Hi everyone,
I’m looking for advice on buying a new laptop for Unreal Engine 5 production and would appreciate your insights!
**My Background & Goals:**
- Beginner to intermediate user. I have previously created video/cinematic works using UE5.
- Planning to take formal courses, deepen my self-study, and eventually work professionally in the UE/real-time visual field here in Montreal.
- I also want to work heavily with TouchDesigner and integrate it seamlessly with UE5 (OSC/NDI/real-time visual workflows).
**My Current Dilemma:**
Option A: Buy an entry-to-mid range laptop first (e.g., ASUS TUF F16 or A15 with around 8GB VRAM), use it while learning, and upgrade later when needed.
Option B: Sell my current M1 Max MacBook Pro (64GB RAM, 4TB SSD) and invest directly into a high-end Windows laptop (around $4,000 budget).
Given that I plan to work with high-resolution rendering, real-time audio-visual integration with TouchDesigner, and eventually pursue professional work:
1. Is an 8GB VRAM laptop sufficient for this type of workflow in the short-to-mid term, or will I hit performance bottlenecks quickly?
2. Would you recommend jumping straight to a high-end setup ($4,000 class with RTX 4080/4090 laptop GPU) given my career goals?
3. Any specific laptop models or hardware recommendations for a combined UE5 + TouchDesigner setup?
Thanks in advance for your advice!