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Ask HN: Should I invest in a desktop PC in 2017?

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Re: Ask HN: Should I invest in a desktop PC in 2017?

#31

Post by onli »

willholloway wrote: post #17

In my opinion there is only one answer to this question for anyone doing development: Buy the fastest non-extreme consumer intel processor, right now thats 6700k, add at least 16gb of ram, 1 mid-size ssd, 2x 4tb drives in raid. If you want to do any kind of GPU work add the fastest or second fastest consumer nvidia card, like the 1080 or 1070. If you want to game get a second ssd and install windows on it. It goes wi…

> Buy the fastest non-extreme consumer intel processor, right now thats 6700k,

7700K. The same clocked higher.

Whether a gpu that expensive is worth it highly depends on what is meant with GPU work. For non-core-gamers, non gpu-accelerated-AI-guys, something like a RX 470 is plenty.

Re: Ask HN: Should I invest in a desktop PC in 2017?

#32

Post by Scene_Cast2 »

So here are the reasons why I personally like having a desktop.

  * Quiet under full load. Can actually run jobs overnight in my bedroom (e.g. rendering, machine learning).
  * Frees up space from the desk. Better for ergonomics if you set things up right.
  * Can have more memory for memory-intensive things (VMs, rendering, machine learning, etc).
  * Slightly cheaper for the performance.
In return, you sacrifice portability. If you try to solve that by having a desktop and a laptop simultaneously, it will probably be painful synchronization-wise. E.g. on your laptop, you're comparing some products - you have excel open as well as a few tabs in Chrome. How do you automatically shift everything over?

Re: Ask HN: Should I invest in a desktop PC in 2017?

#33

Post by pythonaut_16 »

jagger27 wrote: post #18

AMD's Ryzen architecture may offer some good value for what you're looking for, at least versus Intel's offerings. It launches at the end of February. Buying used like others have suggested is a great idea too, especially since Moore's law is completely and utterly dead. CPUs have seen single digit percentage improvement YoY for a while a now.

I would second waiting for Ryzen. So far the demos we've seen look promising.

Best case scenario: Ryzen matches or beats Intel at a lower price point. Ryzen processors are cheap and Intel has to come down in price to compete.

Worst case scenario: Ryzen flops completely and Intel's prices are unaffected.

The truth is likely somewhere in the middle, but either way, it's worth waiting at least until then to find out.

Re: Ask HN: Should I invest in a desktop PC in 2017?

#35

Post by sz4kerto »

> is desktop still relevant for dev-work in 2017?

What? I'm just thinking on buying _another_ 4K display to fit all the windows nicely. Also, my 1 year-old box has 5x more CPU cores than a top-the-line laptop. And 4x more memory than a top-of-the-line MBP.

And I'm sitting 10 hrs a day at least, so I need proper posture, chair, split mechanical keyboard, whatever.

Re: Ask HN: Should I invest in a desktop PC in 2017?

#36

Post by koolba »

If you're going to get a desktop, get an Intel NUC. The hardware is Linux friendly and the format factor can't be beat. There's just about every range of $ vs CPU so whatever you want to spend you'll find one. Not sure how much the € exchange would impact things but in $ it'd be about $3-400 for a nice setup and $5-600 for a very nice setup (great CPU, 32GB ram, m.2 SSD etc).

Re: Ask HN: Should I invest in a desktop PC in 2017?

#37

Post by tim333 »

As the owner of an X201 and a Macbook air I'd consider getting Macbook, probably pro in your case. The Macbook feels really snappy compared to the X201 even though it's the cheapest mid 2013 model. The 2015 pro with external monitors seems popular with devs.

Re: Ask HN: Should I invest in a desktop PC in 2017?

#38

Post by woohoo7676 »

Like some of the other commenters, I also enjoy having both a desktop and a laptop. The laptop is of course nice to have to work on the go and in the living room/on trips, but sometimes for more intensive work and graphics (and games), you still can't beat a desktop.

Also, building a desktop is an enjoyable process, and can last you a long time, especially with upgrades. I have my 2500K build from 6 years ago, and it still runs everything including games perfectly (updated video card from a 560ti to a 1080 gtx).

Especially with the price of mid-level components being reasonable these days, I'd highly recommend a desktop in addition to your Thinkpad.

Re: Ask HN: Should I invest in a desktop PC in 2017?

#39

Post by snerbles »

Scene_Cast2 wrote: post #32

So here are the reasons why I personally like having a desktop. * Quiet under full load. Can actually run jobs overnight in my bedroom (e.g. rendering, machine learning). * Frees up space from the desk. Better for ergonomics if you set things up right. * Can have more memory for memory-intensive things (VMs, rendering, machine learning, etc). * Slightly cheaper for the performance. In return, you sacrifice portabilit…

> How do you automatically shift everything over?

I use a combination of a home NAS and Syncthing, both of which play nicely with the Windows/macOS/Debian systems I have deployed.

Re: Ask HN: Should I invest in a desktop PC in 2017?

#40

Post by chestervonwinch »

Scene_Cast2 wrote: post #32

So here are the reasons why I personally like having a desktop. * Quiet under full load. Can actually run jobs overnight in my bedroom (e.g. rendering, machine learning). * Frees up space from the desk. Better for ergonomics if you set things up right. * Can have more memory for memory-intensive things (VMs, rendering, machine learning, etc). * Slightly cheaper for the performance. In return, you sacrifice portabilit…

> How do you automatically shift everything over?

I'd like to know if there's an easy solution for this as well. I have a laptop and a desktop that I snagged at a university auction [1], both with Ubuntu. I keep a portion of my work in Dropbox, but I'd really like to build a "local network dropbox equivalent" for large directories. I don't have the knowledge to do so.

[1]: http://www.publicsurplus.com/

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