Hardware Specifications & UE5 Compatibility #

🖥️ Current VM Configuration #

Machine Type: n2-standard-8

• CPU: 8 vCPUs (Intel Cascade Lake)
• RAM: 32 GB
• Disk: 300GB SSD (pd-ssd)
• GPU: ❌ None (software rendering only)
• OS: Windows Server 2022

Cost: ~$200-250/month (24/7) or ~$80-100/month (8hrs/day weekdays)

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✅ UE5 Build Requirements (Met) #

For automated builds (no editor, no viewport), you need:

Minimum: #

• ✅ CPU: Quad-core Intel/AMD, 2.5+ GHz → We have: 8-core, 2.8+ GHz
• ✅ RAM: 16 GB → We have: 32 GB
• ✅ Storage: 100GB+ SSD → We have: 300GB SSD
• ⚠️ GPU: Not required for command-line builds

Our Status: #

• ✅ CPU: n2-standard-8 is MORE than enough (8 cores > 4 required)
• ✅ RAM: 32GB is DOUBLE the minimum (16GB)
• ✅ Disk: Fast SSD, plenty of space
• ⚠️ GPU: None, but NOT NEEDED for automated builds

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🎮 GPU Considerations #

Do We Need a GPU? #

For automated builds: NO ✅

• RunUAT.bat (build automation) doesn't need GPU
• UnrealBuildTool compiles C++ without GPU
• Cooking assets works fine on CPU
• Packaging uses CPU only

For interactive editing: YES ❌

• UE5 Editor needs GPU for viewport rendering
• But we're NOT running the editor!

Current Setup: #

• No GPU attached (saves ~$200-400/month)
• Builds will run using software rendering
• Perfectly fine for CI/CD pipelines

If You Ever Need GPU: #

Change machine type to add GPU:

# Stop VM
gcloud compute instances stop ue5-builder-falsework --zone=us-central1-a

# Add NVIDIA T4 GPU (~$100-150/month extra)
gcloud compute instances attach-disk ue5-builder-falsework \
  --disk-type=pd-ssd \
  --zone=us-central1-a

gcloud compute instances set-machine-type ue5-builder-falsework \
  --machine-type=n1-standard-8 \
  --zone=us-central1-a

gcloud compute instances attach-accelerator ue5-builder-falsework \
  --accelerator-type=nvidia-tesla-t4 \
  --accelerator-count=1 \
  --zone=us-central1-a

# Start VM
gcloud compute instances start ue5-builder-falsework --zone=us-central1-a

GPU Options & Costs:

• NVIDIA T4: ~$100-150/month (good for most work)
• NVIDIA V100: ~$700-800/month (overkill for builds)
• NVIDIA A100: ~$2000+/month (extreme overkill)

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📊 Performance Expectations #

Build Times (CPU-only): #

Current Setup (8 cores, no GPU):

• Full clean build: 30-60 minutes
• Incremental build: 5-15 minutes
• Cooking: 10-20 minutes
• Packaging: 5-10 minutes

If You Add GPU:

• Same times! (GPU doesn't help build/cook)
• Only helps if you run editor interactively

With Horde Distributed Builds:

• Full clean build: 5-15 minutes (if you add more machines)
• Requires 2+ build machines

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🔍 Verification Steps #

Once you're in the VM, check the hardware:

# Check CPU
Get-WmiObject Win32_Processor | Select-Object Name, NumberOfCores, NumberOfLogicalProcessors

# Check RAM
Get-WmiObject Win32_ComputerSystem | Select-Object @{Name="RAM (GB)";Expression={[math]::Round($_.TotalPhysicalMemory/1GB,2)}}

# Check disk
Get-PSDrive C | Select-Object Used, Free, @{Name="Size (GB)";Expression={[math]::Round($_.Used/1GB + $_.Free/1GB,2)}}

# Check for GPU
Get-WmiObject Win32_VideoController | Select-Object Name, AdapterRAM

# System info
systeminfo | findstr /B /C:"OS Name" /C:"System Type" /C:"Processor"

Expected Output:

• CPU: Intel Xeon (Cascade Lake), 8 cores
• RAM: 32 GB
• GPU: "Microsoft Basic Display Adapter" (no hardware GPU)
• This is FINE for builds! ✅

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🎯 Recommendation #

Keep Current Configuration ✅ #

Reasons:

1. ✅ CPU is more than powerful enough (8 cores)
2. ✅ RAM is double the requirement (32GB)
3. ✅ Builds don't need GPU
4. ✅ Saves $200-400/month vs GPU instance
5. ✅ Fast SSD for disk I/O

When to Upgrade: #

Add GPU only if:

• ❌ You want to RDP in and use UE5 Editor interactively
• ❌ You need to test rendering/graphics (unlikely for CI/CD)
• ❌ You want to run game tests with actual rendering

For just builds: Current setup is perfect! 🎯

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🚨 Real-World Check #

After bootstrap completes and UE5 installs, run a test build and see:

• If it completes successfully ✅
• How long it takes ⏱️
• If you get memory errors (unlikely with 32GB) ❌

If builds fail due to hardware, we can upgrade. But 99% certain they'll work fine!

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💰 Cost Comparison #

Configuration	Monthly Cost (24/7)	Monthly Cost (8hrs/weekday)
Current (CPU only)	$200-250	$80-100
With T4 GPU	$350-400	$160-200
With V100 GPU	$900-1000	$450-500

Verdict: Keep current setup until you have a reason to change! 💸

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📝 Summary #

Your VM is perfectly capable of UE5 builds:

• ✅ 8 CPU cores (UE5 builds are CPU-intensive)
• ✅ 32GB RAM (plenty for parallel compilation)
• ✅ 300GB SSD (fast I/O for large projects)
• ⚠️ No GPU (not needed for command-line builds)

Test it first, upgrade only if needed! 🚀

The lack of GPU will NOT prevent builds from working. It only matters for interactive editor use or running the actual game with rendering.