This is why VR headsets don’t work on many new laptops

If you’re using a VR headset on PC, you use either the Display Port or a USB-C connection with Thunderbolt 3. Many laptops, on the other hand, don’t have a dedicated Display Port, so you have to use Thunderbolt to connect. a VR headset. As Notebookcheck reports, it will be difficult to connect VR headsets to many laptops in the future. If Thunderbolt 4 and a current Alder Lake CPU from Intel are installed, you can use it do not connect Valve Index & Co.

Keep your eyes open when buying a laptop

The background is that Intel has integrated USB-C with Thunderbolt 4 into the chipset of the 12th generation of Core i processors, but has made a momentous change. The port driver exclusively binds the display port streams to the Intel iGPU. With previous Intel CPUs, DP signals could be forwarded to a discrete graphics chip from AMD or Nvidia, so that enough graphics performance was available for a VR headset. With the twelfth iteration of the Core i chips, this is no longer the case and VR headsets can no longer be used for gaming on laptops. Intel justifies the decision with the better energy efficiency and consequently a longer battery life. By the way, Intel also dropped support for Ultra HD Blu-rays from Alder Lake.

If you still want to operate Valve Index & Co. on the gaming laptop, you need to use a model that has its own display port connection. VR headsets can only be operated directly on the DP. In theory, laptop manufacturers could also have a second Thunderbolt controller installed on the motherboard, but very few OEMs will be able to afford these costs. Some gaming laptops just don’t support VR headsets anymore. the XMG Neo 15 with Intel Alder Lake, which costs at least 2,000 euros it is not compatible with VR headsets, for example. Anyone with an AMD Ryzen-powered laptop can’t connect a VR headset via USB-C, as there’s no Thunderbolt support.

Also worth reading: Intel Alder Lake and Rocket Lake: This is why UHD Blu-rays can no longer be played

Gaming Laptop VR Headset Collection:

• If you own an Intel Alder Lake gaming laptop, you often can’t use a VR headset on it.
• Although Intel integrates USB-C with Thunderbolt 4 natively into the chipset with Alder Lake, DisplayPort transmissions can only be handled by the Intel iGPU and no longer by discrete graphics chips from AMD Radeon or Nvidia.
• If you want to operate Valve Index and other VR headsets on a laptop for gaming, you need to use a laptop that has its own display port connection.

Source: notebook check