I’m getting more serious about Unreal Engine 5 and plan to build both real-time environments and game prototypes. I need a laptop that can handle the demands of UE5, especially when working with features like Nanite, Lumen, and high-resolution assets.
I’m currently looking at laptops with an i7 H processor (specifically the 12700H or similar) paired with an RTX 3060/3070 and 16GB–32GB RAM. On paper, it seems like a solid mid-to-high-end setup. But specs don’t always tell the full story, especially when it comes to thermal performance, battery life, and real-world compile times.
Has anyone here used a similar setup for Unreal Engine development? Does the i7 H series hold up well under constant editor use, shader compiling, and baking lighting?
I’m aiming for a balance between portability and performance, so a full desktop isn’t ideal for me right now.
Any honest feedback or recommendations would be greatly appreciated. Thanks!
I personally don’t hear much issues related to CPU in gaming or game development, plus that CPU you mentioned is good. The main question you had being about the CPU was a surprise though! Because the extra stuff you mentioned might be a problem, so I’m glad you shared them as well.
From here I understand you got 3060 & 3070 Mobile GPU’s on your laptops, which are very different from their desktop versions. Now the issue is, 3060 and 3070 launched as mid-tier cards, and today they’re no longer mid-tier. 3060 Mobile has 6GB, and 3070 Mobile has 8GB of VRAM. The officially recommended minimum VRAM capacity for UE 5 is 8GB. Didn’t have an experience with 6GB VRAM myself, but I heard that UE 5 had big issues running with such limited VRAM. I do have personal experience with 8GB VRAM though, and I can say that it can get the work done perfectly fine, (given that it’s a reasonable task) but it has its limitations of course. About this:
Sounds like you’re planning to work on very large and complex scenes. We’re using very subjective phrases though, perhaps what you have in mind isn’t that demanding. Just try and see how it goes! But as an heads up, I feel like 8GB of VRAM won’t suffice in your case. If possible, I’d recommend getting a new laptop with a GPU that has minimum 12GB of VRAM, preferably 16GB. Or even better, a desktop. You did mention how you feel about desktops, but what you wanna do is best done on desktops!
When it comes to RAM, the officially recommended minimum RAM capacity for UE 5 is 32GB. While working on a simple project, 16GB of RAM might cause stutters. But again, 16GB RAM definitely won’t be sufficient in such demanding scenarios. I think you can do fine with 32GB RAM, but I’d still recommend upgrading it to 64GB.
