Good day. I was wondering if any of the LevelOneTechs community (or staff / moderators) would have any visibility into how Linux (Ubuntu, Mint, Arch, etc) works on a Dell Alienware Area-51 branded system known as Threadripper sporting the AMD 1950X CPU and related Alienware OEM goodies. I am in the market for one but I am hesitant due to my uncertainty with Linux performance and compatibility on this system. There is a wealth of videos and blogs that discuss Linux on Threadripper benchmarks and such; but very few current (if none) address this 2017-18 OEM system. Now, before some say I should just build my own…I am sitting on a sizable credit line from Dell and I’ve been successful at Dell XPS Desktops / Notebooks on Linux in years past…I want to buy a single system of high quality with Gaming and Video Production in mind (on Linux) with the ability for future expansion for the foreseeable future (5-8 yrs). With these requirements, Alienware Gaming Systems “seem to” fit that need. I am merely employing & mining your vast Gaming and Linux and multi-system knowledge for that all important insight to reassure me (or forewarn me) regarding what I want to buy and use with Linux. Thanks for all your help and insights.
The Question is: How much money do you want to spend on an OEM-Machine that has a destinct look and how much money do want to spend on actual hardware in “how much money do you want to spend on performance”.
You can easily build the machine that you want to have and use for less than spend that money on OEM.
There. I said it. It had to be done, so now we have that out of the way, we can discuss things hopefully.
By buying a ready made system, one would hope that it comes with break/fix warranty, and a single place for RMA’s, as well as the comfort of knowing all parts will work together on the bundled system, running Windows.
As the OP will be using Linux, I would suggest contacting Dell to see how that will affect the warranty, if at all?
Obviously it shouldn’t, but it is a whole chunk of change to gamble…
Not just that, but also Dell would be liable for damages (to an extent), especially if the mentioned video production is on a professional base.
That is one of the main reasons to go for an OEM.
AFAIK it doesn’t, they just cover the hardware. Of course they also have software support, but that’s not relevant for warranty so…
Companies love passing the blame buck to someone else when something breaks.
A quick check on Dells Alienware policy states they don’t support Linux on the Alienware stuff, although that doesn’t mean it won’t run. You’d definately miss out on the controls for the lights etc. that most alienware products have, and you may find there are settings in the UEFI/BIOS that most motherboards have which could be absent from an Alienware machine. This might make certain aspects of virtualisation etc. more problematic.
It’s one of those things, if you want something like an Area 51 you might have to accept that using Windows Pro and keeping Linux locked in a Hyper-V VM the best approach, although given the linux kernals ever increasing compatibility list I’d doubt that would be the case. It’s a shame that its not the sort of system you could find in a high street store and ask to boot off of a USB stick to validate. You will probably have to wait until someone with one posts on a forum somewhere to talk about it.
If you really want to have a workstation you should be able to have all the bells and whistles especially for that price.
Also you get warranty on PC parts so… Buy it build it check it. There are enough people attending who can provide help and guidance.
Threaripper builds are awesome. Do you wanna wait for the refresh? @restlessnomad
Well it’s cheaper then buying new, also usually they get a replacement within a day (usually somewhere in the contract).
The same is probably not true for just buying a regular OEM system though, only with a service contract. But then again if this is for business use, might as well get a service contract.
This thing is dumb. Dell wants you to pay 2700,- bucks for the base system with a 1950X. That is with a 1050Ti, 850W PSU, a 2TB HDD (yes, harddrive only) and one 8GB stick 2666. The first option to configure with quad channel RAM is 64GB 2666MHz… for 700,- dollars more! To make that amount of RAM reasonably fast in a Ryzen based system (2933MHz) will cost you ANOTHER 400,-.
These are not far from Apple prices.
Don’t do this, this is terrible.
Build your own!
You don’t want to rely on Dell for your performance improvements through UEFI updates. You don’t want a cut down BIOS. You don’t want to deal with stupid form factor stuff because they wanted it to look cool. You don’t want a system with potentially weird incompatibilities with linux and no official support from the company you bought the box from.
This is not a long term plan.
Sorry.
Buy something else with your Dell schmeckles, high quality monitors are a very good option and reasonably priced.
I realize this…I do. I even agree, on a certain level, with the premise. However, without my DELL “schmeckles” (as some have put it) I only have $4K in cash saved. Now, I am still looking into things but I doubt I could get a high-end machine for that. Certainly a mid-grade one, but not high-grade one. Also, I am very busy and I simply do not have the time to build one at the moment. My most recent PC was from 2012…so yea, my knowledge is a bit dated on the subject.
