Before you decide to buy a Windows Mixed Reality headset you check if your PC is capable of running the system. Microsoft have an app that you can get via the Windows Store that checks your Pc for compatibility.

Here is my quick guide on how to do it:

  1. Download the app from the Windows Store
  2. Run the app
  3. Click I agree
  4. The app will run a compatibly checker and then display the results.

This is the results of the check on my Dell XPS 15 which handles Windows Mixed Reality very well:

This is the results from my Surface Pro 4:

Notice that the issue with the Surface Pro 4 isn’t the integrated graphics chip but the lack of RAM (it only has 4GB where 8GB is needed).

If you don’t have the Windows 10 Fall Creators Update you wait to get it via Windows Update but Microsoft are rolling it out over a period of time so you may be waiting a while. If you want to get the update now follow my guide.

Microsoft have two spec ratings, Windows Mixed Reality and Windows Mixed Reality Ultra. With Windows Mixed Reality Ultra you get a 90hz refresh rate rather than 60hz so the experience is smoother, you get wider viewing angle, screen minoring, video recorder and more.

Here are Microsoft’s recommended specs:

PC hardware guidelines

Windows Mixed Reality Windows Mixed Reality Ultra
Operating system Windows 10 Fall Creators Update Windows 10 Fall Creators Update
Processor Intel® Core™ i5 7200U (7th generation mobile), dual core with Intel® Hyper-Threading Technology enabled or better Intel® Core™ i5 4590 (4th generation desktop), quad core or better

AMD Ryzen 5 1400 3.4Ghz (desktop), quad core or better

RAM 8GB DDR3 dual channel 8GB DDR3 or better
Disk space 10 GB 10 GB
Graphics card Compatible GPUs:

  • Integrated Intel® HD Graphics 620 or greater DX12-capable integrated GPU
  • Nvidia MX150 discrete GPU
  • Nvidia 965M discrete GPU
Compatible GPUs:

  • NVidia GTX 960/1050 or greater DX12-capable discrete GPU
  • AMD RX 460/560 or greater DX12-capable discrete GPU
Graphics driver Windows Display Driver Model (WDDM) 2.2 Windows Display Driver Model (WDDM) 2.2
Graphics display port HDMI 1.4 or DisplayPort 1.2 HDMI 2.0 or DisplayPort 1.2
Monitor External or integrated VGA (800×600) monitor External or integrated VGA (800×600) monitor
USB type USB 3.0 Type-A or Type-C USB 3.0 Type-A or Type-C
Bluetooth type (for controllers) Bluetooth 4.0 Bluetooth 4.0

Have a look at my review of the Lenovo Explorer Windows Mixed Reality Headset to see how well my Dell XPS 15.

Leave a Reply