Dell Precision 5510 Owner's Lounge

I also downloaded from Windows 10 from MS and did a clean install. I asked the same question a while back, since I also feel like I haven't been having mainly issues like some here. Although, John Ratsley is correct that the battery problem was solely a BIOS issue, so it had nothing to do with the Windows build.

Personally, I like to clean install everything myself so that I know exactly what's running on my machine and I can cut out any bloat. An OEM Windows image just always feels cluttered to me, and now that MS is adding it's own bloat, I imagine it's even worse.

 

I think you already answered my question with "The 90W seems adequate for CPU-only work, but am seeing lag when try use anything with the dGPU. The 90W is close to the performance I see with the 84Whr battery."

But... Just to clarify..

The 5510 will never draw from it's battery with a power adapter plugged in, even if that power adapter is inadequate to meet the current load demanded by the CPU/GPU?

My thinking is that I'd be ok with the system simply maintaining a stable charge level when plugged into a 60W power adapter during use. And if use becomes heavy, I'd like it to draw additional current from the battery to allow for maximum performance, even if that means draining the battery (a slower rate than w/o the power supply.) From what Bokeh has said, it seems that this is not a possibility?

 

Which Linux distribution do you run? I'm interested in running Ubuntu on my 5510, and when I looked into it a bit, I read that the version that Dell ships on the OEM Ubuntu 5510's has a modified/customized kernel for better hardware compatibility. Apparently, Dell doesn't offer the image for download anywhere, probably due to some licensing issue with either Microsoft or Canonical. Anyway, I'm interested to know if you're running the Dell modified Ubuntu image or something else, and how your system stability is with that distro.

Thanks!

 

AFAIK, no Precision system will draw from the battery while plugged into power, and the power constraints are completely handled via throttling. I personally think that this is appropriate behavior, battery power should be preserved for when you might be away from the outlet, but I can see why some people would like to have the option to draw from battery for extra computational power. I think more complex electronics may be involved to make this work (mixing power from two sources), but obviously it can be done, Apple does it in the MacBook line.

 

This is interesting to me, the XPS 15 with 1TB NMVe PM951 was giving me lots of errors/bsod's, which is why I opted for a basic 256GB M.2 SSD and anticipate I'll put the savings on selecting that spec to buying a more appropriate 1TB when the best one is established, and also buying a M.2 to USB3 enclosure to make use of the 256GB as a super fast backup stick.

I've just got the Thule Gauntlet 3 MBP case and the 5510 fits in it perfectly! very nice solid sleeve, shame the psu wont fit too.

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Thule-Gaun...qid=1474410582&sr=1-2&keywords=thule+gauntlet

Although heat build up would possibly prevent using it while in the case, it is possible to do so thanks to elasticated connected sides, and if using it on battery in that scenario, it would be possible to throttle back all the hardware I suppose.

I did want to find the TAS-115 which seems to also have a water resistant zip (no longer on sale), would be ideal for downpours in a backpack

 

Haven't been on in a while, but I have a consistent problem with my 5510 - overheating from the graphics card being pushed beyond what it can handle. What is frustrating is that the graphics load doesn't seem high to me as I'm just running AutoCAD 2016 (I use the 5510 plugged into an external monitor with the laptop closed). Inevitably, after a certain period of time the machine slows down considerably which corresponds to high heat and high fan noise. I've been considering an external graphics card solution, but it doesn't seem like there's a good option for this at the moment.

Anyone have thoughts or recommendations?

 

Keep it open and see if that helps?

 

why use a laptop cooler like notepal ?

 

Keep it open! There are vents along the inside of the screen hinge. Open or closed, these vents have no outlet beneath the laptop. When the laptop is open, air flows upward (perpendicular to the keyboard) from the gap between the base and the hinge after it exits the vents. When the display is closed the airflow out of these vents is almost completely blocked.



I'm pretty sure all of the vents on the bottom of the laptop are intakes based on the design of the fans, and blocking the hot air from exiting through the intended vents will render the fans almost useless.

 

Yes, the cooling for this one is air in from the bottom and out below the screen. The screen needs to stay open for it to work the best.
(Larger machines like the 7510/7710 have air in from the bottom and out the back, so they can cool properly with the screen closed.)