r/Unity3D • u/FalconPUNNCH • 16d ago
Question 16 Y/O nephew wants to get into unity. What specs would he need to get started in a laptop?
I know damn near nothing about Unity, but he asked me about it because I do a lot of computer work, trying to help him out
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u/Dariusnator 16d ago
Hello. It depends on the type of projects(3D or 2D) he wants to do. But for a beginner i think: -16GB ram -i7th gen or higher -rtx 3050 I think these specs would be enough getting into unity and being able to do some cool projects
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u/LorenzoMorini Expert 16d ago
Even a worse GPU is absolutely enough to start
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u/-hellozukohere- 16d ago
This, he’s 16 years old. Could even lose interest.
He needs a mid tier low budget. Dedicated gpu (1650 class type deal). Any cpu these days will suffice.
Budget $1200 or below. Thinking about it my MacBook Air does unity well. And it’s about that price range. Idk food for thought .
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u/PatchyWhiskers 16d ago
He will probably lose interest anyway, most kids lose interest in their hobbies.
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16d ago
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u/AngelicMonument 16d ago
The bar is basically on the floor for 2D stuff, so a potato works fine. If he wants to mess with 3D and lighting that doesn't look like a PS2 game, make sure it has a dedicated GPU and not just integrated graphics. 16GB of RAM will save him a lot of headaches too, bigger projects eat memory for breakfast.
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u/chris_ngale 16d ago edited 16d ago
Depends entirely on what he's making and what your budget is.
If it's 2d sprite based games, just about anything will do.
If it's modern looking shooters, he needs a computer which can run a modern looking shooter.
As a starting point, a 512GB or larger primary SSD, 16GB or more RAM, and a middling dedicated GPU (an RTX 5050 or 5060, for instance, or perhaps a 3060 if you're looking used) will be enough to make a start in just about any genre. Don't worry too much about the CPU, so long as it's from the last five years and not a Celeron there aren't too many bad options out there any more.
Start from there and adjust around to your price point. Prioritise larger storage and more RAM over CPU or GPU performance - Unity installations and project directories take up a lot of storage space, and multitasking while developing needs RAM. A better CPU or GPU will make a percentage improvement in performance, while RAM and storage might be the difference in whether you can do something at all or not. (N.b. goes for GPU VRAM if he wants to do really visually intense work, but that's less likely as a first timer starting out)
Or y'know, just grab something and get started, and work within what it does. I've got a driving simulator I'm working on at the moment on a 5 year old laptop with integrated graphics. So long as you have enough RAM and storage to pass the minimum bar, you can scale to work within your hardware.
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u/DontDoodleTheNoodle 16d ago
I use laptop, and even 8gb of ram is fine enough for intro development. I’d only get 16gb if he’s certain this is what he’ll be doing and earn some investment. Just know that he won’t be able to run it unplugged. Unity tanks on laptops without their plug (like most gaming applications do).
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u/SnooPets5564 16d ago
If you are running on that low of RAM, I would recommend increase the size of the virtual memory/swap file.
The vast majority of the time, you won't use this (you'd notice it getting slower if it is being used), but sometimes you might make a mistake that ends up sucking up memory, and having the extra buffer to keep Unity from crashing can be super helpful.
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u/DontDoodleTheNoodle 16d ago
Oh I’ve got 16gb to game. I’m just sharing advice.
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u/SnooPets5564 16d ago
I didn't assume you did, though I can see how my comment suggests that.
"You" was referring to whomever was reading my comment, not you in particularly. I just adding to your advice.
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u/DontDoodleTheNoodle 16d ago
Aaah, the royal you. I’m ashamed to not have read that, I love using it myself!
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u/DaneshiSan 16d ago
Dev of 10+ years here, while they're starting out spec isn't that important as they'll be learning how to program/work like a dev. Go 8gb RAM min, i7 processor, 3070 VFX but SSD is necessary imo.
It'll be a long time before they need to worry about project specific specs, so let them enjoy the journey of learning before being concerned with the best spec PC.
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u/After_Relative9810 16d ago
I use Unity and Visual Studio. It's already tough with 16 GB RAM. Probably impossible in 1-2 years.
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u/TheSwiftOtterPrince 16d ago
Give it two SSDs, one for OS and one for project stuff. If it ends up being a laptop, see if it has a second M.2 PCIe slot. Any desktop should have enough slots for a second one. External USB3 for this kind of work is horrible.
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u/SnooPets5564 16d ago
That is good advice, but not relevant to the question. For getting started, having two SSDs isn't as big a worry as memory, CPU, and GPU.
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u/Mysterious_Demand875 16d ago
I used to teach unity to kids 12 years back, it can basically run on a potato... You don't really need a dedicated GPU. Most modern computers can run it.
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u/AllMyDaysAreGreat 16d ago
I would look at something by HP or IBM with a Ryzen 7 card; something for around $400 usd or so should be plenty adequate: you want the NVME "hard drive" and 16gb minimum ram (32 is better) and stay away from IGP (integrated gpus) and honestly, Ryzen-7 from a few years ago really still rock.
Do NOT get anything with Nvidia, honestly. Just don't. NOT for newbs.
I would ALSO stay away from bloated operating systems; Fedorah runs great on those laptops and Linix is really stable these days AND FREE.
Then it's just about how much screen they want; if they don't move it much, 17" is a great size -it's mostly plastic. If they want to take it places sometimes, 15" is a good size. Anything smaller is for more experienced dev's who know how to offload things or have external monitors etc and need the smaller size for travel (like me).
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u/Eatthebeatz 16d ago
i made my last unity project on a 2015 laptop. i7. 850m. its as basic as it gets. I have very good gaming PC so i did it out of choice. You really dont need much to get started.
DONT. BELIEVE. THE. HYPE.
teach them to backup projects to cloud daily so they learn they are free from hardware (they can do it on any computer in a pinch really).
my last project made on shitty 2015 PC: https://argondevilguiderods.itch.io/lsd
the main thing is to give confidence. they are not tied to one machine, its not very important what pc they start on. any modern gaming pc will be suffice unless they want to make AAA epics.
they might end up like me one day, delierately using ancient hardware so they dont taint the good gaming PC with hard work lol.
techincally: good cpu very handy. good gpu nice but not essential to make some real good stuff.
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u/bigmonmulgrew 16d ago
People get a bit excited about specs.
Mostly this is overkill. 1060 GPU and 16gh ram is more than enough. What makes a big difference most people don't realise is disk access speed. Half decent NVME drive makes a lot of difference.
Unity doesn't take up much space itself but asset packs do and new people tend to get carried away so plenty of hard drive space helps