VR headsets have never been cheaper, and the games have never been better. Many PC gamers are just a GPU upgrade away from having a VR ready computer. We’re tracking the best VR Ready GPU Cyber Monday 2017 deals now that Black Friday has come and gone.
Updated: 11/27/17, 12:03AM ET
First things first: there’s a lot of folks out there just getting into VR who may not know that their PC is already VR capable! If you aren’t sure, see this article for the latest VR Ready spec requirements and two tools to automatically check your PC’s VR capabilities.
VR GPU Deals Baseline
Before we go hunting for deals on VR graphics cards, it’s important to have an idea of the pre-deal cost so that we can tell what’s really a deal and what isn’t—that’s especially important here because GPU prices are peaking right now, so even discounted prices could be higher than the MSRP! Here’s a quick overview of the MSRP of top VR GPUs from NVIDIA (since many NVIDIA cards are sold through third-party hardware partners, we’ve used the first-party ‘Founders Edition’ prices here):
- GTX 1080 – $550
- GTX 1070 – $400
- GTX 1060 (6GB) – $300
Note: We’re not currently recommending AMD GPUs for value-seekers because prices are inflated, apparently due to supply scarcity, with most cards significantly exceeding AMD’s MSRP.
The Best VR Ready GPU Cyber Monday 2017 Deal – GTX 1080 or GTX 1060
If you want to be able to crank your settings up for some of the best visuals VR has to offer, the best deal we’ve found so far is the powerful GTX 1080 for $500 from Amazon [Amazon], which is $50 off the MSRP. With prices somewhat out of wack right now (due to heightened demand), it’s only $60 more than the best deal we could find on the GTX 1070. This deal is also eligible for free & fast shipping through Prime [Amazon], and you can get a $50 gift card as part of your purchase if your sign up for the Amazon Rewards Visa Signature card [Amazon].
Note: This is a compact ‘Mini’ version of the GTX 1080, though purportedly offers about the same performance. If you’re looking for a full-sized version for a little bit more cost, see ‘Other VR Ready GPU Deals’ section below.
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If you’re just getting into VR and are working on a reasonable budget, the best deal we’ve found so far is the GTX 1060 (6GB) for $240 from Newegg [Amazon]. This card is perfectly capable of pushing the smooth, high framerates that VR headsets demand, but compared to the 1070 or 1080, you won’t be able to notch your super-sampling as high to maximize texture sharpness.
Other VR Ready GPU Deals to Consider
If you’re in the market for the GTX 1080 but want the full-sized card and/or a copy of Destiny 2 bundled into your deal, you can grab the full-sized ZOTAC GTX 1080 AMP! Edition from Amazon [Amazon] for $30 more than the card we recommended above, also available for fast & free shipping with Prime [Amazon].
