Specs for desktop - Unreal Engine 5 development

[PumpkinPaul]

Hi all - first post!
Just looking for a bit of purchasing advice for a machine, mostly for Unreal Engine 5 development - currently using a 3 year old Razer Blade 15" 1080p laptop for MonoGame development. Buying through a business
Here's my first stab at a configuration...
Case
PCS PRISM TG BLACK ARGB MID TOWER CASE
Processor (CPU)
Intel® Core™ i9 16-Core Processor i9-12900KF (3.2GHz) 30MB Cache
Motherboard
GIGABYTE Z690 UD (LGA1700, USB 3.2, PCIe 5.0) - ARGB Ready
Memory (RAM)
64GB Corsair VENGEANCE DDR5 5200MHz (2 x 32GB)
Graphics Card
10GB NVIDIA GEFORCE RTX 3080 - HDMI, DP, LHR
1st M.2 SSD Drive
1TB INTEL® 670p M.2 NVMe PCIe SSD (up to 3500MB/sR | 2500MB/sW)
1st Storage Drive
2TB PCS 2.5" SSD, SATA 6 Gb (520MB/R, 470MB/W)
Power Supply
CORSAIR 750W RMx SERIES™ MODULAR 80 PLUS® GOLD, ULTRA QUIET
Power Cable
1 x 1.5 Metre UK Power Cable (Kettle Lead)
Processor Cooling
PCS FrostFlow 100 RGB V3 Series High Performance CPU Cooler
Thermal Paste
STANDARD THERMAL PASTE FOR SUFFICIENT COOLING
Extra Case Fans
3x Corsair LL120 RGB LED Fan + Controller Kit
Sound Card
ONBOARD 6 CHANNEL (5.1) HIGH DEF AUDIO (AS STANDARD)
Network Card
10/100/1000 GIGABIT LAN PORT
Wireless Network Card
WIRELESS 802.11N 300Mbps/2.4GHz PCI-E CARD
USB/Thunderbolt Options
MIN. 2 x USB 3.0 & 2 x USB 2.0 PORTS @ BACK PANEL + MIN. 2 FRONT PORTS
Operating System
Windows 11 Home 64 Bit - inc. Single Licence [KUK-00003]
Operating System Language
United Kingdom - English Language
Windows Recovery Media
Windows 10/11 Multi-Language Recovery Image - Unlimited Downloads from Online Account
Office Software
FREE 30 Day Trial of Microsoft 365® (Operating System Required)
Anti-Virus
NO ANTI-VIRUS SOFTWARE
Browser
Firefox™
Warranty
3 Year Standard Warranty (1 Month Collect & Return, 1 Year Parts, 3 Year Labour)
Delivery
STANDARD INSURED DELIVERY TO UK MAINLAND (MON-FRI)
Build Time
Standard Build - Approximately 3 to 6 working days
Welcome Book
PCSpecialist Welcome Book - United Kingdom & Republic of Ireland
Price: £2,767.00 including VAT and Delivery
Unique URL to re-configure: https://www.pcspecialist.co.uk/saved-configurations/intel-z690-ddr5-pc/E34ftRkrKd/

Anything I've gone overboard with / not high enough.

Thanks in advance.

Kind regards,
Paul

 

[Aza]

I dont know much about unreal engine, but there are a few factors in your build I would highlight.

I wouldnt touch the PCS cases, they are all budget cases and thermals are far from good... you want a decent case especially with the budget/build you are looking at, i'd point towards the 5000D or fractal design 7 if noise is a consideration

The 12900 cpus have a problem with the heat output, to the extent you have to buy an additional bracket to fix it. The thermals are warping the socket and the cooling in the chip and reducing their ability to vent heat even further... theres a thread on the forums about it here
That said, if taking a 12900, you want the best possible cooler you can so the H150i models.

Gigabyte have seen a bit of a fall from grace, the quality has taken a bit dip, I wouldnt take one of their boards atm

DDR5 is a bit of a false economy right now, high latency means the gains are marginal over DDR4 but the cost is significantly more

That PSU is not enough for a 3080, most builds start at 850w atm, but to include future upgrade options a 1000w wouldnt be a bad call, perhaps even a 1200w if the 3080 is needed (normally gpu would be tied to monitors with gaming, i'm not sure how it works with unreal engine which I think is game design?)

