[Wolves] What's Your Linux Machine?

[David Goodwin]

On 3/6/20 3:06 PM, Adam Sweet via Wolves wrote:
> On 06/03/2020 12:39, David Goodwin via Wolves wrote:
>>
>>> So, what is your Linux machine?
>>
>> My desktop is an Intel Skull Canyon NUC (i7 cpu, 2.6Ghz) with 32gb ram
>> and 2 Samsung NVME things ( e.g.
>> https://www.scan.co.uk/products/intel-nuc-skull-canyon-i7-6770hq-quad-core-26ghz-ddr4-2x-m2-iris-pro-graphics-580-barebone
>> )
> 
> Interesting. I've never really considered NUCs as full desktop machines
> but it's sounds like they're every bit as capable, just without the
> expandability options of PCIe cards, which frankly I'm not really using
> anyway.
> 

Some are. Some have desktop like processors (e.g. the Canyon variants). 
Most have laptop processors, and are pretty much laptops in a little box.


I chose one originally as I wanted something quiet after being used to a 
Mac Mini.

It's been reliable and behaved pretty well.

The multi-monitor support out of the box is a good feature. 
Unfortunately they're relatively pricey, although perhaps not as much as 
an Apple MacMini.


>> I've been toying with the idea of changing my desktop to an AMD Ryzen
>> based system but have been stalling as what I have seems to "just work",
>> and I'm not sure it'd be significantly faster.
> 
> Ebuyer are doing quite a lot of deals on HP and Lenovo Intel i5 and
> Ryzen laptops around the £400 mark for 8GB RAM, a 256GB SSD. I actually
> bought a Lenovo with a Ryzen 5 3500 CPU for £350 in the black Friday
> sales, just because I wanted a Ryzen machine, before common sense kicked
> in, I realised I didn't need it and cancelled the order. They're going
> for £400 now. If anyone needs a decent spec new laptop and budget in
> that region, I'd recommend subscribing to the Ebuyer newsletter.

:-)

Phoronix had an interesting article covering the performance of an entry 
level Walmart Ryzen based laptop a few weeks ago.

https://www.phoronix.com/scan.php?page=article&item=ryzen3-windows-linux&num=1


> 
> The next machine I buy will be an AMD Ryzen if things stay as they are.
> Not only are they beating the pants off Intel on the price/performance
> ratio, they're also not vulnerable to the Meltdown vulnerabilities that
> Intel and many other CPUs are. Though it's hard to find meaningful
> numbers on the performance impact of the various mitigations, AMD
> appears to be by far the least affected.
>

Indeed. Some of my justifications too.

David.