14 DAY TRIAL // Well, yes, it's pretty obvious by now that Oculus is closing in and fast and large companies begin to button up for the great release by starting partnerships that will support the new headset with proper hardware. This is the case of AMD and Dell as well, that decided to support Oculus Ready PCs together.
Apparently, the deal consists in an understanding between these two companies to bring to market “Oculus Ready” desktop and laptop systems, this obviously meaning Alienware laptops equipped with Oculus Ready graphics cards from AMD. This way the two companies want to make it quick and easy for those interested in trying Virtual Reality on their own computers for the first time.
PCs and laptops that come with Radeon GPUs supporting Liquid VR will have prices that will start at $1,000, without VAT, so it's best to keep that in mind as well.
However, this deal basically ensures that people get a computer that will play VR on their Oculus Rift without any setup issues. But the main problem isn't the setup computer itself, but rather if the VR headset will give people a comfortable experience, since nausea, lag and framerate issues could potentially kill one of the largest hardware launches in the VR industry, if not the IT industry overall.
AMD's fortunes may turn together with Oculus' Success
“It’s an exciting time to be at the heart of all things Virtual Reality,” said Roy Taylor, corporate vice president of Alliances and Content at AMD in a statement. “I’m confident that with Dell and Alienware, we can enable a wide audience of PC users with extraordinary VR capabilities powered by AMD Radeon GPUs," according to Maximum PC.
It's nice faking being excited instead of being as they truly feel right now: mostly nervous. This is a completely new product made for a completely new market with a very unpredictable outcome. There's nothing less exciting than financing social experiments with millions of privately owned dollars.
The new Oculus Ready PCs will be part of Dell's Alienware division and will carry the Alienware branding. It's interesting, however, to see how AMD's fortunes will turn this time since the tables could turn at any moment from now on if AMD holds an advanced position together with other system manufacturers in supporting VR. And if, of course, VR actually proves to be successful. Oculus Rift will launch in early 2016, and the entire IT industry holds its breath.