AMD or Intel for Programming with Linux as the OS?

I am thinking in building or buy a desktop computer for programing, both professionally and on my free time, and my choice of OS is Linux with heavy usage of Docker.

At work I am a Developer Advocate for Security, and I need to be able to code in any backend programming language or in Android.

For Android I use Android Studio and their emulators, and here is where resides my main doubt. Are AMD processors compatible with Android or do they have some quirks?

I am also a big fan of Elixir in my free time, but I think here I will not have any surprise when using an AMD processor ;), or am i wrong?

Does anyone know of any other limitations of AMD processors for software development?

What are the advantages of AMD over Intel and vice versa?

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You definitely get more bang (and cores!) for your buck with AMD and I would imagine that since their popularity has exploded these past few years there are less compatibility issues now too - but that’s just a guess.

With regards to Elixir, there was a good thread about AMDs here: https://elixirforum.com/t/amds-new-multicore-cpus-ryzen-naples/4650 :smiley:

Something good about non-Apple desktops is that you can always sell specific parts later - so if you tried it but didn’t like it, you’d only need to sell the motherboard and CPU (I think - it’s been a while since I built my own PC).

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If you can afford it, definitely invest in the Threadripper 3960x, 3970x or even the 3990x. These things tear through compilation workflows so good there’s not even a contest in that area unless you want to pay $30,000+ for certain Xeon Platinum dual-processor setups.

If that’s way outside your budget (the 3990x famously costs $3990) then a Ryzen 3900x is very adequate as well. Still, have in mind that investing in the current Threadripper generation can definitely last you some 10 years – with the PCIe 4.0 slots on your motherboard you honestly won’t need an upgrade unless you plan on playing 16k VR games. :smiley:

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Oh yeah it is :slight_smile:

Even the 3960x is outside my budget at £1277, and the 3900x may be in my range, depending if I can buy the remaining parts without exceeding the £1000.

I don’t play games at all, but even with a 10 years life span it’s still out of what I am willing to pay for a computer setup.

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Sure, that’s fair. I use a different criteria: mostly future proofing. I studied the limits of PCIe 4.0 and honestly? There are NO such SSDs or RAM or GPUs! And there likely won’t be for at least 5 years – very likely 10 or more even.

To me the TR / PCIe 4.0 platform is finally hitting the reasonable limits of what most of us would ever need in a machine. 99% of us don’t have workflows that could require 12 GB/s SSD I/O performance, or 120 GB/s RAM bandwidth. :slight_smile:


So, if you figure you can (or want) to invest a bit more money for the next 10+ years, now is a very good time to do so. The TR 3960x / 3970x / 3990x is likely going to last many people for a lifetime, I’d say.

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In the past both AMD and Intel could use the same motherboard, but not anymore, or maybe not with this new motherborad.

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I believe that will be the case, but no way I will spend £5000 to have a computer with PCIe 4.0 and the best of the bread in processors. Not that I would not like, but not at that price tags. I could loose my mind for this specs at around £2000, but not more :wink:

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…Aaaaand there’s now a rumour about a TR 3995X that has 8-channel memory support: https://www.guru3d.com/news-story/spotted-ryzen-threadripper-pro-3995wx-processor-with-8-channel-ddr4,2.html

Exciting times!

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Again, pretty fair. Take a look at the Ryzen 7 or even Ryzen 5 CPUs. Many people on HN said they serve them very well for daily C++ compilation or JS builds. They are more in your budget ballpark and they are quite good.

I’d just like the next Linux workstation that I buy to last me at least 10 years and I wouldn’t care if it costs $10,000 or more but I understand that’s not everyone’s cup of tea.

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If I build now I may go with Ryzen 7 3700x or I wait for the new generation to be released and maybe the 3900x drops to my prices.

But I will go with the new generation of motherboards, 32GB RAM and 2 m2 SSDs(one for Ubuntu another for Windows). The graphics will be anything that supports 4 monitors, because I don’t play games.

I am really disappointed that the Ryzen Pro versions are not available for the build market, because they are more adequate and have memory encryption:

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A current lists of all AMD Ryzen series with the specs:

https://www.amd.com/en/products/specifications/processors/15571+15576+11776+1736+1896+2466

From where I am working on this list:

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