Everybody knows running Unreal Engine 4 can be challenging on a low end computer. But this doesn't mean you shouldn't run it at all. Especially if you are just learning, for example if you are a computer science student enrolled in a game development course using Unreal Engine 4, you can do a lot by using your computer as it is, with a minimum amount of tweaks. I compiled this guidance for the Game Design and Development Iași community and the Game Design and Development Course I will be teaching in Spring 2017. I hope you will find it useful.

1. Tips’n’Tricks to Run
Unreal Engine 4
on a low(er) end computer

2. Engine Scalability Settings
• Click on the Settings button on the toolbar, go to Engine Scalability
Settings section
• Check Monitor Editor Performance; in case of poor editor performance, it will
decrease your quality settings so you can work with it
• Click on Auto
• You can also experiment with
• Material Quality Level
• Preview Rendering Level
• Make sure you run the LATEST available release of Unreal Engine 4!
• Unless other reasons, ALWAYS use the latest release. Usually the team is
optimizing for performance, hence newer versions usually run with equal or
faster performance than the older versions.

3. Switch View Modes
• View modes can be enabled and disabled in the editor from the
menus or with shortcuts.
• For example, for fast rendering, you can use an unlit view mode.
• Many other modes are available. Read more at:
• https://docs.unrealengine.com/latest/INT/Engine/UI/LevelEditor/Viewport
s/ViewModes/

4. Fine Tune the Antivirus
• If you don’t use your work computer for anything else, disable all
antivirus protection.
• However, if you do use it for browsing the web and other casual
activities, like most of us do, you should exclude from scanning:
• the Epic Games folder (usually C:Program Files (x86)Epic Games)
• the Unreal Projects folder (usually %USERPROFILE%DocumentsUnreal
Projects) or any other location where you keep project files
• DO NOT UNDERESTIMATE the performance impact the antivirus has
on your computer when you work with Unreal Engine 4 and Visual
Studio.

5. Use SSD! If not possible, use ReadyBoost
• The SSD will have a great impact on the speed of your system.
• Even a small 120G SSD is enough to host your operating system, Unreal
Engine 4 and your project (in this order!) and it is fairly cheap.
• However, if installing a SSD is very hard (for example in a laptop) you
can use ReadyBoost in Windows to optimize the spinning disk
performance.
• Actually, with Unreal Engine 4 and Visual Studio, if you have a classical
spinning disk hard drive in your laptop, attaching a good quality USB
stick on your fastest USB port is a must!
• PRO Tip: Buy the most EXPENSIVE 4GB USB stick you can find and attach
it to your USB 3 port and dedicate it to ReadyBoost in Windows.

6. What if you do have a SSD?
• In order to make the most out of your SSD, you should:
• Install the operating system on it
• Install Unreal Engine 4 on it with the vault
• Install Visual Studio on it
• Set your virtual memory paging file to ONLY use the SSD
• Keep all your projects on it (if you still have space)

7. Keep your drivers up to date
• An outdated graphics card driver can cause problems, especially
for newer (AMD!) cards.
• Always make sure you have the latest available stable drivers
installed.
• They will be marketed as “optimized” for the latest games, which
usually means they are also optimized for the kind of technology
Unreal Engine 4 uses in its editor.

8. Keep an Eye on the Temperature
• Monitoring the temperature is especially important if you have a regular, non-
gaming laptop or even an office desktop computer.
• Most of the regular computers are built under the assumption that they will sit idle most
of the time and will not sustain long periods of load unless additional cooling is provided!
• If using a laptop, make sure it can cool properly.
• Don’t keep it on nonconductive surfaces (like beds) and don’t block the air vents.
• If necessary, install a laptop cooler pad.
• If you are using a desktop:
• check the power saving options in BIOS and make sure they are not set to “economic”;
• make sure all the fans are working and replace any faulty ones;
• install the maximum number of fans your case allows.
• Vacuum the dust inside your computer on a regular basis (e.g. once in 3 months)

9. Consider Buying a Desktop Computer
• If everything else fails and you are still not satisfied, you should
seriously consider buying a new computer.
• A gaming laptop can be (very) expensive, but you can easily build
a desktop from components for a fraction of the price.
• Professional work is mostly done sitting at a desk, so investing in
an expensive laptop to use it at your desk might not be the best
investment if you are not having the means.
• You can also stream/remote access your powerful desktop
remotely from any cheap laptop over the Internet if necessary…

10. Facebook:
https://www.facebook.com/groups/gdd.fii/
YouTube:
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC5a-
_aNeaF4G677gIpmk_ZQ
Game Design and Development Iași