Re:Ask HN: What's a good PC build for development (under $1k)
by snvzz on Friday May 08, 2020 @02:50PM
(#23118096)
>I'm thinking Ryzen.
Good thinking.
>the video card doesn't come into play much for server stuff, right?
No. But it's still important if you use it as a workstation at all.
>I don't need a great video card. Some simple games, sure, but mostly for coding, transpiling, running servers. I'll probably run linux.
Then go with AMD for graphics. They have full documentation and good open drivers, unlike NVIDIA. They have performance, unlike Intel.
>transpiling is heavy on the CPU
Yes. And parallelizable. You want a lot of cores if possible.
>What's a good PC build for development
I'd try for a Ryzen 3700X with some radeon gpu (5500, 5600xt, 5700 depending on how much budget you have left and how much you want to run games)
For RAM: DDR3200 or 3600, 32GB minimum (2x 16gb for dual-channel).
For storage, some M.2 SSD, 512GB or more.
Definitely do not cheapen out on the PSU if you value stability and/or durability of your hardware. Likewise about the case. PSU+Case should outlast everything else in your computer, and survive as you replace motherboards and CPUs.
Good thinking.
>the video card doesn't come into play much for server stuff, right?
No. But it's still important if you use it as a workstation at all.
>I don't need a great video card. Some simple games, sure, but mostly for coding, transpiling, running servers. I'll probably run linux.
Then go with AMD for graphics. They have full documentation and good open drivers, unlike NVIDIA. They have performance, unlike Intel.
>transpiling is heavy on the CPU
Yes. And parallelizable. You want a lot of cores if possible.
>What's a good PC build for development
I'd try for a Ryzen 3700X with some radeon gpu (5500, 5600xt, 5700 depending on how much budget you have left and how much you want to run games)
For RAM: DDR3200 or 3600, 32GB minimum (2x 16gb for dual-channel).
For storage, some M.2 SSD, 512GB or more.
Definitely do not cheapen out on the PSU if you value stability and/or durability of your hardware. Likewise about the case. PSU+Case should outlast everything else in your computer, and survive as you replace motherboards and CPUs.
Do play with pcpartpicker.com.
This list assumes you already have PSU, Case, Keyboard, Mouse, Screen like most people here already does: https://pcpartpicker.com/list/MwRBdm