Best chipset for Linux laptop, Intel or AMD?
I’m considering picking up a cheapish laptop for development, with the intent of installing Linux on it. Typically it’ll be Java development or other stuff in docket containers. Is there a best chipset to pick for Linux or are they pretty much identical these days?
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Depends on your goals but right now AMD is eating high end thin and lights for dinner. Their new APUs are more powerful, more efficient, and have better graphics than anything from Intel.
But Intel is also still good and very available with more choices and lower cost due to the higher demand for AMD.
Both are great Linux choices, but ARM/Apple are currently not great for desktop.
But AMD APUs are shit on Linux since theyre not really officially supported. I mean they have drivers, but the drivers are shit
Actually APUs are generally shit on Linux.
I have to disagree with you on that. While it is true, that intel laptop chipsets offer often greater linux support than the amd chipsets, both platforms support linux and are much more dependent on the manufacturer of the motherboard than on the chipset
With the second statement I totally disagree. I even would go as far as to suggest the opposite. Linux on laptos only makes sense for APUs, since switching between dedicated and integrated graphics is still a manual process and using only the dedicated graphics chip tanks the battery life
Well I think my main problem with APUs on Linux doesn't has anything to do with Linux. It's just that the manifacturer doesn't care about people using APUs for more than office work so they generally a bad experience when you try to for example game on it.
Is this understandable or just word salad?
As a gamer who uses a Thinkpad Z13 Gen1 with a Ryzen 6860Z APU, I disagree. Most games run just fine here via Proton-GE or Wine-GE. For newer AAA games however, you'll need to dial down the graphics - but that's expected of an iGPU. The most recent game I played on it was Diablo 4, which was running at a very playable ~45FPS at 1080p medium settings. This was on Nobara btw, a gaming-optimized distro based on Fedora.
My experiences with a 4700U/5500U and 5600G has also been great on just Fedora
Well I have a Ryzen 2400g and sometimes I get weird graphical glitches or issues that nobody else except people with a ryzen APU
Is that why every gaming handheld and gaming mini PC uses AMD?
It's because Intel iGPUs suck even more
What's the difference?
Even worse drivers
Steam Deck runs an AMD APU and it's phenomenal for the scale. I've run a ton of systems on APU's just fine.