laptops wit AMD quadcores (A6 & A8), any good ?

I am inquiring before I purchase a laptop , which of the processors in the AMD range like the A6 and A8 are good?
Sometimes there is mention of a combined processor-architecture whereby CPU and GPU are interacting (AMD fusion).
Can CAELinux run on those processors ?
Are there already people using these AMDFusion-laptops to run CAElinux?

CAELinux should run fine so long as the Ubuntu version upon which it is based (10.04.3) is compatible with those processors.

The ubuntu forums have sticky posts regarding incompatibilities.

Graphical drivers are probably another point that should be looked into. There was a recent study of the now standard Nouveau drivers in Ubuntu and they were, in some ways, quite inferior to proprietary drivers from the graphics card manufacturers. However, as I just looked for that article I found one that concluded OpenGL performance to be similar. I would expect many open source programs to use OpenGL.

Another consideration, a relatively new development in numerical simulation is the use of the GPU for calculations. If you were hoping to do this I think it will be highly dependent on that particular software you are interested in. It may also be a matter of using a more up-to-date version than that which will come with CAELinux 2011. If you are interested in just one specific software package or two your best bet may be to just install those packages to a suitable version of linux. I hate to in any way sound negative with respect to CAELinux, I hope I have not as that was not my intention. The creator has done an incredible job of assembling a fascinating collection of open source engineering software and getting everything working harmoniously with great ease of installation and use of this software.

Hi Mr Bondmatt,

As I read your response , according to you I should expand my search beyond the AMD-family of processors and also look at the other architectures ( with the exception of Apple , due to it being a little pricey). I have looked at the Phoronix site, but that gave almost brainmelt due to the overexposure of data. (Can't see the forest from all the trees.)
If what you say corresponds then the ideal Ubuntu laptop is also the ideal CAELinux one.
Is there anyway to determine a laptop that can at least turn 80% of the software present in CAElinux?

Greetings,
Serge.

The AMD laptops you referred to initially may be fine. I have no idea. I suspect that they would work perfectly with Ubuntu as it is such a popular distro of linux but this could be rather easily checked:

This is the forum post about laptop model compatibility I was referring to: ubuntuforums.org/showthread.php?t=1543006

If Ubuntu works properly on a particular laptop then all of the software installed in CAELinux should work fine. I would not worry about trying to acquire a really high performance machine. These days even a cheap laptop is quite the computational powerhouse. Amazing times we live in.

I think one's best bet for a really high performance machine would be building a custom desktop from parts purchased online. A really powerful machine could be built quite cheap. Ars Technica has a guide to building a 'bargain box' here: arstechnica.com/gadgets/2012/04/ars-bargain-box/

I would think other organizations, perhaps PC mag, would have even better freely available guides.

Cheers,
- Matt

Thanks Matt,

Indeed you can pack a powerhouse desktop together, and from time to time I do so but to me its more the question of having some portable calculating power within my grasp, something I can take with me and mess around with if by chance I need a sketchpad for a fleeting idea that I need to hold on to or do some rough calculations instantly.


Greetings,

Serge.