Unity PC build - general - RTS - Hexa - android

I mainly would like to know how to optimize my PC build for developmening on unity.

I am planning on building a computer when the ryzen 3000 series releases, but i would like to do some home work before building the pc.

I would like to build around $1000 (euro) build for developmening RTS, hexa stragey and android games.

But the problem that i am facing is that i cant find information how to optimze my build for this.

For example should i focus on spending the main part of my budget on the cpu or the gpu? Should i split it evenly on both?

Should i go 16 GB of RAM or 32?

Should have my IDE on SSD or also the game that i am developmening? (To buy larger storage capacity)

Can anybody give me some general tips on these typs of problems for optimazation?

 

I dunno too much about builds but I would not recommend 32 gb of ram unless you're doing some high poly 3d art. 16 gb is a plethora.SSD will help load things quickly obviously but I am not sure how that would help with your game dev process (except maybe compiling shaders/loading assets/etc.). I'd aim for a good CPU mid range GPU, but again PC building is something I dabble in, not specialize.

 

Having stuff on an SSD will greatly speed up anything that involves HDD access - booting your computer, loading applications, loading scenes or resources in scenes, saving large assets, stuff like that.

For one of my projects which involved huge amounts of data, moving from a mechanical drive to an SSD cut save times from 20+ seconds to ~3 seconds. That was not a fancy SSD, it was just whatever one was reasonably priced when I went to buy it ~5 years ago.

 

I would use 32GB RAM and NVMe SSD in any new system build.

You can save some money on the video card, though. You can easily use an RTX 2060 instead of an RTX 2080 ti if you want for running Unity.

 

- as much CPU as money you can cough up
- as much memory as money you can cough up
- as much videocard as money you can cough up
- as fast SSD as money you can cough up

You see the pattern here. Unity is just like a game, so build your PC just like you would build it for a game. Nothing extraordinary. If you don't want to buy a really good PC, you will need to make some sacrifices.
If you create game art too (including coloring and stuff) you will need a proper display as well, this is the only thing where gaming and game building separates, if you want to see good and exact colors in your game, you will need a good display.

 

Man, who has that much dough?

 

A lot of people can afford to build really powerful PCs, especially adults who have been working a number of years. My gaming rig has 32GB RAM, two NVMe SSD drives, an Intel i9-9900k, a RTX 2080 ti, and a custom water cooling loop that cools both the CPU and GPU. I have been building my own PCs for decades, though. It is something I like to do, and the cost of a high end PC is relatively tiny compared to the cost of any other serious hobby.

 

Yea well I'm poor and the most expensive thing I've ever owned was $4k... I need to graduate.

 

After you graduate, get a job, and then work for a while, it will be a lot easier for you. Hang in there.

 

Building a computer for game development is basically the same as building a computer for gaming.

You want a fast processor (Ryzen 5 or higher). If you intend to develop graphically intense games then you will need a strong graphics card. Keep in mind GPUs are far easier to upgrade than CPUs. If you don't need a powerful card now you can always buy a more affordable model and upgrade down the road.

Don't be afraid to purchase hardware from a previous generation. Back when NVIDIA announced their RTX series various manufacturers (eg EVGA) dumped their GTX stock onto eBay for prices way lower than MSRP. I was able to purchase a monster of a graphics card for the price a mid-range card was currently available for (this was shortly after the mining boom).

For AMD processors the speed is very important (it directly affects the CPU's internal bus), but there are diminishing returns. You generally want DDR4-3200 but if DDR-2933 or DDR4-3000 is way cheaper then it's perfectly fine to go with those. It's single digit percentile difference between them.

For capacity you can always buy memory down the road but it's important to understand that Ryzen's memory controller has trouble achieving full speed with more than two memory sticks. I'm currently running a single-channel configuration because I wasn't able to afford two 16 GB sticks and the performance penalty isn't as bad as it sounds.

If you can't afford two 16 GB sticks I highly recommend just buying one now and upgrading a few months later rather than investing in two 8 GBs because you will end up just throwing them out when you go to 32 GB.

Always SSDs. If you can afford them you generally want them to be NVMe too. HDDs are acceptable for apps and data that is only occasionally accessed, but most people treat them as backup drives only. Using an HDD as a main drive will greatly bottleneck your computer.

 

Don't sweat it. You don't need that level of gear to be productive. It's certainly nice, but it's not necessary.

Given your question about CPU vs. GPU balance of spending, I think I'd favor the CPU over the GPU. You said you're making RTSs and Android games? Well, you're targeting low-powered GPUs, so you won't need something high end to play your game properly, and they're RTSs so you'll generally have a pretty limited and/or controllable view. Plus, there are plenty of common tasks which a beefy GPU just won't help with.

 

My concern is that I am in university when most people are making their prime $$$ (early 30's) ... I don't know how that will turn out for me in the long run, but its concerning. My mother has been putting in work and making bank lately and didn't work much at all for her first 30 or so years. I guess it won't matter so long as I do the work. I am really putting my nose to the grindstone with school (so far). GPA ain't the best but I will be floored when I get A's across the board this semester, something that I know I can do and I can feel it. I am so ready! Its not something I expect, its something I'm aiming, planning, and working for.

Don't ever take your health for granted folks.

I've come through in the clutch in school before. I can do it again. I was really sick in high school. Still made honors through that period...

 

Prime earning capacity in most fields is in your 50s. So don't sweat starting a couple of years late.

