Re: AMD Ryzen 5 3550H + GPU AMD Radeon Vega 8 (+nVidia)

["Alexander V. Makartsev" <avbetev@gmail.com>]

On 19.11.2020 19:27, Kanito 73 wrote:

Hello

I am about to buy a laptop (HP) that comes with the processor AMD Ryzen 5 3550H (link below) and the GPU AMD Radeon Vega 8 is integrated. In the description table of the laptop it shows the Vega 8 graphics, but just below it also shows the nVidia GeForce GTX 1050 graphics and I am a bit confused... Does it have both GPUs? Radeon integrated on the Ryzen processor and nVidia on the motherboard? Searching information at Google I found a post in a forum describing that laptops with Ryzen processors have both GPUs and you can switch them but it is a bit "tricky"...

    It sure is tricky. In case of laptops with Intel CPU integrated
    graphics and discrete Nvidia graphics to use both graphics cards you
    have to switch between them. On Windows it is done by drivers and
    power management subsystem. On Linux you have to use "Bumblebee" and
    "bbswitch" to essentially use discrete graphics adapter computing
    power and display results on integrated graphics adapter. [1] [2]
    As you can see in Bumblebee Wiki and FAQ sections, there are many
    caveats and while in practice this technology works (it worked for
    me well enough), its performance is less than optimal and it
    currently lacking in features.
    I have no experience with AMD CPU+Nvidia GPU hybrids on Linux, but
    reading through issues and milestones sections of Project Bumblebee
    would discourage me from buying a laptop with described hardware
    configuration.
    If you plan to use Linux, I'd recommend you to seek alternative
    laptop configuration with single graphics adapter, without CPU
    integrated graphics or with option to permanently switch to discrete
    graphics (for example by disabling CPU integrated graphics in BIOS).

By the way, at first I am more concerned about the drivers. I´ve read that latest nVidia drivers do not work with the latest linux kernels and it is required to downgrade to a previous kernel so you can install the official nVidia´s driver. Is it real or currently I can install the most fresh AMD.COM driver with no problems? Do the kernel support "nVidia GeForce GTX 1050 graphics" with generic drivers and it will work fine for games or graphics software (design, video, etc)?

    You can install Nvidia drivers just fine on current Debian stable
    kernel. Driver versions currently supported on Linux are listed
    here. [3]
    I've installed version 450.80.02 from "buster-backports" on my PC
    with GTX1060 and it works without any issues.

And related to the Vega 8 (integrated in the processor)... I visited AMD.COM to see details of the driver and I found that it is only available for Windows 10 (at least on the driver´s link). Does the kernel have support for GPU Vega 8 (generic drivers) and work fine for games and graphics software? Do you know about an alternative link or place where to get the official driver for Linux or it does not exist?

I am worried because don´t want to buy a USD 1200 laptop that will not work on Linux (Debian 10) due incompatibility or lack of drivers... I hope you can help me or tell me if it is safe to buy the laptop because it will work with the official or generic drivers...

    I would like to know more about how do you plan to use new laptop,
    if you need concrete model suggestions.

https://www.amd.com/en/support/apu/amd-ryzen-processors/amd-ryzen-5-mobile-processors-radeon-vega-graphics/amd-ryzen-5-2

Thanks in advance for your comments and help

    [1] https://github.com/Bumblebee-Project/Bumblebee/wiki
    [2] https://wiki.debian.org/Bumblebee
    [3]
https://forums.developer.nvidia.com/t/current-graphics-driver-releases/28500
    
-- 
With kindest regards, Alexander.

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