My home PC setup

Intro And Disclaimer

Disclaimer: This is my personal setup for game development and 3D art, I obtained parts of it over a long period of time including before attending college, during my studies, and after I started working professionally. I point this out as it is important to me that anyone reading this who is interested in getting into game dev understands that they Do not need to obtain this kind of equipment to get started, I started 3D modelling on an old Toshiba laptop with no graphics card and 4gb of DDR3 RAM, and later built a simple PC with an i5-7500 processor and a GTX 1050 graphics card which actually did quite well for a long time, so please do not let a lack of equipment prevent you from getting started.

With that out of the way, I am excited to share with you my personal setup for creating art, making games, and of course- a little bit of gaming.

Photos

The PC

PC Notes:

• 64 GB of ram: I left room for 128- I doubt that I will ever need it, I like to keep all of my creative programs open at once when creating art, because it offers speed and the ability to flow between tasks with little friction, this can however chew up a lot of RAM, hence the 64GB- just be aware that 32GB is a perfectly fine amount.
• The cloud sync hard drive: I use drop box for cloud storage for all my work, I enjoy the comfort of having a cloud backup and access to my files without remembering to bring a hard drive with me, however the one downside of using cloud storage can be waiting for files to sync, to remove this down side I have a 2TB m.2 (for high speed) SSD which I have my ENTIRE drop box account constantly syncing to, it may be seen as a little overkill, but for me it’s perfect, and offers the best of both worlds regarding cloud storage / working locally.

Peripherals

Peripheral Notes:

• Stream deck: You absolutely do not need a stream deck for creating 3D art!! I do however find it very helpful for controlling my virtual webcam during meetings and while running online classes, and as this list is for my entire setup, it is included.
• Wacom intous pro medium: this is the tablet to get! that said many alternatives from huion or others can also work great and be at least 80% as good. what is more important on a tablet hunt is to get one without a screen, I used to use a very large screen tablet, it was a good tablet and for someone doing a lot more 2D art it may be the better device, however for 3D art where tasks are often changing as you work through the pipeline, I found that the larger device took too long to get setup (even when being used as a monitor in it’s down time) and also provided worse ergonomics due to the neck needing to be craned down even a little bit when using it.

Desk & Accessories

Accessories Notes:

• Monitors: A full triple monitor setup is not required- however I do HIGHLY recommend having at least 2, the additional monitor is an absolute game changer
• Wireless charger: we All know that wireless chargers are slower than wired connections, however I still like to have one as I like my desk to have a dedicated place for my phone, and that dedicated place may as well add some charge.
• Google home: This lives on the desk so it is included on the list, it is good for some music and hands free controlling some home systems, it was also a birthday gift, I love it but would not recommend buying it for the purposes of making art.
• Network switch: good if you have a single cord running to your office / room and want a wired connection to few devices (in my case my main PC, my media PC, and a WIFI booster )
• Placement fixings: I use these to secure items like the wireless charger and speaker stands to my desk, this comes in handy if you are a bit particular like me and want to make sure things will stay the safe after giving your setup a good clean.
• Knick-knack box: it’s a silly thing to recommend, but having a small box handy for USBs, trinkets, adapters, etc. can really help keep your space clear, for the couple dollars they go for its a huge recommend!