Affordable and Optimal Hardware for Unity ML Agents Training

Hi creators,

Thank you so much for creating this amazing tool for us to use. I am currently enrolled in a master of Architecture program and I have decided to use ML-Agents as my main driver for the project. With this new devotion, I am expecting to upgrade my machine.

I have read that ML-Agents do not require GPU even training could be done by only the CPU. I have some questions regarding this:
1. Would a better GPU in ML-Agents than running it on the CPU? I am expecting myself to upgrade to NVDA RTX 2070 Super with AMD Ryzen 5 3600/
2. Since the training option is binary: GPU or CPU, would that mean I could just invest in one CPU better than having a better GPU?
3. What would you suggest for me to upgrade, or, maybe for the good for all, you could suggest any specific combination of hardware for a range of budget?

I am currently using a laptop with Intel 6700HQ and NVDA GTX 960 M and all my simple agent training ran pretty well so far.

Thank you so much!

 

AFAIK, GPUs outperform CPUs for most ML use cases. Since ML-Agents works with Tensorflow and CUDA and doesn't have any other unusual requirements, I'd assume Tim Dettmers' great guides would apply here too.
https://timdettmers.com/category/hardware/
Given the cost for one or more high-end GPU(s), an alternative might be cloud training.

EDIT: Please see https://github.com/Unity-Technologies/ml-agents/issues/4129
regarding GPU vs CPU training.

 

I set up ML agents with GPU (1080 gtx) with almost no effect. GPU support seems to be poor at this point.