Building a work computer

j_prather · December 12, 2016

Ive been thinking about putting together a computer for work. Im a developer that does mostly nodejs and php/hack. Right now im working on a mid 2012 macbook pro and a windows 10 pc ive been upgrading from a prebuilt over the years. Id like to put together a linux box, half for the fun of building something and half because it would be useful. Ive never built a computer before, and so dont really know where to start. i have some general guidelines for what i need:

- minimum 4 cores (my macbook is dual core hyperthreaded i7 and it does fine for my needs)

- 16 gb of ram with the potential to expand

- FAST storage. ideally m.2 but ssd would probably be fine. i also dont need more than 256gb for this machine

- micro atx or mini itx

- i dont have a very graphics heavy workload, if it can run a 4k display or two with a web browser, its good enough for me

- ideally id like to spend MAX $1000 cdn on this

- also, id love to have a usb c port or two, but this is want, not a need, for sure

any thoughts are appreciated