Do I Need a Powerful PC To Run Unity?
No, you don’t need a powerful PC to run Unity. But it also largely depends on the scope of your planned project. The more demanding your game is, the more demanding it will be to run Unity.
Unity is a free game engine that can be used across all platforms. Many companies use Unity to develop their video games like Fall Guys, Escape From Tarkov, Cuphead, Genshin Impact, Phasmophobia, Call of Duty mobile and many many others.
You can create many games with Unity, ranging from 2D to 3D, RPGs, mobile, VR and AR games. The choice is yours! However, you have to keep in mind that the more demanding your project is, the more horsepower will be needed in terms of hardware.
What Are The System Requirements For Unity?
Surprisingly, Unity is fairly lightweight and not demanding and can run on most machines. Here are the minimum requirements for Unity Editor 2021.2.
| Operating System | CPU | GPU |
|---|---|---|
| Windows 7 SP1+, Windows 10 (64-bit) | x64, SSE2 support | DirectX 10 -12 capable |
| MacOS High Sierra 10.13+ | x64, SSE2 support | Metal capable Intel and AMD |
| Ubuntu 20.04, 18.04, CentOS 7 | x64, SSE2 support | OpenGL 3.2+ or Vulkan-capable, Nvidia and AMD |
As you can see, these requirements are pretty vague and don’t really tell you what piece of hardware and how powerful it should be.
Recommended System Specs For Unity
These are the recommendations that will work for most projects (even the larger ones) on a PC. Of course if your project is rather simple and you’re not making the next AAA game (read about AAA games here), you can adjust these specs for your own needs and budget.
However I do recommend that you keep 16GB of RAM, it’s always better to have more than you need. Besides, most AAA video games on the market recommend 16GB to play nowadays.
- 16GB RAM (I personally use 2x 8GB Kingston HyperX Fury)
- AMD Ryzen 5 3600 6 core (Amazon)
- 500 GB – 1TB SSD
- nVidia 1060 graphics card or better / AMD equivalent
Bear in mind that the games we play nowadays are already compiled and optimized. When you create a game in Unity, the project will be larger and not optimized. That’s why it’s better to have extra than what you need.
Can I Run Unity On a Laptop?
Yes, you can. As I mentioned above, the Unity Editor itself isn’t really demanding. Once you start adding assets into your project such as environments, objects, visual effects and other graphics, that’s when you will start to see more impact on your RAM and CPU usage.
If you don’t plan to develop games for iOS or MacOS, you really don’t need a Macbook Pro. For the price of a Macbook Pro, you can have a great gaming PC, which is definitely easier and cheaper to upgrade as you need. I touched on that topic in this post Is Gaming PC Worth The Money.
Can I Make iOS Games In Unity Without a Mac?
It’s against Apple’s terms of service to use a MacOS on a non-Apple device, so you cannot use a MacOS virtual machine on your Windows.
One way you can make a iOS game without a Mac is to use the Unity Cloud Build, which will help you compile, deploy and test your games. It’s $9 per month or it comes free with Unity Pro.
Otherwise, you will unfortunately need access to a Mac computer.
Do I Need A Dedicated GPU To Run Unity?
You don’t need a dedicated graphics card to run Unity, however keep in mind that integrated graphics (graphics chipset on the motherboard) has its limitations. If your game/project is pretty simple (mobile games, 2D games, simple visuals, etc.), your integrated card will be enough.
Pros of Integrated GPU Running Unity
- good for mobile games, 2D games, simple visuals
- you can be sure your game will run on less powerful devices
Cons Of Integrated GPU Running Unity
- weak drivers
- low framerate
- particle assets can be too much to process
On the other hand, a dedicated graphics card (a standalone piece of hardware that plugs into the motherboard) has more processing power. This will allow you to create more complex projects, 3D, VR and AAA-like games.
Conclusion
Whether or not you need a powerful PC to create games in Unity depends entirely on the type and complexity of the game you are making. Games similar to recent AAA games will definitely need more horsepower than a 2D sidescroller.
Dana
I’m a 30-something year-old woman and more of a gamer than I’ve ever been before. Ever since I was a little kid, I’d play games on our PC. I'm here to help you find great, quality video game merchandise and talk about your favorite video games and everything related to them. :)
