My favorite tools to get the job done.

I like to use tools that work with me to get the job done. These are the ones that I enjoy using for their effectiveness and simplicity.

Computer

  • NVIDIA GTX 1060

    I like to play games with friends on the weekends and sometimes design things in Inkscape or Gimp for my crafts. The GTX 1060 with 6GB VRAM has allowed me to comfortably do that for over 6 years.

  • AMD Ryzen 5 1600 Six-Core Processor

    I wanted to save money on my build without sacrificing performance so I went with AMD's Ryzen 5. Though it is the first generation it's able to handle anything I ask it to do.

  • G.SKILL 16GB (2 x 8GB) Ripjaws V Series DDR4 PC4-25600 3200MHz

    I decided to go for 16GB of RAM since that seems to be the sweet spot in terms of cost and performance. 2x8GB to get the dual channel benefits. And of course they're red to match my Black/Red computer theme ( very original, I know ).

  • WD Blue 250GB PC SSD

    This was a simple choice as it also provided the perfect balance between cost and performance.

  • Seagate 3TB Desktop HDD SATA 6Gb/s 64MB

    This has been carried over from my previous computer. It is used for mostly storage while the OS sits on the SSD for faster load times.

Workstation

  • Durgod K320 Nebula S TKL Mechanical Gaming Keyboard - 87 Keys - Double Shot PBT - USB Type C (Cherry Red, RGB)

    I got the Durgod K320 because I am a big fan of using the keyboard as much as possible and find myself typing a lot. This lead me to invest in something highly rated and customizable. That's why I went for the Durgod K320 with Cherry Red switches.

  • Pixio PX276 27" Wide Screen Bezel-less Display 1440p 144Hz 1ms AMD Radeon FreeSync Certified

    I got the Pixio PX276 on a black Friday sale because it was cheap with high resolution / refresh rate, and low response time. However, I question whether I'm really getting 144Hz while gaming. Regardless I don't play games as often and the high resolution is still a useful feature.

  • Lenovo ThinkVision S28u-10, 4K UHD

    I bought this from HubX for the great deal and high resolution. Since I was more focused on high resolution to make displaying and reading large amounts of code and other text easier to read, instead of high refresh and response time. It was very affordable and has been a great asset while coding and reading.

  • Gwolves HTM Hati Ultra Lightweight Honeycomb Design

    I never thought about the material or design of a mouse until I saw an ad saying it could lower fatigue. I thought it was ridiculous but I'm on the computer enough I couldn't pass up on the chance to find out. This mouse is what I decided to get and it has done a great job keeping me focused on my work and not on my hands.

Development tools

  • Visual Studio Code

    I kept hearing about Visual Studio Code and thought it would be worth a try. With a beautiful default design, vast library of plugins, natural integration with GitHub, and a built-in terminal I quickly saw myself using this all the time.

  • Next.js

    Next.js has done a fantastic job extending the React framework and making routing and other common tasks feel seamless by having the layout of the code match the layout of the website.

  • Strapi

    Similar to Next.js, Strapi does an amazing job turning tedious creation of database models api endpoints into a simple UI interaction while still leaving it fully customizable for projects that need more than basic models and api endpoints.

  • Tailwind.css

    I'm a big fan of using the keyboard as much as possible and the mouse as little as possible. So switching between the two is a necessary evil, necessary yes, but still evil. So you can imagine why I love Tailwind.css as it gives me less of a need to go to a separate style sheet and when I do it is well worth it. Tailwind also makes pre-built and styled components (Tailwind UI). I am a big fan of these as I am not very good at deciding color schemes or making stylistic choices. This portfolio site is a Tailwind UI template that I have extended the functionality of.

Productivity

  • Pomodoro

    I like to use the Pomodoro feature that the built-in Clock app for Windows 10 provides. Though they call it a "Focus Session".