Valve has just released a new tool named SteamVR Performance Test that helps users see if they have the hardware needed for the upcoming VR solutions.



The one thing really mentioned or explained when developers talk about the Oculus or Vive is that both of these solutions, and possibly others to arrive soon, are going to need some powerful hardware to run properly.
This hasn't been explained properly until now, and it's very likely that we'll see a lot of users buying these VR headsets and complain that they can't really use them as intended. Both the Oculus and Vive versions need a beefy GPU and processor, and that's not really something that everyone has.
“The SteamVR Performance Test measures your system's rendering power using a 2-minute sequence from Valves Aperture Robot Repair VR demo. After collecting the data it determines whether your system is capable of running VR content at 90fps and whether VR content can tune the visual fidelity up to the recommended level,” reads the announcement on Steam.
It's no longer sufficient to be able to render images at a small resolution. VR currently requires higher resolutions at constant 90FPS to alleviate nausea. The SteamVR Performance Test is now the only application that gives users some proper advice, and that can save them from spending a lot of money.