Razer blade 15 1070maxq and CUDA programming Ubuntu 18.04

Hey, yesterday I tried to install CUDA toolkit on my machine on Ubuntu 18.04, I followed the official nVidia instructions to do that and well, it didn't go so well, linux crashed, and I couldn't repair it. I suspect that integrated intel card was the culprit, but I might be wrong.
I formatted the linux and I want to try again, and here's my question, did anyone tried to install CUDA on the blade?? If so, can you share with me the steps to do that?

 

This is the initial step process I used: https://www.pugetsystems.com/labs/hpc/How-to-install-CUDA-9-2-on-Ubuntu-18-04-1184/ Some thing you may have to figure out otherwise. There are multiple methods of installing it, the one that worked for me was using the CUDA runfile and pressing ctrl-alt-f1 to go into terminal with no GUI and installed it trough there. Had to use this process here: https://askubuntu.com/questions/149206/how-to-install-nvidia-run

If you have specific issues with your CUDA installation I recommend googling the issue. As of now CUDA runs perfectly as far as I can tell on my Razer Blade 15 2019 with rtx 2060.

 

How is the fan noise when you do CUDA related stuff?

 

It's not that bad actually, but it's pretty noticeable in quiet room, the gpu stays at around 70 degrees and it depends how intensive your work is for the gpu.

 

As the user stated above, fan noise will vary for how you utilize the GPU. My current model does not use the whole GPU as it can be and so fan noise tends to be somewhat lower than normal gaming.

 

Hi Fceku, how'd things end up? I'm about to embark on a similar set up to you - 18.04 dual booted with Windows 10, on the same model Razer you have. How's the battery life on Ubuntu? Any issues with installing / setting up the dual boot I should be aware of?

 

I'd recommend looking up to see how well the hardware for your version of the laptop is supported on 18.04. I had to install ubuntu 19.04 to make sure all my components were working properly. Also I installed Bumblebee after installing CUDA which makes the operating system run of the integrated graphics and not the dedicated GPU. Now when I want to test my CUDA application I just type "optirun appname." With that the battery can last me 5+ hours of coding/running my program (mostly for debugging purposes so battery life will depend on how long you run your CUDA app).

 

Thanks man, that's really helpful - I could go with 19.04 if that's more stable and requires less tweaking. I think running with integrated graphics on Ubuntu is probably ideal for me, as I can do any GPU-intensive things on the WIndows side. Did you trackpad, wifi, etc., all work essentially out of the box with 19.04? 5+ hours sounds very reasonable.

 

For me that's what worked best, but your mileage may vary. I'd recommend trying to see if Ubuntu 18.04 works - and if it doesn't try 19.04 since the newer version isn't the long term support. I had to switch to 19.04 because 18.04 didn't support the CoffeeLake integrated intel gpu and updating the kernal didn't help me. I tried about 5 different distros of ubuntu and the one that just worked best after small tweaks was the normal 19.04 ubuntu. Another tweak I'd highly recommend is Fusuma to add gestures to the touchpad - they've really increased my productivity on it.
The only issue I can recall that I've had is after I put my laptop to sleep it'll keep going to sleep after a little bit after I turn it back on. All my drivers worked out of the box except the Nvidia driver, I'd bet I can get around 7-8 hours of use if my brightness on the screen is really low and I'm just doing coding/pdf reading/light googling.

 

That's good to know - I'm looking at the i7-8750, which is also Coffee Lake, so 19.04 is probably the safer bet for me (even though extended support on 18.04 would be nice). Thanks re. Fusuma, I'll make a note to try it out. Is the sleep issue much of a problem? Doesn't sound like a big deal to be honest, but I do open / close my laptop pretty often.

Did you go full Linux, or dual boot Windows 10?

 

Oh, and sorry, forgot to add to the previous question - any luck with external displays while on Ubuntu?

 

I've dual booted, as long as you follow instructions online its pretty much cake. And I have a thunderbolt or usb c display at home but I've been away for two months so I can tell ya when I get back in a week or two. I'm assuming it should work fine though as it worked fine on my older laptop.

 

Thanks for all your replies here, really appreciate it. I pulled the trigger and ordered a Blade, which should arrive in the next day or two. I'll go down the 18.04 dual boot path, and if the doesn't work go with 19.04 - and report back!