Do You Need a Gaming PC for Oculus Quest 2?

VR tech is booming nowadays, as it’s created a brand-new approach to work and entertainment. And Oculus is mainstreaming the tech, competing with other manufacturers with their Quest line of VR headsets. It’s a versatile and ergonomic device that gives you access to a variety of VR apps and games. And do you need a gaming PC for Oculus Quest 2?

No, you don’t need one – it’s completely standalone, which means you can even play or work on the go.

You won’t have access to hi-end games adapted for VR, but Quest 2 headset wasn’t actually meant for playing them without additional hardware – you won’t have enough battery to do so anyway. Therefore, it’d be vital for you to understand how to use Oculus Quest 2 with and without a powerful PC, and what to do with it in both cases.

About Oculus Quest 2

Oculus Quest 2, now branded as Meta Quest 2, as it was said, is a standalone VR headset that’s capable of working independently from any additional device and could be paired with one to get the best out of it and enjoy it to the fullest. It has its own Oculus Store that’s filled to the brim with VR games and software, so that you’ll be able to play and work with it whenever and wherever you are. It can live for about 2-3 hours without recharging and has enough power to play games from the store with its Snapdragon XR2 chip and 6 GB RAM.

With VR tech evolving from bulky and simplified graphics to almost real-life visuals, it is on the front edge of the current VR gaming. It supports all modern compatible games and is literally a cutting-edge device that marked a new step in this field with its completely exclusive and standalone VR remake of old-school classic – Resident Evil 4. With this, it began an era where VR became a lot more than an accessory for a gaming PC – this particular game utilized only the headset’s own capabilities, making it possible to play VR-only AAA titles anywhere.

The Role of a Gaming PC in VR

Speaking in modern terms, a gaming PC is literally any PC that can freely run modern AAA games without a hitch. Basically, it includes all setups that have enough power to provide at least 60 FPS stable framerate on high settings, so it needs at least a top-notch Intel or AMD CPU and current-gen GPU from Nvidia or AMD with RTX support. And although a VR headset is not a must for a gaming PC, it’ll give players another level of gaming experience for all its worth.

While having a standalone capability, and pretty high at that, headsets like Quest 2 will have access to a lot more VR-compatible games if paired with a gaming PC. Just imagine what it would look like to play modern photorealistic games and maximum performance accessible to top-notch PCs with virtual reality experience. And Quest 2 gives you this exact capability with its full SteamVR tech compatibility.

Oculus Quest 2 without a Gaming PC

Being an independent device at its core, it is a pretty good piece of hardware worth buying, despite some people complaining about its seemingly lacking game library. But, for all its worth, it has enough power and supported games to provide you with hours of VR entertainment.

Quest 2 has been designed for independent play anywhere, anytime thanks to the powerful mobile chipset inside.

Four cameras on the outside of the headset see the world around you and display it in 3D space, tracking your movements in VR and translating them into the virtual world.

Similarly, the cameras track the movements of the Touch controllers using a multitude of LEDs in the controller ring, providing fast and precise movements that make it feel like you’re moving your virtual hands just like your real hands. In some cases, controllers aren’t even necessary as the cameras can track your hand movements, making virtual interaction even more realistic.

Its battery is charged via the USB Type-C port on the side panel and lasts 2-3 hours on a single charge. However, you can buy a replacement with a higher capacity if you wish.

And if you’re worried that the portable nature of the headset will cause visual quality to suffer – it won’t. It’s no Switch by any means. While the games in its standalone library are a bit more simplistic than the ones for PC, they still look fantastic in virtual reality. Thanks to the fact that VR tech works to trick your brain to believe in the virtual world you’re seeing.

Benefits of Pairing Oculus Quest 2 with a Gaming PC

All things considered, pairing a VR headset like is a must for every true gamer. Because, as it was said above, its capabilities will improve by leaps and bounds. You’ll get more games, better visuals and, in particular, a whole new experience. As good as it may be as a standalone device, it couldn’t be compared to a full-fledged gaming desktop. Just like you can’t compare your smartphone, even if it’s top-notch and game-ready, to a desktop or even to a laptop. And there are several particular reasons why:

• Gaming PCs are designed for playing games in the best possible way, having the best CPUs and GPUs inside. Headsets just can’t have enough hardware power to run AAA titles on their own.
• As it was already said, portable hardware, even top tier one, can’t compete with desktop hardware. And even gaming laptops are better in this regard. So, obviously, your VR headset will display way better graphics when paired with the gaming PC.
• Battery life. Taking into account that the headset’s own hardware won’t be under heavy load, it’ll last longer when paired with a PC. Because everything will be processed on it, and the headset will only receive a video feed and send data from controllers and such. Practically like cloud gaming, but on your very own hardware.

Considering all the above, it is literally worth it to pair your Quest 2 with a powerful gaming PC. And Oculus Link will do wonders in helping you with that.

Link is a proprietary feature of all modern VR headsets manufactured by Meta, and it was designed exactly for one purpose – connecting your device with your PC that has a VR-compatible GPU on board. Just link them with USB, set up Link and play in VR even without direct connection via Air Link as much as you want. A whole lot of games from Oculus Store, Steam VR and other supported platforms will welcome you at their fullest.

On the other hand, you can use Virtual Desktop to do the thing. It basically turns your headset into your PC’s display, transitioning everything into virtual reality. And after you’ve set up a VD, you can freely play anything VR-compatible from any available store. Just like you can do it via Link.

