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VR With 2017 iMac with maxed specs

J

jcr918

macrumors regular
Original poster
Nov 8, 2012
227
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I have 27" 2017 5K iMac with the 4.2 GHz Intel Core i7 & 64GB of ram along with the Radeon Pro 580 and 1TB SSD.

I'm wondering can my system handle VR ? I'm a casual gamer. I really don't want to spend a lot of money building a PC just for VR but I'm looking for a good vr experience. I don't mine doing a Egpu with a 1080 ti and going that route. What's my best option and what's the best vr headset?

I currently have the PSVR and I really enjoy it but some games I want to play are not available on it. I couldn't find ANY video on youtube with someone running the vive or rift on a iMac so I'm wondering if this is even possible even in bootcamp I hear high sierra will support the vive this fall .
 
What's the process to get this to work though. I'm trying to decide on what headset to buy etc
 
jcr918 said:
I have 27" 2017 5K iMac with the 4.2 GHz Intel Core i7 & 64GB of ram along with the Radeon Pro 580 and 1TB SSD.

I'm wondering can my system handle VR ? I'm a casual gamer. I really don't want to spend a lot of money building a PC just for VR but I'm looking for a good vr experience. I don't mine doing a Egpu with a 1080 ti and going that route. What's my best option and what's the best vr headset?

I currently have the PSVR and I really enjoy it but some games I want to play are not available on it. I couldn't find ANY video on youtube with someone running the vive or rift on a iMac so I'm wondering if this is even possible even in bootcamp I hear high sierra will support the vive this fall .
Click to expand...
For comparison, the PS4 pro is about 4.2 terraflops. This imac is about 5.5 teraflops. The ps4 pro does VR quite well, this machine can certainly handle it too. Just comes down to optimization and settings, VR isn't that different than normal gaming in that regard.
 
This fall/winter after macOS High Sierra is released, native VR should be possible via the HTC Vive.
I'm sure Oculus Rift support will then follow suit, but that's a Windows only thing for now.
I asked the same question regarding the Rift, a month ago(to the day apparently!) and got no answers. It was the same story on Reddit, so I made the decision to install Windows 10 on a 500GB Bootcamp partition and see for myself.

In Windows, I ran the Steam VR test, and it said my system was comfortably VR-ready.

After trying a few intensive non-VR games I then made the decision to buy an Oculus Rift in their current sale.

EDIT: I can now confirm that it all works! I had a new cable on order on a hunch, and it turned out to be a good one!
 
Last edited:
I wrote this in another thread






"This guy says he has done it on Win 8.1 Bootcamp on a 2015 i7 395 4GB iMac using the Vive.

[doublepost=1500055969][/doublepost]Also some more info https://www.reddit.com/r/Vive/comments/472n1m/running_on_imac_with_windows_10_bootcamp/




I am running the HTC Vive on my iMac retina with bootcamp. I have no problems doing so despite having a mobile graphics card. The experience is no different from when I used it on a pc with Gtx 970. I've played a number of games, including the blu, Brookhaven project and final approach. There is no perceivable lag and the experience is not affected by it. These are my specs: 4.0GHz Quad-core Intel Core i7, Turbo Boost up to 4.4GHz • 8GB 1600MHz DDR3 SDRAM - 2x4GB • 512GB Flash Storage • AMD Radeon R9 M295X 4GB GDDR5. Also I use the thunderbolt/Mini DisplayPort connection to the vive - initially had issues trying to display thru the Headset. Changed the settings to extended display with second display below 1st and it started working.








shapipnew user|low karma account 1 point 1 year ago

Vig2000 - i'm trying to do the same thing but can't get the htc vive to work with the mac (late 2015 imac 5k in bootcamp). The vive test said compatible in the middle of the yellow bar, but i can't get steamvr to work. It says no driver in the error report. I tried to update to latest driver which says it has htc vive support on the amd website, but the mac won't update, saying the card isn't detected (apparently a known problem that's been around for a while). How did you update the driver? Did you just use the amd bootcamp driver?

