Question Can I just upgrade my graphics card or should I be upgrading my processor as well for UE5?

[Tolstoy1990]

I have a video editing pc that is about 9 years old now that I would like to upgrade to be able to learn unreal engine and to play vr games.

I'm new to unreal so Id like to have the right setup to be able to run all parts of the program smoothly so I can just test out all the different features and see what I like best.. and also to be able to create environments that I can explore with my vr headset and be able to run games on high graphics settings in at least 2k Resolution. I know this is mainly the job of the graphics card but I'm curious as to if the CPU I currently have is adequate enough to run UE5 smoothly or if I will run into problems? And If I do need to upgrade What would the cheapest viable upgrade for the CPU be?

These are the current specs:
Intel(R) Core(TM) i7-5820K CPU @ 3.30GHz 3.30 GHz
64GB Corsair Vengeance DDR4 RAM
GTX 980Ti

thank you for your help!

 

[Tolstoy1990]

So I decided to keep the PC I have now and use it for a homelab experiment or something like that. I will actually have a little extra to throw at this new build than I thought I would.

So here's the part list I I put together based on the recommendations above. If there are any suggestions to reduce it about the 900-1k mark would be helpful though...(without switching out the graphics card for a cheaper one}

https://pcpartpicker.com/list/Rxvt28

Also are there VR headsets that work better with UE5 than others? I'm leaning towards the meta quest 3 or something in that price range... Unless there is a workaround for PSVR2 to work with PC?

 

[ohio_buckeye]

If you want to cut 10 bucks off….

https://pcpartpicker.com/product/dY...eon-rx-7900-gre-16-gb-video-card-11325-04-20g

If you really need to be under 1k, this cuts the gpu but not by a lot.

https://pcpartpicker.com/product/rf...-rx-7800-xt-16-gb-video-card-rx7800xt-cl-16go



This gives an idea of the difference.

View: https://youtu.be/4mFssoxlJHk?feature=shared



I don’t do anything with VR but I came across this regarding VR

https://www.theverge.com/2024/2/22/24079928/sony-psvr2-pc-support-2024

 

[35below0]

The AsRock z690 Extreme is much better than the Pro and only costs $10 more.
Most important advantages:
- it can be flashed with only a PSU and USB stick, no CPU or RAM needed. Maybe minor, maybe a lifesaver.
- it can handle top tier i9 intels, even the 14900KS, should you need a CPU upgrade down the road.
Highly recommended.

If you can't find a Crucial P3, the Teamgroup MP44 would be a great alternative.
https://pcpartpicker.com/product/2x...-40-x4-nvme-solid-state-drive-tm8fpk001t0c101

There's nothing you can cut from your build that won't be a massive drop in quality/performance.
For example, you could opt for the i3 12100, but you'd only save around $40-50. It wouldn't perform nearly as well as the 12600K

Only other savings are the 7800XT @ohio_buckeye mentioned, which isn't much or the RTX 4060 which is much cheaper but also much weaker. With a 4060 you could knock 100w off the PSU as well, but that too is a minor savings.
I know you don't want this, i'm just mentioning it for context.
I think you're buying a lot of PC for the money, so that's something to look forward to.