VRMark will tell you if your PC is ready for Virtual Reality

Oculus and Valve's own virtual reality compatibility tests will tell you if your PC is VR-ready, but how ready is a bit of a specification guessing game. Will you be able to run games at their maximum settings, or are you just going to scrape past virtual reality's minimum requirements? Futuremark's trying to make that question easier to answer with a new benchmarking suite designed specifically for virtual reality.

Think of it as a more comprehensive version of Valve and Oculus VR's official compatibility tools -- not only does VRMark check the system's hardware against both the Vive and Rift's minimum recommended specification requirements, but it also runs it through one of two live VR demos to make sure it stays above the target frame-rate. The VRMark 'orange room' is the basic test most users will need to pass for a good VR experience, but the suite also has more advanced 'blue room' designed to simulate the highest fidelity VR experiences available today. Both tests will give users a straightforward score and several comparable metrics. A score of 5000 in the orange test, for instance, meets the minimum requirements for a VR-ready PC. If your machine scores any lower, you risk having a sub-part (and potentially nauseating) VR experience.

If you already have a VR headset, you'll be able to experience your PC's performance first-hand, too. In addition to offering straight benchmarks, VRMark has an "experience" mode for each of its tests, allowing you to personally view a virtual reality museum of flying space ships and alien UFOs. Just make sure your PC is up to snuff with the benchmarks, first.