Ask HN: Tell me about your dev machine
HN, tell me about your dev machine and help me decide on my next build.
Bonus content: here's what I'm looking at right now https://www.inet.se/datorbygge/bild/b1164307/datorbygge
HN, tell me about your dev machine and help me decide on my next build.
Bonus content: here's what I'm looking at right now https://www.inet.se/datorbygge/bild/b1164307/datorbygge
It also doubles as my gaming rig but I'm going to be moving us to a more strict device management strategy soon so I will have a dedicated work PC, and this will likely be a top-end Dell Precision. I recently bought a couple for some new developers (latest core i9, 32GB of RAM, NVME SSD) and they're very happy with them.
I also have a very light macbook air for travelling and taking notes in meetings etc. I couldn't actually develop software on it though, it's far too tiny.
I couldn't go back to developing on a laptop and definitely couldn't go back to 16gb of RAM. It does seem that with many laptops you must choose between >16gb or it being portable.
Doesn't include monitors though (£600ish for 2 27" monitors). It's a pretty beastly workstation, great for development.
A nicer screen and nicer graphics card is going to be a boost for the odd game and just generally easier on the eyes.
I suspect better support for the latest macOS.
What else have you noticed?
> Super small compared to my tank of a 13in 2012, but when compared to my work laptop (17in 2020), it is also smaller in the direct comparison.
> Screen to Bezel ratio has consistently thrown me for a loop because I accidentally touch the screen when trying to open and close it.
> True tone has definitely helped with having it be easier on the eyes. I used to use Flux for that.
> Compile times for large projects have sped up visibly in my eyes.
> So I haven't been able to truly benchmark graphics wise but in comparison to running Civ 5 on either computer, the 2020 edition blows it out of the water. Along with it not having a terrible lag when switching from game to browser.
> Even with the ARM conversion, I suspect that I'll have at least 3-4 good years out of this as a side project / light AR development mobile computer so I'm happy that it'll handle an OS update gracefully.
> I've been able to use the Macbook/Macbook Air/Macbook Pro (2016-2019) keyboards, and I'm glad that that did not carry over to MBP 2020. It's the closest to having my 2012 keyboard with responsiveness (jury is still out on reliability)
> TouchID is a bonus but I haven't used it past auth'ing into my laptop or sudo sessions.
> Still acclimating touchbar, multiple taps to access items has taken some getting used to mentally.
Previously I was using a Refurbished 2012 MBP for 6 years (with HDD/RAM upgrades, battery replacement), throughout college and my first job. So this jump to a retina display, faster processor, lighter form factor is a whole new world for me.
I might get one instead of waiting for the ARM update. My user requirements are not that much!
2. Pick a form factor. Regular size/smaller?
3. Now you have specs for motherboard.
4. Rest of the stuff is what you need/want. Stuff like memory sticks, onboard or separate gpu, onboard or separate WiFi card.
64GB memory
8 GB GeForce RTX 2070 Super with 2560 CUDA Cores
A couple of NVME SSDs.
I install Centos as the OS. Setup, including Nvidia drivers was very easy.Probably could be built from components cheaper, but I appreciated just making an order and having a box show up later.
My past machines have been Thinkpads, then six years with a Macbook Pro that I wiped and installed Debian on. I made the move back to desktops for a variety of work-related reasons.
This LTT video is probably more useful for you though: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Kua9cY8q_EI
I use it daily for Java/C#/Golang ( with jetbrains IDEs ) and reactNative ( with vscode ). Sometimes it lags a bit, but i still like it for its lightweight feel in general.
( oh, on my desk i also have a 4k phillips 27" external monitor for those times a 13" retina would not be enough )
Snappier/more responsive UI-wise than the 16” MB Pro I got from work, fwiw.