Engine Hardware
With Reality 5.6, our real-time broadcast graphics platform is expanding beyond virtual studio use cases. While maintaining our industry-leading capabilities for augmented reality (AR) and green screen productions, version 5.6 also introduces support for unified, template-based graphics workflow for broadcasters and Video Wall workflows.
This broader scope comes with updated hardware and platform recommendations to reflect the diversity of use cases—from ultra-low-latency virtual studios to high-performance but less latency-sensitive broadcast overlays.
CPU
We recommend AMD CPUs with at least 12 cores, with higher single threaded performance and larger cache sizes.
Intel 13th and 14th generation CPUs are reported to have stability issues with Unreal Engine 5 workloads:
AMD Ryzen 9
AMD Ryzen 9 CPU series have 16 core versions with large 3D V-Cache memory. These CPUs provide extremely high single-threaded speed which can deliver maximum performance for Unreal Engine 5's game thread, which is single-threaded by design.
AMD Ryzen 9 7950X3D is tested and recommended. As of release 5.6, 9950X3D is still under QA process.
AMD Threadripper Pro
AMD Threadripper Pro CPU series provide higher core counts, but they deliver lower single-threaded performance compared to Ryzen 9 series CPUs.
Core counts higher than 16 may not deliver performance increase for Unreal Engine runtime (render engine mode). On the other hand, having larger core counts over 16 can be beneficial for designers in various tasks such as shader compilation.
GPU
We heavily develop and test our Engine code on Nvidia GPUs. AMD & Intel GPUs are not heavily tested, but any GPU with DirectX 12 and Vulkan 1.2 support may work.
Nvidia Ada Lovelace
| Model | Use Case | Cooling Type | Power |
|---|---|---|---|
| RTX 4090 | Raytraced Virtual Studio / AR with Lumen | Triple fans | 450 W |
| RTX 6000 Ada (*) | Raytraced Virtual Studio / AR with Lumen | Blower type fan | 300 W |
| RTX 5000 Ada | Untested | Blower type fan | 250 W |
| RTX 4500 Ada | Untested | Blower type fan | 210 W |
| RTX 4000 Ada | On-Air Graphics / 2D | Blower type fan | 130 W |
(*) The RTX 6000 Ada is thermally limited to 300 Watts due to its blower-type fan cooler design. Performance may decline after a few minutes unless very cold ambient temperatures and extreme airflow are provided. If such conditions are provided, it may perform closer to the RTX 4090.
Nvidia Ampere
| Model | Use Case | Cooling Type | Power |
|---|---|---|---|
| A6000 | Non-raytraced Virtual Studio / AR | Blower type fan | 300 W |
| A4000 | On-Air Graphics / 2D | Blower type fan | 140 W |
| RTX 3090 | Untested | Triple fans | 350 W |
Nvidia Blackwell
- As of release 5.6, Blackwell GPU series are still under QA process.
| Model | Use Case | Cooling Type | Power |
|---|---|---|---|
| RTX 6000 PRO Workstation | Untested: Raytraced Virtual Studio / AR with Lumen | Double flow-through fans | 600 W |
| RTX 6000 PRO Max-Q | Untested: Raytraced Virtual Studio / AR with Lumen | Blower type fan | 300 W |
| RTX 5090 | Untested: Raytraced Virtual Studio / AR with Lumen | Triple fans | 575/600 W |
Motherboard
RAM
64 GB or more RAM is recommended for Raytraced Virtual Studio, Augmented Reality with Lumen, and On-Air Graphics & 2D scenarios.
Storage
1 TB or higher capacity NVMe SSD is recommended.
Network
At least 1 GbE network is required for Reality Hub control network. A faster network interface such as 10 GbE may help with the caching performance of Unreal projects, but its impact is noticable on initial launch and project caching.
Video I/O Bandwidth
SDI Video I/O
Reality 5.6 supports AJA Corvid and Blackmagic DeckLink SDI video cards.
AJA Corvid
| Brand | Models | Use Case Focus |
|---|---|---|
| AJA Video Systems | Corvid 44 BNC, Corvid 44 12G BNC | Virtual Studios, AR |
- While traditionally we have used AJA Corvid boards for Virtual Studio workflows over the last decade, you can also use these boards for fill/key workflows as well.
- AJA Corvid 88 is also supported in terms of software compatibility, but we prefer to use the fullsize BNC versions of AJA Corvid 44 cards.
Blackmagic DeckLink
| Brand | Models | Use Case Focus |
|---|---|---|
| Blackmagic Design | DeckLink 8K Pro (and compatible) | On-Air Graphics, Fill & Key |
- Ideal for fill/key and embedded audio in on-air graphics workflows. Supported for virtual studios as well, but benchmarking and QA are centered around AJA Corvid 44 series.
- Other DeckLink boards are also compatible but all the QA processes are made with 8K Pro.
Embedded Audio Support
When using DeckLink SDI output, Reality 5.6 can transmit embedded audio alongside fill and key signals. This enables synchronized audio-visual output for templates that include sound.
Chassis
Power Supply
We recommend redundant power supplies for live on-air graphics and virtual studio and augmented reality workflows in order to minimize the risk of any interruption for live broadcasts. For design workloads where redundancy does not provide as much benefit, single power supplies can also be used.
Thermals
Virtual studio workflows demand constant GPU performance. Keeping CPU and GPU thermals stable is a crucial issue for preventing slowdowns and throttling.
Operating Systems
Windows 10
Windows 10 is the reference platform for ultra-low latency virtual studio use cases. Reality 5.6 is fully tested and benchmarked on this platform.
Windows 11
Suitable for on-air graphics and general use, Windows 11 is supported with Reality 5.6.
While Windows 11 has demonstrated reliable performance in on-air graphics workflows, ultra-low-latency virtual studio setups are still qualified using Windows 10 for deterministic performance.