The Best Computer for Game Development

Hello Comm-Unity,

I am now in the market for a new computer (preferably a laptop), and I am wondering what your general opinions are for computers. What brand, hardware, and OS do you believe is the most beneficial to game devs? I understand that you need OSX to make iOS apps, but does that outweigh the user experience and popularity of Windows? Discuss...

 

Honestly, as stated it's a huge and nebulous question that you're unlikely to get a useful answer from.

Where are you and what is your budget? From that people can give you practical suggestions and explain their pros and cons.

Alternatively, if you pick two or three models that you might consider then people can go from there.

It'd also be useful to know what kind of games you want to make. No point in people giving feedback about how to make The Witcher 4 if you're making Flappy Bird clones, and vice versa.

Anyway, broad notes vaguely stabbing at your broad question:

• Brand doesn't matter aside from stuff like how well they support their warranty, and how much of a price premium they charge.
• I'll let others jump in on hardware specifics. You want loads of RAM, a recent mid-range or better CPU, the best GPU you can reasonably afford, and an SSD if affordable.
• Don't forget the non-performance aspects - a decent screen, a keyboard you like to use, and so on. Also don't forget portability and battery life!
• I'd pick a Windows PC, mostly because it gives you access to the full Visual Studio IDE. (VS Code is nice, but it's a beefy text editor as opposed to a full IDE.) If you want to make iOS games, though you need a Mac and may as well go a MacBook.

 

it would depend on what kind of games you are making?

 

Something I recently learned as I was in a similar boat is that it also depends on what aspect of game development you are interested in.

For instance, a computer optimized for rendering big high quality graphics might need hardware unnecessary if you are just going to be doing the programming.

There are some real experts here that can tell you exactly what you need and where to get it, but you'll need to narrow down your parameters first. Not very long ago I asked a similar question and was given some good PC specific resources -- I recommend you look back through my content to find that thread. It can be worth making a free account on other forums just to ask a few questions from the relevant experts.

If you haven't really even started game development, I'd suggest just rolling with the bare minimum until you have a better idea of what you will need.


And just to give you a ballpark example of things, I used a recommended build geared towards 3d sculpting and heavy rendering. This is a desktop, mind you, but in total I spent about $1,400, not including monitors. This machine can handle some pretty heavy workloads in Zbrush. I think I've been up to 75 million polygons before it started having trouble -- more than enough to make AAA quality models -- and it runs current AAA games on Ultra settings with no slow-down ever. I got the build recommendation from a google search, and I found the parts on a pc parts website that was recommended to me by somebody here. The great thing about the site was that it automatically made sure the parts you were ordering would be compatible.

I really have no idea, but I think an equivalent laptop would probably cost twice as much. But then, you might not need as much processing power if you want to make mobile games or 2d, what have you. Unless portability is super important to you, I'd recommend going with a desktop. They really are as easy to build as people say and you get way, way more for the money. Even if you're making phone games only, playing the best graphics games on Ultra with no lag is just awesome.

 

He said best and laptop in the same sentence...

 

Personally, I strongly prefer a powerful Windows desktop PC with multiple monitors. For the iOS requirements, I also have a cheap Mac Mini. I never do development work directly on the Mac Mini, because it is horribly slow and nearly unusable.

For a Windows PC, I would recommend an Intel i7, 32GB RAM, SSD drive, GTX 1070, and three to four identical monitors. That is a very general recommendation for a solid system for doing development. It would likely be overkill for making tiny mobile games, though.

As for using a laptop, you will pay more for less performance going the laptop route. You will also have a cramped keyboard and single small screen. How much do you value the mobility of a laptop?

 

You don't have to be stuck with any of those things. Laptops can be plugged into external monitors and keyboards and so on, and then taken with you when you're on the move.

 

Indeed, my primaries are MacBook Pro(s) with an external 5&4k monitors + keyboard, mouse and tablet. Two cables to “dock”. Works great as a workstation and for travel (or even just on the couch). Though I prefer the small keyboard and trackpad to full size ones.

Ultimately, others opinions aren’t going to be a lot of help, get the best you can afford best suited for your needs, Unity will work fine on any modern decent machine. You know best what your needs are.

 

Mobility gives you some pretty huge advantages.

First, I get some hours each week where I can be working on a laptop but am nowhere near my desktop PC. There's also couch coding time, where I'm hanging out with my significant other but can also be semi-passively plugging away at something productive. Plus, whenever I travel for work I generally get a bunch of dev time in on my own stuff, and things like that.

