Hands on Dell Precision 7710

The new heatsink from Dell compared to the original that needed replacing...



The "new" one is missing a fan connector straight out of the new packaging! Now I'm driving to local store to purchase thermal paste just so I can reassemble with old heatsink. I'm mad, not just at Dell for sending out such an obviously broken part, but also at myself for not seeing this prior to removing the original heatsink. Maybe I'll request they send technician when they resend the new parts as they probably would've caught this prior to dissassembly.

 

On plus side the display bezel installed very easily. I may need to buy extra 3m double side
adhesive if it lifts at all. It seems to want to lift a little in one particular area.

 

I chatted with Dell Pro Support this morning about the new heatsink missing a fan connector and also the new display bezel lifting (see attached photo) and they agreed to resend both parts and also send technician to install them. The less I'm involved in the actual repair the better.

 

Technician is here now, replaced bezel and it is great.

The heatsink though, 2nd replacement, caused temps to reach 100c almost immediately on bootup.

I requested they reinstall the original again, although they assured me it was "normal" to reach those temps.

After removing the new heatsink the thermal compound was completely untouched, meaning it wasn't contacting cpu or gpu at all.

Reinstalling original now and I'll test again.

Not sure what is wrong with it unless technician isn't screwing it down properly. But I'm watching and looks like he was I'll see soon, reinstalling is almost completed

Edit: On bootup it is now a cool 30-45c at idle. Slight fan whine compared to our other 7710, but not crazy bad, which was original reason for the request for parts.

Edit2: attached is a photo of the replacment heatsink after we had removed it when it caused temps to reach 100c. You can see that the thermal compound is untouched which means it wasn't making contact with CPU. Really weird. The technician said it was probably bent and damaged in some way. He tried to compensate by adding more thermal paste ontop of the preapplied thermal compound which just made a mess and no change in temperature. I had to argue with him to reinstall the original, which is why I'm angry. Anyway, I'll probably do all future repairs myself.

 

The 3rd heatsink arrived from Dell.


The box it came in had soft packaging foam, top and bottom. But the box was completely crushed. I checked it anyway to see if it was okay.

I think I can bend this one back into shape to fit but I don't really trust its condition. The heat pipes have some pretty considerable dents from shipping and it is warped pretty good.. It would probably still work though. I'm curious what our Dell Pro Support will come back with, if they will say it is still considered usable or if they will agree with me and send a better one. Hopefully they will send a better one and it will arrive in better condition.

 

Didn't you have a previous one that looked fine but didn't seem to have good contact with the chips underneath? I think even a few mm of bending could mess up the contact on one end of the other, I wouldn't use it... :-\

Man, what's up with these heatsinks?

 

yeah, the previous heatsink (heatsink #2) didn't even contact the chips, but I didn't know why. I suspect it might have been for wrong GPU but I've no idea. I don't think I'll even try this bent up #3 heatsink. Heatsink replacement #1 was missing fan connector wires. I don't know whats up with these heatsinks. It's actually comical.

Dell will keep sending us heatsinks until they send a good one. Needs to be packaged properly though.

 

Our Dell Pro Support contact person responded yesterday saying he's never seen this many issues with a part replacement before:

I don’t think I have ever had this many issue with a part replacement before. Unfortunately we are not able to use any different shipping materials than the standard that always get used. At this point would you like to send it to our ARC to let our in-house techs make the replacement?​

We cannot be without a working laptop while it would be out for repairs. We declined mailing the laptop to Dell ARC (which I think is their inhouse work shop).

Dell Pro Support responded back again with another option to replace the laptop:

At this point I was able to get approval for a system exchange if you would prefer that to sending another heat sink. The exchange process can take up to 12 business days but normally does not take that long.​

I like this idea if it is in fact a brand new 7710 or 7720 and not a refurb. I think if 7720 then a p4000 would be comparable (actually quite alot better) to our existing m5000m in this 7710. I'll update once we come to agreement.

Dell replied back that, due to the age of the 7710 system, they would not be able to replace it with a new system. oookay. So they are sending another heatsink. 4th time

 

With the way their shipping is going with those heatsinks, I wonder if your 7710 would survive being shipped there and back ...?

 

4th heatsink arrived and it shipped here in excellent condition. yay, Excited to get it installed

Edit: Success! The new heatsink #4 is great. Excellent temps even with CPU at 100% and turboed. At the end of the CPU test it quickly cooled back to 38c-40c. And no more whine. Wonderful