I'd pay the extra £10 for the AX200 WiFi card, the default one is pretty old and doesnt come with bluetooth

With storage, i'd take the fastest M2 you can for the OS drive, so the 500GB samsung pro 980, it will benefit the system, then the rest of your storage configuration depends on uses so see what the mods say about it where youre using it for work/unreal engine

Another thing to point out is autumn sees new cpus, gpus, RAM, motherboards...the works really... so worth waiting if you can, especially with the spend you are looking at making from teh above spec.

Whats your total budget? If you need to buy now, it will help configuring a spec, any other details like monitors etc might also be useful.

 

[PumpkinPaul]

Hey thanks for the info
I've a pair of cheepish iiyama monitors that do the job for me I think - this will defintely be more of a development workstation than a gaming rig.
Budget is 'around' what I've configured, wouldn't want to pay too much more really,
I'd probably like to get now ish as I'm quite impatient and itching to start some experiments in Unreal (and my laptop is just not up to it)

 

[PumpkinPaul]

I had another go at a cheaper system based on some of the comments around the site.
- the configurator (tm) kept telling me to drop the power supply so went with what it said
- reduced the GPU to 3060 too based on my monitors / res
- life expectancy - probably 3 years (?) then look to move it on

Case
FRACTAL DEFINE 7 BLACK QUIET MID-TOWER CASE
Processor (CPU)
AMD Ryzen 9 5900X 12 Core CPU (3.7GHz-4.8GHz/70MB CACHE/AM4)
Motherboard
ASUS® TUF GAMING B550-PLUS (DDR4, USB 3.2, 6Gb/s) - ARGB Ready!
Memory (RAM)
64GB Corsair VENGEANCE RGB PRO DDR4 3200MHz (4 x 16GB)
Graphics Card
12GB NVIDIA GEFORCE RTX 3060 - HDMI, DP, LHR
1st M.2 SSD Drive
500GB SAMSUNG 980 PRO M.2, PCIe NVMe (up to 6900MB/R, 5000MB/W)
1st Storage Drive
2TB PCS 2.5" SSD, SATA 6 Gb (520MB/R, 470MB/W)
Power Supply
CORSAIR 550W TXm SERIES™ SEMI-MODULAR 80 PLUS® GOLD, ULTRA QUIET
Power Cable
1 x 1.5 Metre UK Power Cable (Kettle Lead)
Processor Cooling
Corsair iCUE H150i RGB PRO XT Hydro Series High Performance CPU Cooler
Thermal Paste
STANDARD THERMAL PASTE FOR SUFFICIENT COOLING
Sound Card
ONBOARD 6 CHANNEL (5.1) HIGH DEF AUDIO (AS STANDARD)
Network Card
10/100/1000 GIGABIT LAN PORT
Wireless Network Card
WIRELESS INTEL® Wi-Fi 6 AX200 2,400Mbps/5GHz, 300Mbps/2.4GHz PCI-E CARD + BT 5.0
USB/Thunderbolt Options
MIN. 2 x USB 3.0 & 2 x USB 2.0 PORTS @ BACK PANEL + MIN. 2 FRONT PORTS
Operating System
Windows 11 Home 64 Bit - inc. Single Licence [KUK-00003]
Operating System Language
United Kingdom - English Language
Windows Recovery Media
Windows 10/11 Multi-Language Recovery Image - Unlimited Downloads from Online Account
Office Software
FREE 30 Day Trial of Microsoft 365® (Operating System Required)
Anti-Virus
NO ANTI-VIRUS SOFTWARE
Browser
Microsoft® Edge
Warranty
3 Year Standard Warranty (1 Month Collect & Return, 1 Year Parts, 3 Year Labour)
Delivery
STANDARD INSURED DELIVERY TO UK MAINLAND (MON-FRI)
Build Time
Standard Build - Approximately 3 to 6 working days
Price: £2,035.00 including VAT and Delivery
Unique URL to re-configure: https://www.pcspecialist.co.uk/saved-configurations/amd-am4-gen3-pc/fezpy6QM7T/

