Hey guys!
I usually work on a macOS M4 and Rust runs great there. But since I build open source apps for Windows / Linux too, I’m currently stuck with a Ryzen 5 4500U laptop, it gets hot and compiles slowly, so deving is a pain.
I’m thinking of buying a NUC / mini PC (maybe from AliExpress) that I can hook up and use for development, running Windows & Linux.
Given that the title of your post refers to the ‘best CPU’, the Tuxedo Nano Pro may be an option for you, if:
you are in the EU (otherwise shipping may be an issue)
your budget is around 1k€
you want a plug-and-play Linux/Windows system
I own two Tuxedo AMD-based laptops (a Ryzen 7 7840HS being my daily driver). I exclusively use Linux, and the overall experience has been great (no issues whatsoever). Of course, compiling a Rust project (edit: from scratch) with more than 100 dependencies takes several seconds (I would consider this fast in terms of Rust compilation times), however the laptop’s fans start spinning loudly (edit: recompiling/linking usually takes a couple of seconds). Compared to the M4, I guess any AMD or Intel CPU will be too hot/loud. However, the new AMD Ryzen AI CPUs might be a bit better in that department, and definitely a great improvement over a Ryzen 5 4500U.
I have a Tuxedo laptop and so far I am very impressed with the hardware in terms of performance and quality; mine has a Intel(R) Core(TM) Ultra 9 275HX (24T) and compiles fairly dependency-heavy projects in less than a minute (on Debian Linux). If you are in the US be prepared to pay a hefty tariff
At work I use a ThinkPad Z16 with an AMD Ryzen 9 PRO 6950H running Arch Linux.
At home I use a Tuxedo with some Intel processor running Arch Linux and on my Windows 11 desktop I have an AMD Ryzen 5. I don't have any issues with either of them, when compiling Rust projects.
PS: All three systems have 6432 GB of RAM and NVME SSDs.
if you have space I'd definitely get a full desktop instead -- they tend to have more performance for the price. I'd prefer building it yourself since you can usually save a bit of money that way, also that helps with avoiding all the prebuilt computers where the manufacturer messed up and it runs with 75% of the performance -- that has happened with Dell and HP so don't assume that they'll do a good job because they're a giant company.
For building you're own pc I'd recommend one of AMD's 7000 or 9000 series CPUs. here's a very comprehensive guide for all the steps from picking parts to putting it together: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s1fxZ-VWs2U
Note that if you want to run Linux, I'd strongly recommend an AMD GPU over NVidia, the drivers are much better integrated and are open-source, though Intel's B580 is apparently also good if you want something in the $250 range.