System requirements

The system requirements for working in GameDev are relatively high, and they depend on the engine being used and the type of game being developed. Since we work with Unreal Engine 5—a powerful and resource-intensive tool—the system requirements for it and other programs are quite significant. Let’s delve into this in more detail by listing the key programs, along with their minimum and recommended system requirements.

Throughout our time working in the team, we have had many different members with a variety of PC configurations—ranging from very powerful to quite weak. Based on personal experience, observations, and the issues we have encountered, we have developed our own system requirements based on approximately 50 different configurations.

Unreal Engine 5

To work with the Unreal Engine 5, a very powerful machine is required. The specified minimum PC specifications only allow you to launch the engine and handle extremely simple tasks. This configuration may suffice for a modeler who only needs to import a model into the engine, apply materials, adjust them, load LODs, set up lightmaps, and so forth, but it will not be adequate for comprehensive development work.

The recommended configurations will provide a more comfortable experience; however, if the levels you are working on are sufficiently large and the number of objects within them is considerable, performance will become less enjoyable, resulting in significant drops in FPS. Even the most advanced configurations may not guarantee optimal performance; it is advisable to utilize the most powerful graphics card on the market to achieve a notably better outcome.

It is essential to highlight that the FPS you see in the editor is not the same as the FPS that players will experience. You are working with an uncompiled project, which contains a vast amount of information in memory that players will not have. Therefore, after compilation, the FPS may increase by 10%, and in some cases, even double. This largely depends on the code and the settings of your level.

Minimum System Requirements (without Lumen)

OS	Windows 10 +
CPU	Intel Core i5-2500K
Memory (RAM)	8GB (DDR3)
Graphics Card	NVIDIA GeForce GTX 770
VRAM	4GB
Storage	25GB
SSD or HDD	HDD

Recommended System Requirements (without Lumen)

OS	Windows 10 +
CPU	Intel Core i7-8700
Memory (RAM)	16GB (DDR4)
Graphics Card	NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1060
VRAM	6GB
Storage	50GB
SSD or HDD	SSD

Recommended System Requirements (with Lumen)

OS	Windows 10 +
CPU	Intel Core i7-11700KF
Memory (RAM)	32GB (DDR4+)
Graphics Card	NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3060TI
VRAM	8GB
Storage	75GB
SSD or HDD	SSD

Substance Painter

Substance Painter is a resource-intensive application, yet it can operate on relatively modest PC configurations. While the program is not overly demanding on the CPU, it has considerable requirements for the graphics card. If you are working with low-resolution models—1024 and occasionally 2048—then minimum system specifications may suffice. However, with such a configuration, you may experience certain inconveniences when handling 2K textures, and there is always the risk that the application may crash or become unresponsive.

It is advisable to utilize as much video memory as possible, especially when dealing with high resolutions and multiple UV maps simultaneously, loading several different models at once. Additionally, it is recommended to install this program on an SSD to enhance the performance of materials, masks, and other tools.

Minimum System Requirements

OS	Windows 10+
CPU	Intel Core i5-5560
Memory (RAM)	8GB
Graphics Card	NVIDIA GeForce GTX 660
VRAM	2GB
Storage	6GB
SSD or HDD	HDD

Recommended System Requirements

OS	Windows 10 +
CPU	Intel Core i7-8700
Memory (RAM)	16GB
Graphics Card	NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3060TI
VRAM	8GB
Storage	20GB
SSD or HDD	SSD