 

[SpyderTracks]

I had another go at a cheaper system based on some of the comments around the site.
- the configurator (tm) kept telling me to drop the power supply so went with what it said
- reduced the GPU to 3060 too based on my monitors / res
- life expectancy - probably 3 years (?) then look to move it on

Case
FRACTAL DEFINE 7 BLACK QUIET MID-TOWER CASE
Processor (CPU)
AMD Ryzen 9 5900X 12 Core CPU (3.7GHz-4.8GHz/70MB CACHE/AM4)
Motherboard
ASUS® TUF GAMING B550-PLUS (DDR4, USB 3.2, 6Gb/s) - ARGB Ready!
Memory (RAM)
64GB Corsair VENGEANCE RGB PRO DDR4 3200MHz (4 x 16GB)
Graphics Card
12GB NVIDIA GEFORCE RTX 3060 - HDMI, DP, LHR
1st M.2 SSD Drive
500GB SAMSUNG 980 PRO M.2, PCIe NVMe (up to 6900MB/R, 5000MB/W)
1st Storage Drive
2TB PCS 2.5" SSD, SATA 6 Gb (520MB/R, 470MB/W)
Power Supply
CORSAIR 550W TXm SERIES™ SEMI-MODULAR 80 PLUS® GOLD, ULTRA QUIET
Power Cable
1 x 1.5 Metre UK Power Cable (Kettle Lead)
Processor Cooling
Corsair iCUE H150i RGB PRO XT Hydro Series High Performance CPU Cooler
Thermal Paste
STANDARD THERMAL PASTE FOR SUFFICIENT COOLING
Sound Card
ONBOARD 6 CHANNEL (5.1) HIGH DEF AUDIO (AS STANDARD)
Network Card
10/100/1000 GIGABIT LAN PORT
Wireless Network Card
WIRELESS INTEL® Wi-Fi 6 AX200 2,400Mbps/5GHz, 300Mbps/2.4GHz PCI-E CARD + BT 5.0
USB/Thunderbolt Options
MIN. 2 x USB 3.0 & 2 x USB 2.0 PORTS @ BACK PANEL + MIN. 2 FRONT PORTS
Operating System
Windows 11 Home 64 Bit - inc. Single Licence [KUK-00003]
Operating System Language
United Kingdom - English Language
Windows Recovery Media
Windows 10/11 Multi-Language Recovery Image - Unlimited Downloads from Online Account
Office Software
FREE 30 Day Trial of Microsoft 365® (Operating System Required)
Anti-Virus
NO ANTI-VIRUS SOFTWARE
Browser
Microsoft® Edge
Warranty
3 Year Standard Warranty (1 Month Collect & Return, 1 Year Parts, 3 Year Labour)
Delivery
STANDARD INSURED DELIVERY TO UK MAINLAND (MON-FRI)
Build Time
Standard Build - Approximately 3 to 6 working days
Price: £2,035.00 including VAT and Delivery
Unique URL to re-configure: https://www.pcspecialist.co.uk/saved-configurations/amd-am4-gen3-pc/fezpy6QM7T/

The configurator is not telling you to reduce the power, it's merely stating how much the system will draw. But you're not designing it based on current specs, but on 7 - 10 year lifespan in front of it with upgrades. The next gen nvidia GPU's will be drawing 800W JUST ON THE GPU (this has been confirmed, it's no hearsay).

 

[PumpkinPaul]

Hey there.
What I meant was I put in an 800w power supply and it said it was overkill, so then I reduced it a few times to get to that ^

I don’t think I’d keep the machine for 7-10 years, probably just recycle it after about 3 and get something newer if required, as then I’d just be able to write it off out the business

 

[SpyderTracks]

Hey there.
What I meant was I put in an 800w power supply and it said it was overkill, so then I reduced it a few times to get to that ^

I don’t think I’d keep the machine for 7-10 years, probably just recycle it after about 3 and get something newer if required, as then I’d just be able to write it off out the business

Even if you were to do that, the GPU would be a bottleneck before then, that's the first thing you upgrade to maintain performance, so the PSU requirement is still valid.

