System76 has been selling Linux desktops and laptops for years, and now the company has revealed an updated Sevrval WS laptop. The latest model has an Intel Core Ultra 9 processor, NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5070 graphics, and of course, full support for desktop Linux.
The Serval WS is one of the most powerful laptops in the System76 PC lineup, behind only the 18-inch Bonobo WS. The new Serval WS has an Intel Core Ultra 9 275HX processor, with 8 performance cores, 16 efficiency cores, and a maximum turbo frequency of 5.4 GHz. It’s one of the Series 2 Core Ultra processors. The base model has 32GB DDR5 RAM, but you can configure it with up to a whopping 92GB. That’s a lot of Chrome tabs.
There’s only one option for the graphics card: an NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5070 Ti. That will give you plenty of power for GPU-accelerated workloads, like video editing, 3D modelling, and local AI models. That’s also more than enough CPU and GPU power for PC games. System76 said in a press release, “With faster graphics, the Serval WS laptop is now better equipped than ever to run AAA games and helpful AI tools. These use cases are also supported by up to 96GB of DDR5 RAM, which is, as some experts might say, a lot of RAM.”
The screen is a large 16-inch matte display, with a resolution of 2560×1660 (roughly 2K), a 16:10 aspect ratio, and a refresh rate of 240Hz. Even when you’re not playing games, that higher refresh rate makes all system animations feel smoother and more responsive.
For storage, the main drive is a 1TB PCIe 4 SSD, configurable up to a 4TB PCIe 5 drive with up to 14,800 MB/s read and 13,400 MB/s write speeds. There’s also a second NVMe drive slot—you can buy the laptop with more storage installed in that slot, or just do it yourself later. Wi-Fi 7, 2.5G Ethernet, and Bluetooth 5.4 connectivity is also included.
Just like all the other PCs from System76, the Serval WS is built to run desktop Linux with all hardware features fully supported. You can configure it with Pop!_OS 22.04, Ubuntu 22.04, or Ubuntu 24.04 as the preinstalled operating system. Most other modern desktop Linux distributions should work as well, but the NVIDIA graphics might require more setup on some operating systems. You can also install or dual-boot Windows.
Related
COSMIC Is the Linux Desktop of the Future
System76 just released the first public alpha version of its new desktop environment.
Interestingly, the Serval WS is not using System76’s custom EFI firmware, at least not yet. The product page lists Insyde BIOS as the firmware, and it promises “an upgrade to System76 Open Firmware will be available once development for the new Intel platform is complete.”
You can buy the Serval WS from the System76 online store. The pricing starts at $2,999, with 30-day returns and a 1-year warranty. Pre-orders are starting now, with shipping expected to begin in “late May.”
Source: System76
