System76 Gazelle Pro: An Intel Haswell Laptop With Ubuntu Linux

[phoronix]

Phoronix: System76 Gazelle Pro: An Intel Haswell Laptop With Ubuntu Linux

System76 recently sent over their Haswell-based Gazelle Professional laptop that sports HD Graphics 4600, a fancy Intel SSD, 8GB of system memory, and a beautiful HD display. This Haswell Linux laptop has already been used for testing within a few Phoronix articles while now is a full look at this Ubuntu laptop along with some comparison performance tests.

http://www.phoronix.com/vr.php?view=19049

[Ericg]

Hey Michael, at any time during your testing did Wi-Fi seem to cut out? (Dmesg wouldve shown a driver crash, OR something from iwlwifi being marked as "inactive") or via iwconfig did Tx Retries seem to get excessively high pretty quickly? I ask because I've got the 6230 adapter and they were all issues I was having. Was curious is the 6235 was any better.

[bwat47]

Hey Michael, at any time during your testing did Wi-Fi seem to cut out? (Dmesg wouldve shown a driver crash, OR something from iwlwifi being marked as "inactive") or via iwconfig did Tx Retries seem to get excessively high pretty quickly? I ask because I've got the 6230 adapter and they were all issues I was having. Was curious is the 6235 was any better.

I have a system76 lemur ultra with intel 6235 wireless, I've had zero issues with the wireless.

[Ericg]

I have a system76 lemur ultra with intel 6235 wireless, I've had zero issues with the wireless.

What kernel version, bwat? These all started with the 3.10 kernel unfortunately :/ (Except the excessive Tx Retries, thats always been like that and from what I've read online... is just a symptom of having intel wireless)

[bwat47]

What kernel version, bwat? These all started with the 3.10 kernel unfortunately :/ (Except the excessive Tx Retries, thats always been like that and from what I've read online... is just a symptom of having intel wireless)

I'm using arch linux with kernel 3.10.7 right now, no problems.

And I've used many distros, and many different kernel versions on this laptop. I've used kernels 3.2 - 3.10.x and the only issues I've ever had with the wireless was that in 3.8.x I could only get a max of 150mbit/20mhz connection to my router's 5ghz network instead of 300mbit/40mhz (and that was fixed in 3.9.x). Never have any issues with dropping.

I have another [asus] laptop with intel 6250 wireless and haven't had any issues with that one either (although I haven't tried kernel 3.10 on that one yet).

intel wireless has always worked great for me in linux!

[Ericg]

I'm using arch linux with kernel 3.10.7 right now, no problems.

And I've used many distros, and many different kernel versions on this laptop. I've used kernels 3.2 - 3.10.x and the only issues I've ever had with the wireless was that in 3.8.x I could only get a max of 150mbit/20mhz connection to my router's 5ghz network instead of 300mbit/40mhz (and that was fixed in 3.9.x). Never have any issues with dropping.

I have another [asus] laptop with intel 6250 wireless and haven't had any issues with that one either (although I haven't tried kernel 3.10 on that one yet).

intel wireless has always worked great for me in linux!

Yeah i dunno what the issue is with me on this laptop, its weird. I know Intel should have great Linux support, and I have no problem buying Intel again for wireless, but its just weird that I'm having these problems. Oh well, bugs are sitting in the bugzilla both in Red Hat's and Kernel.org's so we'll see if maybe they get some attention.

[guido12]

It would be nice if Phoronix does some standardized battery life and WiFi tests. With the sysfs power usage issue, does the battery icon not show the remaining battery life?

Are there any 11.6" ultraportables in the pipeline from System76?

[uid313]

Too fat, too thick.
Also it has legacy shit ports like VGA.

Also I would rather see 3x USB 3 instead of 2x USB3 + 1x USB2.

[bwat47]

Too fat, too thick.
Also it has legacy shit ports like VGA.

Also I would rather see 3x USB 3 instead of 2x USB3 + 1x USB2.

This particular model is a 15.6 inch laptop, not an ultrabook or anything, its not going to be super thin.

They do have an "ultrabook-like" haswell model (galago ultrapro): https://www.system76.com/laptops/model/galu1

[guido12]

How's driver support for Qualcomm's Killer chips? Under Windows, it seems to have more consistent performance: http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/...rk,3164-7.html . At least for the 3x3 chips, that is.

All too often, the main issues I usually have are with the WiFi, touchpad and GPU. Kind of pointless to get an 802.11n chip where you have force 802.11g in order to reduce frequent random disconnects.

I know WiFi and touchpads aren't as exciting as GPU driver testing but those are just as important for notebook users.

Thanks!