Rui CarmoWith Apple’s upcoming switch to ARM looming in the horizon, and following a progressive disenchantment towards macOS “Craptalina” and years of positive experiences using Linux, I decided to start compiling a list of apps and tools that I am/will be looking into in case I decide to switch to Linux (or Windows) as my primary desktop OS, starting with cross-platform apps:
Resources
| Category | Date | Link | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 3D Modeling | 2020-06 | Blender | Been using it on and off for ages, finally has a moderately sane UX |
| OpenSCAD | My go-to tool for 3D printing models |
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| Game Development | Godot | I’ve started using this instead of Unity, solely because it has a massively smaller footprint on disk and a promising roadmap |
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| Video Editing | DaVinci Resolve | Highly recommended by a few friends |
Wanted
Most notably missing right now is a decent (i.e., truly simple, rock solid and intuitive) replacement for Mail.app (and no, Thunderbird doesn’t count, although it is the last truly stable IMAP mail client).
Geary looks the part, but can’t cope with over 20 years of e-mail.
Hardware Research
It’s been a few years since I built a PC, so I’m researching chipsets, cases, motherboards and whatnot. And right now the smart money seems to be on Ryzen chipsets.
Although I would idealy like to build a completely fanless machine and stick to a 65W TDP, the goal is to stick with something that I can use to run Linux, Windows VMs, and maybe, just maybe, other operating systems. And that may well mean getting a Radeon GPU…
| Category | Date | Link | Released | Notes | Price |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| CPUs | 2020-06 | Intel Core i5-10600 | 2020 | 6 cores/12 threads, 65W TDP. LGA1200 socket. UHD 630 graphics. |
254.90€ |
| Ryzen 7 3700X | 2019 | 8 cores/16 threads, 65W TDP. Comes with huge stock cooler. |
313.00€ | ||
| AMD Ryzen 3950X | 16 cores/32 threads, 105W TDP. AM4 Socket. Somewhat overkill. |
814.90€ | |||
| Cases | Streacom DB4 | My favorite, by far. Designed for 65W TDP (slightly expandable in that regard through extra heatpipes). |
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| Define R6 | 2017 | Huge, about half an elephant big. Said to be quiet. |
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| NZXT H1 | 2020 | Heavily marketed. Not that quiet. Is compact and neat, though, and includes a 140mm AIO cooler. Riser is only rated for PCIe Gen3, not 4, and may require BIOS tweaking. |
$349.99 | ||
| Coolers | Noctua NH-L9a-AM4 | Got one of these already (for Intel). Great stuff. |
41.10€ | ||
| GPUs | SAPPHIRE Radeon RX 570 4GB Pulse MINI | 2017 | Has the advantage of being supported by macOS |
175.89€ | |
| ZOTAC GAMING GeForce RTX 2070 SUPER MINI | 2019 | Has the downside of being an NVIDIA |
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| Monitors | LG 49WL95C-W | 49” 5120x1440 pixels with dual HDMI. White, unfortunately. |
1281.09€ | ||
| DELL U4919DW | 49” 5120x1440 pixels. Can supply 60W USB-C charging, has a bunch of ports. |
1223.09€ | |||
| Motherboards | ASRock B450 Gaming-ITX | AM4 socket for Ryzen 2000/3000 Series, Gigabit, Intel 802.11ac (replaceable with Broadcom combo Wi-Fi/BT), 1xM.2 |
156.24€ | ||
| X570 Phantom Gaming-ITX | 2019 | AM4 socket for Ryzen 2000/3000 Series, Gigabit, 802.11ax, BT 5.0, 1xPCIe 4.0, DDR4 4533 RAM, Realtek Audio, 1xM.2, 1xThunderbolt port |