PC build 1

It's high time I assemble a desktop computer.

At a high level, I want to bisect the machine into two: a Linux side for most of my work and a Windows side for the occasional game¹⁾. Ideally, each would be installed on its own SSD, with a much larger disk shared between the two²⁾. I want to give each side a related hostname to reflect this dual nature.

The hardware will be selected based on the most demanding software I intend to run on it. Since my laptop can run most things reasonably well, that list mostly contains games.

Going by this table, a quad-core 3.5 GHz CPU and 16 GB of RAM should suffice to start. As for the motherboard, 4-ish SATA ports would be ideal. I'd also like one with sufficient space to increase my RAM if desired in the future (maybe get a single 16 GB stick?). Expansion slots will be dictated by choice of GPU.

An ultra-wide monitor would be awesome, although I have no clue where I'm going to put it (or the machine itself, for that matter).

First pass:

• CPU

  • AMD Ryzen 7 3700X ($290): 8 cores @ 3.6 GHz, 65 W TDP, cooler included, socket AM4
• RAM

  • Corsair Vengeance LPX 16 DDR4-3000 ($40)
• motherboard

  • Asus ROG Crosshair VIII Dark Hero ATX AM4 ($390): no onboard video, X570 chipset
• GPU

  • Gigabyte EAGLE OC Rev 2.0 GeForce RTX 3060 12GB 12 GB Video Card ($370)
• SSD

  • Samsung 860 Evo 1 TB 2.5“ ($144)
• case

  • Corsair Airflow 4000D
• misc

Parts have been ordered (see shipments), but the process is stalled until my new debit card arrives and the payment can complete.