Yea…I did. And in true help desk fashion they put me on hold and then came back to tell me what I already knew…that they only supported Windows 10 on Alienware Gaming systems and that I should look into a Dell Precision Workstation for Linux supported hardware. I was like…really, man? That’s the best you got for me? You’ve never had a dude put Linux on this gear for Machine Learning or Coding or just an enthusiast who loves both worlds??? So yea…it was fruitless talking to them. They live inside this M$ box…and unlike the product’s namesake…their are no Window’s to look out of to see the wider world of open-source and Linux.
A Precision Workstation…meh…who can game on that? I’m not doing CAD Rendering or Game Design on Vulkan here…I just wanna encode (rip) a few TB’s of movies from my library into a streaming solution on my network…not edit a Blockbuster Movie in Lightworks or Da Vinci Resolve…I’m a home user who does device Tech Support for a living…lol, Help Desk work…so I know when I’m being given the brush off easy solution so the agent can get to the next call…
As for the Warranty, this is my attraction to the OEM approach as well…I can get hardware support for 5 yrs (including Accident Protection & Home Assistance) with the purchase. That is way better than registering with parts vendors for the build your own model. But I digress, its just the immediate solution method that I am in need of.
My main concern is if anyone knows of Linux not working with these systems. And how is AMD Threadripper w/ SLI’d Dual-1080Ti’s working on native Linux. Online I was only able to find one person who bought the Area-51 for Machine Learning on Ubuntu…and there were no others.
It also really depends upon the depth of your warranty you purchased. Some companies, equally, do not care why the hardware failed. If its confirmed as failed in your system…they replace it. Period. That’s the type of peace of mind that these Warranties were made for and provide to a end-user.
This is true! We’ve had dell workstations fallen onto the warehouse floor or have the usb ports mangled from employees. Bent COM cards and such.
IDK that depends on how you define high end I guess? I farted around a while ago and if that’s not high end, IDK what is. Add a PSU for 200 and you’re golden.
Ofc, no.commercial support.
I kinda do but then I kinda don’t. The attraction of the AMD 1950x Threadripper CPU (basically 2 1800x CPU’s on a single die communicating in tandem via Infinity fabric technology) is that the TR4 slot will be maintained for the 2950x (and assumably 3950x) refreshes in late 2018 & 2019, respectively. This mean’s that the x399 mobo will be backward compatible with, at the very least, the 2950x refresh which I can pickup cheaper in late 2019 when the 3950x’s hit…so those are my upgrade path thoughts. And yes, I realize that the 2950x will work better on the x470 mobo vs the x399 (or have some additional improvements versus the legacy board for the 1950x) but the point I’m making is that, from what I’m researching, it should still technically be backwards compatible…and that’s a whole lot better than the Intel way of changing up slots on cpu’s to force upgrade’s of the mobo itself for their vender partners. Its unnecessary and predatory…and I would prefer to support a vender that starts with the end user first vs their merely their wallet’s.
Also, its goes without saying, that if I stay on the 1950x path in mid-2018 I may see some additional discounts as they phase out the 1950x’s for the 2950x’s…
My only real reservation on staying in the 1950x camp is that the single-core clock speed is lower than the Intel side for Gaming. I realize that they’ll improve this in the 2950x refresh (a bit) and should I wait to see how that improves Gaming or just pull the trigger being assured that it does well enough for most modern games despite the upcoming refresh?
Ah…to weigh the pro’s and con’s…
I think that list is hidden for the public.
Make a screenshot.
Uhm…
Now, I’m not one of those die-hard anti-Window’s Linux users. Admittedly, it was my frustration with Windows that brought me into the light of the Linux world by way of Vista…but yea…I have realized that the Window’s platform has matured with Windows 10 (despite the Telemetry factor…oh don’t get me started on the privacy implications on that)…but I digress…I plan on using it for Gaming for Steam (Win-Only) titles and other titles that haven’t graced native Linux landscape. However, I do have and wish to play Linux Steam titles…and I want to play them on Ubuntu 18.04…not Windows if it can be helped. Also, I’m a distro hopper and I want the ability to test and review new distorts (on metal not Virtualbox on Windows…I wonder what Linux person has respect for the guy who reviews distro’s from a Virtualbox / Hyper V Windows environment?
But no, It is not my intent on “keeping Linux locked down to a Hyper-V VM” as a workaround. Perhaps I may try that trick in reverse via Crossover Linux or Wine with a Windows 10 container for the Alienware system goodies…but no, if I drop this kinda cash…it needs to natively handle (at the very least) Ubuntu or Mint…
Maybe reconsider your choice of GPU brand then.
That’s interesting…so you use AMD’s Radeon GPU’s for gaming? I did look into Vega 64 but all my research told me that they compare with the 1070’s…I wasn’t about to pay a 1080Ti price for 1070 performance simply because AMD was nice enough to open-source the drivers upstream.
That is certainly food for thought…thanks.