Secondly, it gives you opportunities that a desktop PC doesn't. For instance, I take a laptop to every local dev meetup I go to and get loads of playtesting and feedback from that, which would obviously be pretty difficult if I was restricted to a desktop. They're also handy for game jams and such.

So, sure, you pay a premium for a laptop, but if you think about more than dollars-to-performance and do the kind of stuff where portability is beneficial then they can absolutely, definitely be worth it.

 

The conversation is drifting somewhat but as was initially stated OP, you need to tell what kind of development you plan on doing with the machine before anyone gives very valid recommendations.

 

Lots of cores, lots of memory, m.2 disk.1080 TI or Titan XP, should cover most use cases

 

Yep, sorry about the late reply. I really am an indie dev, so I'm going to be doing all aspects of game design.

Honestly, I might be leaning a bit towards the Macbook, as a few of you suggested, just because of the iOS games I may make in the future.

I'm not going to need any extreme GPU, since I can't art, but I'm assuming, when I eventually start writing the long scripts for my game, I'm going to need a pretty good CPU for processing, and probably a large hard drive (think 1 or 2 TB) for all of my programs and files.

 

You dont need a super large disk just a fast one. The library cache files takes a bit of space. But a 512 gb m.2 should take you far enough. I have the samsung 960 Pro, very happy with it

If you target mobile I guess you will use baked lighting, I would go with a 8 core or 16 core CPU

 

The concept that you need a powerful machine to develop with is seriously eroding by the day, especially with a services-led future. Unity, Otoy etc will all offer services to do the crunching for you, or already offer services to do that.

So having a convenient machine is by far the best move you can make right now. Do not invest in extremely strong hardware. Invest for middle range hardware providing it's a clear upgrade from what you have.

Bear in mind that if you intend to make a box to crunch a lot of baking jobs, this advice is invalid.

 

It depends on how stressful you get for waiting on the computer to finnish the task. I hate unresponsive UIs etc. Plus a powerful PC is almost free, and you buy it tax free on the company (Maybe more important here in Sweden with high tax on salary).

 

I edited my reply, but it mostly stands.

 

I still go for the most power I can get. Fast CPU, Fast storage, and a Fast GPU all definitely make a big difference.

However, for at least the last 6-7 years CPUs power growth has slowed, so whatever you buy you can expect it to go further. I would argue that you should just buy at or near the top of the market. Obsolescence has attenuated lifespan. Some time ago, buying the top CPU available was good for 2-3 years, while the mid was about half that. Now at the top it's at least 7 years, and midrange remains about half that. The best value for longevity is probably the second model down from the top-of-the line now.

GPUs are still forging ahead quickly, so being able to upgrade it on its own is a plus.

 

You will want a decent GPU, because the Unity Editor will need it even if the game you make is relatively simple. It is unlikely you will need 1-2TB of storage. A huge game project might only have 50-100GB of files in it, and most game projects will have far less content than that. If you have a choice between a SSD drive and a larger hard drive, get the SSD drive. The SSD drive will improve the performance of nearly every interaction with your computer.

 

For the foreseeable future, I strongly suspect developers will continue to gain productivity by having a powerful local computer as opposed to a low end local computer combined with remote services. Even just having a very quick, responsive desktop PC instead of a slow low end laptop will mean saving several seconds with every interaction with a computer. Even simple tasks like looking up information in a web browser can be done slightly more quickly using a faster computer, because web browsers cache that content to the local file system and then parse that content to render the web page.

Having said that, I don't advocate buying the absolute best hardware, because the price premium for the best stuff is usually disproportionate to the performance advantage. For example, I don't advocate using $2k CPUs unless it really makes sense for the specific use case. But I definitely advocate getting a solid desktop PC using a CPU in the $200 to $400 price range.

 

Also other upside of a good desktop is easy upgrades, pretty easy to shove in a new gpu or more ram in the future and if you run out of space just pop in some more ssds. But a big one for me is having it very responsive but also desktops are just more ergonomic. Full keyboard and mouse, 2 x 27inch 1440p screens at the proper height, your neck and back will thank you for it especially if you spend 8+ hours a day on the machine.

