To get a PC for under the $1200 mark, I suguest that you consider building your own PC. Yes, it takes much more work and research. It even has a bit more risk, however when you are looking to get the most out of you money, this is probably the best option. You can select exactly what you want in your PC. You can keep the cost down a bit by adding only the items that you want.
This is the option I like the best because I like to see every part that goes into my PC. I have built a PC in the past and it is nice because I was able to select parts in which I could later upgrade to.
This is our Mid-Range VR Flight PC. This PC is far from average and is a very powerful computer. I wrestled with calling this a mid-range PC, as it is more of a top performer if you compare it to any other market. However when you talk about VR Flight, you talk about a different set of standards.
This PC runs a powerful 3.6 GHz i7-9700k with a NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2070 super 8GB graphics card. It has 8 USB ports and is liquid cooled. This computer will be able to push hard and will be a great addition to any VR Flight setup. This PC will definitly get you up and running in VR Flight. Just keep in mind that for VR Flight, it is not the top PC, so you will probably have to remember this when adjusting your graphics.
This is our High End VR Flight PC pick. This PC is a true beast!. It will handle almost anything you throw at it. VR Flight Sim will probably be the toughest thing you can give it, and it will handle this too. This PC comes with a 3.6 GHz Intel Core i7 and a deditcated NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2070 graphics card. It has 2 2.0 USB ports and 6 3.0 ports. 1 TB Flash Memory Solid State Drive with 16 GB of DDR4 RAM.
i164 Compact Gaming PC, i9-9900K, Liquid-Cooled RTX 2080 Ti, 960GB M.2, 2TB HDD, 32GB
This is our Top Pick. If you weren’t flying a VR Flight Sim, then I would say that this is overkill, however with VR Flight Simulation you need all the power you can get. And this PC really fills that requirement. This PC is not for the faint of heart, so if you are not 100% ready to spend the money, you may want to look at my other choices.
It is running an i9-9900k eight-core porcessor, with a NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2080 Ti graphics card. It has 32 GB of DDR4 SDRAM. This PC is even liquid cooled, allowing you to get the most possible out of the system.
Yes, you can even do VR Flight on a laptop. Keep in mind that you will be limited in USB ports, however this one comes with 5. You can always grab a splitter to increase the number of ports. This is an amazing laptop with incredible power. This comes with an RTX 2080 and an i7-9750H. This PC packs a big punch for such a small package.
If you want to get into VR Flight, then I would recommend that you stick with a full size PC due to the price, however if you need something compact, this is your PC.
As we all love bonuses, I thought I would ad one bonus item to the list. We all know that the equipment is very important to someone getting into flight simulation, however the one thing that is just as important is the knowledge. Flying without any idea on how to fly makes the sim into a game. It takes away the realism. Now, I am going to recommend an amazing flight instructor who truly believes in flight simulation as a training aid. His name is Rod Machado (affiliate link). You may even recognize his name, as he was the flight instructor on FSX. Now, on top of his really easy to listen to style of teaching, he also has a very impressive resume. He started instructing in 1973 and has 10,000 hours of flight under his belt. If you interested in doing things the right way, then I highly recommend any of his training or books.
Also, remember if you want one on one training with a real life flight instructor, CFI and CFII, then take a look at zerosideslip.com.
If you want one on one training with a real life flight instructor, CFI and CFII, then take a look at zerosideslip.com
Please note that the above link is not an affiliate link, however VR Flight World is affiliated with Zero Sideslip. If you mention that you came from VR Flight World, then I get a small commision. I really appreciate the support as this helps me to keep VR Flight World running strong.
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Hi Dan thank you for your comments and ideas regarding VR for flight sim.
Unfortunately at least in its present form VR is not suitable for flight sim even with the best of software allowing you to move parts of your body freely in the cockpit: you simply cannot see your hands, legs and feet.
What we think will be the future of full immersion is Augmented Reality with very high definition wearable lenses that will allow you to have full awareness of your surroundings like in the real flight deck. Those type of technologies based on AR are well into the future but it will be as real as it gets. So far VR has failed miserably to become a consumer product perhaps due to greed but I don't see a future for it in the foreseeable future.
Thanks
Thanks for the comment. I do agree that being able to see your legs, hands, feet and surrounding would be nice, but I also do think there is a market for VR in flight simulation. Whether it fails as a consumer product for the masses in other types of games... will be another thing (not sure if it will or not). I think it is a great tool for people in flight simulation/flight training as at this time there is no other way to get the immersion that VR offers.
I truly do appreciate your opinion though,
Dan
Hi Dan Please have a look at FlyInside flight simulator which has the best support in the industry for VR.
I hope that you like it. It uses Vulcan as its engine , x-plane on the other hand is still evaluating its development.
Anyway see what you think and let us know.
Much appreciated.
Cheers
I would like to give it a try. Haven't had a chance lately. It does sound exciting and I used to use it for my VR support in X-Plane before they implemented native VR.
Dan,
How much physical space do you need to setup VR? For example, how far from the heatset does the sensor need to be? I am concerned i will have to sit too far back from my desk not allowing me to reach my yoke. Hope that makes sense.
Please let me know your thoughts.
I have mine just over arms reach. The sensors essentially just need to be able to track your head movement. The nice thing about VR Flight, is that you are not moving all over the place like you would be in other games, so you can keep the sensors much closer.