Laptop for Machine Learning

[pascal]

Upgrade time!
The new laptop Lenovo Legion 5i arrived last week.
Specs: i7 - 10750H, 16GB ram, SSD 512GB nvme, RTX 2060 6GB, 120Hz FullHD 15.6" display.

I installed Windows 10 Pro/ Office 2019 Pro ESD.
My first impressions:

THE GOOD
- Cheaper than the competition.
- Nice look and very discret for a gamer laptop. The color reminds me a NAD AV receiver.
- The edges are more stiff and robust than the Lenovo L340´s I was using.
- The same weight of the L340.
- Extremelly fast for home office use.
- The three performance modes easilly change with Fn+Q. I use the cool and quiet mode for most of the time. Very cool and silent with keyboard not exceding 35 C (95 F).
- Almost everything installed using windows update without factory software.
- Anaconda, CUDA and Pytorch are installed.

THE BAD
- Windows 10 Pro ESD doesnt recognize the intel wifi card and It needed a wired RJ45 ethernet to start the updates. After a few updates the wifi was recognized.

THE UNEXPECTED
Windows still doesnt recognize the intel VGA adapter. Only the NVidia RTX2060 was recognized. I worried that it could make things hot, but up to now everything is working great!
It has a high-pitched noise but is low level and rarelly happens in quiet mode. It is fun.

THE FUTURE
- I will install a 1TB Crucial MX500 SSD this week.
- I will continue learning and testing new DS and AI tools.

Some pics below.

 

[pascal]

I installed the 1TB Crucial MX500 SSD and it was easy.
The laptop comes with cable and adapter/case for 2,5" disk.

Looks like the Intel Graphics issue could be solved by installing the Lenovo Vantage software, but it is working very well without it.
This reminds me that we are paying twice for graphics hardware.

The hotest keyboard temperature was around 36.1 C (97 F) between the keys 5 and 6 while the antivirus was scanning the main disk.
The SSDs are around 41 C (nvme/main) and 31 C (sata).

Also I read that the touchpad is not recognized by many Linux distributions by now.

 

[orangpelupa]

That issue with Intel gfx. Try checking the uefi for a toggle or drop down menu. Disable Intel gfx. Reboot to windows. Reboot to uefi. Enable it again

 

[pascal]

Thanks, but there is no option in the UEFI about Intel gfx.
The Legion 5i´s UEFI is minimalist in terms of options.
The only possibility is inside the Lenovo´s Vantage software which has the "hybrid mode" option. looks like it is a issue since the previous Lenovo´s gamer laptops series (Y540, Y740, etc..).
IMHO it must be in the UEFI, making it OS independent too.

 

[orangpelupa]

Try asking their support email. Maybe a bug that they'll fix in future updates

 

[pascal]

I was toying with Pytorch today.
Some speed tests and comparing numpy (CPU) and pytorch (CUDA) doing matrix dot product (10,000,000 random elements matrix).
Usually, pytorch is 200 times faster but today Python time function got zero time lapse !!
This caused a dividing by zero error!
Impressive this RTX 2060

 

[HLJ]

Every Lenovo I have used did not like Intel' gfx drivers.
I always had to get the gfx-driver from Lenovo's site.
And you don't need Lenovos software bundle, you can download drivers on a need to basis.
https://pcsupport.lenovo.com/us/en/...omponent?name=Graphics Processing Units (GPU)

 

[pascal]

The Lenovo driver doesnt work.
It needs the Lenovo´s Vantage software which has the "hybrid mode" option.
Thanks

 

[orangpelupa]

Does windows device manager even detect the Intel gpu?

 

[pascal]

No, it only shows "NVIDIA Geforce RTX 2060" in the device manager.
It is not getting hot, and most of the time it is connected to the power outlet.
Thanks

Up to now, I like the laptop very much.

 

[Davros]

I remember having a ton of trouble trying to switch between my geforce and an intel igp on my i5-2400 (in fact I never got it working)
the software LucidLogix Virtu GPU only supported windows 7 and I was on windows 10

 

[HLJ]

Doesn't NVIDIA's Optimus(spelling?) work on Lenovos anymore?

 

[digitalwanderer]

Laptop GPU drivers have always been a biatch, I'm surprised it hasn't gotten better.

 

[pascal]

Doesn't NVIDIA's Optimus(spelling?) work on Lenovos anymore?

Probably it works, but it needs hybrid mode enabled.
The hybrid on/off is controlled by Bios in some brands and by special App in others.
Lenovo case is the App Vantage that I refuse to install.

My guess in this specific case, the sequence is:
- Install Lenovo´s Vantage.
- enable hybrid mode.
- Reboot.
- install intel driver
- use the Nvidia control panel to chose the Optimus details.

I just think that the hybrid mode should be selected by BIOS, making it App and OS independent,

 

[orangpelupa]

Btw downside using hybrid mode, iirc, is that you no longer can use generic driver frok Nvidia

 

[pascal]

One year now, and the laptop is working great!
Anaconda is very good. Pytorch and Tensorflow are the main Machine Learning tools I use.
I like more Pytorch, and it is faster and versatile.

 

[Davros]

1 question I meant to ask : Who's AL?

 

[digitalwanderer]

1 question I meant to ask : Who's AL?

First time I saw the thread title I thought it was about a laptop for Alnom.

 

[pascal]

AI means Artificial Intelligence.
The thread should have been named "Laptop for Machine Learning."
I play with Linear Algebra, Python, Pytorch, and some datasets.

 

[pascal]

OS upgraded to Windows 11 Pro
Everything working great.