 

Still haven't found a real answer to my question but the general consensus at this moment in this thread is to give my PC build room for upgrading.

And to make it a bit like gaming pc but more focused on upgrading, so first focus on strong core: a good motherboard, cpu and memory and take and mid range gpu and later upgrade the gpu to higher range gpu that will fit my constrains/needs.

O yea also something if forgot to say is that i already have a 256 GB SSD and Samsung 970 EVO 1TB M.2 ( It is in my laptop as its main drive because my laptop is currently my Main/only pc)
And on top of that i already 1 TB hdd for my 5 year old pc.

 

I agree with you on that but it will make getting a job quite a bit harder, so i would recommend him to do a job on the side to prop up his credentials.

 

I thought if you're this age (30's...) finding a job would be easy enough... but you're correct I think. I've been searching for an intern position (work experience) for three years now. I've applied more this school year than in years past; yet I haven't had anyone call me back since august! I thought that with the labor market so tight I'd have no problem with it. I had the best interview ever in August or September with a company, and the guy never got back to me. Not even after I sent a thank you email. That is the only interview I've had this year...

-.-

Talk about bullsh*t.

 

First of all you should never have this mentality,

I can't review and tell you why you fail.

But most people who hire do not hire people with any grammatical or spelling errors in their application letter.
(It is mainly because it is an easy way to filter all the applications that they recieve)

Secondly check if you are not applying for jobs that above you experience level or education level also after long time try applying for job below you level that have something to do with your field.

And thirdly if keeps not working out for you try starting a small business for yourself.

 

Giving a straight answer is almost impossible because it's almost completely dependent on your project. Unity has a few tasks (building executables, compiling scripts and shaders, baking lightmaps, etc) that are very processor heavy and these will need to be handled regardless of the game you're making. Having a fast processor is generally more important than having a powerful graphics card.

For graphics it's completely dependent on your game. About the best way to know what type of graphics card you will need is to look at the system requirements of games that are similar to what you want to create. For mobile you can generally get away with hardware that is around the performance of integrated (eg current Intel HD, Vega 8, GT 1030, etc).

This is one of the best performing M.2 NVMe drives on the market. If you don't mind removing it from your laptop that solves your main drive.

 

Out of boredom I threw together an example system on PC Part Picker. I didn't include storage because you already had drives but you can purchase a budget NVMe for $145 (Crucial P1 M.2) or another performance for $250 (Samsung 970 EVO). Toshiba HDDs are very affordable (eg a 3 TB is $80).

I fully expect AMD's Ryzen 3000 series to be very close in price to the current Ryzen 2000 series.

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: AMD - Ryzen 5 2600X 3.6 GHz 6-Core Processor ($199.99 @ Newegg Business)
Motherboard: MSI - B450M GAMING PLUS Micro ATX AM4 Motherboard ($79.99 @ Amazon)
Memory: G.Skill - Ripjaws V 32 GB (2 x 16 GB) DDR4-3000 Memory ($189.99 @ Newegg)
Video Card: PowerColor - Radeon RX 580 8 GB Video Card ($169.99 @ Newegg)
Case: Corsair - 200R ATX Mid Tower Case ($54.99 @ Newegg)
Power Supply: EVGA - SuperNOVA G2 650 W 80+ Gold Certified Fully-Modular ATX Power Supply ($59.99 @ B&H)
Total: $754.94
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2019-01-22 10:34 EST-0500

 

Thank you for your help with all the information that i have recieved.
I think i have enought information to pick the right parts over a couple of months.

Should i notify you all with my final build over a couple of months?

 

If I may ask, why do this "over a couple of months"?

 

Because the Ryzen 3000 series releases over a couple of months

 

We are all excited about the upcoming Ryzen 3000 series, but I am guessing there is a chance that won't be available until June. One thing you could do is build now using a Ryzen 5 1600 or Ryzen 5 2600, and then swap out the CPU for a Ryzen 3000 series later this year.

 

There's always a new processor line and not having the bleeding edge releases are rarely worth it unless something was explicitly broken before.

 

AMD's bleeding edge this time around is a significant performance boost. They demoed an 8C/16T engineering sample at CES that was performing on par with Intel's i9-9900K (current chips are about 15 to 25% slower) and there was good indication that the chip may very well have a 16C/32T variant meaning the 8C/16T variant will likely be very affordable.

Unless you need a new system now it's going to be worth waiting this time around (as opposed to the previous generation which wasn't worth waiting for in the slightest - the 2000 series was only 5 to 10% faster than the 1000 series).

 

There are two reasons why i am waiting until June/(july/)august before buying a new PC.

The first reason is because at the moment i do not have the money to buy one and so i have to save it up.

The second reason is that the prommise is that the 3000 will be far more effiecient then the previous generation, and the energy prices where i live are innsanly high.

And on top of that when the 3000 series releases the price of the previous generation will drop down.

 

I mean, that's great, but at the same time it's not really needed. Like, at a point, the performance increase you'll see from CPU operations are really... like, again, it's great, but the bleeding edge doesn't help nearly as much as it's made out to.

 

Right, in the vast majority of cases it's not needed and the bleeding edge doesn't help as much as people like to make it out to, but there have been cases where it has been. Just as an example Twitch/YouTube streamers traditionally have had to use two systems (one for playing their game and one for capturing and encoding it) but AMD's first generation of Ryzen brought core counts up high enough that you could now do it with just one system.