galp5-benchmarks.md

Benchmarks

Geekbench 5

• GB5 CPU Single-threaded: 1656
• GB5 CPU Multi-threaded: 5704
• GB5 dGPU Compute (CUDA): 45138
• GB5 dGPU Compute (OpenCL): 44401
• GB5 iGPU Compute (OpenCL): 13295

Blackmagic RAW Speed Test (8K)

• CPU: 19-29fps
• iGPU: 19-21fps
• dGPU: 20fps

galp5-review.md

Context

• I received my first galp5 (iGPU) about 30 days ago; replacement galp5 (dGPU) arrived yesterday (defective thunderbolt port on first)
• I don't use my laptop as a daily driver as I'm working from home and I have a desktop workstation (HP Z840)
• Been a Linux desktop (Pop!_OS) user for about 100 days, migrated from macOS (10.5 - 10.14), have lightly managed linux servers for ~10 years
• Previous laptops:
  • 2007 15" MBP
  • 2011 15" MBP
  • 2010 17" MBP
  • 2011 17" MBP
  • 2014 15" rMBP dGPU
  • 2015 15" rMBP dGPU
• Galp5 was purchased primarily for software engineering for the web (docker containerization and JavaScript bundling)
• Secondarily, this machine should be a light media workstation for the field (photo and video media management) as well as docked in an office (photo editing and video post-production)
• Other machines passed up for the galp5:
  • Apple 2020 M1 13" MBP
  • Apple 2019 16" MBP
  • System76 Lemur Pro (lemp10)
  • other i7-1165G7 laptops (Dell XPS 13" I think?)

Builds tested

https://system76.com/laptops/galago

i7 iGPU ($1,198)

• Intel® Iris® Xe Graphics
• i7-1165G7 CPU
• 8GB DDR4 3200MHz (self upgraded to 32GB (2x16) DDR4 3200MHz)
• 500GB NVMe PCIe 3 (WD Blue)

i7 dGPU ($1,447)

• NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1650 4GB VRAM (to my surprise, I received a 1650Ti)
• i7-1165G7 CPU
• 8GB DDR4 3200MHz (self upgraded to 32GB (2x16) DDR4 3200MHz)
• 500GB NVMe PCIe 3 (WD Blue, later self upgraded to 1TB ADATA SX8200)

Pros

Port selection

• 1x Thunderbolt4/USB4
• 1x USB-C 3.1 rev2 (10Gbps)
• 2x USB-A 3.1 rev1 (5Gbps)
• 1x HDMI (full-size)
• RJ-45 1GbE
• 1x 3.5mm audio combo headset jack
• SDXC card reader

Performance (see benchmarks)

My goal was to best my 2015 rMBP dGPU with an iGPU build and aside from the lack of VRAM (and support from DaVinci Resolve for Intel iGPU), it's a success. With the dGPU, it's a blow out. Simply put, it performs well in comparison to all computers and performs excellently when compared to thin and light laptops. The ethernet (1Gbps) and USB ports (5Gbps and 10GBps) all perform at practical limits while the SDXC card reader is pretty fast (80MB/s) though doesn't seem to support UHS-II.

Open firmware

• keyboard layout customization (I've got mine mimicking my '15 MBP, NOTE: this can now be done from within OS with System76/Pop!_OS Keyboard Configurator, available in the Pop!_Shop)
• fan curve personalization
• fan smoothing improvements

Open OS

• improved power profiles allowing better performance

Keyboard

• layout
• key travel
• typeface printed on keys

Trackpad

• size
• tap + click on trackpad itself

Portability

Nice and light at just over 3lbs, 14" screen might be the sweet spot (if not a touch too small given the scaling).

Customer/User experience

I've contacted System76 dozens of times (pre-sales, during assembly, technical support) and I've had pleasant experiences. Questions answered sufficiently, problems either solved or clarified and my first galp5 return accepted painlessly. Additionally, my interactions with engineers on chat and GitHub have been fantastic. I've never touched Rust (language), but there's a channel on chat just for learning Rust and with a couple of pointers I was able to submit a pull request

Cons

Battery life

While I haven't tested this thoroughly, looks like 3-4 hours of casual browser use.

Standyby battery drain

When in standby (clamshell shut), expect ~2%/hour or about 48 hours of total standby time. I'll look into implementing hiberation myself if it becomes a bother. System76 recommends shutting down rather than standby, doesn't sound like they're working on improving standby time. UPDATE: I've enabled suspend-then-hibernate using this as a rough guide. Laptop will now hibernate after 2 hours of suspend. Unfortunately, on Pop!_OS 20.10, resuming from hibernation only works with "integrated graphics" mode seleceted, likely some NVIDIA driver bug or incompatibility.

Screen resolution and quality

16:9 1080p and sRGB gamut :/ Not a deal breaker thus far.

Speaker volume & quality

Truly, the low point of this package. Doesn't matter much to me thankfully.

Trackpad

Not as smooth as Apple and the clicking becomes "harder" towards the top of the trackpad. I've adjusted by now, but I wasn't sure that I would initially.

Fan noise (pitch/timbre)

While I've updated firmware to make the fan curve and smoothness of adjustment to my liking, it's true that the fan noise is a bit high-pitched. It's taken me a long while to realize, but the high-pitch fan noise on my machine is not the fan itself but the air that's being pushed out. With the galp5 on my lap, I can tilt and move the laptop around and modify that sound. So it's actually something of a whistle noise that is less a problem when on a desk.

System76 Hardware support

If you're in the US, I'd say you should be confident that actual defects will be handled by S76, but you'll likely be out of a laptop while they handle it. For example, my first galp5 had a bad Thunderbolt 4 port. Within the first 30 days, I was able to return the machine for a full refund and return shipping covered. S76 was unable to offer me advance or cross shipment of a replacement (or perhaps my addition of a dGPU configuration made that impossible, can't remember) and instead I purchased a replacement (out of pocket), waited for it to arrive, and then returned the old one so that I wasn't without laptop for any length of time.

Later, the top cover of the chassis (what surrounds the keyboard) developed a crack. I decided to have it repaired at no cost during the 12 month warranty period, but this time I'd be without a laptop for a month or so. I picked up a Frame.work DIY edition with no RAM or storage and just migrated those from my galp5 before I sent the galp5 off for repair. So while S76 took care of these two issues, you should be aware of these details. On the other hand, they are eager to hold your hand through any repairs that can be done by an end user. Supposing you had bad memory or storage, I believe they'd ship those to you rather than you shipping them your machine. Ask S76 directly though, I had so many tickets open before making a purchase.

pretty good review comarade, do you consider is worht the price ?

pretty good review comarade, do you consider is worht the price ?

Yes, I'm happy with the purchase. It's money well spent. I have a DIY i5 framework on order right now and I'd say that's worth looking into to as well.