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

[Kieran Kunhya]

On Sat, 6 Jan 2024, 20:55 Lynne, <dev at lynne.ee> wrote:

> Jan 7, 2024, 01:40 by kierank at obe.tv:
>
> > On Sat, 6 Jan 2024, 19:00 Lynne, <dev at lynne.ee> wrote:
> >
> >> Jan 7, 2024, 00:36 by kierank at obe.tv:
> >>
> >> > On Sat, 6 Jan 2024, 16:06 Lynne, <dev at lynne.ee> wrote:
> >> >
> >> >> Jan 6, 2024, 21:15 by remi at remlab.net:
> >> >>
> >> >> >
> >> >> >
> >> >> > Le 6 janvier 2024 20:26:42 GMT+02:00, Michael Niedermayer <
> >> >> michael at niedermayer.cc> a écrit :
> >> >> >
> >> >> >>
> >> >> >>
> >> >> > >I think some kind of remotely usable system does make sense for
> every
> >> >> volunteer
> >> >> > >who wants to work. It simply results in more available time for
> that
> >> >> work.
> >> >> >
> >> >> >>
> >> >> >>
> >> >> > >Even i (who doesnt travel volunteerly around) have needed and
> used my
> >> >> notebook
> >> >> > >for FFmpeg away from my desktop system many times.
> >> >> > >When ive spend some time in appartments of other familiy members,
> >> when
> >> >> i had to
> >> >> > >change my own apartment due to very noisy neighbors and so forth
> >> >> >
> >> >> >>
> >> >> >>
> >> >> > >Maybe a compromise would be a cheap laptop that is just used to
> login
> >> >> and
> >> >> > >access the more powerfull hardware via SSH ?
> >> >> >
> >> >> > That sounds much more sensible indeed.
> >> >> >
> >> >>
> >> >> To address your concerns about limited lifetime and durability,
> >> >> I chose the ThinkPad. It's not a +2k eur Macbook, it's serviceable,
> >> >> and I can still do stuff with it that I can't do on my current
> setups.
> >> >> We have many times more than enough to cover it, and make no
> >> >> impact on the project's finances.
> >> >> I could agree to jamrial's suggestion too, though I don't think it
> >> >> would be as durable or problem-free.
> >> >>
> >> >
> >> > But didn't you say the ThinkPad doesn't support AVX-512?
> >> >
> >>
> >> Err, no? It has a 7840U, which according to
> >> https://www.amd.com/en/product/13186
> >> has support for AVX512.
> >> I was initially confused as it's labelled as a Ryzen 7, and I thought
> >> Ryzen 9s
> >> were the ones based on Zen 4, but afaik both 7 and 9 are Zen 4.
> >>
> >
> > There is still no reason why you couldn't use the dedicated NUC that has
> > AVX512 and access it remotely with a much cheaper laptop.
> >
>
> It's more practical to work on a local machine without having to
> compile everything, and setting up for accurate benchmarking is
> doable as you wouldn't disturb anyone else's work by switching
> the scheduler or fixing the frequency.
> I also messaged you about getting access to the Ampere machine
> a little over a week ago, but you didn't respond, so sysadmin latency
> is high.
>

The nuc has everything setup correctly for this.

Regarding access to the ampere, there is a further discussion to be had
off-list.

Kieran

>