 

[Aza]

Hey there.
What I meant was I put in an 800w power supply and it said it was overkill, so then I reduced it a few times to get to that ^

I don’t think I’d keep the machine for 7-10 years, probably just recycle it after about 3 and get something newer if required, as then I’d just be able to write it off out the business

This is the opposite to what you would do with a custom rig, and its the most expensive (and wasteful) way of doing it.
Spec a decent machine now, using latest gen components and put a decent initial investment in, overspec the PSU to account for future upgrades.

As Spyder has said, the first thing to start going "out of date" is the GPU, so you replace it in about 3 years, you do it again another 3 years later. Its just the GPU that you replace on this 3 year cycle, meaning over 10 years its cheaper than buying 3 or 4 complete brand new systems.

You might then update the CPU 7 or 8 years in, taking the highest spec your motherboard will take (by that point its normally a very cheap chip as well)

It is -completely- normal for a custom rig to last a decade, its the whole point of them. Its not the cpu or ram etc that ends up being the slow bit at 3 years, its the GPU, and remains the GPU for most of the machines life.
If you are going to throw it away in 3 years and buy new, then look at prebuilt, thats what that market is designed for.

 

[PumpkinPaul]

Thanks, appreciate the advice.
I see where you are coming from regarding the upgrade cost. Do you think this holds for my needs for Unreal Engine dev, not going to be gaming on it. I could see the CPU being the thing that was replaced first as chips with more cores become available (but I’m very much not an expert at this)

 

[SpyderTracks]

Thanks, appreciate the advice.
I see where you are coming from regarding the upgrade cost. Do you think this holds for my needs for Unreal Engine dev, not going to be gaming on it. I could see the CPU being the thing that was replaced first as chips with more cores become available (but I’m very much not an expert at this)

Generally, the CPU will happily last for at least 5 years, that would a short lifespan even in a dev environment.

GPU is also important though.

Just for an idea, there's a good breakdown here outlining the new technologies in Unreal vs the kind of CPU and GPU power requirements.

Unreal Engine 5 hands-on: the cost of next generation rendering

Unreal Engine 5 recently emerged from early access, with a full version now available to games creators. Simultaneously…

www.eurogamer.net

 

[Scott]

Working with your original budget, and insistent in ordering before Zen4 comes out, below is where I would land. You want as many cores as you can get for your £ and for the cash I would go with an OC. Entire build is based around this way of thinking with the GPU being, almost, an afterthought. The GPU will be utilised, but the CPU will be the centre focus. Also, as suggested, the GPU will likely be swapped out way before the useful life of the system has passed.

If you're looking to reduce costs, the GPU is the only place I would look to make savings. I wouldn't change anything else, personally.

Case
FRACTAL MESHIFY 2 LIGHT TEMPERED GLASS
Overclocked CPU
Overclocked AMD Ryzen 9 5950X 16 Core (3.4GHz @ up to 4.55GHz)
Motherboard
ASUS® CROSSHAIR VIII HERO WIFI (DDR4, PCIe 4.0, CrossFireX/SLI) - RGB Ready!
Memory (RAM)
64GB Corsair VENGEANCE DDR4 3200MHz (4 x 16GB)
Graphics Card
8GB NVIDIA GEFORCE RTX 3070 - HDMI, DP, LHR
1st M.2 SSD Drive
500GB SAMSUNG 980 PRO M.2, PCIe NVMe (up to 6900MB/R, 5000MB/W)
1st M.2 SSD Drive
2TB SEAGATE FIRECUDA 530 GEN 4 PCIe NVMe (up to 7300MB/R, 6900MB/W)
Power Supply
CORSAIR 1000W RMx SERIES™ MODULAR 80 PLUS GOLD, ULTRA QUIET
Power Cable
1 x 1.5 Metre UK Power Cable (Kettle Lead)
Processor Cooling
Corsair iCUE H150i RGB PRO XT Hydro Series High Performance CPU Cooler
Thermal Paste
STANDARD THERMAL PASTE FOR SUFFICIENT COOLING
Sound Card
ONBOARD 6 CHANNEL (5.1) HIGH DEF AUDIO (AS STANDARD)
Network Card
10/100/1000 GIGABIT LAN PORT
USB/Thunderbolt Options
MIN. 2 x USB 3.0 & 2 x USB 2.0 PORTS @ BACK PANEL + MIN. 2 FRONT PORTS
Operating System
Windows 11 Home 64 Bit - inc. Single Licence [KUK-00003]
Operating System Language
United Kingdom - English Language
Windows Recovery Media
Windows 10/11 Multi-Language Recovery Image - Unlimited Downloads from Online Account
Office Software
FREE 30 Day Trial of Microsoft 365® (Operating System Required)
Anti-Virus
NO ANTI-VIRUS SOFTWARE
Browser
Microsoft® Edge
Warranty
3 Year Silver Warranty (1 Year Collect & Return, 1 Year Parts, 3 Year Labour)
Delivery
STANDARD INSURED DELIVERY TO UK MAINLAND (MON-FRI)
Build Time
Standard Build - Approximately 3 to 6 working days
Price: £2,786.00 including VAT and Delivery

