On Thursday, 20 February 2025 19:18:52 Greenwich Mean Time 
whiteman808@paraboletancza.org wrote:
> Hello,
> 
> I want to build a PC with Gentoo and I need to know how much money
> should I spend on it.

Only you can make this judgment.  There is usually a sweet spot between 
performance and price.  They are both measurable, but the value/cost ratio any 
level of performance represents is quite subjective.  Typically, a previous 
generation of CPUs is more cost effective, while performance increases with 
each generation.


> To clarify, I'll tell more for what I'm going to use PC:
> * computer will be mostly used for programming in languages like C, C++,
> sysadmin, and testing stuff in the LXC, Docker containers, virtual
> machines,
> * I'll program mainly desktop applications using ncurses, wxWidgets, and
> embedded,
> * I'm completely not interested in doing computer graphics nor gaming
> (either playing games and creating),
> * computer will also be used as Gentoo binary package server for my
> other machines, including server, and general for compiling stuff on
> Gentoo so the number of cores and threads is very important for me,
> * I don't ever plan do any dual boot with Windows, I'm going to install
> Gentoo on PC once and use it,
> * I don't want to have Intel CPU and NVIDIA GPU, only AMD CPU or GPU,
> even integrated Radeon will be okay for me,
> * after I buy PC it's possible that I'll want to upgrade RAM up to 128
> GB (I won't need more than 128 GB ever, I think),

You probably will at some point in the future, when compilers get even 
hungrier than today.  ;-)  DDR5 128G RAM will be expensive.  AM5 socket CPUs 
can drive ECC RAM and some MoBos like Asus X670E support it - you may wish to 
have ECC RAM for your coding work?  Note, with ECC RAM you may not be able to 
achieve the advertised frequency of the RAM sticks, without tweaking 
frequencies and voltage.


> * it's very probable I'll want to add one or more HDDs with capacity >=
> 4 TB, connected by SATA,

Hmm ... AM4 socket CPUs could drive SATA x2 + PCIe x2 NVME M.2.  I've read 
that with AM5 CPUs it's all PCIe.  You will have to hook any SATA drives on 
the PCIe, or perhaps externally via USB.


> * motherboard should have many USB ports, even better if it would have
> USB 3 and a few USB type C,
> * I'm going to work on three monitors displaying tiling wm with my
> workflow based on tmux+neovim+qutebrowser+neomutt etc.

The iGPU on AM5 can drive one dedicated display, while 3 more displays can be 
hooked up to the USB-C ports as DP-alt mode.  However, not all USB-C ports 
feature Display Port Alt Mode functionality and whether the MoBo OEMs provide 
Alt Mode rather than just data through to their USB-C ports would likely 
depend on the price point of their products.


> Can you recommend an example PC configuration that will meet my
> requirements? Will PC with AMD Ryzen 9 7950X and motherboard with
> installed 64 GB RAM be fine? This cpu supports up to 128 GB RAM and has
> integrated graphics and isn't too expensive for me.
> 
> Thank you,
> whiteman808

The Ryzen 9 7950X is a beast in terms of CPU frequencies it can achieve and 
will make compiling any of today's software a breeze.  Which brings me to ... 
cooling.  :-)  Although it is more efficient power-wise than previous 
generations of CPUs, its TDP at 170W is not to be sniffed at.  AMD recommends 
water cooling which adds to the cost, especially if you intend to squeeze 
higher boost frequencies through PBO2/CO tweaking.

I can't help thinking a Ryzen 9 7950X continues to be too costly.  A used 
previous generation CPU/MoBo will get you enough performance at a much lower 
price point, if you are funding this purchase privately and not via a business 
you work for.  If the former, I would look for a previous generation CPU & 
MoBo, plus a dedicated GPU.  You could probably buy a whole system for the 
cost of a new 7950X CPU alone.  If the latter and you have a choice on the 
budget, then I'd opt for a Threadripper.