I recently got a new laptop, and since I was on a budget I know it isnt the most powerful gaming system in the world but is it okay for UE5.2? I'm NOT aiming for 4k or anything, but I will be working on some realistic worlds. I'll also be using megascans (probably).
Please lemme know if this is good enough. Again, not aiming for super high end stuff but i WILL be working on realistic worlds. Also, I know that a desktop is more powerful than a laptop but 1) i didnt have a budget for a good desktop and 2) i LOVE portability. So far, I've ran games like MW2 in full ultra 1080p @60FPS+. In unreal, compiling 5k shaders takes just about 2-3 minutes. Also, my massive 58sq km level runs at a decent 30fps+ (45 average fps) at epic settings. (note: that level is heavily populated with foliage and some pretty decent lighting and fog.) So the point being, even if I can hit 30fps on some very intensive level designs, I'd be good!
My laptop is an ASUS TUF A15
The vRAM and RAM may become a limiting factor later on, depending on what you’re doing.
Is my system okay
I’d call it the absolute minimum you can get away with for a new machine. So not that OK for long-term game dev - playing and making games is quite different, and laptops are mostly non-upgradable.
But it’s not like you’re going to exchange the laptop, right? So is the question here to validate the purchase ?
I’ve been sitting on a 8GB vRAM GPU since 2017. Has it been fine for everything? Yeah!
would I now buy an 8GB vRAM GPU for gaming? Unlikely.
for game dev? Absolutely no.
You mileage may vary, ofc. If you browse some of the recent threads, you’ll run into similar opinions:
…and into actual issues where things simply refuse to work.
You can start the editor, and start editing, but once you’re a bit into a real project, it will probably run out of RAM.
The 16 GB RAM is probably the biggest challenge on that system, so if it’s user-upgradeable, that would be a good thing to keep in mind for when that happens.
The Ryzen 9 and the RTX will be fairly okay to run UE5, you wont be able to create huge environments maps, but it’s a good for a entry/mid level.
My only advice would be to upgrade the RAM to min 32G or optimal 64G.
Hey! The project Im currently working on has a massive map tbh… around 80sq km, densely populated by foliage. with all the lighting effects turned on, it gives me about 30-45fps without hassle… And the build plays at around 70+ FPS. So im assuming the 3060 will just be fine? Again, this was in normal “Performance” mode… in “Turbo” mode I get about 40+ FPS on average and it goes upto 60. I know I’ll have to upgrade my ram cuz I did run out of memory once- This laptop supports upto 32gigs so I’ll max that out-
It is upgradable upto 32gigs. Im thinking of getting an upgrade in a month or two once I save up enough- cuz like this laptop already cost me around 1400 bucks with the SSD upgrade (adding a 1tb extra). Gaming laptops are mad expensive where I live and I was lucky to get a good deal on this one- this one’s base price was 1600-
So… the main issue will be my vram and ram, right? Now I cant upgrade the VRAM but I definitely can upgrade the ram to 32 gigs. Also, the Asus TUF software has this option to allocate some ram to the GPU (To my RTX card)… well, definitely not as fast as the dedicated GPU Vram but it prevents me from running out of memory for sure- I can allocate upto 6 more gigabytes bringing my total vram to 12gigs- So I guess with the ram upgrade, I’ll be fine aha-
However, as word of warning…at one of my previous jobs we had desktop workstations and we were all given laptops for working from home (not going to mention the vendor), but ALL of our laptops burned out using Unreal Engine.
There just isn’t proper cooling for long term use on laptops, I would avoid using them for heavy development (just my 2 cents) and definitely make sure you got some really nice cooling station you can dock it on.
I do have a custom made cooling system (Inspired form as P-51 Mustangs’s System). So I guess I’ll be fine! I enabled RTX on my latest Project and ■■■■ it looks good! Imma package the project to see how it functions and how it feels ingame- But it truly does feel this new laptop has given me so much more power!
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