UPDATED: September 3, 2016
Looking to upgrade your desktop to handle the leading Virtual Reality (VR) Headsets? I’ve compiled the top selling GPUs (Graphics Processing Unit, Video Cards) according to major retailers.
You can find Oculus Rift’s minimum requirements here, and HTC Vive’s here.
As you can see the new NVIDIA GTX 1000 series now dominates the top selling list. Every model using this architecture supports Virtual Reality (1060, 1070 & 1080).
Top Selling GPUs (Graphics Processing Unit) for Virtual Reality PCs.
Overall: NVIDIA GTX 970, AMD 290 and up
| Rank | Brand | Model | Price | Buy | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | EVGA |  | GeForce GTX 1080 FTW GAMING ACX 3.0 | $679.99 |  |
| 2 | EVGA |  | GeForce GTX 1070 SC GAMING ACX 3.0 | $439.00 | |
| 3 | EVGA |  | GeForce GTX 1070 FTW GAMING ACX 3.0 | $439.99 | |
| 4 | Gigabyte |  | GeForce GTX 1070 G1 Gaming | $429.00 | |
| 5 | EVGA |  | GeForce GTX 1060 GAMING, ACX 2.0 (Single Fan) | 302.81 | |
Top NVIDIA GTX 970 GPUs (Minimum Requirement for Virtual Reality PC)
| Rank | Brand | Model | Price | Buy | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | EVGA |  | GeForce GTX 970 4GB SC GAMING ACX 2.0 | $399.99 | |
| 2 | MSI |  | GeForce GTX 970 GAMING 4G | $354.95 | |
| 3 | EVGA |  | GeForce GTX 970 4GB SSC Gaming | $394.95 | |
| 4 | Gigabyte |  | GeForce GTX 970 G1 Gaming | $385.00 | |
| 5 | ASUS |  | STRIX GeForce GTX 970 Overclocked | $306.93 | |
Top Radeon R9 380 GPUs (The minimum is actually R9 290)
With the release of the 300 series the 290s are hard to come by. You can still purchase them, but the prices are inflated. The R9 380 would be the next step up and is more comparable to the NVIDIA minimum (970).
| Rank | Brand | Model | Price | Buy | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Gigabyte |  | AMD R9 380 | $241.00 | |
| 2 | MSI |  | R9 380 GAMING 4G | $239.79 | |
| 3 | Gigabyte |  | R9 380X G1 GAMING | $241.00 | |
| 4 | XFX |  | R9 380X | $225.85 | |
| 5 | Sapphire |  | NITRO R9 380X | $249.99 | |