Dell Precision 7540 and 7740 Owner's Thread

Here you'll find what you're looking for:
http://forum.notebookreview.com/thr...40-owners-thread.830037/page-13#post-10947472

 

Whoops, I searched this thread for “AUO” but not the full name. Thanks.

 

Hi guys. I really couldn't go through all the pages. I have been using an m7510 since 2016. I run about 20 vmware guests on 64GB or ram and 5TB of SSD daily as a lab. The m7510 has been going pretty strong with this mix of linux and windows guests tuned to stay below the 64GB ram limit. I have two issues which are pushing me to upgrade to an m7540. I started using more windows 2016/2019 vms and these OSs do not play fair with the i7-6820HQ. Windows 2019 is less stressful. Windows 2016 just hoggs the cpu to 100% whenever there is any important load. I'm talking 10 windows 2016 vms or more plus other linux vm like bigip and a firewall plus some user workstation simulation vms like windows 7/8/10 and some Windows 2003/2012/2012R2 vms. When using only 2012R2 for server configurations the i7 does well. When dealing with 2016/2019 I get a lot of lag and 100% cpu usage. I'm using vmware workstation 15. And the second issues is the 64 GB limit. I bought a 32GB module to see if the m7510 can go beyond the intel arc/dell website statement that the max limit of this model is 64GB and sadly I couldn't go beyond 64GB. In my tests I even had windows showing 80GB of ram but only 64GB usable. The bios shows correct separate values for each slot but reports only 64GB. So long story short I'm moving to a 7540, no choice here if I want to keep my lab running smooth. Please don't go into the trouble of suggesting other solutions like cloud based vms and all that. I like my setup and I'm happy with it and I'm always on the move with my laptop. So is anyone running a similar load of vms on the i9 7540 config? I guess the i9 7540 with 128GB of ram will be more than enough for my needs. I don't play games and I don't do graphic editing.
My m7510 ram ugrade tests are here:
http://forum.notebookreview.com/threads/precision-7510-owners-thread.783108/page-184

 

I just found out I can not use a second 2.5 ssd drive with the 6 cell battery ! How is this possible?
When I choose a 500GB 2.5 disk I get this:
The 6-cell 97Wh Lithium Ion battery is not compatible with the 2.5" 7mm Hard Drive or 2nd Hard Drive or 3rd Hard Drive. Please change your selection.

I have 5TB of ssd on my current m7510 so I don't need any ssd drives. I'll be reusing the 5TB.
1TB nvme and 4TB 860 evo

 

The 6-cell 97 Whr battery is 50% larger than the 4-cell, and occupies the space that would otherwise be used for a 2.5" drive.

Consider moving to an all-M.2 array. There currently exist 4 TB drives, and three of which would more than double your current capacity.

 

Well that's gonna make the laptop cost a bit higher than expected. I 'll get the 4-cell for now and upgrade later to full nvme. I have an external custom 12x18650 power bank which can help with additional juice if needed.

 

Someone asked me to post these results here.

I did a 3DMark benchmark, using the following settings:



Results are below:






The validation warning is just a warning saying that my processor is not recognized.

Specs are visible on the screenshots. I have the 4K screen and 64GB RAM. Hope this helps.

 

Other than the spec boost, the machines are pretty similar so I think that you should be able to get set up quickly. One difference as you noticed is the drive setup; you can no longer have both the large battery and a 2.5" drive installed simultaneously. On the plus side, the system can be configured with 3x NVMe drives (if you do not have a 2.5" drive installed) whereas the 7510 could only have two drives. Also, I believe two of the three M.2 slots support M.2 SATA drives (i.e. Samsung 860 EVO M.2) so that could save you some money if you don't care about the performance difference. You could for example configure your system with a M.2 SSD for the system drive at the capacity that you like, and the larger battery, and then separately purchase two 2TB M.2 SATA drives and set them up in a 4TB array for extra storage.

Another key difference is the disappearance of the e-port dock. If you use a dock then your options are restricted to Thunderbolt or USB-C docks (TB18DC, WD19DC) which... are a bit more flaky than the e-port docks were.

 

Here's a few more 3DMarks with similar results:

 

Actually they aren't so similar when looking closer. Interesting...