Im running things mostly on 2 high end desktops i have 1 for home, one for work then i have a 13inch mbp for travel or on the go. The macbook actually gets very little use since even know it is still a good fast computer it is a worse machine to work on just due to bad ergonomics and small screens.

 

I'm curious about what you mean here. Locally, the 1080 you suggested getting is nearly $1000. That's not "almost free" by any stretch, and is just for one component.

And, if you're making 2D mobile games, it's a component that won't make any difference whatsoever.

Yep. I've said it before and I'll say it again - I've been doing a lot of dev lately on my Surface Pro. Kickass little machines they are, but graphical powerhouses? Not even slightly. Mine has a mid-range CPU and 8 gigs of RAM. I still do plenty of awesome stuff with it.

The caveat there is that my game does require some grunt at times, and I do have a desktop PC available for that. So, @Tiger27, if you're looking for a single PC to cover all your needs then we really need to know what kind of games you want to make to give any useful advice.

 

Well im located in sweden. So if I want that 1000 USD in salary instead. First in sweden we 25% VAT, but a company does not need to pay VAT so that means it costs the company 1000 / 1.25 = 800 USD. We then have 31.42% company tax that the company has to pay ontop of my salary. So then we are down to 800 / 1.3142 = 609 USD

After that I need to pay regular salary taxes, its 55% here. So now we are down on 274 USD.

274 USD is pretty cheap for a 1080 TI right?

 

No argument there, but the key words are "for a 1080 TI". Depending on what they're making a 1080TI may be of little to no benefit over something more modest, which is going to save some dollars, especially in a laptop like the OP is looking at.

That said, I do agree that once you get to a business context, paying more to get improved productivity is a no-brainer. It's silly to save a few hundred bucks by scrimping on components that are going to save time for people you're paying.

 

If you're looking for the "best" computer for game development, the first category you should be excluding would be laptops. If you're looking for a laptop, the best you can hope for is it is just Ok for development.

Really you want lots of cores, lots of ram, a large and fast SSD, and a good video card. On top of that for the best dev experience you will want multiple monitors. Unity editor on monitor 1, Visual Studio up on monitor 2, and websites you're referencing and other notes over on monitor 3.

 

Even if OP sticks with laptop, I highly recommend getting a monitor so that he/she can use double screens at home. In my case, a 20 inch Samsung curved screen monitor was about $200 (american) from Amazon and is really good quality picture.

I can't speak to the game development/coding side of things, but I used to do 3d modeling on one screen and now that I have two I'd just up and quit before going back to that. Just kidding, but two screens is to game dev as microwaves are to bachelor living.

 

That's not to say powerful laptops don't exist. You just won't be very mobile with the weight and battery life they have.

https://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16834154447

It's over thirteen pounds and while the battery life isn't stated you won't likely see more than an hour or two.

 

They are available, however they are still quite a compromise for adding mobility. Gaming laptops have often been very hard to live with in general.

 

First off, thank you for all of your replies, they've been more than I was expecting, as well as very helpful and illuminating. After much deliberating, I think I'm going to go with the Macbook Pro, because of the reliability and OS X. Thanks for all of your help!

 

If you go laptop make sure it has a 4 core i7 not a i5 or i3 or i7 with 2 cores

 

I will, thanks!

 

Apple is releasing a monster 18 core Intel-based system in December of 2017 iMac Pro with killing processor and a custom designed graphics chip capable of rendering a billion colors. https://www.apple.com/imac-pro/

 

Wonder how much cheaper the PC variant will be.

 

It doesn't have a custom designed graphics chip at all. It's merely using a normal AMD Vega 56 or 64 depending on the model. The statement concerning one billion colors is in reference to the monitor's display technology, but before you make it out to be a big deal you may want to know that said technology is available through other companies too. Like Dell.

https://www.amazon.com/Dell-Monitor-UP2715K-27-Inch-LED-Lit/dp/B00OKSFXZU

Cheaper and more powerful at that. After all if you're spending a small fortune for the best processor on the market why would you settle for less than the best in the graphics department? Or worse yet the brand that doesn't support CUDA?

 

So, Apple is releasing an all-in-one with a 10-bit panel, the high-end intel processor and the equivalent of GTX 1070 in "nvidia world". A very uneven system imho. 5k display at 27 inch? Why? The processor is an overkill while the GPU slightly underwhelming. Why is Billions of colors a thing in 2017? I've never owned an apple monitor, but you mean to tell me they weren't using 10-bit panels so far? For mac lovers, this system might be ok if the price is right (I doubt it), but hardly revolutionary.

