Thursday, 30 July, 2026 UTC
Summary
Meta Horizon Link and Air Link allows you to use your Quest headset to play PC VR games, opening up a world of high quality content that you simply won’t find on the Quest Store. Here’s a breakdown of the Link and Air Link recommended system requirements and hardware specs, and what you’ll need to use everything from the original Quest to Quest 3S to play Rift and SteamVR games on your PC.
Updated – July 30th, 2026
Recommended PC Specs for Meta Horizon Link & Air LinkLooking to make your Quest 3 gaming experience even better? Don’t miss our top picks for the most essential Quest 3 accessories.
You’ll need a reasonably powerful PC to play Rift and Steam games on Quest via Link & Air Link, though many modern gaming PCs with NVIDIA or AMD graphics cards will fit the bill.
Here’s the PC hardware you’ll need for Quest, Quest 2, Quest Pro, Quest 3 and Quest 3S to work on PC. Notably, neither Intel Arc GPUs nor workstation GPUs are supported.
Meta Horizon Link & Air Link Compatible Graphics Cards
| GPU | Supported | Not Currently Supported |
| NVIDIA Titan Z | ||
| NVIDIA Titan X | ||
| NVIDIA GeForce GTX 970 | ||
| NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1060 (desktop, 3GB) | ||
| NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1060 (desktop, 6GB) | ||
| NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1060M | ||
| NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1070 (all) | ||
| NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1080 (all) | ||
| NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1650 | ||
| NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1650 Super | ||
| NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1660 | ||
| NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1660 Ti | ||
| NVIDIA GeForce RTX 20/30*/40/50 series (all) | ||
| AMD 200 Series | ||
| AMD 300 Series | ||
| AMD 400 Series | ||
| AMD 500 Series | ||
| AMD 5000 Series | ||
| AMD 6000 Series* | ||
| AMD 7000 Series | ||
| AMD 8000 Series | ||
| AMD 9000 Series | ||
| AMD Vega Series |
*NVIDIA 3050 (laptop) and 3050ti GPUs are not recommended for use with Link
*Radeon RX 6500 is not recommended for use with Link
*Radeon RX 6500 is not recommended for use with Link
Horizon Link & Air Link CPU, RAM, USB, and Operating System Recommended System Requirements
|
Recommended Specs
| |
| Processor |
Intel i7 / AMD Ryzen 7 or greater
|
| Memory | 16GB+ RAM |
| Operating System | Windows 10+ |
| USB Ports | 1x USB-C port (unless using Air Link) |
What’s the difference between Horizon Link and Air Link? Horizon Link uses a cable to connect your headset directly to your PC. This will generally result in the best visual performance, and in most cases it will let your headset’s battery last significantly longer than if you use Air Link.
Air Link is the same feature as Horizon Link, except wireless. If you have an ideal network configuration, Air Link can be a great way to easily play PC games wirelessly with Quest. Without an ideal network configuration, you might have issues with Air Link (like lag or low quality visuals).
Tethered: Horizon Link Cable
Horizon Link technically works with any USB cable, including the one that comes in the box with Quest, but without a fairly long cable you won’t have much room to move around. If you’re only planning to play seated games like racing or flying sims, you can probably get by with the included cable, but you’ll probably want to buy a dedicated cable that’s long enough that you can really spread your virtual wings.
An inexpensive option is to combine this Anker 10ft USB 3.0 cable with this CableCreation 16ft USB 3.0 extender for a total of 26 feet for under $40 from Amazon.
Alternatively, Meta sells a lighter (but much more expensive) 16ft USB 3.0 Horizon Link cable for $80, also available on Amazon.
Whether you pick a third-party USB 3.0 cable or Meta’s own cable, both will give you the same visual experience when used with Meta Link.
Wireless: Air Link Network Recommendations
You’ll need a properly configured network for Air Link to deliver a good wireless PC VR experience. Here’s what to do to ensure the best performance:
- PC connected to router/access-point via Ethernet cable
- Router supporting Wi-Fi 5 (also called 802.11AC) or Wi-Fi 6 / Wi-Fi 6E (also called 802.11AX)
- Headset connected to 5GHz Wi-Fi band
- Router in the same room as the headset or in line-of-sight, and at least 1m off the ground
- Don’t use a mesh network configuration (extenders, etc)
The post How to Tell if Your PC is Ready for Quest Link & Air Link appeared first on Road to VR.