Produce a report that explains what hardware you recommend and why for a professional game developer

Background 

David is a professional game developer for GameSoft Australia. He creates game environments and uses 3D modelling and animations as part of his work. David’s current workstation is not performing up to scratch with the new release of a game development engine. He has determined that he needs a new custom-built machine to perform his everyday tasks efficiently. David does not have much experience in this space and has lodged a ticket with his IT support for a new system.

You are working as an IT equipment consultant for GameSoft Australia. As a part of your job, you must help David assemble the required system components based on his requirements and constraints. Also, you will need to produce a report that explains to your manager what hardware you recommend and why. Your manager does not have a technical background, so you will need to explain some of the IT terminology used in your report.

David’s Requirements 

David needs his computer to run the Windows 10 operating system. His PC must also be capable of running a next-gen real-time 3D engine. Specifically, the Unreal Engine 5 (UE5). Based on UE5 support the requirements for a performance-based system are as follows:

• Windows 10 64-bit

• 64 GB RAM

• 256 GB SSD (OS Drive)

• 2 TB SSD (Data Drive)

• NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2080 SUPER

• A minimum of 10-12 core processor @ 3.4GHz

GameSoft Australia already has the following motherboard Asus Motherboard ‘ProArt X570-Creator WIFI’ in its inventory. As such you are required to build the computer using this component and find the compatible hardware to complete the workstation.

Report Requirements

The report is broken up into five separate tasks. For each section of the report, you need to justify your reasoning and include proper referencing.

Task 1: Microprocessor and motherboard

For the operating system and each of the software performance requirements mentioned above identify the minimum processor:

• that’s compatible with the motherboard; and

• that will suit the above-mentioned requirements.

Below is a list of CPUs that are available to you:

• Intel i7 12700K

• Intel i5 12600K

• AMD R7 5800X

• AMD R9 5900X

• Intel i9-12900K

• AMD R5 5600X

You must state the following about the processor: 

• Number of processor cores and threads

• Base clock

• On-chip cache memory

• Supported memory type and specification

• 64-bit or 32-bit architecture

Your manager is also unsure about the benefits this motherboard has for content creators. Give your manager proper justification on why this motherboard is an appropriate choice?

Task 2: Memory

Your manager is unsure about computer memory. He has asked if you might be able to put together a short report that will inform him of the difference between RAM, ROM, and Cache.

For the motherboard and the CPU listed in the scenario, state what type of RAM is compatible and the maximum capacity that is supported.

 If you are provided with 2 memory sticks of 32 GB each, give an explanation of which memory slots will be occupied on the motherboard.

Task 3: Storage

Your manager also needs to be provided with information on computer storage. You need to: 

•  Explain the differences between hard-disk drives (HDD), solid state drives (SSD) and NVMe SSDs.
• • Explain in brief the advantages and disadvantages of the following RAID configurations:
  • o RAID 0
  • RAID 1
  • RAID 5
  • RAID 6
  • RAID 10

• Explain the advantages and disadvantages of hardware and software RAID configuration. Then determine what RAID levels are supported by the motherboard. For each of those configurations, determine the storage devices required and how they will be connected.

Task 4: Graphics card

Your organisation has typically used the GPU NVidia RTX 2080S. Your manager has identified that this was released back in 2019 and wonders if the GeForce 30 series graphic card might be a better option. You need to provide the following advice:

• • Which of the GeForce 30 series product can be used to replace the NVidia RTX 2080S with minimal performance gain over the latter; and
• • If it is compatible with the listed motherboard; and
• • The type of slot the listed motherboard requires for your recommended option.

When comparing the GPUs, your manager needs some information on the overall gain in Effective speed and Average Score, your recommended GPU has. You have decided to use the following website for benchmarking the GPUs

https://gpu.userbenchmark.com/Compare/AMD-RX-6800-vs-Nvidia-RTX-2080S-Super/4088vs4050

Task 5: Backup options

Your manager is also seeking advice on backup options. Your recommendation must include the following: 

• An explanation of the advantages and disadvantages of external HDDs, vs local company NAS/SAN vs cloud backup

• If the workstation has RAID implemented, then do we need a backup? Why or why not?