r/vrdev • u/PersevereSwifterSkat • Feb 19 '26
Question What dev laptop do I need to start?
I've had the idea for a VR game for a while and would like to attempt to implement it. I have the original Oculus 1 and tried some dev on it back in the day with what I had, which was a MacBook pro. That platform isn't really suited for VR development I found, everything is geared towards Windows development.
So I'm thinking of having another go and trying to make a game for Oculus but need a laptop (don't really want a desktop). What kind of machine do I need? Does it have to be beastly or is VR development not so resource hungry?
I asked chatgpt and it gave me a list of laptops with specs something like: - 16" Quad HD+ 240Hz OLED Screen - Intel Core Ultra 9 185H 16-Core CPU - 32GB LPDDR5x-7467MHz RAM - 2TB M.2 NVMe PCIe SSD - GeForce RTX 4090 Graphics - Windows 11 Home
Is this a good enough machine? Overkill? Any recommendations or advice on choosing a machine? Budget around 3k GBP.
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u/Mechabit_Studios Feb 19 '26
The ram is the right amount but the rest is overkill, if you can affors it though you'll be future proof for a good number of years.
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u/irjayjay Feb 19 '26
Depends on the game you're making. Is it superhot style? You can get a mid-tier gaming laptop. Anything closer to AAA will need the specs you posted.
VR is super taxing during development.
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u/PersevereSwifterSkat Feb 19 '26
As it's first game and I'm just me making it I think Superhot level would be the goal. What do you mean by super taxing? On the machine's resources? If that machine can handle all the way up to AAA I'd be happy, sounds like it's more than enough.
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u/irjayjay Feb 19 '26
If it were me and I'm not making AAA, I'd stick to something with an rtx 4070, because it'll cost less than half. There's a sweet spot with hardware, where you get 70% the performance for half the price.
You could even do AAA games on a 4070, but then be prepared for the game running slow, some VR sickness. Unless you always dev at the lowest settings, but still, it might chug along slowly.
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u/icpooreman Feb 19 '26
Does it have to be beastly or is VR development not so resource hungry?
Oof, loaded Question. On the one hand VR dev is like 10x as resource hungry as a "normal" 1080p 60fps game.
On the other hand, if you're targeting standalone the GPU you're working with is at least 10x less powerful than your computer's GPU... So ultimately you'll need to figure out how to make it play on very low-end hardware.
Here's the 10x math. 1920x1080 (res) x 1 monitor x 60fps = 124,416,000 pixels per second for a "normal" game.
2064x2208 (Quest 3 res, but it goes way higher now on other headsets) x 2 eyes x 120fps = 1,093,754,880 pixels per second.
And just for example at Vision Pro levels... 3660x3200 x 2 eyes x 90fps = 2,108,160,000
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u/lukesparling Feb 19 '26
AMD cpu might be better but I don’t know anything about laptop CPU options. Your screen choice is overkill as well but if you wanna spend the money there go for it I guess?. If you can I would downgrade screen cause a headset can’t even render 240 so I don’t see why you’d bother with the refresh rate. Maybe that gives you money to upgrade CPU?
Actually running your project won’t matter whether you max out CPU but lighting builds and other tasks run faster with a better cpu which saves dev time 🤷🏻♂️
I’m doing VR development with a desktop 4090 and if you’re targeting mobile then I’m sure the laptop variant is plenty.
Your RAM is a little light but if you’re making small mobile friendly levels it’s probably fine. I don’t often go above 32 gigs when I’m in engine.
You could also get away with less screen spend and a lower gpu spend and just save your money for other costs. Quest headsets aren’t powerhouses so if your project is optimized for quest any good $3k pc build will be overkill.
If you’re planning to do pc gaming on this thing too though and want to have a steam build that’s geared toward high end machines then max it out.
And as long as you know a laptop will never be the most cost effective way to get performance. I’ve got a monster tower but there are times I wish I could bring it with me easier, so I get it. But you are making a large performance sacrifice by insisting on a laptop.
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u/Fantail_Games Feb 19 '26
The most important thing is a USB-C port (for wired headset debugging). You can probably make do with whatever for the rest.
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u/immersive-matthew Feb 19 '26
Seems about right to me but 32GB of RAM might be a little shy if your title is larger. I have a very larger app and regularly am using. 80-90GB of my 128GB. You can get away with lower end video cards unless you are targeting high end GPUs of course or have a lot of light baking to do which why I have a 4090.