The standard Computer, in real numbers
Computers are the first Tier 6 item that makes you commit to an electronics block. The standard recipe is a Manufacturer job with a slow 24-second cycle:
| Recipe | Machine | Cycle | Inputs (per craft) | Inputs (per min) | Output |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Computer (standard) | Manufacturer | 24 s | Circuit Board 4 + Cable 8 + Plastic 16 | 10 Board + 20 Cable + 40 Plastic | 1, 2.5/min |
| Caterium Computer (alternate) | Manufacturer | 16 s | Circuit Board 4 + Quickwire 14 + Rubber 6 | 15 Board + 52.5 Quickwire + 22.5 Rubber | 1, 3.75/min |
| Crystal Computer (alternate) | Assembler | 36 s | Circuit Board 3 + Crystal Oscillator 1 | 5 Board + 1.67 Oscillator | 2, 3.33/min |
“Computer: 4 Circuit Board, 8 Cable and 16 Plastic per craft, 24 s in a Manufacturer, 2.5 per minute” — the row mirrored from the satisfactory.wiki.gg recipe table into
src/data/satisfactory-recipes.json.
The single most quoted number for this item is 2.5 Computers per minute per Manufacturer. It is slow. A full manufacturer running for a minute produces two and a half computers, which means the Space Elevator phases and the Supercomputer line both demand a bank of these machines rather than one.
Notice what is not in the recipe: High-Speed Connectors. That is a common misconception carried over from older guides. The standard Computer needs boards, cable and plastic — three inputs, each from a different production chain.
Cost per computer, decomposed
The ingredient counts per craft are the easiest way to see where the load lands. Dividing by the craft size gives the cost of a single Computer:
| Input | Per computer | Upstream cost |
|---|---|---|
| Circuit Board | 4 | 8 Copper Sheet + 16 Plastic (standard board recipe) |
| Cable | 8 | 16 Wire, which is 8 Copper Ingot |
| Plastic | 16 | 0.8 of a standard Refinery at 20/min |
Add the plastic embedded in the boards and one Computer actually costs 32 Plastic and 8 Copper Sheet plus the 8 copper ingot behind the cable. That is 1.6 refineries’ worth of plastic for every single computer, which is why computer lines and oil bases grow together.
The cable number is easy to underestimate. 8 Cable per computer is 16 Wire because the Cable recipe takes 2 Wire per unit, and 16 Wire is 8 Copper Ingot at the standard 1 ingot to 2 wire ratio. One Computer Manufacturer at 2.5/min therefore pulls 20 Cable per minute, which is two thirds of a Cable Constructor’s 30/min output. See the cable guide before you size the copper line.
A complete 10/min Computer block
Ten computers per minute is a realistic mid-game target: enough to feed a Supercomputer Manufacturer and still stockpile for building costs. Here is the machine list, all derived from the recipe rows:
| Step | Rate needed | Machines | Feed |
|---|---|---|---|
| Computer | 10/min | 4 Manufacturers (2.5/min each) | 40 Board + 80 Cable + 160 Plastic per min |
| Circuit Board | 40/min | 6 Assemblers (7.5/min each) | 80 Copper Sheet + 160 Plastic per min |
| Cable | 80/min | 3 Constructors (30/min each) | 160 Wire per min |
| Wire | 160/min | 6 Constructors (30/min each) | 80 Copper Ingot per min |
| Copper Sheet | 80/min | 8 Constructors (10/min each) | 160 Copper Ingot per min |
| Plastic (total) | 320/min | 16 Refineries (20/min each) | oil feed |
That is 27 machines plus the oil base for ten computers a minute, and the plastic count is the headline: 320 per minute, of which 160 goes straight into the Manufacturers and 160 into the boards. Sixteen refineries is more than most players build for their first computer line, which is exactly why the alternates matter so much here.
If you only need two or three computers per minute for building materials, run a single Manufacturer and feed it from existing board and plastic lines. The 10/min block is for when computers become an ingredient rather than a product.
The two alternates, and when each wins
Caterium Computer is the throughput pick. At 3.75/min from a 16-second cycle it is 50% faster than standard, and it swaps the 40 plastic per minute for 52.5 Quickwire and 22.5 Rubber. The plastic inside the boards remains, but the Manufacturer itself stops being an oil consumer. Because Quickwire is a single Constructor step from Caterium Ingot (1 ingot to 5 wire, 12 ingot per minute becoming 60 wire per minute), one Quickwire Constructor covers roughly one Caterium Computer Manufacturer at 52.5/min.
The trade is rubber. 22.5 Rubber per minute per Manufacturer is a bit over one default rubber refinery, so this recipe moves your dependency from plastic to rubber without removing the oil base entirely.
Crystal Computer is the cheapest in ore terms and the most fragile. It runs in an Assembler rather than a Manufacturer, needs only 3 Circuit Boards per craft and produces 2 computers at a time — 3.33/min. Per computer that is just 1.5 boards plus half a Crystal Oscillator.
Half an oscillator per computer sounds trivial until you price the oscillator: the standard Crystal Oscillator recipe takes 36 Quartz Crystal, 28 Cable and 5 Reinforced Iron Plates over 120 seconds to make 2, at 1 per minute per Manufacturer. One Crystal Computer Assembler at 3.33/min needs 1.67 oscillators per minute, so it takes two oscillator Manufacturers to keep a single Assembler fed. Crystal Computer is excellent when you already have a quartz block running and terrible as a first computer recipe.
A workable progression: standard recipe for your first computers at Tier 6, Caterium Computer once the caterium line exists, Crystal Computer only if quartz is already flowing for Silica and Crystal Oscillators.
Where computers go
Computers are an ingredient in almost everything late:
| Consumer | Computers per min | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Supercomputer (standard) | 7.5 | 4 per craft, 1.875/min output |
| Adaptive Control Unit | 2 | 2 per craft, 1/min |
| Radio Control Unit | 2.5 | 2 per craft, 2.5/min |
| Super-State Computer (alternate) | 7.2 | 3 per craft, 2.4/min |
| Hoverpack | 4 | equipment |
The Supercomputer draw is the one that shapes your factory. A single Supercomputer Manufacturer running the standard recipe wants 7.5 computers per minute, which is three Computer Manufacturers at 2.5/min — and those three in turn want 30 boards, 60 cable and 120 plastic per minute. The computer-to-supercomputer chain covers that build in detail.
The Adaptive Control Unit is the sleeper consumer: only 2 computers per minute, but the same machine also wants Automated Wiring, Circuit Boards and Heavy Modular Frames, so it is usually the last of the four inputs you finish — see the Adaptive Control Unit guide.
Build order that avoids the usual stall
- Plastic first, machines second. 40 plastic per minute per Manufacturer is two standard refineries. Build the refineries, confirm 40/min on the belt, then place the Manufacturer.
- Boards and cable on separate belts. Both feeds are consumed every 24-second cycle, and a shared belt that alternates between them halves throughput.
- Buffer 5 to 10 computers before wiring the next stage. The Supercomputer Manufacturer takes 4 computers per craft in a single gulp, so a line without a buffer stutters every cycle.
- Sink the surplus at 8,352 points. Computers are one of the highest-value sink items in the mid game — see the AWESOME Sink guide — so an overflow sink on the computer belt is a legitimate pressure valve while you build the consumer.
For scaling any of these tables to your own target, the production ratio walkthrough shows the division steps, and the alternate recipe guide explains which Hard Drives unlock the two alternates above.