Kaby Lake Precision pre-release discussion (5520 / 7520 / 7720)

I like that they didn't drop the docking station connector, even if there is Thunderbolt to connect multiple monitor.

My setup at home has on the docking station: mouse, 3D connexion mouse, scanner, 2 screens and power. From what I understand Thunderbolt (100W) cannot handle the power required by a 7720 (200-300W) so I don't want to have to plug a thunderbolt and power cord when I just have one docking station to plug to get everything working.

 

I agree.

In my opinion, a Thunderbolt dock is a half-assed solution if you have to use two power bricks with a power hungry beast like a Precision 75x0/77x0 (one to power the dock and one to power the laptop).

With a Thunderbolt dock, all that data for hi-res monitors, gigabit network, audio and whatever else is connected to the (USB) ports of the dock, needs to be pushed through a single serial connection. The bandwidth of the Thunderbolt connection is the limiting factor here. That means you can connect a single 5K monitor or two 4K monitors on the dock, but an additional FHD monitor is too much.

The good-old E-Port dock is simply an extension of what is already available on the motherboard. All ports on the dock are wired directly to the motherboard through the pins of the docking connector, including 240W of power and a power-on button. The number of monitors you can connect is only limited by the number of available display ports and the (discrete) GPU.

Why would anyone pay $300 for a half-assed Thunderbolt dock, when you can get an E-Port dock for half that amount (or less)?

My only wish would be that the docking connector returned to its original location near the center of the base instead of the outer edge. That way, we could do without that stupid spacer...

 

(This from a guy who has both docks hooked up to the 7510 simultaneously right now.)

I've noticed a few advantages to the Thunderbolt dock. Namely, I haven't been able to get any 4K displays running at 60 Hz stable off of the ePort dock. While it *should* work, when I try to set the display to 60 Hz, it works for a few seconds, then the display blanks out and comes back up at 30 Hz again. A few other users here have observed similar behavior. I'm not sure what the problem is, I wonder if the connection through the dock is hitting some kind of physical limit when trying to drive 4K/60Hz worth of bandwidth through. (These docks were designed before DisplayPort 1.2 and 4K monitors hit the scene.)

I wonder if the newer (USB 3.0) version of the dock is any different, I don't have one to test with.

My main issue with the TB16 dock is the need for two power connectors, as you mentioned. It's pretty slick with the 5510s that we have, though, because they do not require an additional power connector.

With TB3 becoming standard, these docks can be used with more slim-type machines that do not have the ePort connector on the bottom, and even with non-Dell machines that have a Thunderbolt port. Hopefully the cost comes down over the months/years as more of these are shipped out "into the wild". You can find ePort docks on eBay in the $30 range even though Dell is still asking $220 for them. (TB15 docks were selling on Amazon for over $100 less than the $300 that Dell was asking for, even before they were discontinued by Dell — admittedly, you don't want to buy one of those.)

 

The eport dock is even more tantalizing when you can find it for under $30 brand new from other sellers besides dell. And afterr awhile I've gotten used to the dock without using the plastic spacer. I will eventually try the TB16 dock from sheer curiosity. But I agree that would be nice to keep the existing replicator extension underneath. Amazes me that same dock from 8 yrs ago or so still works great today.. . Just noticed that aaron posted much the same response as I did. Going forward with thinner designs in future might prevent use of underside extension being possible and maybe then it will make more sense to me.

 

Configurator is up in Germany for the 7720. I'm about to pull the trigger but I have questions first.

I want to order the 7720 with a SATA 7200 HDD and when I get it, I will remove the SATA HDD, put it in a closet and install two PCIe NVMe SSD (Samsung 960 Pro). Can I do this out-of-the-box or do I need additional parts (e.g. SSD heatsinks).

Also I choose the Xeon but there is no ECC memory available in the configurator. Is this a mistake in the configurator or won't there be any ECC memory for the 7720 when choosing Xeons?

 

And the configurator is gone again in Germany...

EDIT: Direct link still works.
http://configure.euro.dell.com/dell...7720-laptop&oc=xctop7720emea&s=bsd&vw=classic

 

OMG, the starting price is so high, incredible.

it is now reasonable.

 

Errors:
If you select a 2.5 Primary Drive you cannot add any additional drives. OR If you select a M.2 Primary Drive you must select a Second Additional drive and Third Additional drive. Please use the links provided to amend your selection.

I can't quite figure this out. Is it not possible to have single M.2 drive? I'm after 1TB M2 Class 50

 

New link to customize 7520 on US website

http://www.dell.com/us/business/p/precision-15-7520-laptop/pd?oc=xctop752015_us_sapp&ref=PD_Family

 

I would like to know when there will be support DP1.4 in 7520 with the graphics of NVIDIA? It is very important for me. Thank you.