Considering installing Ubuntu on this Machine

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PerplexedZebra

New member
Hey People!

As the title suggests, I'm considering installing Ubuntu on the machine below. I'm moments away from buying it also.

I know PC Specialist can't guarantee that all the linux drivers will work perfectly, but I just have a few questions about the setup and what to expect. Such as:

  • Does the touchpad work nicely with Linux
  • Does the bluetooth and wireless device work nicely with linux
  • Does the sound card work nicely with linux
  • Does the webcam work nicely with linux?
  • How is the touchpad overall, can I turn it off and use a mouse, does it detect palm prints versus fingers?

Chassis & Display
Optimus Series: 15.6" Matte 4K IPS 60Hz 72% NTSC LED Widescreen (3840x2160)
Processor (CPU)
Intel® Core™ i7 Six Core Processor 8750H (2.2GHz, 4.1GHz Turbo)
Memory (RAM)
32GB Corsair 2400MHz SODIMM DDR4 (2 x 16GB)
Graphics Card
NVIDIA® GeForce® GTX 1050 Ti - 4.0GB GDDR5 Video RAM - DirectX® 12.1
1st Storage Drive
2TB SEAGATE 7mm SERIAL ATA III 2.5" HARD DRIVE WITH 128MB CACHE (5,400rpm)
1st M.2 SSD Drive
250GB WD Black™ M.2 NVMe PCIe SSD (up to 3000MB/s R | 1600MB/s W)
Memory Card Reader
Integrated 6 in 1 Card Reader (SD /Mini SD/ SDHC / SDXC / MMC / RSMMC)
Thermal Paste
COOLER MASTER MASTERGEL MAKER THERMAL COMPOUND
Sound Card
2 Channel High Def. Audio + SoundBlaster™ Cinema
Bluetooth & Wireless
GIGABIT LAN & WIRELESS INTEL® AC-9260 M.2 (1.73Gbps, 802.11AC) +BT 5.0
USB/Thunderbolt Options
1 x USB 3.1 PORT (Type C) + 2 x USB 3.0 PORTS + 1 x USB 2.0 PORT
Keyboard Language
RGB BACKLIT UK KEYBOARD
Laptop Cooling Stands
CoolerMaster NotePal L2 Laptop Cooler, upto 17.3 inch
Notebook Mouse
INTEGRATED 2 BUTTON TOUCHPAD MOUSE
Webcam
INTEGRATED 1MP HD WEBCAM
 
Stephen M

Stephen M

Author Level
I have an older version of the Optimus, about two years old, and you should be Ok with most, possibly all of the things you mention, although i know the touchpad works i never use it as prefer a mouse and have not attempted to turn it off and as that machine is not in use at the moment cannot check.

Everything else works fine with Linux and i cannot see anything stand out in that config that should cause a problem. There have been problems reported with the WD Black and Linux but not many and i am now of the opinion these were caused by other issues, certainly GPU driver in one case. The GPU drive could be your main problem, although easy to solve as it will just mean updating to the correct driver or using Ubuntu on Wayland. Should you have problems there post back and someone will be able to help.

What are you using the machine for as 32GB RAM is a lot unless you are running multiple VMs or doing specific photo/video work. I am also unsure whether a 4k screen is an advantage on any laptop as the screen area is small. Finally the second drive you have is great for storage but is painfully slow if you will be using it a lot for moving files around.
 
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PerplexedZebra

New member
Great, this is really helpful. Thanks man!

I will be running quite a few VMs in fact. I'm a software engineer and usually have a number of virtual machines simulating a number of different servers running in the back ground.
 
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