[FFmpeg-devel] Hardware purchase request: AVX512-capable laptop

[Michael Niedermayer]

On Wed, Jan 03, 2024 at 04:04:00AM +0100, Lynne wrote:
> Jan 3, 2024, 02:22 by jamrial at gmail.com:
> 
> > On 1/2/2024 9:56 PM, Lynne wrote:
> >
> >> As some of you know, my laptop died nearly 2 years ago, and
> >> I've been working on a desktop machine, which is currently a Zen 3.
> >> AVX512 has become more popular in the meantime, with Zen 4
> >> and future AMD CPUs shipping with it, but currently, we have very
> >> little AVX512.
> >> In short, I'd like a machine which runs an AVX512-capable
> >> AMD CPU, and as the world is opening up more and more, I'd
> >> like for it to be portable.
> >>
> >> I've looked around a lot, but as Intel still has a firm monopoly,
> >> the options are limited (7940H(S), 7945HX, 7845HX, 8945HS).
> >> What I think I've settled for is an ASUS Vivobook Pro 15, with a
> >> 7940HS CPU (the second least powerful Zen 4 mobile CPU),
> >>
> >
> > 7940HS is the highest Ryzen 9 model from the 7040 series. Not sure where you got second least powerful from.
> >
> > https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_AMD_Ryzen_processors#Phoenix_(7040_series,_Zen_4/RDNA3_based)
> >
> 
> Was reading Wikipedia, and thought it was a Zen 3, my mistake
> (and AMD's mistake for making 4 versioning formats):
> https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_AMD_Ryzen_processors
> 
> 
> >> currently trading for 1999.0 EUR on amazon.de.
> >>
> >> https://www.amazon.de/-/en/Vivobook-Display-R9-7940HS-Windows-Keyboard/dp/B0BRYTS8MR
> >>
> >> The other alternative I've found is a Lenovo Legion 7 Pro, but
> >> it's more expensive at 2399 EUR (currently seems temporarily
> >> discounted due to the holidays).
> >>
> >
> > I see a Lenovo Yoga Pro 7 available for 1099 EUR. https://www.amazon.de/-/en/Lenovo-Display-Graphics-Blue-Green-Premium/dp/B0CGLPVQHK/
> >
> > Same amount of RAM, screen resolution and storage, and a Ryzen 7.
> >
> 
> It's a good suggestion, but I have a better one, that's somewhat more expensive,
> but has a better screen, better build quality, and is cheaper than the Vivobook:
> 
> A Lenovo ThinkPad P14s Gen 4 with the following options:
>  - Windows 14 Home (if you don't pick Windows, the OLED display is not available for no reason)
>  - 32Gb of RAM
>  - 1Tb "performance" SSD (it's 70 EUR more, but twice the size)
>  - 2880x1800 OLED monitor
>  - 4-cell battery (only 10 EUR more)
>  - English (EU) keyboard, without backlighting
> 
> https://www.lenovo.com/de/de/configurator/cto/index.html?bundleId=21K9CTO1WWDE2
> 
> For 1.700,11 EUR. It's made of metal, unlike the Yoga, it's possible to repair,
> targeted at business users, has way more ports (including a full-sized RJ-45!),
> bigger battery, 3-year warranty instead of a 3-month limited warranty,
> and a better keyboard.

"3-month limited warranty" ?
if you are in the EU you should have 2 years minimum no matter what the seller says AFAIK


> 
> We have the budget, as we were looking for ways to spend it anyway,

yes, if noone wants to cleanup swscale and noone suggests anything else then using
a tiny fraction of the SPI money for hardware for FFmpeg development makes sense
to me too. Of course we shouldnt spend it for the sake of spending but if it  goes
towards something that helps FFmpeg development then spending 1-2k for a machiene looks
fine to me personally.

Personally i think a OLED or good IPS screen is required for FFmpeg work, SSD obviously
and as you work on ASM obviously you need a CPU with the latest features.

Personally, when choosing a notebook i would try to choose one i can try before
buying or have a easy way to return easily. I once bought one that looked good on paper
and in reviews but then had a really bad screen (and i had to return it).
But my current note books are all more on the budget side

thx

[...]
-- 
Michael     GnuPG fingerprint: 9FF2128B147EF6730BADF133611EC787040B0FAB

He who knows, does not speak. He who speaks, does not know. -- Lao Tsu
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