Question System Build for Developer - Light Gamer

[raywindows]

Approximate purchase date: I’ll buy parts immediately once I have a list

Budget Range: $2,000 to $3000 not including monitor(s)

System Usage: 2 categories, software development and gaming with software development being the most important.

Software development, host OS is Windows 10 Pro running Visual Studio, SQL Server, IIS, Apache, VMWare VMs. The VMs will be Linux development environments, Linux Runtime environments, Windows Runtime environments. The runtime environments contain the test/production OS images that are used for deployment testing and general runtime testing of the software I build. I use the development in the host OS to test/debug software running in the VM’s. I want to be able to run multiple VMs simultaneously. I write multi-threaded software that benefits from multiple cores.

Gaming, World of Warcraft, some current version of Doom, Fortnite, something like Age of Empires, other misc games I may not have discovered yet. I don’t need to run games @ the highest frame rates or highest quality.

OS: Windows 10 Pro will be purchased for this build

Preferred websites, Amazon, Newegg

Location: Chicago, IL

Overclocking: No

SLI or Crossfire: Probably not worth it for me; I think a mid-level+ video card will work for me.

Monitor Resolution: I’m looking for a good widescreen (size of 2 monitors) or dual monitors for high resolution great for programmers. I would appreciate suggestions.

Parts Preferences: I want very fast 2 TB storage, Intel based mid-tower easy to assemble case (Corsair Obsidian 450D?), 48 GB Ram; mid-range video card. I need a DVD/CD burner, blu-ray is a plus but not required. I don't need internal case lighting. From a very quick assessment I am thinking of an i9 based system.

Additional Comments: I want a simple to assemble system. I don’t want to be on the bleeding edge. I won’t be spending a lot of time gaming; but I want to play games without any problems. I want a reliable chipset, no overclocking. I don’t need the highest frame rates or highest quality. I am not up to date with the latest processors, motherboards, etc. and could use some guidance.

Why the upgrade? It’s been 10+ years since my last build; 5 years since my last development system upgrade.

What parts list would fit these requirements?

 

[Deleted member 14196]

just a note from your first post,

you should not pollute the host pc with visual studio and all those other things. make a build VM with vmware and use that for dev, then test on your test vms. Anything that needs to run as a service should possiblly be it's own VM, such as SQL Server, etc... but you can lump servers together for certain VMs.

You are going to need as much of the fastest RAM as you can get if you plan on running lots of VMs, your system may be able to handle it--I would go for the new Ryzens myself for the workloads you are talking about and the need for multi-core performance.

i do this for a living, trust me, VMs are the way to go. Can be snapshotted, backed up and restored at an instant if needed. also, if your pc dies all you have to do is fix it, install host os and vmware and you are back in business--or better yet, get a new host

 

[raywindows]

I've been looking for a good case. The Corsair 350D would fit the mark if it was still available. I'm looking for a good small case (mini case for micro ATX) that is easy to work with, silent, and has a bay for a CD/DVD burner. I also want an rear exhaust fan installed. I'm willing to pay for a decent case. This is becoming a challenge.

 

[raywindows]

I believe I found a case, Thermaltake Versa H15 SPCC Micro ATX Mini Tower Computer Chassis CA-1D4-00S1NN-00. How exciting is that? I know, not much. The video card EVGA GeForce RTX 2070 SUPER XC GAMING 08G-P4-3172-KR isn't available anywhere yet. I've signed up for notification form EVGA and Amazon.

I may start the build next week ?

 

[raywindows]

just a note from your first post,

you should not pollute the host pc with visual studio and all those other things. make a build VM with vmware and use that for dev, then test on your test vms. Anything that needs to run as a service should possiblly be it's own VM, such as SQL Server, etc... but you can lump servers together for certain VMs.
...

