Click to Skip Ad
Closing in...

You can already save $200 on the new Oculus Rift

Published Jan 8th, 2016 6:50PM EST
Oculus Rift Release Date

If you buy through a BGR link, we may earn an affiliate commission, helping support our expert product labs.

The hotly anticipated Oculus Rift virtual reality headset is finally available for preorder after what seems like an eternity of waiting. The system has undergone a number of changes since Facebook acquired Oculus for $2 billion back in 2014, and preorders for the final version went live this past Wednesday. The price is a steep $599, but consumer-ready VR equipment is a very young space so a steep early adopter tax is obviously expected.

As it turns out though, you can already get a big discount on a brand new Oculus Rift kit despite the fact that it doesn’t even start shipping until March.

DON’T MISS: The 5 coolest things Samsung unveiled at CES 2016

$599 might seem like a tall order for a VR system, but that’s just the beginning. A large number of people who want to purchase Oculus’ new virtual reality system will also need to buy a new computer to support it. Why? Because the Oculus Rift has some pretty intense minimum system requirements.

Here’s what you’ll need to power a Rift:

Video Card: NVIDIA GTX 970 / AMD R9 290 equivalent or greater
CPU: Intel i5-4590 equivalent or greater
Memory: 8GB+ RAM
Video Output: Compatible HDMI 1.3 video output
USB Ports: 3x USB 3.0 ports plus 1x USB 2.0 port
OS: Windows 7 SP1 64 bit or newer

On top of that, there are currently only three PC brands right now with machines that officially support the Rift: Dell, Alienware and Asus. Unless you already have a pricey PC from one of those three vendors or you’re savvy enough to tweak your own system, you’ll probably need to buy a new box to support the Rift.

Here’s the good news: Dell and Alienware, which is owned by Dell, will shave $200 off your purchase price when you buy a Rift bundled with one of their compatible PCs, which start at $1,199. Since you have to buy a new computer anyway, think of this as a nice discount on the Rift.

Rift preorder deliveries are expected to reach consumers’ hands beginning March 28th.

Zach Epstein
Zach Epstein Executive Editor

Zach Epstein has been the Executive Editor at BGR for more than 10 years. He manages BGR’s editorial team and ensures that best practices are adhered to. He also oversees the Ecommerce team and directs the daily flow of all content. Zach first joined BGR in 2007 as a Staff Writer covering business, technology, and entertainment.

His work has been quoted by countless top news organizations, and he was recently named one of the world's top 10 “power mobile influencers” by Forbes. Prior to BGR, Zach worked as an executive in marketing and business development with two private telcos.