My current gear
So I've been working on my Asus N76VZ for the last 5 years, mainly for coding, media consumption and some low level gaming, it certainly delivered great performance, but overall, I always felt it was kinda overrated in terms of value. It cost me about $1500 at the time (yeah.. pricing in the EU), I was expecting more from it, but I guess laptops aren't the best fighters with planned obsolescence. I was expecting better build quality (and not crappy plastic), good sound (and long lasting), better battery life (in your dreams) and generally a better experience.
The reason why I opted for a laptop was mainly because of travelling EU-China a lot, but now I think it's time to settle down and get serious about compute gear. So here I am, right now, researching, planning and stalking GPU stocks. There could never be a better time for an upgrade, as the AMD hype got real, I mean excellent bang for buck, such an insane value!
What I actually need
- a platform built to last, at least 5 years as my current gear
- a decent & efficient workstation, a true multitasking powerhouse
- editing/encoding videos for tutorials
- coding (with multiple code editors and large file libraries), testing (all major browsers at once) and deploying
- music production (did I mention I also do sound design and harmonics?)
- modern tech (USB 3.1, NVME drives, DDR4)
- decent PC gaming (Borderlands, UnrealTournament, Dota2, Warcraft 3/3remastered, Diablo, Starcraft)
The GEAR I am going for
Right, so I will list the gear I'm currently hovering at, explaining why I've chosen each, so without further a due, let's dig into the matter:
CPU
As this decides the platform to go, I choose the AMD R7 1700, because:
- excellent multitasking
- great productivity scores (see below)
- it's the best value in the prosumer market (8C/16T for ~$300), according to most reviewers
- unlocked for overclocking (with the motherboard I chose, it should go 4Ghz like a breeze)
- excellent operating temps at full load in OC mode
- excellent gaming
MOTHERBOARD
I'll go with the ASUS ROG Strix B350-F Gaming, for the following reasons:
- the VRM is of excellent quality as described by buildzoid, very efficient and provides better vCore and vRam overclocking and higher stability
- I especially like the position of the M.2 slot above the GPU slot (nvme drives should run cooler)
- supports 2x crossfire GPU x16 (a rare gem in the B350 realm)
- excellent audio (a must for an audiophile like myself)
- very fast networking
- cool design
- excellent price
GPU
I'm going (in my dreams) for the ASUS ROG STRIX AMD RX580 O 8G GAMING for:
- great 1080/1440p gaming performance
- sync with the motherboard RGB lighting effects
- relatively low price
I am also considering an AMD RX Vega entry level GPU, perhaps at the end of July?
MEMORY
It's going to be Vengeance® LPX 16GB (2x8GB) DDR4 DRAM 3200MHz C16 WHITE because:
- decent timings
- excellent frequency, it's good enough for Ryzen for sure
- relatively affordable price
CASE
I'm going for the wonderful Fractal Design Define S Window
- excellent air ventilation
- 2-4 included case coolers
- intake dust filters
- sound dampening materials
- side window
- affordable
POWER SUPPLY UNIT
This is gonna definitely be the EVGA 550 B3, 80 Plus BRONZE 550W
- highly regarded
- reliable (80+ bronze certified)
- 120mm exhaust fan
- modular
PERIPHERALS
- Microsoft Surface Keyboard, for comfortable typing and low noise
- Microsoft Surface Mouse
MONITOR
I still haven't decided on it yet, they are so damn expensive. I need a 1440p 34" ultrawide IPS monitor, I don't think dual monitors is a healthy practice.
TOPICS OF INTEREST
- What would you change in the specs and why?
- Do you think RGB lighting is here to stay?
- Do you think it's an overkill for my work requirements?
- IMPORTANT: Do you the motherboard is an overkill? (Tomahawk could probably be a better value?)
- Should I get an after market CPU cooler? (Considering OC and the chosen case) If yes, which one is best for the buck?
- What is your gear and what is it for?
Thanks for sharing .
we can mutually benefit following & upvoting each others post.
my blogs are related to Yoga ,Ayurveda ,Personal dev,The3 things & crypto.I am sure you will like them.
have upvoted above post .
waiting for you coming to my Small home of wellness .
Thanks for sharing. I am interested in going into the topics of this post if you don't mind.
I'm not a yoga guy, but I am a friendly guy, interested in finding anything we might have in common, especially tech!!
Thanks dnp,
i am very new to tech.i want to learn how to make website , even i am now trying to learn some coding language , like java or java script .
i want to be a website developer or a daap developer , can you help me on that
Sure thing, go ahead and check my Github profile, a lot of goodies for your future projects.
If you are new on the way to learn web development, start with basics at w3schools.com, then more about typography with alistapart.com and generally all your questions may have been answered already at stackoverflow.com.
Best of luck.
Thanks dnp .
thanks for your guidance and help .will start to scan all the above listed sites form today .
and you are welcome , to following me . i have just followed you.