Choosing a Mid-Tier GPU for UE5.5 Development – Need Guidance

tgTosters
Mon, 26 May 2025 13:29:13 +0000
Getting Started & Setup

Hi everyone,

Apologies for bringing up the classic “which GPU to buy” debate again — but I’m feeling a bit lost and hoping for some developer-focused guidance.

I have decent experience building gaming PCs, but this will be my first dive into actual game development, and I’m not entirely sure what to prioritize when it comes to choosing a GPU for Unreal Engine 5.5.

I’ve seen a lot of praise for the RTX 4070 Super (594€ / ~$675), especially for its DLSS and ray tracing capabilities. On the other hand, many devs stress that VRAM is king, which leads me to consider AMD cards like the RX 7800 XT (520€ / ~$590) or even the RX 7900 XT (682€ / ~$775). To add to the confusion, the new NVIDIA 5000 series and AMD 9000 series are emerging — but I can’t find much solid info on how well they perform in UE5.5 yet.

I’m aiming for a mid-tier GPU in the 680€ / ~$770 range that can handle UE5.5 features like Lumen, Nanite, and potentially ray tracing down the line — though I’m still new to using those features hands-on.

For the CPU, I was leaning toward the Ryzen 7 7800X3D, but then came across the Intel i7-14700K, which also looks like a strong contender, especially for multitasking and shader compile speeds.

For what I’m planning: I’d like to build a 3D first-person or third-person shooter (not 4K) using UE5.5. I’m still learning how features like Lumen, Nanite, and MegaAssemblies work — but they sound fantastic and I definitely want to leverage them. That’s part of why I want hardware that won’t limit me too soon.

I’m not anti-AMD at all — I know they’ve come a long way and offer excellent value — but I do appreciate NVIDIA’s more mature and stable ecosystem, especially for dev tools and plugins.

Any advice from UE5.5 users — particularly solo devs or small teams — on how these cards are holding up in real-world development would be hugely appreciated!

Quick thought: 4070 Super has 12GB, but 5070 has the same + GDDR7 and a bit cheaper! Then there is 5060TI which has 16GB AND is much cheaper.

Thanks in advance!

10 posts - 3 participants