PC build for game development

PermyBolt

1. What is your budget? [€600-650]

2. What will be the main purpose of the computer? Mainly Game development and coding for it

3. Do you need a copy of Windows? Yes either window 8 or 10 I don't mind either

4. Can you use any parts from an old computer? No

5. Do you need a monitor? No

5a. If yes, what size do you need?

5b. If no, what resolution is your current monitor and do you plan to upgrade in the near future? 1920x1080

6. Do you need any of these peripherals? no, I got that covered

7. Are you willing to try overclocking? I'd be interested trying it but not sure yet

8. How can you pay? credit card

9. When are you purchasing? Around Christmas

10. If you need help building it, where are you based? No

I'm only using it to create games/apps but will also use it to try the game out and see how it goes. Also can be upgradable in future for graphic cards and rams.
Any recommendations on where to get parts? I'm living in Ireland.
Thanks.

K.O.Kiki

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: Intel Core i5-6500 3.2GHz Quad-Core Processor (€195.36 @ Mindfactory)
Motherboard: Gigabyte GA-B150M-DS3H Micro ATX LGA1151 Motherboard (€73.43 @ Amazon Deutschland)
Memory: Crucial 16GB (2 x 8GB) DDR4-2133 Memory (€63.58 @ Amazon Deutschland)
Storage: Crucial MX300 525GB 2.5" Solid State Drive (€125.62 @ Mindfactory)
Case: Cooler Master N200 MicroATX Mid Tower Case (€48.94 @ Amazon Deutschland)
Power Supply: XFX XT 400W 80+ Bronze Certified ATX Power Supply (€46.03 @ Mindfactory)
Operating System: Microsoft Windows 10 Home OEM 64-bit (€101.52 @ Mindfactory)
Total: €654.48
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2016-09-13 02:35 CEST+0200

PermyBolt

Do I not need graphic card to run the engine for creating and trying the game/app out?

moc moc a moc

PermyBolt wrote: »

Do I not need graphic card to run the engine for creating and trying the game/app out?

You need to tell us that. If it's a 3D game, then yes, probably.

BloodBath

8gb of ram is enough to be honest. You can save some money on windows 10 as well. Just install it and pay for activation later. It will work perfectly well and legally.

That should free up around 130 to spend on a GPU. Maybe add another 50 to the budget and you can get something decent like an RX470.

I'd probably opt for a 250gb ssd + 1TB HDD combo as well just to make sure you have enough room for everything. Keep your assets on the HDD and install the programs to the SSD. This would also save some money towards the gpu as well.

What programs are you planning on using?

PermyBolt

moc moc a moc wrote: »

You need to tell us that. If it's a 3D game, then yes, probably.

Yeah ill be using it for 3D games too. Now its going to be above my budget isn't it?

PermyBolt

BloodBath wrote: »

8gb of ram is enough to be honest. You can save some money on windows 10 as well. Just install it and pay for activation later. It will work perfectly well and legally.

That should free up around 130 to spend on a GPU. Maybe add another 50 to the budget and you can get something decent like an RX470.

I'd probably opt for a 250gb ssd + 1TB HDD combo as well just to make sure you have enough room for everything. Keep your assets on the HDD and install the programs to the SSD. This would also save some money towards the gpu as well.

What programs are you planning on using?

Mostly Unreal Engine 4 (possibly using this the most), Unity and game maker

K.O.Kiki

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: Intel Core i3-6100 3.7GHz Dual-Core Processor (€118.50 @ Mindfactory)
Motherboard: Gigabyte GA-B150M-DS3H Micro ATX LGA1151 Motherboard (€73.43 @ Amazon Deutschland)
Memory: Crucial 16GB (2 x 8GB) DDR4-2133 Memory (€63.58 @ Amazon Deutschland)
Storage: Crucial MX300 275GB 2.5" Solid State Drive (€73.89 @ Amazon Deutschland)
Storage: Western Digital Blue 2TB 3.5" 5400RPM Internal Hard Drive (€75.84 @ Mindfactory)
Video Card: Gigabyte Radeon RX 460 4GB WINDFORCE OC Video Card (€146.25 @ Amazon Deutschland)
Case: Cooler Master N200 MicroATX Mid Tower Case (€48.94 @ Amazon Deutschland)
Power Supply: XFX XT 400W 80+ Bronze Certified ATX Power Supply (€46.03 @ Mindfactory)
Total: €646.46
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2016-09-13 12:17 CEST+0200

Should get you started.

http://www.howtogeek.com/244678/you-dont-need-a-product-key-to-install-and-use-windows-10/

Xenoronin

I think Kiki's build is mostly there, I really would go up to an i5 6400/6500 though since GPU just needs to work decently. Pick up a secondhand GPU maybe to keep the costs down, not sure what to recommend though. Bump the PSU up to 450W/500W to make sure it could handle a GPU upgrade down the line.

BloodBath

UE4 favors Nvidia cards but it won't matter too much if you get a good card.

I use UE4 daily. I'd go with an i5 to improve build times as they can be quite long in large scenes with decent lighting. 16GB of ram is so cheap you might as well get it but you can get by with 8.

I'd really try and up the cpu and gpu a little tho. i5 + 470 would be a good combo for 1080p PC development. A second hand gtx 970 would possibly be a better choice than the rx 470. If you are doing mobile development you won't need such high specs. The i3 and 460 would be more than enough.

If you are serious about it I'd grab a second monitor at some stage as well. You will need to use other programs in conjunction with UE4 for models and materials and your workflow will be hampered by using a single 1080p monitor.

Serephucus

As someone who uses Unity daily (I haven't tried UE4 yet), my two cents:

Most of the games I've been making could be developed and run on an iGPU, and probably a lot of what you'll be making would too. Unless you have prior experience with 3D modelling, texture creation, materials... You won't have enough time to make anything demanding enough.

Unity also favors NVIDIA cards (PhysX is uses as part of the physics engine), but it shouldn't matter too much. I'd also agree with getting a second monitor. It'll help you out a lot more than a fractionally shorter build time.

I'd take Kiko's build: d
Drop the RAM to 8GB (easiest thing to add later)
Pick up something like a 960/950 off Adverts
Use the money to get a mechanical drive to keep your stuff backed up.

I cannot stress the importance of backups enough. You'll (read: should) have Git for your code, but you don't want to clog your repo with assets, so it's handy to have them backed up locally.