Game design involves a lot of different disciplines, and thus a lot of different software packages. There are game engines themselves, such as Unreal Engine and Unity, along with 3D design software like 3ds Max, Blender, and ZBrush – and so much more! Most software developers maintain lists of system requirements for these various applications, but those lists tend to cover only the very basics of what hardware is needed to run the software rather than what hardware will give the best performance. Sometimes these lists can be outdated, too, or simply contain sub-optimal recommendations.
Because of how inconsistent these lists can be, here at ProX PC we do more in-depth research – including running and publishing our own set of hardware benchmarks for some software packages – to ensure that the systems we sell are perfectly tailored for all aspects of game design. Based on all our testing and collective experience, we have put together the following information about recommended hardware for game dev workstations.
How does game development utilize the CPU?
The processor (or CPU) is one of the most important pieces of a game development PC. The CPU handles all the hard development tasks such as compiling shaders and code, 3D sculpting, and light baking. Some of these tasks are beginning to be offloaded to the GPU, which we will talk about more in the next section, but the CPU is still a huge factor for many aspects of performance.
What CPU is best for game development?
This really depends on which part of the game design workflow you focus on. For example, the overall best CPUs for game development in Unreal Engine are currently AMD’s Threadripper 7000 Series. Most development tasks in Unreal Engine are multi-threaded and scale very well on CPUs offering a lot of cores. Not only that, users compiling source code will benefit from the quad-channel RAM available on this class of workstations.
However, many users may not see enough of a speed boost from such a CPU for their particular workflow – especially considering how much those cost. Studios working on smaller games or using a dedicated compile server, or individual users more focused on asset creation, may prefer to use a less expensive option such as the Intel Core i7 14700K or i9 14900K. These CPUs offer a good number of cores, while also offering high single-core clock speeds that can aid in 3D modeling application performance.
Do more CPU cores make game development faster?
On the game engineering side of things, the more CPU cores a system has the faster it will be able to compile code, compile shaders, or bake lighting. However, for more artistic workloads the core count tends to be less important – at least past a certain point – and clock speed / performance per clock is a bigger factor.
Does CPU clock speed improve game dev workflows?
Just as with the question of CPU core count above, this depends heavily on what part of game design the system will be used for. While high clock speeds are sought after by game players, development inside game engines like Unreal Engine won’t see as much benefit. However, many 3D modeling applications, such as 3ds Max and Maya, do benefit from higher clock speeds – so for a game artist’s workstation you will want a balance of cores and clock speed.
Does game design work better with Intel or AMD CPUs?
At the moment, AMD has a slight lead due to their high CPU core counts. Intel is definitely a viable option, though, especially for aspects of game design that don’t need as many cores.
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