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It is worth it to buy the fast CPU

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411–420 of 522 posts

Re: It is worth it to buy the fast CPU

#411
post #20

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Compiler is usually IO bound on windows due to NTFS and the small files in MFT and lock contention problem. If you put everything on a ReFS volume it goes a lot faster. Applies to git operations as well.

by "IO bound" you mean "MS defender bound"

Dev Drive can help with that as well

Re: It is worth it to buy the fast CPU

#412
post #315

At my former job at a FAANG, I did the math on allocating developers machines with 16GB vs 64GB based on actual job tasks with estimates of how much thumb twiddling waiting time that this would save and then multiplied that out by the cost of the developer's time. The cost benefit showed a reasonable ROI that was realized in Weeks for Senior dev salaries (months for juniors). Based on this, I strongly believe that if…

Wish my employers didn’t same calculation.

Gave developers 16GB RAM and 512MB storage. Spent way too much time worrying about available disk space and needlessly redownloading docker images off the web.

But at least they saved money on hardware expenses!

Re: It is worth it to buy the fast CPU

#413
post #315

At my former job at a FAANG, I did the math on allocating developers machines with 16GB vs 64GB based on actual job tasks with estimates of how much thumb twiddling waiting time that this would save and then multiplied that out by the cost of the developer's time. The cost benefit showed a reasonable ROI that was realized in Weeks for Senior dev salaries (months for juniors). Based on this, I strongly believe that if…

Wish my employers didn’t same calculation. Gave developers 16GB RAM and 512MB storage. Spent way too much time worrying about available disk space and needlessly redownloading docker images off the web. But at least they saved money on hardware expenses!

You mean 512GB storage?

Re: It is worth it to buy the fast CPU

#414
post #363
post #357

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I think ergonomic chairs are good for people who have poor posture. If you have a strong core and sit up straight all the time, you can probably sit on just about anything and be fine. (I'm not saying you're wrong. I think the real solution is that people should take better care of their physical selves. Certainly there are also people with particular conditions and do need the more ergonomic setup, but I expect that…

Well, I do lot's of sport and can sit comfortable on hard ground meditating for quite some time. I still enjoy a good chair way more than something "normal" for any longer computer sessions.

If a chair is too comfortable, I just fall asleep in it. It doesn't make me work better.

A chair isn't any answer to poor posture. The answer is exercising your core muscles, being aware of your posture, and constantly correcting it.

Re: It is worth it to buy the fast CPU

#415
Something I find weird is that this article compares a 9950x with two different laptop CPUs and concludes that performance has increased massively in the past few years. If you compare the 9950x with its two Desktop predecessors (released 2 and 4 years before), you see about a 6% increase from the 7950x and a 45% increase from the 5950x. So you should consider upgrading regularly, but potentially not every single generation. I think it makes sense to consider the performance and offer an upgrade when you see a 50% or so cumulative improvement. Everywhere I have worked has upgraded developers every 3-4 years, and it might make sense to upgrade if there is a massive change (like when Macbooks went to M-series).

As for Desktop vs Laptop, that is relevant too. Desktops are typically much faster than Laptops because they are allowed much larger power envelopes, which leads to more cores and higher clock speeds for sustained periods of time. However, there is always a question as to whether your use case will be able to use all 16/32 cores/threads in a 9950X CPU. If not, you may not notice much difference with a smaller processor.

Source for CPU benchmarks: https://www.cpubenchmark.net/compare/6211vs5031vs3862vs5717/...

Re: It is worth it to buy the fast CPU

#416

This article skips a few important steps - how a faster CPU will have a demonstrable improvement on developer performance. I would agree with the idea that faster compile times can have a significant improvement in performance. 30s is long enough for a developer to get distracted and go off and check their email, look at social media, etc. Basically turning 30s into 3s can keep a developer in flow. The critical thing…

In some cases, the bottlenecks are external.

I've seen a test environment which has most assets local but a few shared services and databases accessed over a VPN which is evidently a VIC-20 connected over dialup.

The dev environment can take 20 seconds to render a page that takes under 1 second on prod. Going to a newer machine with twice the RAM bought no meaningful improvement.

They need a rearchitecture of their dev system far more than faster laptops.

Re: It is worth it to buy the fast CPU

#417
post #237
post #65

Too bad it’s so hard to get a completely local dev environment these days. It hardly matter what CPU I have since all the intensive stuff happens on another computer.

You dont run an IDE with indexing, error checking and code completion?

vscode-server runs the LSP etc in the remote machine. The local machine is really just the UI.

Re: It is worth it to buy the fast CPU

#418
post #133

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> individuals incurring expenses in the tens of thousands range peanuts compared to their 500k TC

Not only are most developers (let alone other employees) making nowhere near that, why should spending $500k mean you waste $10k? Even saving small amounts matters when you add it up.

Why waste? If you get more than 2% value increase out of your 10k it’s a net gain.

Re: It is worth it to buy the fast CPU

#419
post #293

Is it worth to keep your old CPU? I still run a 6600 (65W peak) from 2016 as my daily driver. I have replaced the SSD once (MLC lasted 5 years, hopefully forever with SLC drive from 2011?), 2x 32GB DDR4 sticks (Kingston Micron lasted 8 years, with aliexpress "samsung" sticks for $50 a pop) and Monitor (Eizo FlexScan 1932 lasted 15! years RIP with Eizo RadiForce 191M, highly recommend with f.lux/redshift for exception…

If you don't care about power efficiency, sure ;)

Re: It is worth it to buy the fast CPU

#420
post #73

Earlier quoted context omitted.

iOS development is still mostly local which is why most of the iOS developers at my previous Big Tech employer got Mac Studios as compiler machines in addition to their MacBook Pros. This requires director approval but is a formality. I read Google is now issuing Chromebooks instead of proper computers to non-engineers, which has got to be corrosive to productivity and morale.

If you're not a developer and everything you need for your job runs in a browser, what's wrong with a Chromebook?

And has the upside of not having to force an antivirus or Crowdstrike or similar corporate spyware.
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