Btw, for graphics and game dev, I highly recommend a 21:9 34 inch display.

 

Yes and it will cost the same as a deposit for a house, I picked up two 14 core Xeon's for like $600.00 a piece before the rest went to an IT peripheral / server scrapping company.. You have to pay to get rid of old servers etc. over here so companies practically give servers away..

The current 8 core (16GB Ram, Dual AMD "firepro D700) "Mac pro" is about $5300.00, you can build a 28 core / dual GTX 1080 with NVME / 32GB of ram for about half the price.

Believe me, it's not a machine you grow out of quickly.. All this Ryzen stuff / I9 etc. keeps coming out and I'm like meh..! I'll upgrade in about 5 to 10 at current rate of growth.

 

I personally believe that building a PC is the best option. It is much cheaper building a PC than if you were to buy a pre-built system, and you can choose the hardware for what you want to do on it. I built one for $650 AU (about $470 US) with a Pentium Gold G5400, 8gb ddr4 memory, GTX 1050ti, 120GB SSD, and a 320GB hard drive, and it performs well in unity and runs most games at high graphics settings. Much more worth it than buying a prebuilt system. You might think that it requires to be a computer nerd to build a computer, but it is actually pretty damn easy. There are tonnes of build guides out there on YouTube. Anyway, that was just my thought on this topic.

 

Honestly, I have been considering building my own. Those suggestions from your own experience may actually help a lot. I'm either going to do that, or I've been considering a Razer laptop and tower, so I can bring it on the go but plug it in at night. Thanks!

 

If I bought a new computer today it would probably be the Threadripper 2950x

Crazy value for money

 

Isn't that a CPU though?

 

The CPU is the core for any build

 

Yep, my bad. Thought you were talking about buying a computer, but building one.

 

That's an awful budget processor for game development. Unity's most demanding tasks - lightmap baking and script compilation - are heavily multi-threaded and will benefit immensely from higher core counts over high single-threaded performance.

The AMD Ryzen 3 2200G is the superior choice here and while it may not be any faster in single-threaded workloads it's monstrously faster in multi-threaded workloads. Check the benchmarks in the spoiler below. It blows away the Pentium.

Spoiler

 

No reason to go below 2700x given how cheap they are

 

If someone is looking at a budget machine they most likely can't afford a high-end one. I'm definitely in favor of high-end components for game development but if you can't afford one there isn't any point in recommending it.

 

Yes but the 2700x is a high end component at a low end price. Its even cheaper per thread than the Ryzen 3

 

A Ryzen 3 2200G is $100. A Ryzen 7 2700X is $330. You can build an entire system off the cheaper processor for only a little more than the expensive one.

We have a phrase in my area. Champagne tastes, beer pockets. If you can't afford it you can't afford it.

 

I do believe you could just build a tape driven Turing machine, and never let the Germans know it.

But honestly if it runs Unity and you have the skills, you can make it work. I always say this but I own a laptop from 2015, w/ Windows 10 and an outdated intel i7. I get smooth framerates in my projects because I know how to make them efficient. If you want to make high definition models and other art n stuff you might want something a bit pricier though.

I'm sort of a minimalist.

 

Here is my setup:

A netbook
A highspeed internet
Google Drive
AWS Cloud Compute
An extra SSD drive for backup

It saves me money and electricity. Instead of buying expensive GPUs and multiple SSD drives, I harnessed the power of cloud computing

 

We have a phrased called Money is made to be spent

 

There are plenty of reasons if first you take a moment to consider how others' circumstances may differ from your own.

Not everyone is a VR developer with a high-income day job. We don't all have the same demands of our equipment, and most people can't afford to buy whatever shiny new piece of kit catches their eye. For plenty of people the $230 difference that @Ryiah mentions could be put to far better use elsewhere - maybe something else that will make a bigger difference to what they're doing, or maybe on something more fundamental like living expenses.

Is this a particular product? One thing to note is that plenty of mid- to high-end laptops have enough various ports that you can do this without anything special. I've used my own workstation laptop in place of my desktop tower a bunch of times. It's not as convenient as something that docks as there are multiple plugs and cables, but you often pay a hefty premium for that convenience.

I would definitely consider it if it were important to me. Just make sure you think about the practical impact things will have for you, rather than buying into the flashy sales speak.