Hey folks. I'd like to upgrade my PC in anticipation for VR headsets (Oculus/Vive) coming out. Of course, the sensible thing to do would be to wait until they actually come out, and then build a PC as necessary. That being said, I want to play MGSV and maybe Fallout 4 soon, and I don't think my current rig can handle it. I wanted to check whether my build seems reasonable.

Here's my current build. It's based off of an old build from Maximum PC. Up until now I've been happy to have a relatively outdated PC, since I play big AAA games only rarely, and I don't mind playing them on lower quality settings.

i5-3350P processor

Gigabyte GA-H61M-DS2 mobo

Kingston Blu 4GB (2x2GB) memory

Samsung 850 EVO 500GB SSD, plus a couple of hard disks

Gigabyte Radeon HD 7750 2GB video card

Rosewill R218-P-BK ATX Mid Tower case (with included PSU)

And here are the planned upgrades, based on the Rift's published requirements:

i5-4590 processor

MSI H81M-P33 mobo

Crucial Ballistix Sport 8GB (1x8GB) memory

Asus GeForce GTX 970 4GB STRIX video card

I'm trying to pick decent parts instead of the cheapest thing that has the given specs. I initially considered getting a cheaper R9 290, but the 970 doesn't cost too much more, so I thought it was worth it. I don't have a set budget, so I'm happy to pay more if it'll result in a better experience. For example, are the Rift's requirements the absolute minimum, with a more powerful card achieving better graphics? Is there a good chance that the Vive will be more demanding? At the same time, I don't want to waste money on something I don't need or something I might have to replace soon enough anyway (e.g. if later VR headsets are even more demanding).

Also, do I need a new PSU? The Rosewill PSU power supply is supposed to be 450W, and PCPartPicker says my power requirement will be 343W, so I thought that'd be enough, but I don't know if it's better to buy PSUs separately. I don't plan to overclock. I also feel like I should be using a Skylake CPU, but it seems like they're much more expensive for the given performance. And can I reuse the i5-3350P stock cooler for my new chip, if it doesn't come with one?

I don't know much about the specs for PC VR, my tower is just too old in every way, I'd personally recommend holding off until these things are out for sale. I can't help but think the current stated specs aren't final.

I'm sure what you've picked out will be enough for the first generation of tech-demos and simple games, but I'm not convinced it will be good for if anyone ends up making a big-budget graphics-heavy game. The Oculus runs at 2160×1200, and you need to push 90FPS to avoid motion related problems (I'm sure some people will be less sensitive to this stuff). That's doable on a GTX 970, but just barely. I have a 970 and it does 1440p in some games at 60FPS fairly well. But that's not all games, and I doubt it could push anywhere near 90FPS in most of them. I guess what I'm trying to say is that I'm highly sceptical that modern looking games will run well in VR on a 970. If you just want to play Keep Talking and Nobody Explodes or other graphically simple games, then you'll probably be fine. Even games like Elite Dangerous and Euro Truck Simulator are relatively simple, and will probably work fine.

Future versions of VR headsets will only be more demanding if they up the screen resolution or refresh rate. I'm sure that will happen at some point, but I wouldn't worry about it for a few years. If they can somehow sell these things to people, I'm sure the focus will be on getting costs down before improving quality.

As for the build itself, if you want 8GB of RAM, then get 4GBx2 rather than 8GBx1, that will allow dual channel memory.

Honestly, I think building a PC designed for VR RIGHT NOW is a bad idea, because the actual hardware requirements are still a bit of an unknown. If you're dead set on building specifically for VR, I'd wait a bit to see how it pans out.

Now, if you wanted to build something for just regular good old 1080p gaming, it's a fine setup. I can vouch that the 4590 is a great processor and while I switched to Corsair ram, the Crucial Ballistix Sport is great stuff. I would suggest spending more on a motherboard, though. I have the MSI H81M-e33 (I have no idea what's different between it and the P33 is... I think it's just that the e33 has an HDMI port) and it's... serviceable. It gets the job done but lacks a lot of features like USB 3 headers for your case. Not to mention it's small, and only has two ram slots.

Oh, and yes, get a new PSU. Gold certified if you can.

@cameron To be honest, I think one 8gb stick for now would be a better choice IF they get the motherboard listed. It's only got two slots, and I think it'd be a better idea to keep one open for another stick for 16gb. (If they get a better mobo with 4 slots, than yeah, might as well)

Wait 5-6 months, the new GPU hardware with a proper die shrink will be on the market by then. There will be some fairly significant gains. VR isn't exactly going to be kicking down the door with killer apps when it launches.

@korwin: @turtlebird95: Normally I would be happy to wait until the actual headsets are available (I'm excited enough that I'd want to upgrade as soon as they're out even if it's mostly tech demos and stuff). But like I said, there are a few games that I'll have free time for soon (MGSV, Fallout 4, Witcher 3?), and according to posted specs it doesn't seem like my current build can handle them. I could just ignore VR and make the upgrades with those games in mind, but that would mean that I'd have to upgrade again very soon. I mean, I'd rather spend $600 now rather than $300 now and then $550 later, right?

You could always add a second 970 in six months or a year if you feel like you need to, just build with that upgrade path in mind. Make sure you have a big enough case, a motherboard that supports SLI, and enough PSU to drive two GPUs. I would be looking at Z97 motherboards at a minimum if I were you, and not M-ITX or M-ATX either. Full ATX all the way.

@turtlebird95: Good catch, I just assumed it would have four slots. After looking at it, it's also a micro-ATX board, which makes no sense unless you're using a case that's too small for an ATX board. So @uracilhokenut you should probably look at a better motherboard, especially if you don't want to build a mostly new system in a year or two.

I've got a four year old PC I'm looking to give a shot in the arm when VR launches next year. I'm hoping just a graphics card upgrade will keep it trucking along for now - I still haven't seen my i5 2500k or 8GB of RAM cause any obvious bottlenecks.

I'm no expert, but waiting for the next round of graphics cards early 2016 is advice I've taken on board.

Speaking as someone with SLI GTX 580s, I will be avoiding an SLI setup next time. I found the performance gain wasn't enough to justify the expenditure and headaches that came from games with poor or no SLI support. I can only imagine VR complicating SLI support even further.