Building a Desktop PC for Coding
Tags: tech, computer, programming, pcbuild
Published: 2020-12-26 22:09:58

I just bought a new desktop PC, so I think this can be useful to other developers how I did that.

#Why I bought a PC not a laptop
I had a power problem with my Asus TUF laptop and no one was able to solve it.
If a similar problem happened in a desktop PC, it's easy to change the damaged part with less cost and less chance losing the whole machine.
Also, desktop PCs are much powerful than laptops even with the same specifications.

#My use
When you buying a new PC (desktop or laptop), you must think carefully about how you going to use it. You don't want to buy the best computer that you'll use less than 10% of it's capabilities, or buy a cheap one that slows your work.
My use is for programming, streaming, video editing, photoshop, and some gaming (only 2 games) 
This means that I need a powerful processor, good quality motherboard, fast reading and writing storage, an average graphics card, and good memory capacity.

#My hardware choices
I choose to go with AMD Ryzen 7 3700x processor, it has 8 cores and 16 threads with a very nice RGB cooler. Its benchmarks are very near to 10th gen i9 processors but with much less price. According to the CPU benchmark website, Ryzen 7 3700x (*$325*) is better than Intel i9-10900x (*$560*) [check the benchmark](https://www.cpubenchmark.net/desktop.html)

![CPU benchmarks](https://dev-to-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com/i/z7aa3tdlhh3fpihzn1me.png)

![Processor](https://dev-to-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com/i/iwj54xd5db650qjnf59r.jpg)
You can check it on Amazon from [here](https://amzn.to/3mS4HdN)  
&nbsp;  
For the motherboard, My first choice was Asus TUF gaming x570-plus with Wi-Fi (*$189*) (see it on amazon from [here](https://amzn.to/38zuyC9)) but It was out of stock. So, I chose Asus Rog Strix B550 gaming-f with Wi-fi (*$210*). It's a very beautiful peace with support to PCIe gen 4, 2 M.2 SSD slots, can take up to 128Gb of RAM, has built-in Wi-fi, contains a USB type-c port, 2.5Gb LAN port, a USB 3.2 gen 2 port, and supports RGB.

![Mother board](https://dev-to-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com/i/imzz8q22n1wjsc4hnyf7.jpg)
You can check it on amazon from [here](https://amzn.to/3ruqgo2)  
&nbsp;  
For the graphics card, I choose the Asus TUF GTX 1660 super (*$500*) which has 6Gb of memory. It's a relatively new card with very good performance at a very affordable price.

![Graphics card](https://dev-to-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com/i/ij2sddg0j4k0osv5bedh.jpg)
You can check it on amazon from [here](https://amzn.to/2WOOwmI)  
&nbsp;  
For the storage, I choose western digital black 500Gb SN750 NVMe Internal SSD (*$60*) which has the highest quality of WD SSD drives.

![SSD](https://dev-to-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com/i/jiw6tgiqtk1ow1rcgfha.jpg)
You can check it on amazon from [here])https://amzn.to/2KComRQ)  
&nbsp;  
For the memory, I choose the TEAMGROUP T-Force Vulcan Z 32Gb (16 x 2) DDR4 with 3600MHz (*$120*) which is the best to be used with Ryzen processors.

![RAM](https://dev-to-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com/i/yuxv1tjawkb46af7h02z.jpg)
You can check it on amazon from [here](https://amzn.to/37PRttG)  
&nbsp;  
Finally the computer case, I choose Corsair Carbide Series SPEC-DELTA RGB Mid-Tower ATX Case (*$50*) which has a tempered glass side, 3 RGB fans in the front, 1 fan in the back, and with EVGA 600 W 80+ Certified ATX Power Supply (*$40*).

![Corsair Case](https://dev-to-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com/i/hyz8hil67yr2lj9dpalw.jpg)
You can check it on amazon from [here](https://amzn.to/3poqs6z)  
&nbsp;  
The total price was *$1305*, prices are changing every day, so this may vary at your time of reading.

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