Unique URL to re-configure: https://www.pcspecialist.co.uk/saved-configurations/amd-am4-overclocked/tpUfKu7hfr/

 

[PumpkinPaul]

Nice - thanks for taking the time to do that
- you're another poster to mention the next gen - maybe I limp along with the current setup until then

 

[Scott]

Nice - thanks for taking the time to do that
- you're another poster to mention the next gen - maybe I limp along with the current setup until then

It depends how long you're willing to hold off really. It will absolutely be worth it, but it's not always a feasible option.

You would likely be looking at October/November time for a build to be delivered. And that's me absolutely guessing.

The only other thing to consider is you will likely pay a premium. The AM4 offerings are coming down in price with the AM5 parts being around the corner. You won't get any discount at all in the Zen4 lineup so it will be full RRP.

 

[PumpkinPaul]

I waited a little too long and some parts went out of stock

I've replaced the offending items with what looked like equivalents, everything else should be the same. Does that seem like a reasonable set of replacements to Scott's spec or you reckon it's best to wait to see if they come back in?

Thanks again for all the advice.

Case
FRACTAL MESHIFY 2 LIGHT TEMPERED GLASS
Overclocked CPU
Overclocked AMD Ryzen 9 5950X 16 Core (3.4GHz @ up to 4.55GHz)
Motherboard
GIGABYTE X570S AORUS PRO AX: ATX (USB 3.2 Gen 1, PCIe 4.0, CrossFireX, WI-FI) - ARGB Ready!
Memory (RAM)
64GB Corsair VENGEANCE DDR4 3200MHz (4 x 16GB)
Graphics Card
8GB NVIDIA GEFORCE RTX 3070 - HDMI, DP, LHR
1st M.2 SSD Drive
500GB SAMSUNG 980 PRO M.2, PCIe NVMe (up to 6900MB/R, 5000MB/W)
1st M.2 SSD Drive
2TB SEAGATE FIRECUDA 530 GEN 4 PCIe NVMe (up to 7300MB/R, 6900MB/W)
Power Supply
CORSAIR 1000W RMx SERIES™ MODULAR 80 PLUS® GOLD, ULTRA QUIET
Power Cable
1 x 1.5 Metre UK Power Cable (Kettle Lead)
Processor Cooling
Corsair iCUE H150i ELITE CAPELLIX RGB Hydro Series High Performance CPU Cooler
Thermal Paste
STANDARD THERMAL PASTE FOR SUFFICIENT COOLING
Sound Card
ONBOARD 6 CHANNEL (5.1) HIGH DEF AUDIO (AS STANDARD)
Network Card
10/100/1000 GIGABIT LAN PORT
USB/Thunderbolt Options
MIN. 2 x USB 3.0 & 2 x USB 2.0 PORTS @ BACK PANEL + MIN. 2 FRONT PORTS
Operating System
Windows 11 Home 64 Bit - inc. Single Licence [KUK-00003]
Operating System Language
United Kingdom - English Language
Windows Recovery Media
Windows 10/11 Multi-Language Recovery Image - Unlimited Downloads from Online Account
Office Software
FREE 30 Day Trial of Microsoft 365® (Operating System Required)
Anti-Virus
NO ANTI-VIRUS SOFTWARE
Browser
Microsoft® Edge
Warranty
3 Year Silver Warranty (1 Year Collect & Return, 1 Year Parts, 3 Year Labour)
Delivery
STANDARD INSURED DELIVERY TO UK MAINLAND (MON-FRI)
Build Time
Standard Build - Approximately 4 to 7 working days
Price: £2,734.00 including VAT and Delivery
Unique URL to re-configure: https://www.pcspecialist.co.uk/saved-configurations/amd-am4-overclocked/4X3V7TMx0M/

