I was planning on getting a better monitor, but found an HP windows VR headset for the same price? didn't realize the price had dropped so low, reviews on windows VR are not great, but for the price of a monitor is it a good option? or am I throwing money away that could be spent on other better upgrades?
Well, its quite individual. For example I am faster on the monitor, and for me its more important to see all the information about times and tyre temps clear on the monitor than in the "low res" VR. Also the view in the distance is very poor in VR. Not telling about the sweating under the headset during longer races. I am using VR for "fun" driving in PC2 where its just outstanding and very immersive and VR looks much better there than in RaceRoom. But for league races I stick with the monitor until VR come with some better resolution and refresh rate. Take this just as an subjective opinion because as I said, its very individual. But it may help you with the decision.
You gfx card is on the limit for VR. VR is horribly low-res even with super-sampling on a very powerful card, so (unless you can try before you buy) I would be a bit cautious here unless you have budget for a better gfx card. Your CPU should be OK though
my upgrade plan (now that GPU prices are back to normal) is a 27" curved monitor, a 6gig GTX 1060, or 8gig RX580, or even a used GTX1080, a new MOBO and Coffelake i5-8600k so if the windows VR will work on my current setup till I get around to upgrading, I will keep my 21" monitor or am I better off skipping the $100 windows VR and possibly getting something better next year? at this price I think it would be good enough to try VR and if the price drops even lower I guess it is a no brainer