Dell Precision 5510 Owner's Lounge

Things I've had replaced on my 5510 so far:
(It's totally fully pimped BTW)
Xeon 1505 v3 Mobo (issues with solder on the M1000M GPU which I didn't realise were causing the nightmare BSD)
RAM Upgraded to 32GB
SSD Upgraded to 1TB Samsung 960 (But the 951 Polaris was hell and not meant to be sold retail -Samsung)
84WHr battery - it plain old died early,
Left hand fan, got noisy
Keyboard, got spongy
Left hand hinge/ full palmrest - tiny bit of metal snapped making screen wobble.

Apart from that. it's a great machine! Screen's a beaut. That and one fan are the original parts.

 

Make sure that you have the power adapter plugged in, and are not powering the machine from the TB16. I would probably just unplug the TB16 completely. Also, I think you have to install the new Thunderbolt driver before you can update the firmware.

Will try to repeat what you did on my 5510/TB16

 

Anyone experiencing the Dell Backlight Control dimming on bright (web) pages?

They've released a firmware update for the FHD and QHD but NOT the UHD display. I'm experiencing the fugging display going dark when I'm doing graphics shizz and it means my judgement and perception are totally off, and I'm working with a colour calibration device too.

Display brightness senses bright or dark web pages, and adjusts itself according to how it 'perceives' the brightness should be.
It's disgusting, shameful, and screws up with levels on work when we paid thousands of our money to get the best, only for it to become a cretinous joke.

It's NOT the sensor thing in SERVICES.msc. It's NOT the adaptive brightness in power settings, it MAY BE the updated 1.6.1 BIOS. It's totally unprofessional to have this going on with such a high level machine.

My system is fully updated and patched.

I'm running a diagnostics as we speak so I can go to the Dell first line unhelpful script readers, kill half an hour repeating myself three times but making absolutely sure the problem gets passed up the line as high as possible.

I've reset the power settings and done things until I found it was a problem NOT with Intel, NOT Nvidia, NOT Windows 10. It is a problem caused by Dell updates and Dell firmware, absolutely without justification.

I'm a professional imaging content creator, wanting and needing absolute perfection in colour and brightness, not some playschool idiot switching on the lights randomly.
It seems until fixed, Dell want to be the worst.

GB

 

Go back to the previous BIOS and see if the problem goes away. If it does then you have conclusive evidence that it's something in the BIOS.

John

 

If you haven't tried this... I've experienced this issue with a few different machines.
Go to the Intel HD Graphics control panel, find the power options, and turn off "Display Power Saving Technology". (Might have a different name with later versions of the Intel driver, I am writing this from my M6700.) This solves the problem for me.

 

Hey thanks for the replies!
I'm emailed Dell Support a snotty email about lack of support for the UHD, and latterly found a possible patch that i'm just about to try out
http://www.nvgpupro.com/surfacetweaktool/

Rolling back the BIOS in light of the Spectre vulnerabilities is something I'm a bit reluctant to do, though not being disrespectful to the contributor John, advising above, retrograde roll-backs are something tricky when the machine is used in a production environment.

I have disabled all tjhe power tweaks in the Windows power settings too. The Intel control panel doesn't have the option, unlike the M6700.

I used to have the M6600 until it bounced down the stairs, and the screen on the 5510 is the real kicker for me, just the best and most accurate possible. That model line you're keeping is a realy beast, just got too heavy for itself for me...Quadro cards are fantastic (when the soldering isn't shoddy)

If they decide to update me by sending out a replacement screen, then the only remaining original parts will be...the right fan and the bottom casing. One I've got is fine basically...but Dell do tend to replace rather than update.

Cheers!

GB

 

My reason for suggesting it was to determine whether or not your problem is linked to the new BIOS. Once you have determined this then reload the new BIOS. However, I'm not 100% sure that a BIOS roll-back includes everything which was updated.

John

 

Hello everyone,

Is it 'safe' to update to the new bios 1.6.1 for the Precision 5510? This uppdate is being offered by SupportAssist. I understand this update is needed to be protected against the Spectre vulnerability.

Although i am not aware of any malware that uses this vulnerability it`s best to be protected from within. I have not yet updated my bios because i don`t want any issues.

 

I've noticed no adverse effects.

John

 

Thanks John! How long have you been on 1.6.1?