 

[SpyderTracks]

I waited a little too long and some parts went out of stock

I've replaced the offending items with what looked like equivalents, everything else should be the same. Does that seem like a reasonable set of replacements to Scott's spec or you reckon it's best to wait to see if they come back in?

Thanks again for all the advice.

Case
FRACTAL MESHIFY 2 LIGHT TEMPERED GLASS
Overclocked CPU
Overclocked AMD Ryzen 9 5950X 16 Core (3.4GHz @ up to 4.55GHz)
Motherboard
GIGABYTE X570S AORUS PRO AX: ATX (USB 3.2 Gen 1, PCIe 4.0, CrossFireX, WI-FI) - ARGB Ready!
Memory (RAM)
64GB Corsair VENGEANCE DDR4 3200MHz (4 x 16GB)
Graphics Card
8GB NVIDIA GEFORCE RTX 3070 - HDMI, DP, LHR
1st M.2 SSD Drive
500GB SAMSUNG 980 PRO M.2, PCIe NVMe (up to 6900MB/R, 5000MB/W)
1st M.2 SSD Drive
2TB SEAGATE FIRECUDA 530 GEN 4 PCIe NVMe (up to 7300MB/R, 6900MB/W)
Power Supply
CORSAIR 1000W RMx SERIES™ MODULAR 80 PLUS® GOLD, ULTRA QUIET
Power Cable
1 x 1.5 Metre UK Power Cable (Kettle Lead)
Processor Cooling
Corsair iCUE H150i ELITE CAPELLIX RGB Hydro Series High Performance CPU Cooler
Thermal Paste
STANDARD THERMAL PASTE FOR SUFFICIENT COOLING
Sound Card
ONBOARD 6 CHANNEL (5.1) HIGH DEF AUDIO (AS STANDARD)
Network Card
10/100/1000 GIGABIT LAN PORT
USB/Thunderbolt Options
MIN. 2 x USB 3.0 & 2 x USB 2.0 PORTS @ BACK PANEL + MIN. 2 FRONT PORTS
Operating System
Windows 11 Home 64 Bit - inc. Single Licence [KUK-00003]
Operating System Language
United Kingdom - English Language
Windows Recovery Media
Windows 10/11 Multi-Language Recovery Image - Unlimited Downloads from Online Account
Office Software
FREE 30 Day Trial of Microsoft 365® (Operating System Required)
Anti-Virus
NO ANTI-VIRUS SOFTWARE
Browser
Microsoft® Edge
Warranty
3 Year Silver Warranty (1 Year Collect & Return, 1 Year Parts, 3 Year Labour)
Delivery
STANDARD INSURED DELIVERY TO UK MAINLAND (MON-FRI)
Build Time
Standard Build - Approximately 4 to 7 working days
Price: £2,734.00 including VAT and Delivery
Unique URL to re-configure: https://www.pcspecialist.co.uk/saved-configurations/amd-am4-overclocked/4X3V7TMx0M/

The cooler is ok, but the motherboard wouldn't be able to cope with that processor, you really want the Strix as an absolute minimum or the Crosshair.

But it's definitely a well rounded build otherwise.

 

[PumpkinPaul]

Cool, thanks - think I'll possibly wait then. The crosshair comes back in stock on 22/6

 

[SpyderTracks]

Cool, thanks - think I'll possibly wait then. The crosshair comes back in stock on 22/6

Yeah, worth waiting, definitely.