New Software Development Machine

Hi guys, finally getting round to building my new PC. It will be for general browsing and software development. My aim is to make it small and fast. I'm only going to install Elementary OS on it (check it out if you haven't already - https://elementary.io/).

Anyway, here's what I've got so far, does everything seem cool? any other ideas/recommendations? The new monitor is my primary worry, not bought a new display in a long time!

http://uk.pcpartpicker.com/p/Jkw2wP

Thanks!

2 suggestions.

  • Does the i5 include integrated graphics? If not, you need a GPU.
  • What are you developing? Chances are, unless it's game, a 60Hz monitor is overkill, get a cheapo.
  • Yeah it has the HD Graphics 4600.
  • I work on a variety of software, I just want a nice crisp high quality display. I may end up using this screen with my gaming machine at some point so I like to keep options open.

Then go for it. :)

Yes this is a good build just you probably just don't want to play any video games on this :) because there is no ghraphics card.

Looks nice.

I would get a bigger CPU cooler though. Get that thing to be really quiet. Apart from being quiet. It looks nice, the cube kinda seems like a case one would put on a desk and not under it.

Currently I run elementary OS on my main rig (FX-8320E, HD6870, not that that matters). I find it to be "meh". I thought that the OS X Dock style taskbar would be good for multi-tasking, which it is not in my opinion. Mind though that I have not spent time in getting to know the shortcuts and how multitasking works, so I speak from the perspective of a bitter windows user.

I prefer something like the Mint Desktop for development work. But that is a matter of personal preference. I am an IT student currently so I use a different language every two months. So I set myself up with a three-screen setup.

I bought two used 19 inch Dell TFTs and have them in portrait orientation (meaning the short side horizontally). They were like 64€ each, they do not need to be very crisp since they only offer 1280*1024 pixels, combined I run something like 2K*2,4K which is ample. I also have a 22 inch TN panel. The price of the whole setup might be something like the price of your monitor. I'm not telling you that my solution is best and everybody should adopt it (which everybody on the internet seems to think in any discussion) but I just want to make you consider your options. Your motherboard would support something like two displays. And there is a 50$ Radeon that is passively cooled that supports three displays (R5 flex, have it in my little, silent, other desktop).

And as we all know: the quality of a programmer is measured in the number of displays at his desk ;)

@pquill Hi, there is little point getting the 4690K unless you plan to overclock or run it hard 24/7 as the better TIM may help with heat dissipation. If planning to overclock switch to a Z97 mobo and add a CPU cooler. For a dev machine I would actually recommend upping your budget slightly to get a Xeon E3-1235 v3 or E3-1245 v3 or i7-4770. The hyper threading and extra cache can be quite useful to reduce compile times.

If you can't stretch your budget consider the Xeon E3-1225 v3; it doesn't have hyper threading (like the i5) but still has extra cache.

If you do fancy playing casual or indy games the inbuilt graphics on any of those chips or the one you selected will be fine.

EDIT: I can see there is little price difference between the i5-4690k and the Xeon e3-1225 v3. You may as well stick with the i5 due to its higher clock speeds unless you find a Xeon e3 much cheaper.