  • permalink
  • Vig200new user|low karma account 2 points 1 year ago

    I just used the bootcamp driver which works fine. I had same problem when trying to install AMD driver. So I gave up with that but the following worked for me. Go to the advanced display settings. Make sure you set the advanced display settings to extended display. You will see two displays, numbered 1 and 2. Arrange the second display so that it's under the first in the configuration. This brought the HTC vive to life. I was close to giving up but glad I didntbigM15TER 1 point 1 year ago

    Thank you Vig200 you are the man/woman!


    shapipnew user|low karma account 1 point 1 year ago

    Thanks Vig200. I got it working on an imac27 5k in bootcamp. Works great! I ran through a bunch of the lab portals. I didn't notice any type of problems or feel sick, or anything like that.Vig200new user|low karma account 1 point 1 year ago

    Glad to hear it. Just make sure you do not update to the newest bootcamp driver. That causes the frame rate to drop for some reason. Ive had to roll back the bootcamp driver to get things to work again.
 
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BergerFan said:
This fall/winter after macOS High Sierra is released, native VR should be possible via the HTC Vive.
I'm sure Oculus Rift support will then follow suit, but that's a Windows only thing for now.
I asked the same question regarding the Rift, a month ago(to the day apparently!) and got no answers. It was the same story on Reddit, so I made the decision to install Windows 10 on a 500GB Bootcamp partition and see for myself.

In Windows, I ran the Steam VR test, and it said my system was comfortably VR-ready.

After trying a few intensive non-VR games I then made the decision to buy an Oculus Rift in their current sale.

I can confirm that it all works, but my Rift had a screen defect and it's currently on its way back to Oculus for a replacement, but that's another story, but I saw enough of the games I had(Robo Recall and a few others), to confirm that the 2017 27-inch iMac is more than adequate for VR.
Click to expand...



Good to know. I'm debating on getting the rift mainly due to the price point. I'm trying to figure out if I should get the rift or vive seems the vive will for sure have mac support this fall and the rift I'm sure way later but since nothing is officially announced I'm thinking the Vive is a better option. At some point I plan on doing the Egpu with a 1080 ti or better.
 
iemcj said:
For comparison, the PS4 pro is about 4.2 terraflops. This imac is about 5.5 teraflops. The ps4 pro does VR quite well, this machine can certainly handle it too. Just comes down to optimization and settings, VR isn't that different than normal gaming in that regard.
Click to expand...

I disagree a bit on a couple of points.

Teraflops isn't a good way to compare gaming performance at all, even more so with a console in the mix. While the raw compute is important for various task it doesn't mean much when it comes to gaming. For example Vega 56 and the GTX 1070 are trading blows with gaming performance, however Vega 56 is 10.5 teraflops while the 1070 is 6.5 teraflops. Vega 56 can't perform as well as the GTX 1080 for gaming which is 8.6 teraflops.

PSVR does perform well but with considerable effort and at considerable expense. It has a lower resolution (narrow FOV), leans heavily on video interpolation, waters down the graphics of VR titles, and is higher optimized due to limited and known hardware, way more optimized then any Mac or PC will ever be. Because of that I consider the PSVR experience to be lackluster after using the Vive.

Annoyingly many VR titles don't have "settings" at least of the graphical variety. Some do, many don't though. If that trend continues then games will be made for the lowest common dominator. And honestly I consider the 580 to be the BARE MINIMUM specs for VR. I was using an overclocked Sapphire 8gb 290X (stock 5.6 teraflops I believe so OC much higher) and some photorealistic titles didn't play that well. The 580 should be a bit better with better VR features built in but I'm not expecting the same level of graphics for MacOS on SteamVR as the PC gets.

Most of the above illustrates the difference is VR and normal monitor/TV gaming is quite vast from a hardware and software perspective.
 
I got the rift tonight for $349 at bestbuy with a price match. To good to pass up so I might as well give it a try I will post results a later on
 
So I got bootcamp all hooked up and updated my drivers. Rift says Your AMD Radeon Pro 580 graphics card doesn't meet our recommended specification's

I thought the 580 could handle vr ? What's the deal
 
jcr918 said:
So I got bootcamp all hooked up and updated my drivers. Rift says Your AMD Radeon Pro 580 graphics card doesn't meet our recommended specification's

I thought the 580 could handle vr ? What's the deal
Click to expand...
Yeah I get that too. It's simply because the Radeon pro 580 hasn't been added to the compatibility list with it being relatively new.
Steam VR's app(that actually tests the hardware), reports the system as being comfortably VR-Ready.
[doublepost=1503183136][/doublepost]
cynics said:
I disagree a bit on a couple of points.

Teraflops isn't a good way to compare gaming performance at all, even more so with a console in the mix. While the raw compute is important for various task it doesn't mean much when it comes to gaming. For example Vega 56 and the GTX 1070 are trading blows with gaming performance, however Vega 56 is 10.5 teraflops while the 1070 is 6.5 teraflops. Vega 56 can't perform as well as the GTX 1080 for gaming which is 8.6 teraflops.

