Precision 7550 & 7750 Owners' Thread

Alienware has a few recent devices with the thunderbolt controller hanging off the CPU PCIe lanes instead of the PCH. For example, the 15R4/17R5 diagram attached. The CPU's 16 lanes are divided into 8x for the dGPU, 4x for thunderbolt and 4x for the 'caldera' (graphics amplifier.) The AGA in this arrangement is actually hot-plugable like TB3, but driver support is not great from the GPU manufacturers so a reboot is still recommended

I've long thought this design would also be preferable for the Precision series, where an external GPU compute/rendering card, fast storage, capture card or other professional hardware could be directly connected to the CPU PCIe lanes instead of the PCH. No mobile GPU currently needs more than 8x PCIe lanes anyway--why not route 8 of those lanes in the precision to the primary NVMe storage device and the thunderbolt controller?

Unfortunately, I think this is a bit too niche for Dell. Besides, if such an option were available, they would not sell as many overpriced mobile Quadros.

Both my 7740 and 7540 had extreme PCH temperatures as well. With an eGPU connected, they could run near 100c.

 

Can't say that I've tried it myself, but I know that NVIDIA did a fair amount of work in their drivers a few years back to make this possible, back when TB3 eGPU solutions were first appearing on the market. (It had the side effect of also improving hotplug support for ExpressCard-based eGPU solutions, which are not officially supported, but I was considering for my M6700 at the time.)

My understanding is that eGPUs can be connected while the system is running with no headache at all. Basically the same rules as a dGPU+Optimus setup apply to determine what the eGPU will be used for. (eGPUs can also be used with Optimus to render content on the laptop internal display. eGPU will take prioirty over dGPU if you have both, but you have to restart any programs already running to get them to use it.) The eGPU can be disconnected without crashing the OS, but it might crash programs that are running on it exclusively.

 

Hello everyone,

long time lurker, first time posting. I got my Precision 7550 a few days ago, and thought I would post here my first impressions (nothing too scientific or methodical, as I had no time so far for benchmarks and the likes). It's has an i7-10875 (8 cores), FullHD non-touch display with 500 cd/m2, 95Wh battery, T2000 GPU, and will be used with Windows 10. Important note: this is my first Precision (I was a long time user of EliteBooks and Latitudes), so I have no basis of comparison with previous generations.

Starting with the build quality: I find it quite good, the whole body feels solid and robust, I can imagine this chassis dealing with years of intensive use without any problems.What I don't like: the hinges are not strong enough to keep the upper chassis (display) "glued" with the lower chassis, somehow there's not enough pressure applied to the two parts. I am used to close the screen lid and feeling the display being pressured down like a strong clamshell, if you know what I mean. But that's not the case with the 7550, when it's closed I can start opening up the screen lid with just a finger and applying minimal force.

As for noise and temperature, I was positively surprised: with regular use (browsing, emails, a few opened office files), it remains extremely quiet. Under a heavier load (like extremely heavy spreadsheets and OCR scripts), the fans become quite present, which is to be expected, but the temperature remains in check (CPU 60-70C). And I have to say, the four profiles of Dell Power Manager are responsively and successfully applied: I switched on the "Quiet" profile a few times during heavy load, and the fans indeed became quieter. On the down side, I find the whole lower chassis to be quite temperature-conductive, and it becomes warmer and warmer with prolonged used, even if the windows usage is barely idle for hours and hours. As a consequence, the keyboard itself becomes warmer and warmer as well, and I find this to be uncomfortable for long typing sessions - which in the end is not that big of a deal as I will use the laptop mainly with external displays, mouse and keyboard.

I ordered this Precision with the cheapest SSD (512GB) and RAM modules (2x8GB). As soon I received it I installed an 970 Pro as a main SSD (the OEM one stays as secondary drive) and installed 2x16GB 2933Mhz as the primary modules. The RAM swap is a bit of a pain in the a**, it shouldn't be so time-consuming and unnecessary complex (why are the two secondary slots, which are of a much easier access, not chosen as primary in the concept phase?!)

With this hardware all set up, the windows usage is a breeze and buttery smooth, there's no delays whatsoever, which is great and makes the long work hours with the laptop quite productive.

Lastly, two things which were a let down:

1. The OEM SSD was installed and shipped on a secondary slot (slot 3 or 5?). When I opened the laptop to install the 970 Pro, I found protective tape (which is used on the lid covering the ssd slots and has "REMOVE" written all over) still attached to the small thermal pads. That means the workers on the assembly didn't remove these protective tapes even though a SSD was installed inside - which in the end reduces the effectiveness of the thermal pads. Had I not opened the laptop, I would have known that this tape was sitting on top of the ssd slot
2. The display has a small black patch right in the middle bottom area!! It's not only a dead pixel, as the affected area has a few millimeters, so many pixels are defective. The display surface is immaculate (it's just a few days old), so this is something internal, and had to be something gone wrong on the assembly line. I have to get in contact with Dell to get the whole display replaced

I'll try to upload a couple of photos of these two issues.

Regards

edit: photo from the protective tapes still in place https://i.imgur.com/7CjkGrp.jpg

 

Welcome, glad you're enjoying your Precision.

I think that under the keyboard is the appropriate place to put the two modules if you purchased your system with only two modules. The idea is that the slots on the bottom, which are easier to access, will be available to easily expand your memory; Dell's thinking is that it is more likely that users will want to add two more modules down the line rather than swap out the initial two.

Regarding the screen, just call up Dell and they should be happy to send someone out to replace the display panel. Twice I've had to do this when I received a panel with a defect out of the box, and it's never been a hassle.

 

Get rid of SupportAssist altogether—it's completely unnecessary. For driver/firmware updates, go to support.dell.com and enter your service tag, and download anything that you need.

 

I was seeing exactly the same thing and was using 'cool' mode but have since reverted back to 'optimised' - as recommended by other forum members, I created a power plan with max processor power state set to 99% and set the windows power mode slider to the middle setting (i.e. not best performance)...that seems to have sorted out the heat under the palm rests and keyboard for me. (I had to do a bit of googling to find out how to enable the max processor power state!).

 

Hello all,

Is it better to have a workstation like the Dell 7750 with a GPU Nvidia Quadro RTX 5000/4000 (powered with 80W) or a gaming laptop like the Alienware with a GPU Nvidia GeForce RTX 2080 Super (powered with 200W) when your goal is to use Siemens NX (CAD software)?
I don't care for the certified driver.
I don't need a certified workstation.
I need the best portability solution without power compromise.

Thanks!

 

The RTX 4000/5000 in the 7750 have a TDP of 110 W, not 80 W (this is in the 7550).

For some reason, CAD software runs several times faster on Quadros than they do on GeForces, even though the former are typically clocked lower.

 

NVIDIA has artificially disabled some hardware rendering features like wireframing (which are used in professional apps but not in games) on GeForce cards.

 

Hello Everyone!
I received my Precision 7750 before an hour. On thing I am noticing is that, there is few millimeter gap between the palm-rest and the lid at closed position. I am having a feeling that it's not closing properly. Is it normal or this particular piece has some issue?
Thanks for your help.