I can afford 14400 easily, but it’s a bit hard to get 14600k, but I can manage if it really makes a big difference.
If 14600k is really a lot better than 14400 for UE5 then I will go for it. But if it doesn’t make much difference then I will buy 14400.
Mostly I use UE5 for blueprints (yeah, but shader complies you know….). I am not much on the level design side, but still when you are working on UE5, you have to be prepared for all aspects.
hey, welcome.
that’s up to you really. only you know how much harder is to stretch to a 14600.
also depends how many years you expect to keep using the same cpu. how do you plan to upgrade your pc if you plan for that. and how much you hate waiting, or if you can do something else while you wait. and how often you’d be recompiling shaders.
here’s a benchmark comparison of both. UserBenchmark: Intel Core i5-14400 vs i5-14600K
comparing bang-for-buck. i’d say it’s not worthy. a 15-30% improve in intensity tasks. for about 1/3 price increase. (100 usd)
i’ll make sure to have enough ram, which is usually the biggest bottleneck. also without enough ram you won’t be able to use the cpu fully.
32gb is the minimum i’d recommend to work relatively comfortably.
also make sure to have enough vram. 8gib is the bare minimum.
and a good ssd/nvme to match. hard disk is just as important. and you’ll probably use a good amount of it. 512g is the minimum i’d recommend for an indie. 1tb to be comfy.
and a good psu that can SUSTAIN the load ( of the cpu AND the gpu). and if you plan to push your cpu, a good cooler.
with only 25% avg improve, you might get the same perf with a a 14400 properly cooled, compared to a 14600 with a stock cooler.
probably a good mobo too.
you need to increase all those specs together to be able to get the max perf of your components.
imho i always prefer not to spend till the last cent, and keep a buffer in case. struggling to get a component is a red flag that you’re going over budget. just accept your budget even though it hurts a bit to do so. you can always upgrade later.
i’d personally would go for the 1440, with good gpu, ram, psu, and disk. at least. if i can’t afford a good cooler/disk/ram, i’d save and upgrade later. ram would be the top prio, then cooler, then disk. disk is a bit of a pita to upgrade, but you can always have an additional drive and get 2x512g or 1x512 + 1x1000. less than 512 i wouldn’t really recommend, you might run out of space with 256.
always get a fast drive before size. you can add more drives, but once a slow drive, always a slow drive.
psu/gpu/mobo are somewhat expensive to upgrade, so better get them right at the start, but you don’t need the best you need a good one.
anything anyone posts in this regard would be speculation and an opinion. is really up to you to choose what you prefer and fits your strategy.
Thanks a lot for your detailed reply
Specs I am going for
Mobo: MSI Z790 Gaming Plus Wifi
CPU: if 14400, which is most probably, I go for (6-pipe cooler with two fans)
If i go with 14600k (after you reply, I think i will not maybe) Thermal right peerless assassin 120 SE argb. I have no plans to overclockthe CPU
RAM: 16 GB DDR5 because of RAM high prices, but I will upgrade it to 32Gb later
GPU: GTX 1070 for now. After a year, maybe I will upgrade to RTX 5070
PSU: XPG 750 watts (kept in mind that I have to run 5070 later)
Casing: Full tower (I think mid-tower will be a bit constricted when I go for 5070, etc)
Got drives from the old system, which I am using currently (it’s Core i5 4th gen haha)
SSD: 512GB for Unreal Engine
256 GB for Windows only
HDD: 4TB ( I forgot, but it has good Read/write), it is for the project directory and for my YouTube channel recorded videos.
And a 2TB for Unreal Projects backup
hey Usama, all good. I’m glad i can help.
Sounds like you have a good idea what you’re doing.
sounds like a good idea. the noctua nh-d15 is super popular. i got a similar one from noctua and works well. even on sustained loads (e.g. compiling the engine from source which takes me around hour and half). it’s pretty quiet.
i don’t think overclocking makes much sense. i don’t recommend it.
hmmmm i’d think that twice. i know the prices are high, but 16 can be a bit tight. i can’t remember exactly how tight… but it’s ok, you can also get a pair extra sticks later.
sounds good. for what i’ve heard and see on reviews online. the 5070 and 4070 are overpriced. there’s not a ton of difference between the 5070 and 4070.
the 1070 seems good. keep in mind that for vram you’d want at least 8gb. less than that and it’ll be quite difficult to work with. vsm, nanite, and lumen are almost unusable with less than 8gb. you might not like them, but you might need it in the future. keep in mind the editor will require more ram and vram than your game (as it runs both at the same time).
awesome. keep in mind psus have a % of efficiency. so a good psu with a high rated efficiency will actually work better and last longer.
i don’t remember the sizes currently. my case is about a full tower, maybe smaller. and things are crammed. so good idea. if you have the space to add another pci card later it could come handy.
and make sure there’s space for the cooler. specially when paired with the gpu. i overlooked that and they are very tight together in my system and the gpu doesn’t cool very well.
drives sounds good.
keep in mind if they are very old you might get a boost of perf from newer generations. but maybe in a couple of years. you can upgrade the base disk later.
that plan for usage seems fine.
the hdd for storage it’s a good idea actually. that’s the best usage. cheap and slower. tiered storage is great. (that’s what ram and cache are too).
not every storage in ue is time-sensitive so you can move some stuff there. like downloaded assets, builds, backups, etc. i do the same.
all the best. good luck and have fun!
Thanks a lot for your detailed guide and the time you took to reply. Means a lot to me thanks again
Also thanks for mentioning 8gb VRAM thing and % effeciency of PSU. It made me search bit more on that side.
argueably the 1070 is a lil outdated imo. no raytracing acceleration. if you wanna play around with that you should go for atleast a cheap 20 series. i would agree on the 8 GB vram aswell. i crunched my setup down to run decent on 6 GB for semi optimized assets. 8 is standard tho.
might be good point. my card is a 3060ti and it’s a bit oldish by today standards. still can do some raytrace. but it can’t play games at 4k natively well. only 1440p