laptop in the world. Intel's Core i7-13700H and an NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4070 or RTX 4060 provide enough power for virtual reality gaming.

To connect a VR headset, you can use a USB-C port with integrated DisplayPort stream and dGPU connection.

Buy VR Ready Laptops and VR Headsets at bestware

At bestware you will not only find a large selection of the best laptops for VR, but also a comprehensive range of the best VR headsets from all price and performance classes. We always test VR glasses and VR ready laptops intensively with regard to their compatibility. This way you can be sure that both notebook and VR glasses work together smoothly.