I've been thinking about your post since I read it. This does make a lot of sense, and in my case I have the added factor of wanting to keep my professional work as separate as possible from my personal work (and games). A VM environment for all my professional development works does make a lot of sense. I plan on using Windows 10 Pro as the host OS. I remember reading somewhere that you can spin up VM's running Windows Pro within your Windows Pro host OS without an additional license cost. Do you know if this is true? This may require using Hyper-V instead of VMWare?

Thank-you for brining this up; I really appreciate your comments on this subject.

 

[Deleted member 14196]

I have tried Hyper-V and have had nothing but problems so I can't speak for that and can't help you there. But yes, you should be able to do what you want, I am just not sure how good it is compared to the leader vmware.

as for licenses for Hyper-V, I have no clue.

I am a Microsoft MSDN customer so I get all the licenses I want for testing included in the subscription price. I recommend getting an MSDN subscription just for that alone, then you can make lots of VMs, and if you run out of keys, they give you more when you call them.

by not polluting your Windows 10 host, all it has to worry about is updates, and they will be much simpler without Office and VStudio or any other fluff installed. updates are usually more successful and much less problematic (I have not had an issue yet) and your host stays small and fast and updated.

for gaming yes, use the host and install games and your needed drivers and stuff, and the two worlds will never collide

if you can't afford an MSDN subscription, you probably STILL don't have to buy any Win10 licenses as you can use them for free unactivated and 100% functional except you can't change the wallpaper and it may nag you from time to time.

 

[jeremyj_83]

I've been thinking about your post since I read it. This does make a lot of sense, and in my case I have the added factor of wanting to keep my professional work as separate as possible from my personal work (and games). A VM environment for all my professional development works does make a lot of sense. I plan on using Windows 10 Pro as the host OS. I remember reading somewhere that you can spin up VM's running Windows Pro within your Windows Pro host OS without an additional license cost. Do you know if this is true? This may require using Hyper-V instead of VMWare?

Thank-you for brining this up; I really appreciate your comments on this subject.

Win 10 Pro does come with Hyper-V you just have to enable in from Control Panel > Programs > Programs and Features > Turn Windows features on or off. Having used both Hyper-V and VMware Workstation I can tell you that Workstation is far better. For one it plays better with DVD drives.

 

[raywindows]

I don't use Hyper-V (I did but gave it up due to various problems). I'm using VMWare now (Fusion on my old Macbook Pro, VMWare Player and Workstation) for the VM's that I run.

I will be purchasing Windows 10 Pro (probably retail) for the host OS on my new build. I'm trying to determine if I need to purchase another license for Windows 10 Pro for running in a VMWare VM for my development environment. If you are running Windows 10 Pro as a host and run a Windows 10 Pro as a VM that is used locally does it require its own license or some other VM-style license?

My other Windows VM's are for testing (Windows versions 7-10) that I spin up for deployment & general testing/debugging. I also use several Linux based VMs for development & testing.

Anyway thanks for the advice.

Now if EVGA can make their cards available; I'm willing to switch to another MFG for the current 2070 RTX Super at a $500-$540 price point.

 

[jeremyj_83]

Technically you will need a license of Win 10 for every VM, unless you want to run it in free mode.

 

[raywindows]

I've got something out of left field. How about hosting a Docker container on top of Windows 10 Pro for the development environment? I'm not a Docker expert but from my understanding is a Docker container is the base OS + the container that contains any software installed, and the container runs like a VM.

 

[Deleted member 14196]

I am not sure as I have never explored that. Do you have links to what it is you want to use so I can try to read along?

 

[raywindows]

Docker containers virtualize applications above the host OS. I'm thinking I can virtualize all my development toolset on top of my host OS. One question I have is can that include a VPN client within the container?

https://blog.netapp.com/blogs/containers-vs-vms/

https://docs.docker.com/docker-for-windows/

 

[Deleted member 14196]

Thanks! I was already reading the second link after googling it.... so, it uses Hyper-V to run your stuff, yeah, this may work out for you, but maybe not, read it all.

I would start here

https://docs.docker.com/get-started/

now you have me interested in this. thanks. I have a lot to learn about Hyper-V