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I'm looking for a new machine, mostly to work on videogames as a programmer, and since a lot of the time will be spent compiling huge projects, I was wondering what are the hardware components that influence the most compiling times and to what extent.

For example, I was interested in knowing is SSD would bring a huge benefit into this, so I found this, and a few more threads, and the answer is not really unique, I see.

I would like to know if any of you knows more about this.

Thanks for your time :)

Community
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zhed
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2 Answers2

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The Chromium developers suggest the following to reduce compile times, and the list is in decreasing order of impact. Chrome takes 2 hours to build on my computer, so I think they know what's best ;)

  • Use a true multicore processor
  • Have at least 8 GB RAM
  • Disable your anti-virus software for .ilk, .pdb, .cc, .h files and only check for viruses on modify. Disable scanning the directory where your sources reside.
  • Store and build the Chromium code on an SSD.
  • Store and build the Chromium code on a second hard drive that does not have swap
  • Defragment your hard drive regularly.

(Taken from http://dev.chromium.org/developers/how-tos/build-instructions-windows#TOC-Accelerating-the-build)

So as you can see, processor and RAM affect compile time a lot more than using an SSD. If you're going to invest on hardware that speeds up the process, RAM is a better and maybe cheaper alternative to an SSD.

LS97
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Obviously, the answer will vary dependant on the projects you are working on and your current hardware. However, the slowest component of your computer, the hard drive, is heavily used in compiling large projects. Replacing your spinning platters with a SSD would most likely provide the largest performance gain.

Memory would come next, the more the better. More memory means more data can be cached and more memory for VS to use. 8GB would be minimum, 16 would be better. Beyond 16, I dont think you will see a huge improvement.

I would say processor would be last. Even a processor that is 2x faster that your old one cant make up for the slow IO of the disk and memory. In addition, I dont believe compiling takes advantage of advanced processor features.

Keltari
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