Lightning Fast Development Machine for home

[jamesbrown]

I've used various companies in the past, such as Scan, Overclockers, and pcspecialist. They're all pretty similar, and they all have ready-configured machines (templates) that you can configure to your liking and overclock if you so desire. However, I wouldn't necessarily expect a sensible response on precise configs (amount of RAM, types and number of CPUs, primary and secondary drives, graphics etc.) without knowing what it is you do. If you just want something that's "quick" when loading applications and with I/O then, yes, RAM and hard-drive are probably your bottlenecks, in which case having a decent SSD and a good amount of RAM makes sense. That said, 16GB of RAM and a 256GB SSD are pretty modest expectations for a "lightening fast" development machine, depending on what type of development you do.

[MrMarkyMark]

I've used various companies in the past, such as Scan, Overclockers, and pcspecialist. They're all pretty similar, and they all have ready-configured machines (templates) that you can configure to your liking and overclock if you so desire. However, I wouldn't necessarily expect a sensible response on precise configs (amount of RAM, types and number of CPUs, primary and secondary drives, graphics etc.) without knowing what it is you do. If you just want something that's "quick" when loading applications and with I/O then, yes, RAM and hard-drive are probably your bottlenecks, in which case having a decent SSD and a good amount of RAM makes sense. That said, 16GB of RAM and a 256GB SSD are pretty modest expectations for a "lightening fast" development machine, depending on what type of development you do.

Yeh and given he has already fecked up already one time before

[SueEllen]

Doesn't have to be from John Lewis but was great buying it and then returning it in-store to get an instant refund without any headache. That and having a 2 year warranty as standard. Great service to be honest.

John Lewis is aimed at your average punter who needs to surf, write essays/reports and use other simple applications so you can't customise them.

[NorthWestPerm2Contr]

John Lewis is aimed at your average punter who needs to surf, write essays/reports and use other simple applications so you can't customise them.

Agree. I'm an expert dev but not great with Hardware if I'm fully honest. I just want a reliable machine that is going to help me dev quickly and yes I think a decent processor, good amount of RAM and SSD is what I need.... I'm just wondering what the best value place is to get one from?

[NotAllThere]

I build my own PCs from components. That way I get exactly what I want at a good price. Since I can do, it obviously isn't difficutl!

I generally create three disk volumes - one for the OS (in your case, Windows 10?), one for programs, one for data. At the moment I have one SSD for the OS, one for the programs, and an HDD for the data (when a HDD fails, you've a good chance of getting at the data yourself, with SSD, forget it). If you want to boost speed, buy a number of equal sized SSDs and configure them as one volume, RAID 0(striped - no redundancy).

I have a VM that's on two SSDs configured as a single RAID 0 volume. It's super quick. On my next computer, I might go for three or four SSDs in RAID 0, per volume.

However - if you're going to do this, you must have a good backup solution. I have regular full and incremental backups to an 8TB available storage NAS - 4x4TB HDD, hot-switchable, RAID 6 (meaning I can lose two disks without losing data).

[northernladuk]

You've not addressed the root of your problem yet... Do you like Gladiators?

[NorthWestPerm2Contr]

I build my own PCs from components. That way I get exactly what I want at a good price. I generally create three disk volumes - one for the OS (in your case, Windows 10?), one for programs, one for data. At the moment I have one SSD for the OS, one for the programs, and an HDD for the data (when a HDD fails, you've a good chance of getting at the data yourself, with SSD, forget it). If you want to boost speed, buy a number of equal sized SSDs and configure them as one volume, RAID 0(striped - no redundancy).

I have a VM that's on two SSDs configured as a single RAID 0 volume. It's super quick. On my next computer, I might go for three or four SSDs in RAID 0, per volume.

However - if you're going to do this, you must have a good backup solution. I have regular full and incremental backups to an 8TB available storage NAS - 4x4TB HDD, hot-switchable, RAID 6 (meaning I can lose two disks without losing data).

Nice.... seems like you know what you are doing when it comes to Hardware. Get the principles of it all but am so heavily invested in Plan B that I just need it to work for me right now.... Also I'm using OneDrive for all my backup needs.

[NorthWestPerm2Contr]

You've not addressed the root of your problem yet... Do you like Gladiators?

I loved Gladiator - the film. Does that count?

[scooterscot]

Still using my rMBP bought in 2012 with a 750G SSD...

[northernladuk]

I loved Gladiator - the film. Does that count?

It's close but doesn't tell us if you actually like Gladiators or not. You might be a Roman lover.