Hello everyone. I'm new to this site. I've done some homebrews for the Nintendo DS back in the day using my parents' pc. I'm a recent highschool graduate and I really want to get my passion going with video games. Anyways, I'm deciding to buy my very own computer that would suffice to create games. I've taken C++ and Java during highschool - just an idea for you where I'm at - and I want to start this career. However, I simply want to know what type of computers you guys are using as you develop your games. What is your processor, graphics card, ram, etc.? I'm targeting a simple 2d game, but I also want to get a bit into 3d development. Thanks!

Really, any computer will work. I recommend:

2 Cores in the CPU - Concurrency will be better if you can actually see speedup. Quad core is definitely the best however.

A dedicated video card - Even a cheap one will be miles ahead of an integrated GPU.

RAM - I recommend 8 GB, simply because it can handle pretty much *anything*.

Any HD, except aim for a big amount of space.

Pretty much any OS. I recommend you get windows and learn how to Dual Boot Linux. Than you can learn how to use Linux while having another OS to use when you can't get Linux to work.

Display - 1920 x 1080 Pixels is ideal.

I recommend (for programming):

A quad core intel processor (I5 or I7).

A Nvidia graphics card (simply because so many games are made optimized for them, and I just like them). Preferably gtx 750 or above.

8 GB of Ram.

Windows 8, then Dual Boot Ubuntu onto it.

Keyboard / Mouse - As a programmer, you'll be typing alot. Get a good one if you have money to spare. If you think you won't need a good one, put the money into your video card. It's really a luxury.

Most of the other Odds and Ends don't really matter as much.

Really, any computer will work. I recommend:

2 Cores in the CPU - Concurrency will be better if you can actually see speedup. Quad core is definitely the best however.

A dedicated video card - Even a cheap one will be miles ahead of an integrated GPU.

RAM - I recommend 8 GB, simply because it can handle pretty much *anything*.

Any HD, except aim for a big amount of space.

Pretty much any OS. I recommend you get windows and learn how to Dual Boot Linux. Than you can learn how to use Linux while having another OS to use when you can't get Linux to work.

Display - 1920 x 1080 Pixels is ideal.

I recommend (for programming):

A quad core intel processor (I5 or I7).

A Nvidia graphics card (simply because so many games are made optimized for them, and I just like them). Preferably gtx 750 or above.

8 GB of Ram.

Windows 8, then Dual Boot Ubuntu onto it.

Keyboard / Mouse - As a programmer, you'll be typing alot. Get a good one if you have money to spare. If you think you won't need a good one, put the money into your video card. It's really a luxury.

Most of the other Odds and Ends don't really matter as much.

Awesome! Thanks superman!

I code both on a quad core i5 2500K, GTX 560 Ti 1Gb, 16Gb DDR3 rig.... and on an Atom N450 1.6Ghz single-core, ION2 512Mb, 2Gb DDR2 12 inch netbook.

So yeah, pretty much anything works well enough if it supports the technologies you want to develop on.

some stats for what I am currently using...

main PC:

CPU: AMD Phenom II X4 3.4 GHz;

RAM: 16GB DDR3

OS: Windows 7 x64

GPU: Radeon R7850 1GB

HDD: 2x 1TB + 2TB (internal) + 1TB external. so, ~ 5TB of HDD space.

newer laptop:

CPU: Pentium Dual-Core 2.0 GHz;

RAM: 4GB

OS: Windows 7 x64

GPU: Intel GMA X3100 (*1)

HDD: 500GB (upgraded)

*1: not very good for games...

it is ok otherwise, just its 3D performance is pretty bad.

old laptop:

CPU: AMD Athlon 1.2GHz

RAM: 512MB

OS: Windows XP

GPU: Mobile Radeon

HDD: 60GB

CPU : Core i7-3930K

RAM 16GB

OS : Windows 7

GPU : 2x Geforce GTX 680

HDD : 2x 256GB SSD + several 1TB HDDs (for less important files, backup etc)

Monitor : 27" HP @ 2560x1440

I have one SSD for OS / programs and another one for projects. It gives a good boost for compiling, boot etc.

Otherwise, I'd maybe look for AMD GPU (unless you need CUDA). I have noticed few times that things developed on nVidia GPU's may not work as intended on AMD graphics board, the other way yes.

The machine is rather multipurpose since it is used for heavy 3d renderings and building modelling. Also, in order to make SLI compatible program a second GPU is a must. Of course, when I have little extra time I can even play something.

