Student Budget Build Check
Posted by LionsAteMySanity@reddit | buildapc | View on Reddit | 4 comments
Hi! I'm a game dev student who's finally run into enough issues with my Windows VM to actually get a dedicated machine. I am also entirely unfamiliar with building a PC myself, so I'd like someone with more knowledge than me to check over it before I waste a lot of money on an expensive paperweight.
Requirements It needs to be able to play most games with at least 30fps 1080p with decent settings, and develop, build, test, and play games from any major game engine. I mostly play and develop single-player games, and in particular, the most demanding game in my library right now is Kingdom Hearts 3, though I would pay up to about $100 more to play more demanding games. I would also like for the PC to be upgradable when I have more budget in (hopefully) a little over a year, and I'm willing to pay a little more for that as well.
Budget I'm looking for something in the $500-$750 range, with a firm cap of $1,000. I cannot afford more than that. I already have the monitor, windows license, and SSD, so those prices can be factored out of the total cost.
Parts
ImpossibleScale9384@reddit
yo dude, first off, solid move getting a dedicated machine for game dev. vms are great but yeah, they can be a pain for this kinda work. tbh, for your budget and needs, i’d say you’re on the right track, but let’s tweak a few things.
imo, you’re gonna want at least 16gb of ram, preferably 32gb if you can swing it. game engines like unity and unreal can be total memory hogs, especially when testing. also, don’t skimp on the gpu—something like an rtx 3060 or rx 6600xt would crush 1080p gaming and handle dev work like a champ. cpu-wise, a ryzen 5 5600 or intel i5-12400f would be solid picks without breaking the bank.
oh, and storage! get an nvme ssd for your os and projects. you’ll thank yourself later when your builds don’t take 10 years.
anyway, if you wanna share your exact parts list, i can give more specific feedback. also, if you’re into cloud gaming or wanna chat more about setups, check out this subreddit. lowkey a great spot for budget builds and game dev tips.
LionsAteMySanity@reddit (OP)
Hi, sorry, I just got back from work. I posted the list here and also in a table in the post, but maybe that got screwed up? I already have a 2tb NVMe SSD from an older project that I'm repurposing for this build. I was under the impression that the Ryzen 5 5600GT was just the 5600 with an integrated graphics card (I've heard it's a good idea to have one in case your GPU encounters some issues), but I may be wrong. As for the cloud gaming, unfortunately that's not very feasible for me, as campus wifi is kinda really bad, usually at the exact times I want to play a game and/or do homework, so a stable and fast internet connection is unfortunately not a given.
Nitrozzy7@reddit
PCPartPicker Part List
Active-Quarter-4197@reddit
https://pcpartpicker.com/list/6FhWPJ
this will be much better for the price(psu is in combo)
https://www.newegg.com/Product/ComboDealDetails?ItemList=Combo.4762508 the first step is to order this combo right now before it goes out of stock b580 + decent psu for 315 after rebate do it right now
the rest u can think about later
https://www.aliexpress.us/item/3256806810799993.html can get cpu here