
Windows 10 vs. Ubuntu Linux Performance on a $199 AMD Ryzen Laptop - vo2maxer
https://www.phoronix.com/scan.php?page=article&item=ryzen3-windows-linux&num=1
======
shaggie76
One thing we found that severely impacted performance on Windows was the
built-in anti-virus software (Windows Defender).

This came to our attention when we found one of our programs ran dramatically
better on Windows 7 than 10 and we traced it back to the 7 machine not having
Defender installed. We ended up optimizing our IO behavior to avoid triggering
Defender and it made a huge difference.

This leads me to wonder how many of these benchmarks suffer on Windows from
similar problems or if Defender was disabled how much of a difference it would
make.

~~~
for_xyz
Defender does the scanning on CloseHandle() calls in untrusted code which can
block the thread for even up to ~10ms (including other NTFS filter drivers)
which is significant if you do open() close() pairs a lot.

More info about the similar issue and solution is apparently to sign the
application [1]

[1] [https://github.com/rust-
lang/rustup/issues/1540#issuecomment...](https://github.com/rust-
lang/rustup/issues/1540#issuecomment-491721670)

~~~
ahartmetz
I wonder if my former Windows using coworkers knew about that! They were quite
good though so if there was something to know at the time, they probably did.

Common knowledge in the office was that Windows small file I/O performance is
about 1/10th of Linux, probably due to NTFS and ACLs being expensive to
evaluate.

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kelchm
I picked up the M142 (Ryzen 5 3500U variant) a couple weeks ago for $329.

I’m super happy with it for the money — there really aren’t any competitors at
this price point that are in the same size/weight class. It’s even better that
the RAM, NVME (2x) and wireless cards are all socketed — that’s something that
most current high end ultrabooks don’t offer these days.

So far I’ve added a Samsung 970 Evo Plus and installed Fedora 31.

FYI there was a Motile subreddit (/r/motile) for anyone interested in
discussing these further.

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parvenu74
The headline is that it's a $199 laptop but the link in the article is to a
$280 laptop. Is this a mistake or did the price go up?

~~~
inetsee
I did a search on Walmart's site for the name of the laptop, "Motile M141",
and the price came up $280, so I think it has gone up.

I'd love an inexpensive AMD laptop, but I'll probably go with a Pinebook Pro.
It lists at $200, and that price seems to be firm.

~~~
Brave-Steak
An AMD laptop for 200-250 would be a steal, IMO. The performance is far better
(for comparison [https://openbenchmarking.org/result/1912177-HU-
MANJAROPO12](https://openbenchmarking.org/result/1912177-HU-MANJAROPO12)) and
x86 support is something I wouldn't want to pass on if I didn't have to.
Unfortunately, even the cheapest ones in Germany go for at least 330 Euros.

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huxflux
Any other tips to similiar deals?

~~~
downrightmike
watch the website: [https://www.dealnews.com/Motile-AMD-Ryzen-3-14-Laptop-
for-19...](https://www.dealnews.com/Motile-AMD-Ryzen-3-14-Laptop-for-199-free-
shipping/18256591.html)

Or Ebay has them for ~$220+

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SlipperySlope
Better for Microsoft to skin the linux kernel with a Windows like UI. Run
classic windows programs in a VM similar to the old DOS box.

Problems with Windows stem from legacy code and its antiquated file system.

~~~
yellowapple
Even better would be for Microsoft to contribute to Wine, or to perhaps
develop a proprietary Windows-source-code-derived alternative that they could
sell.

It's highly unlikely that Microsoft would take either approach, but they'd be
better options than putting Windows in a VM.