PSVR does perform well but with considerable effort and at considerable expense. It has a lower resolution (narrow FOV), leans heavily on video interpolation, waters down the graphics of VR titles, and is higher optimized due to limited and known hardware, way more optimized then any Mac or PC will ever be. Because of that I consider the PSVR experience to be lackluster after using the Vive.

Annoyingly many VR titles don't have "settings" at least of the graphical variety. Some do, many don't though. If that trend continues then games will be made for the lowest common dominator. And honestly I consider the 580 to be the BARE MINIMUM specs for VR. I was using an overclocked Sapphire 8gb 290X (stock 5.6 teraflops I believe so OC much higher) and some photorealistic titles didn't play that well. The 580 should be a bit better with better VR features built in but I'm not expecting the same level of graphics for MacOS on SteamVR as the PC gets.

Most of the above illustrates the difference is VR and normal monitor/TV gaming is quite vast from a hardware and software perspective.
Click to expand...
Steam VR's test app reports the system as being more than adequate for VR, as it tests the hardware fully.
The GPU is too new for the Oculus App's compatibility list, which is why it says it's not ready.
I can confirm it all works perfectly.
I had an issue with the cable so I got a replacement - that fixed my issues.
 

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BergerFan said:
Yeah I get that too. It's simply because the Radeon pro 580 hasn't been added to the compatibility list with it being relatively new.
Steam VR's app(that actually tests the hardware), reports the system as being comfortably VR-Ready.
[doublepost=1503183136][/doublepost]
Steam VR's test app reports the system as being more than adequate for VR, as it tests the hardware fully.
The GPU is too new for the Oculus App's compatibility list, which is why it says it's not ready.
I can confirm it all works perfectly.
I had an issue with the cable so I got a replacement - that fixed my issues.
Click to expand...


I got mine Rift working but the picture won't stay on in the headset or I get a blue screen in the headset. I have tried 3 different USB C to HDMI adapters any ideas ?
 
jcr918 said:
I got mine Rift working but the picture won't stay on in the headset or I get a blue screen in the headset. I have tried 3 different USB C to HDMI adapters any ideas ?
Click to expand...
It's either a faulty headset, incompatible adapter, or a faulty Rift cable. Your options are:

1) Gamble on buying a £50 replacement Rift cable and hope that fixes the problem(if you get no other errors, then it's a worthwhile gamble IMO).
2) Contact Oculus support and try to determine whether the HMD or the cable is at fault, and begin a protracted process of returns and replacements.
If you go this route, it's probably best to not mention that your trying this on an iMac though, for unbiased support.
 
Last edited:
BergerFan said:
It's either a faulty headset, incompatible adapter, or a faulty Rift cable. Your options are:

1) Gamble on buying a £50 replacement Rift cable and hope that fixes the problem(if you get no other errors, then it's a worthwhile gamble IMO).
2) Contact Oculus support and try to determine whether the HMD or the cable is at fault, and begin a protracted process of returns and replacements.
If you go this route, it's probably best to not mention that your trying this on an iMac though, for unbiased support.
Click to expand...


You where right. The Rift headset was faulty I took it back to Bestbuy and got a new headset and it worked perfectly. I'm very impressed with the rift running on the iMac there's no lag and it works perfectly.

Any idea how to get the rift to mirror what I'm seeing on the imac screen ? Also how do I get the iMac speakers to work in bootcamp ?
 
jcr918 said:
You where right. The Rift headset was faulty I took it back to Bestbuy and got a new headset and it worked perfectly. I'm very impressed with the rift running on the iMac there's no lag and it works perfectly.

Any idea how to get the rift to mirror what I'm seeing on the imac screen ? Also how do I get the iMac speakers to work in bootcamp ?
Click to expand...
Boot Camp Assistant should automatically have the drivers for everything.
In Windows, click the sound icon in the bottom right, it should allow you to choose the audio output.

For mirroring, try this?:
 
Last edited:
BergerFan said:
Boot Camp Assistant should automatically have the drivers for everything.
In Windows, click the sound icon in the bottom right, it should allow you to choose the audio output.

For mirroring, try this?:
Click to expand...


I tried that even went to the device manager. I'm able to get sound to the rift but not through the imac is there a driver I can download directly or a way to repair my sound driver to possibly resolve this issue.

Thank you so much for the input and help everyone
 
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