Top CPU for programming

[johnjohnjay]

Hi,

I'm not really into hardware and I'm looking for parts for a development PC. I only do programming (Visual Studio, Resharper, Qt, Android Studio...) and no gaming or graphic designing. I want my PC to still be usable in 5 or 10 years from now.

I was checking CPUs benchmarks and they differ greatly depending on the website you visit. For instance, according to this site the AMD Ryzen 7 1800X would be a great pick (highly above the i7-7700K), but this comparison says otherwise.

So I decided to ask for suggestions. What I know is that I want 32 GB DDR4 and USB Type-C support and that I don't need an SSD (already have) nor an external GPU. So I guess it comes down to the CPU and the motherboard.

What CPU and motherboard combination would work for me? Will I need some expensive cooler or power supply?

My budget is of up to US$ 1k.

I appreciate any advice you can give.

 

[Barney6262]

Honestly, a raspberry PI could do what you need. You don't need a 1k PC for just coding.

This build will do you nicely though: https://pcpartpicker.com/list/HThzgL

I haven't included a hard drive or OS as im not sure if you have a large SSD or which OS you are going to use.

You could look at Ryzen processors but it will make very little difference as these processors are so over powered for your tasks anyway.

 

[danielthegreate]

That website...cpu.userbenchmark.com has a lot of irrelevant metrics in the comparison. For example, "Value & Sentiment" is not something that affects performance. The only metric that is relevant to your use case from that website would be "MC Mixed", which shows 1800x to be 69% faster than 7700k.
You will get better information by looking at reviews, and definitely steer clear from "cpu.userbenchmark.com".

My job is pretty much similar to yours, I develop software in about 60% of my time and do research and data analysis for the rest. I have a 7700k gaming PC at home and an 8 core Xeon E5-2620 V4 at work. The Xeon feels quicker and snappier when I'm working despite its slower core speed. The difference is not that noticeable in most applications, however, in eclipse, running multiple environments and VMs it is. Also when running scripts on large data. If you run different operating systems in VMs (ie. an eclipse in linux, android for tests, etc.) then it will be quite noticeable.

7700k is primarily a gaming CPU, for work you would want something with more cores and threads, even if the cores are a bit slower. I would go for R7 1700, a bit cheaper than 7700k too. It comes with a cooler as well, which means another 20-30 off the price.
For motherboard get the cheapest one that has the features you need. ASRock AB350 Pro4 has type C.

 

[Barney6262]

If you want to go Ryzen here is a build: https://uk.pcpartpicker.com/list/G3hzgL

Either build would be over kill for your needs.

 

[Hdsoftware]

Honestly, a raspberry PI could do what you need. You don't need a 1k PC for just coding

Why would you assume that visual studio perform the same way as notepad? Have you even tryed visual studio on raspbery pi ?