I am looking at getting a new laptop and would like to be able to run Unreal Engine 4 on it for some small game projects. How important is the graphics card vs processor speed for using this game engine (and game engines in general)? Is it really worth spending a lot more to get a good graphics card and a faster processor?

Also, if anyone has some good reading on graphics cards from a hardware perspective, then I would appreciate the links.

Thanks.

Is it really worth spending a lot more to get a good graphics card and a faster processor?

Yes. But if possible avoid getting a laptop and get (assemble) a desktop computer instead.

Yes. But if possible avoid getting a laptop and get (assemble) a desktop computer instead.

Second this, game engines can often act weird with laptops.

I have a high-end laptop and I hate using it for game development. With Unity the laptop causes shadow flickers and mesh flickering like the z-pass isn't working. With Unreal if you don't manually check the graphics card, the game runs slow like it is ignoring the fact that a graphics card exists.

It's not just my laptop, I have seen similar errors when showing people my games. Never had the problem with any of my desktop PCs.

graphics card vs processor

You need both, in short the graphics card renders the image you see while the processor solves the math; while making a game you will often "bake" data and that needs a powerful processor.

Is it really worth spending a lot more to get a good graphics card and a faster processor?

Yes. But if possible avoid getting a laptop and get (assemble) a desktop computer instead.

I'm fully aware a desktop build would be better, but I travel away very often for work. A desktop computer would largely sit unused.

I'm fully aware a desktop build would be better, but I travel away very often for work. A desktop computer would largely sit unused.

There are desktop systems that are easy enough to tear down and set up in a hotel room. I've done this a few times when travelling, but i agree, a laptop is a must for client demos.

I'm fully aware a desktop build would be better, but I travel away very often for work. A desktop computer would largely sit unused.

There are desktop systems that are easy enough to tear down and set up in a hotel room. I've done this a few times when travelling, but a laptop is a must for client demos.