Cheers!

I code on a laptop

3GB DDR3 ram

Windows 7 64 bit

250GB hard drive

dual core AMD cpu

17 inch HD screen

I have no problems running my games. Lets be honest, when you're starting out,

you're not gonna be coding the next crisis that you need an uber rig to get things done.

As much as I want to answer this with my beast machines stats, I'd rather point out that the best development machine is what makes you most productive. What I mean by that is that for development you pretty much want the biggest beast you can get your hands on. A "reasonable" beast anymore is a nice 3ghz+ quad core (I'd look for a hyper-threaded 4 core so 8 total hardware threads with AMX) with a fast hard drive, preferably an SSD as that will speed compiles up more than anything else. Memory wise 4gigs is minimum, 8gigs is preferred and 16+ is best. (Remember, you have you run your game, your tools/profilers etc at the same time, 4gigs barely cuts it most of the time.) Graphics wise, that depends on the game, but usually a nice midline graphics card (soon to be low end) is best for initial development, you don't want to be optimizing for a high end card only to realize mom's laptop can't play the game because you pushed too far. (Assuming you are not pushing for photorealistic graphics.) It is "usually" easier to add more detail on high end cards than it is to reduce it for low end cards. The only thing I suggest is a mid level card with twice the normal memory due to dev only requirements. Usually those are fairly cheap by the time they become "mid level" cards.

As much as I want to answer this with my beast machines stats, I'd rather point out that the best development machine is what makes you most productive. What I mean by that is that for development you pretty much want the biggest beast you can get your hands on. A "reasonable" beast anymore is a nice 3ghz+ quad core (I'd look for a hyper-threaded 4 core so 8 total hardware threads with AMX) with a fast hard drive, preferably an SSD as that will speed compiles up more than anything else. Memory wise 4gigs is minimum, 8gigs is preferred and 16+ is best. (Remember, you have you run your game, your tools/profilers etc at the same time, 4gigs barely cuts it most of the time.) Graphics wise, that depends on the game, but usually a nice midline graphics card (soon to be low end) is best for initial development, you don't want to be optimizing for a high end card only to realize mom's laptop can't play the game because you pushed too far. (Assuming you are not pushing for photorealistic graphics.) It is "usually" easier to add more detail on high end cards than it is to reduce it for low end cards. The only thing I suggest is a mid level card with twice the normal memory due to dev only requirements. Usually those are fairly cheap by the time they become "mid level" cards.

well, it could always be something LOLz, like someone with a Xeon Phi and 64GB of RAM or something...

then note that the person has just spent like $3k on the CPU alone... ("but, I have 50 cores!").

but, yeah, doesn't mean it has to be high-end...

as-is, in my case I have my laptops to verify that my stuff still works on lower-end hardware.

though it is a bit of a stretch given how much of a difference there is (as-is, my laptops and main PC are different enough WRT stats to where I effectively need different rendering paths for each, and need to enable/disable a fair number of engine features).

I had a computer with an Athlon 64 X2 1.8 GHz and a Radeon HD 4850 (and 4GB DDR2), but as-is, it's power-supply got fried in a power-surge (including a few other random things), and I haven't got around to replacing it (such is the problem of these things, and part of the reason why having a good UPS and surge suppressors rather than often just using cheap power-strips is a good idea, but alas...).

As much as I want to answer this with my beast machines stats

well, it could always be something LOLz, like someone with a Xeon Phi and 64GB of RAM or something...
then note that the person has just spent like $3k on the CPU alone... ("but, I have 50 cores!").

I think you misunderstood, I was suggesting a favorable lower end (affordable) machine but highlighting the important bits. AVX CPU is "going" to become important but is not required yet, preferred though for longevity. 4 gigs is too low for most work anymore, 8 gigs is really minimum for a dev machines anymore. Graphics cards hardly matter anymore unless you are looking at some massive graphics quality, and for that you better have a big art team and as such your dev machine cost is not an issue since the company better be paying for it.

For effective development you want a decent CPU (say 2 steps down from the current $1K version) and the fastest hard drive you can get, SSD being preferred even if it is tiny compared to a main HD. Memory is not an option, 8Gig is virtually minimum to make any of the other items useful.

If I wanted to suggest the max, I'd just post my primary work box (and it is even a bit out of date now, snivel. ). As it is, I have a collection of back to P3 SMP boxes up to the massive beast. Usable machines are going to fit somewhere between the two extremes but they need minimal specs in certain areas which is what I'm trying to cover.