Do You Really Need a Gaming PC?

Sad but true – not everyone can have a gaming PC with hi-end performance capabilities. But it won’t be a problem as long as its GPU is VR-compatible. Because if it is, you’ll be able to connect your headset without any issues. Of course, it’s better to have a top tier desktop for playing modern games, but you can do a thing even without having the latest hardware.

Of course, if you’re a hardcore gamer, it’s a must for you to have the best gaming PC available and affordable for your wallet. It’ll give you the best visuals and best performance if paired with a VR headset. Of course, it’ll cost a lot, even if you don’t need all those RGB bells and whistles. But if your budget allows you to, buying a hi-end desktop to pair it with your VR device is a must if you want the best gaming experience.

Taking into account all that was said above, remember that Quest 2 is a standalone headset – you can play on it without having a PC at all.

On top of it, Xbox Cloud is now actually available on this device. So, if you want to play console games on the go, all that’s needed is to get yourself a controller, install the Xbox Cloud app and subscribe for GamePass Ultimate.

How to Choose the Right Gaming PC for Oculus Quest 2

The Quest 2 headset is not too demanding in terms of hardware, on the contrary to everyone’s thoughts, but if you want to play best VR games with the best quality and the best performance, you need to take system requirements into account. And the bottom line of PC specs from Meta looks like this:

• CPU: 4th Generation Intel Core i5-4590 or its AMD alternative.
• GPU: NVIDIA GeForce GTX 970 or its AMD counterpart.
• RAM: No less than 8Gb.

The above specifications are the minimum you need to connect your PC with the headset. And those specs are not even close to something that looks like ‘gaming’. They’re as far as possible from this term, considering that the modern generation of Intel CPUs is 12th. Therefore, if you want to enjoy VR experience to the fullest, you need something that looks like this:

• CPU: 10th Generation Intel Core i5 or its AMD counterpart. At the least, so it won’t bottleneck the GPU.
• GPU: NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2060 or higher. Ideally – RTX 3060 or higher.
• RAM: 16Gb or higher. 32Gb if you want to smoothly run even poorly optimized games (and there surely are some).

And if you don’t want to bother yourself with building your PC from scratch, there are a ton of pre-made solutions from various brands. For instance, there are VR-ready gaming PCs you can pick from:

• HP Omen 30L. It’s a platform that has a variety of builds, up to an astonishing setup that includes AMD Ryzen 9 5900X CPU paired with RTX 3090 GPU and up to 64GB RAM. And if your budget is limited, you can get yourself the same desktop but with more modest hardware and for a fair price.
• Alienware Aurora: Ryzen Edition R14. If you want to go with top-notch everything – it’s your pick. You can choose from various combinations that include AMD Ryzen 5000 Series CPUs, AMD RX 6000 Series or NVIDIA 30 Series CPUs, and up to 16GB RAM from various brands. And, of course, you can vary its specs before buying to fit your wallet’s capabilities.
• Maingear Vybe. Maingear, being the PC-building brand, can make a perfect VR-ready setup for you, starting from budget but still gaming pre-made variants and up to APEX customized lineup with top-notch AMD Ryzen 7950X or Intel Core i9-13900K CPU, RTX 4090 or AMD RX 6900 XT, and whooping 128GB Kingston Fury Renegade RAM. If you really want to go all-out.

Basically, if you want to get yourself the best gaming PC you can afford to use it with a VR headset – you can get it. Either pre-made or custom-built, there are lots of picks, depending on your needs, wants and budget capabilities.

Setting Up Your Oculus Quest 2 with a Gaming PC

If you have a suitable gaming PC and a Quest 2 headset, and you want to dive into a VR world at its finest, you need to connect the two. And to do so, all you need to do is to follow a few simple steps:

• Turn on both Quest 2 and your gaming PC.
• Download the official ‘Meta Quest’ app on your desktop and open it.
• Connect your headset via USB-C cable to your PC.
• Open Quest Link app on your headset.
• Scroll the bottom menu to the ‘Settings’ tab and switch the ‘Quest Link’ on.

That’s basically all you need to do for initial connection setup. But if you want to use your headset wirelessly, you should take some more steps:

• Make sure that both your gaming PC and Quest 2 are connected to the same router.
• If you have a two-mode router and both devices are Wi-Fi-enabled, make sure they’re in the exact same network – both to 5GHz or both to 2.4GHz.
• In the ‘Meta Quest’ app on your gaming PC, pick the ‘Air Link’ option.
• In the ‘Fast Settings’ menu on your headset, scroll to the ‘Quest Link’ tab and open it.
• Enable the ‘Air Link’ option and find your gaming PC in the list.
• Follow the confirmation sequence and pair up devices by typing the matching code on your headset.
• Confirm the pairing on your gaming PC and pick the ‘Launch’ option on your headset.

If you have issues with finding your gaming desktop or laptop in the list, and that’s the only common issue you could have when paired them, you should reboot your headset and restart the wireless connection procedure. And if the issue still persists, re-check the network both devices are connected to – usually, that’s the cause.

Conclusion

Oculus Quest 2 is one of the best VR devices you can get for a reasonable price. It’s not the latest one in the lineup, but it’s worth buying, no matter if you want to pair it up with the gaming PC or not. Because it has pretty powerful hardware on board and it can offer you almost exactly the same top-notch VR gaming experience as its more recent versions. And, of course, it can work independently, allowing you to play platform-exclusive games from Oculus Store on the go wherever you are.