System76 Adder WS - Review

by Bit Jockey

I recently got a System76 Adder WS laptop to use primarily for machine learning applications and so far, I'm impressed. This is the first laptop I've owned that was specifically built to run Linux and it's nice just having things work out of the box.

I've been using it as my primary machine for about a few months now, and here are my thoughts on it.

Adder WS Specs

These are the specs I configured for my machine when I bought it:

  • Pop!_OS 19.10 (64-bit) with full-disk encryption
  • Graphics Card: 8 GB GDDR6 RTX 2070 w/ 2304 CUDA Cores
  • Display: 15.6" Glossy 4K OLED
  • Processor: 4.5 GHz i7-9750H (2.6 up to 4.5 GHz - 12MB Cache - 6 Cores - 12 Threads)
  • Memory: 32 GB Dual Channel DDR4 at 2666MHz (2× 16GB)
  • Storage: 1 TB NVMe Seq Read: 3,500 MB/s, Seq Write: 3,300 MB/s
  • Power: Removable 6 cell Smart Lithium-Ion battery pack 62Wh
  • Dimensions: 1.18" x 14.13" x 10.16" (29.97 x 358.90 x 258.06 mm) [Height x Width x Depth]

First Impressions

  • The build quality is good, it seems as solid as my ThinkPad T480, with a mix of plastic and aluminium.
  • The keyboard keys are soft, but firm. It's hard to describe, but it's really comfortable to type on.
  • The touchpad has 2 physical buttons for clicking/right-clicking (although you can just use the touchpad).
  • There's an RGB keyboard effect on boot that's utterly useless but fun to watch.
  • It's not exactly a slim machine but that's to be expected for a portable workstation like this. On that note, it's also not the lightest laptop out there so if you're looking for an ultrabook, this is not one.
  • The screen is sharp and bright. Call me superficial but that's one thing I missed from having a MacBook Pro, a HiDPI screen.