On Sun, Dec 02 2012, Walter Dnes wrote: > On Fri, Jul 27, 2012 at 04:10:30PM -0400, Allan Gottlieb wrote >> I am getting a new laptop. (likely dell 6430). >> The two graphics options are intel HD 4000 and nvidia NVS 5200M. >> Dell is as expected suggesting the 5200M. >> >> I do not need 3D or fast response. Dell hinted that DVDs might not play >> with the intel HD 4000. This seems weird to me as the 4000 is supposed >> to be a big improvement over the 3000 and I can't believe dell or others >> would have sold laptops that can't play dvds >> >> Any comments or experiences? > > 2 personal experiences... > > 1) I have a Dell D530, over 4 years old, that could not keep up with the > slowest feed of hockey games on NHLGameCenterLive. The feed runs via > Flash. This was just after I had done a fresh install, and most of the > system was lowest-common-denominator i686 code from the i686 install CD. > After I ran "emerge system" and "emerge world", optimised with CFLAGS... > > CFLAGS="-O2 -march=native -mfpmath=sse -fomit-frame-pointer -pipe" > > ...the machine was able to keep up stutter-free on the low-speed feed. > BTW, my current CFLAGS are... > > CFLAGS="-O2 -march=native -mfpmath=sse -fomit-frame-pointer -pipe > -fno-unwind-tables -fno-asynchronous-unwind-tables" > > 2) I have an early ASUS Atom netbook, 2 gigs ram, with a Poulsbo GMA500. > With the in-kernel GMA500 driver, it plays 720p HD from Youtube no > problem. By setting "mem=1920mb" in the boot parameters, I now have it > playing 1080p just fine even in Youtube's "large player", but not in > fullscreen mode. If this old POS can play 1080p Youtube clips, a newer > machine should easily be able to handle it. > > Additional comments... > > 1) Dell is probably thinking Windows built with lowest-common-denominator > i686 code, running with full visual eye-candy. Yes, that would slow it > down to a crawl. > > 2) Gentoo optimised to your machine has a huge advantage over any binary > distro, be it Windows or linux. > > 3) I run ICEWM, a lightweight but powerful WM with minimal eye-candy. > This allows the CPU and GPU to devote their power to doing stuff you > really want/need. See my sig. > > 4) Use mplayer to play DVDs. It is much lighter than other popular > linux players, and it can be optimised to your machine. My setup... > > [ebuild R ] media-video/mplayer-1.1-r1 USE="X a52 alsa dga encode > gif iconv jpeg mmx mng mp3 opengl png quicktime rtmp sse sse2 ssse3 > theora truetype vdpau vorbis win32codecs x264 xv xvid -3dnow -3dnowext > -aalib (-altivec) (-aqua) -bidi -bindist -bl -bluray -bs2b -cddb -cdio > -cdparanoia -cpudetection -debug -directfb -doc -dts -dv -dvb -dvd > -dvdnav -dxr3 -enca -faac -faad -fbcon -ftp -ggi -gsm -ipv6 -jack > -joystick -jpeg2k -ladspa -libass -libcaca -libmpeg2 -lirc -live -lzo > -mad -md5sum -mmxext -nas -network -nut -openal -osdmenu -oss -pnm > -pulseaudio -pvr -radio -rar -real -rtc -samba -sdl -shm -speex -tga > -toolame -tremor -twolame -unicode -v4l -vidix -xanim -xinerama > -xscreensaver -xvmc -zoran" VIDEO_CARDS="-mga -s3virge -tdfx" > > Note... do *NOT* blindly copy my flags. Select the ones appropriate to > your CPU and GPU and playback/recording needs.
Thank you walter for you thoughtful reply. allan
