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Linus Torvalds Switches to AMD Ryzen Threadripper After 15 Years of Using Intel

19 points by caution 6y ago

dijit 6y ago
Torvalds is famously "anti"-loyal. He's a pragmatist of the highest order, and since the threadripper is going to be better at compiling fast I can see the appeal so that's not the news here. Two things stick out though: 1) He has said repeatedly that noise is the largest inhibitor of having a powerful computer, he doesn't like fan noise and I don't know if you can go fanless with a Threadripper. 2) Hopefully this means the AMD Zen architecture runs even better with Linux, I'm sure that will help the EPYC Rome series, which, in google cloud, are much more powerful than the intel based VMs.
- hnarn 6y ago
  I think the point about noise is interesting since I’ve always considered noise something that’s easy to eliminate by listening to music or ambient sound. I’m sure this is because I’ve always been used to music and noise, but I can see how maybe if you grew up in a quiet area without an interest in music (or a dash of tinnitus) it would be hard to be without.
- wtallis 6y ago
  Fanless is almost never the right choice if you want a quiet desktop or workstation. A large heatsink with a big slow fan that's inaudible even though it's not actually silent is the way to go. Actually fanless computers tend to only make sense for really compact form factors or industrial PCs in dusty environments.
  - rcarmo 6y ago
    I have been seriously considering building one of these: https://fabiensanglard.net/the_beautiful_machine/index.html https://fabiensanglard.net/the_beautiful_machine/index.html The appeal of having _zero_ noise on my desk is climbing along with pre-summer heat as my gear starts blowing even more air around...
    - LargoLasskhyfv 6y ago
      Yah, looks nice, but also infeasible for the TDP of a Threadripper. Maybe go for something like https://www.quietpc.com/reserator1-v2 https://www.quietpc.com/reserator1-v2 ? edit: I know it's discontinued, but that's what came into my mind.
kristianp 6y ago
Dup of https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=23295975 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=23295975

19 points by caution 6y ago

Torvalds is famously "anti"-loyal. He's a pragmatist of the highest order, and since the threadripper is going to be better at compiling fast I can see the appeal so that's not the news here. Two things stick out though: 1) He has said repeatedly that noise is the largest inhibitor of having a powerful computer, he doesn't like fan noise and I don't know if you can go fanless with a Threadripper. 2) Hopefully this means the AMD Zen architecture runs even better with Linux, I'm sure that will help the EPYC Rome series, which, in google cloud, are much more powerful than the intel based VMs.

hnarn 6y ago
I think the point about noise is interesting since I’ve always considered noise something that’s easy to eliminate by listening to music or ambient sound. I’m sure this is because I’ve always been used to music and noise, but I can see how maybe if you grew up in a quiet area without an interest in music (or a dash of tinnitus) it would be hard to be without.
wtallis 6y ago
Fanless is almost never the right choice if you want a quiet desktop or workstation. A large heatsink with a big slow fan that's inaudible even though it's not actually silent is the way to go. Actually fanless computers tend to only make sense for really compact form factors or industrial PCs in dusty environments.
- rcarmo 6y ago
  I have been seriously considering building one of these: https://fabiensanglard.net/the_beautiful_machine/index.html https://fabiensanglard.net/the_beautiful_machine/index.html The appeal of having _zero_ noise on my desk is climbing along with pre-summer heat as my gear starts blowing even more air around...
  - LargoLasskhyfv 6y ago
    Yah, looks nice, but also infeasible for the TDP of a Threadripper. Maybe go for something like https://www.quietpc.com/reserator1-v2 https://www.quietpc.com/reserator1-v2 ? edit: I know it's discontinued, but that's what came into my mind.

kristianp 6y ago

Dup of https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=23295975 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=23295975