I’m about ready to pull the trigger, but undecided about Intel vs. AMD. CPU comparison sites don’t seem to have the AMD Ryzen 7 7040 in their databases yet? What else comes to mind when trying to decide which CPU to get? Thanks.
3 Likes
Well they aren’t really out jet so that may be why (and we also don’t know if we get the U or the HS or something else).
But if we compare the 13th gen intel to the current gen 6000 series amd chips (6600u/hs 6800u/hs for example) it already looks pretty good and the 7000s are supposed to be quite an upgrade over those.
Edit: Oh dear I just realized from 6000 to 7000 we get new core generation (zen3+ → zen4), new process node (tsmc 6nm → 4nm) and new ipgu cores (RNA2 → RDNA3), this is going to be brutal.
5 Likes
I am actually waiting for benchmarks and reviews for AMD and, in my instance, Intel 14th Gen that is being released in end of 2023.
I wanna use Davinci Resolve with the Framework and the Iris XE despite being capable doesn’t show up. Plus I keep hearing horrible stuff about AMD Mesa drivers for stuff like this. At the same time, 14th Gen iGPU is based on the current Intel Arc and I have yet to see the new Xe Linux kernel driver. 13th Gen uses the same Xe graphics as 11 and 12th Gen, so that’s not gonna help with what I am doing.
So keeping my eyes peeled.
1 Like
IIRC Resolve straight up requires an amd or nvidia gpu so you are allmost forced into the amd.
Plus on linux amd has the advantage of not having p and e cores which linux so far can’t really deal with all that well. Drivers may be a bit rough initially with how much changed from previous gen.
IMO the biggest upside on the intel is that all ports are the same instead of the mix on the amd (can definitely be worked with but just not as nice as on the intel).
1 Like
Davinci has shown that it can work with Iris Xe and Arc A770 on Windows so I am guessing it is more of how Intel is gonna implement it. Which gives some hope that the iGPU in 14th Gen which is based on Arc instead of Iris XE might work.
Of course, this is purely speculation.
However, AMD Mesa drivers are horrible at such tasks, so it might not run even on Davinci tool.
That’s why I am just waiting for all of them to be released and see if people got them working before I make the leap. If Intel doesn’t work, then I get AMD. If both works, I’ll compare stuff like gaming and decide (based on Mesa drivers+performance).
I would say I have been running PopOS with 12th Gen and it is working well for quite some time now, unlike the earlier versions of Ubuntu. Kernel 6.1 onwards have good performance actually. Previously, I have used my i7-1260p to do CPU AV1 encoding and it works reasonably fast too.
1 Like
The AMD chips support AV1 hardware encoding as well as decoding. The Intel chips only support AV1 hardware decoding, and that’s only on the i7 and up If I recall correctly.
1 Like
What is the problem with the amd mesa drivers? So far the 5700xt in my egpu handled everything I tried pretty well. Even hotplug works after I figured out how to tell the driver.
1 Like
The last time I had an AMD card was a couple of years back and I remembered having to use the prop driver else it won’t work/recognised, I ended up going back to Nvidia. Swapping between driver installs (free and prop) was very annoying too.
1 Like
I’m waiting to see more details about the AMD variant. In particular, will it have the “AMD Advantage” label…looking for great battery life. Level1Techs released a System76 laptop experience / review video a week ago…and that’s looking very good for an AMD Linux laptop.
3 Likes
I don’t think there is a proprietary driver (for newer GPUs) anymore since AMD opensourced it.
1 Like
Now that is something I usually hear the other way around on Linux XD
3 Likes
If leaks are any indication - 7840U is gonna be great!
1 Like
Seems you’ll need ROCm for this, not sure it works with the Mesa drivers or the AMD OSS ones.
Hell if current gen is any indication 7040 is going to be great, though leaks are generally to be taken with a lot of salt.
1 Like
Tracking this thread. Nothing official to add.
I got this machine when they first came out and am delighted that they have been successful as a company. I
I am running the first Gen 11 I5 since I am using Cad/CAM and mostly bound by single thread speed. Some of the functions like toolpathing are multithread and GPU optimized but Fusion 360 is pretty gentle as far as cad programs go on the hardware. I have tried Fusion 360 on an Dell system 12th gen I9 with a gaming video card and not noticed that much of a speed increase. I’m also a hobby user so I am not on deadline. I’m not sure the performance and cost boost of the I7 is worth it.
My “Money Job” I do a lot of video calls, and office type work. So any machine would work. They actually issue us surface tablets which work fine. I use my own machine so that I have a real keyboard and macros for charting.
I don’t NEED to upgrade, and the advantage of the new desktop case means I can repurpose or regift/sell the board, memory, etc. to someone else. The 16 looks interesting but it seems really big to lug to and from where the CNC machine is, and most of the time it lives hooked to a 32 inch 4k monitor at my house.
I was thinking of upgrading but was not sure which model to get, either waiting for the AMD or the 14th gen Intel. Apparently the 11,12,13 are all similar in design and the next big thing is G14.
If I have to go to DDR5 memory for Intel Gen 14 I was thinking maybe getting the 13th gen when it gets discounted when gen 14 comes out. This way I can still use my old memory, and wifi card.
I’d like to get on the wait list sooner then later for the AMD if I am going that route. With the plan to buy the memory and wifi card around black Friday.
I used to be more into the hardware side of things, but I am really out of date.
Appreciate insights as CAD/CAM is sort of a niche use area vs office or gaming.
2 Likes
Hello,
I’m considering a Framework 13 as my next laptop. I am wondering if there is much difference between the Intel and AMD models in terms of the general stability and completeness of the Linux support? I’m thinking about the thunderbolt ports, web camera, microphone, fingerprint reader, TPM, sleep, etc. Which would be recommended?
My query is really about the general state of the upstream Linux support for the hardware, and not for any one specific distro. ( I’ll likely run a distro that tracks new kernel and mesa packages quite closely. )
This will be a personal laptop for home/hobby projects. Essentially no gaming, but plenty of development, working with VMs, and some light 3D work. I mention this as the difference in iGPU performance is not going to matter to me.
I did see this thread but: 1. It’s a year old now so things will have changed, and 2. A lot of the focus is on GPU capabilities which I’m not specifically interested in, I’m interested more in the wider general support. That’s why I posted a new thread.
Anyhoo, I see my post has been closed down. I’ll go ask elsewhere.
1 Like
Or wait till someone answers? 
I have the framework 13 7840u. That thing is a powerhouse. I never even reach for my desktop (5800X).
Since kernel 6.8, everything works much better. There are however still some issues, but I haven’t had time to ask or figure them out…
Things I still deal with, all of them are graphics/Wayland related:
- 1px line of small artifacts on the side of the display. As if the window doesn’t fully reach the edge of the display, but it doesn’t bother me too much.
- very rare GPU freeze when moving a windows on a second screen (audio keeps playing).
Everything else works perfectly.
I speculate the intel variant may have better battery and more stable GPU drivers, but worse performance.
3 Likes
Do you have this on all 4 sides or just one? I don’t see this on mine (FW13 7840u, Fedora 39 Sway, Kernel 6.8.7).