What I Use
Hardware, software, and the small tools that I've built up over the years. Updated when things change.
Operating system
Arch Linux with KDE Plasma. I've been Linux-only for about 5 years, the last 3 on Arch. Most stable and reliable OS I've ever used, and I've been using PCs since the early 90s. I use Fish for the terminal. I have about 50 custom Fish functions, some of them calling Python scripts. I use maybe 15-20 of them regularly.
I built my own KDE plasmoid - basically a daily calendar widget that reminds me to take breaks, do exercises, and other things that are nice to be reminded of.
Main PC
I've been building PCs for over 20 years. The current main rig:
- CPU: Intel Core i5-13600K
- GPU: Sapphire NITRO+ Radeon RX 6950 XT 16GB
- RAM: 64GB DDR4-3600 (4x16GB Team Group T-Force Vulcan Z)
- Storage: 2x 2TB Kingston NV2 NVMe
- Motherboard: MSI PRO Z690-A WIFI DDR4
- Cooler: DeepCool Castle 360EX A-RGB
- PSU: MSI MPG A1000G, 1000W
- Monitor: Samsung LS34J550 34" Ultrawide
My 10 year old's PC
My oldest (10) built his first PC in 2024, with my help. He did the assembly. He runs Arch. Specs are a bit more modest:
- CPU: AMD Ryzen 5 5700X
- GPU: PowerColor Red Devil Radeon RX 5700 XT 8GB
- RAM: 16GB Corsair Vengeance LPX DDR4-3600, CL18
- Storage: 1TB Team Group MP33 Pro NVMe
- Motherboard: ASUS ROG STRIX B550-F GAMING WIFI II
- PSU: MSI MAG A750BN PCIE5, 750W
My 8 year old's PC
My 8 year old just got his PC in July 2026. We built it together of course, and he runs Arch of course.
- CPU: AMD Ryzen 7 5700X
- GPU: Sapphire PULSE Radeon RX 9060 XT 16GB
- RAM: 32GB DDR4-3200 (2x16GB Netac)
- Storage: 1TB Acer Predator GM7000 NVMe
- Motherboard: MSI MAG B550 Tomahawk Max WIFI
- Cooler: Thermalright Assassin Spirit 120 V2
- PSU: MSI MAG A750GL, 750W