[phyrrus9]

Whoever told you that is bullshit. A core is a core. I use an 8-core 5.1ghz machine with a samsung 960 pro NVMe hard disk and 32GB of overclocked memory for my dev machine, on 5 monitors (see image)

Do I need a good gpu and how much ram, 16?

Also is there any mobo brand that's better suited or (generally has better compatibility and bios config)

I'm using the MSI 970A Gaming motherboard. The BIOS gives me 90% of the hardware configuration options. For overclocking you want more than just the standard OC features. You want to be able to adjust current(I) and voltage(V) for almost every component on the board. You also want a board that lets you change SPD timings.