Needing to buy a set of new computers for my classroom. Students are gonna be making some Unreal Engine 5 projects. The Dell representative is trying to sell me the RTX A4000 graphics card for each computer.
Does anyone have experience with that card?
How does it compare to others?
What GPU(s) do you prefer?
Trying to future proof my classroom for the next 5 or 6 years
The Dell representative is trying to sell me the RTX A4000 graphics card for each computer.
Don’t.
Pricewise RTX A4000 = GeForce 3080 / ti. The gaming oriented GPU prices are stabilising now and will keep dropping the closer we are to the release of the GeForce 40xx lineup.
The GeForce 3080 can be had for around $1000 - less if you look around. A powerful all-round performer. And 25-50% faster than the A4000 - depending on the workload.
One advantage RTX A4000 has over the 3080 is the vRAM 16 vs 10. This can be a factor if your goal is one specific vRAM intensive task.
And watch this about DELL representative, also make your dell guy watch this.
I would not buy from dell unless this would be service support for company not individuals.
And dell is bought by companies because they “HAD” great tech support in the past.
linus tech tips, secret shopper 2:
Thanks for the feedback. What would you all think of the Alienware Aurora Ryzen Edition R14 Gaming Desktop instead for UE5 development?
Or, what about Mac Studio (the $4000 version one)?
9/10 dentists will tell you to avoid 
Alienware. Mac Studio? Not entirely sure how stable / supported the environment will be in UE5.
buy a set of new computers for my classroom […] Trying to future proof my classroom for the next 5 or 6 years
Not the best bang for buck since we’re future-proofing - we’re beyond the sweetspot at this pricepoint. Rough guestimates for a very modern Windows machine:
Approach some vendor(s!) and ask for a quote for X machines close to this spec. Meanwhile, check how much individual parts would cost. You will not assemble the PC yourself of course, but the vendor will add at least 20% margin, which is fair.
At least you’ll know if it adds up and if they’re attempting to rip you off (too much). If there’s budget left, get more RAM, higher tier GPU / CPU, larger screen with better colour reproduction, keyboards one can pour coffee over…
If you’re ordering 10+ units, I’d expect free mouse pads, hats, mugs or whatnot.
You can get a rough understanding / overview of the pricing here:
These are somewhat gaming oriented but if you double the recommended RAM, you’ll get closer to a dev machine.
Something more like this XPS? This is another one I’ve been eyeing…
And that’s Dell for you, peddling whatever accumulated enough dust in the warehouse. Throwing an ancient HDD into an otherwise reasonable rig. I hope it’s a typo. The case gives off proper 90s vibes 
The machine is obviously top notch (with some non-optimal choices), but a total and absolute rip off. But hey, it’s not your own money.
It’s not uncommon to use a disk drive as a storage drive since they are much cheaper and available in large capacities. You can see there they also include a 1TB SSD for Windows, the disk drive is just for extra storage.
I suggested an HDD above myself - I am talking about the capacity - which is not large by any means. It’s a $50 storage solution in a $4000 PC. I remain unconvinced.
Here’s a question, which GPU do Unreal Devs most prefer? I’ve got the top ones listed here from Tom’s Hardware. The Radeon RX 6900 XT is on “top”…but that doesn’t necessarily mean it’s the best for UE5 game DEVELOPMENT. Thoughts here?
GPU Benchmarks Hierarchy 2022 - Graphics Card Rankings | Tom’s Hardware (tomshardware.com)
The GeForce family got bigger and it goes like so:
3090Ti > 3090 > 3080Ti > 3080
tl;dr highlight:
Full article:
The biggest difference you’ll find in CUDA application.
In short, currently the best GPU for the engine would be the non Ti 3090 as there is no feasible scenario where the Ti version makes any sense whatsoever…
