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Windows Mixed Reality
WMR quick start guide
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WMR hardware and software requirements

This section discusses hardware compatibilities and software requirements for using Windows Mixed Reality devices and applications.

Checking compatibility

You can use Microsoft’s Mixed Reality PC Check app to see if your PC is ready to run Windows Mixed Reality applications. The check tests your system and reports back on whether or not your PC meets the requirements.

After the check is complete, the results window displays one of the following result messages:

Compatibility check result Description
You’re good to go Your PC matches the requirements needed to run Windows Mixed Reality
You’re nearly there Some functions might be limited, but Windows Mixed Reality applications can run
Can’t Run Mixed Reality Your PC doesn’t meet the requirements needed to run Windows Mixed Reality

The results window also displays a green tick beside any of your PC components or drivers that meet Microsoft’s minimum requirements. It also displays a red ‘X’ beside the components on your PC that do not meet minimum requirements. The following image below illustrates this:

Windows Mixed Reality compatibility check results screen. In this example, the graphics driver and the RAM are insufficient for Windows Mixed Reality.
Windows Mixed Reality compatibility check results screen. In this example, the graphics driver and the RAM are insufficient for Windows Mixed Reality.

The table below lists the minimum and recommended hardware and software requirements to successfully run Windows Mixed Reality applications on a Windows desktop PC. The recommended requirements let you run Windows Mixed Reality applications on a Windows desktop PC at the highest quality settings.

Component Minimum requirements Recommended requirements
Operating System Windows 10 Fall Creators Update (RS3) - Home, Pro, Business, Education. Windows 10 Fall Creators Update (RS3) - Home, Pro, Business, Education.
CPU Processor Intel Core i5 7200U (7th generation mobile), dual-core with Intel® Hyper-Threading Technology enabled (or better). Intel Core i5 4590 (4th generation), quad-core (or better) AMD Ryzen 5 1400 3.4Ghz (desktop), quad-core (or better).
Disk Space At least 10 GB. At least 10 GB.
RAM 8GB DDR3 dual channel (or better). 8GB DDR3 dual channel (or better).
Bluetooth (for controllers) Bluetooth 4.0 Bluetooth 4.0
USB connectivity USB 3.0 Type-A or Type-C USB 3.0 Type-A or Type-C
Graphics Driver Windows Display Driver Model (WDDM) 2.2 Windows Display Driver Model (WDDM) 2.2
Graphics Card Integrated Intel® HD Graphics 620 (or greater) DX12-capable integrated GPU (check if your model is greater)
NVIDIA MX150/965M (or greater) DX12-capable discrete GPU.
NVIDIA GTX 960/1050 (or greater) DX12-capable discrete GPU. AMD RX 460/560 (or greater) DX12-capable discrete GPU. GPU must be hosted in a PCIe 3.0 x4+ Link slot.
Graphics Display Port HDMI 1.4 or DisplayPort 1.2 HDMI 2.0 or DisplayPort 1.2

For additional details and information relating to Microsoft’s Mixed Reality PC requirements, see Microsoft’s Mixed Reality hardware compatibility guidelines.


  • 2018–03–27 Page published with editorial review

  • New content added for XR API changes in 2017.3

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Windows Mixed Reality
WMR quick start guide