Hey everyone,
I’m a recent bioinformatics graduate working with a limited budget, exploring the possibility of building a PC to run ML models developed by research groups like the Baker Group and DeepMind. I’m looking for recommendations on PC components or cloud-based alternatives that provide a similar experience.
What I’m Looking For:
The ideal setup would allow me to run models interactively, especially through a debugger, to get a deeper understanding of their inner workings. While I’ve been able to experiment with smaller models like ProteinMPNN on my current setup, I want the flexibility to tinker with larger models as well.
I’m already aware of ColabFold and ColabDesign—both are great tools, but they don’t fully meet my needs. I find the Google Colab interface is much less useable than a dedicated IDE like PyCharm. This can make working with these models a bit challenging. Although I’ve experimented with Google Workstation and tried connecting PyCharm via SSH, I still found the experience underwhelming.
If anyone knows of cloud solutions and accompanying software that provide a near-native local development experience, please share!
Considering Building a PC:
If building a PC is the best way forward, I’d appreciate suggestions on hardware specs. My budget is flexible but ideally under $3,000 USD. Here’s my current rough parts list or criteria:
- GPU: High-performance with substantial memory (leaning toward an RTX 4090).
- CPU: A recent AMD processor with plenty of threads for parallel tasks, like MSA construction.
- RAM: At least 64GB.
- Storage: Planning on 4TB SSD and 4TB HDD to cover all my storage needs.
- Everything else: Still to be determined.
Thanks in advance for your help and advice!
