HTC Acknowledges Vive Wireless Isn’t Working With AMD Hardware, Offers Refunds

When we talk about AMD and Intel hardware, there’s a general assumption that outside issues that touch on the CPU, performance, and compatibility should both be broadly equivalent. This is not to say identical — different chipset vendors will produce peripherals that maintain different levels of absolute performance, with AMD licensing critical chipset components from Asmedia, while Intel builds its own designs (not counting what third-party manufacturers may integrate into the boards themselves). It’s been a long time since we’ve had to warn people not to combine certain peripherals with other hardware. The gold standard example for this kind of problem is the legendary VIA 686b southbridge bug that caused irretrievable data loss in RAID arrays if you were foolish enough to use a PCI-based Soundblaster Live (one of the most common sound cards at that time) with a VIA VT82C686B southbridge, which VIA tapped for both its Intel and AMD motherboards back in 2001.

Today’s news, thankfully, is nowhere near that bad, but it’s still kind of strange. When HTC shipped its wireless module for the Vive in late September, the peripheral was snapped up by both Ryzen and Intel VR owners who wanted a chance to game without wires getting in the way. THG’s initial review of the adapter noted their problems getting the hardware working on AMD systems, but their Intel testbed wasn’t exactly a perfect experience, either. It was generally assumed that these issues would be resolved by software updates. This may still happen, but nearly two months later the delay is pushing out enough that HTC has apparently started offering Ryzen owners a refund.

If we had to guess, we’d guess that this kind of issue is a lingering reflection of AMD’s long absence from the gaming market. Ryzen wasn’t even in-market when the Vive launched, and the majority of its user-base is likely on Intel hardware. With AMD gaining market share in desktops, Ryzen support is going to matter more in future cycles, but HTC may have overlooked the need to bring up its hardware on both platforms, particularly given the company’s long-term financial issues and other problems.

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