Precision 7530 & Precision 7730 owner's thread

I’m using Dell Precision 7730 with Ubuntu 16.04 LTS[came with system] and having P5200 GPU along with 64 GB Ram and I’m facing a small issue , whenever system comes back from the sleep , screen flickers for the few seconds and then it goes away. It mostly happening when sleep time is longer.


Is anyone experienced this issue or know any solution?

 

I sometimes encounter another issue with the 7530: the screen turns black and the computer is locked. Neither the power button nor any inputs are working; only "Num Lock" light respond when pressing it. A few moment later, nothing is working anymore. Event Id 6008 is logged in event viewer.

 

I'm experiencing something similar on Debian Stretch, Linux 4.18, AMD 4150 on my 7530. Haven't put much effort into figuring it out yet because it's a small issue, but if I figure out a solution I'll let you know.

 

Are you using the TB18 docking station?
I've had this occur too, once, after unplugging the docking station.

 

I am using WD15 docking station; however this occured during a wake up, and also when I was using it in normal condition without the docking station.
Next time I'll try to ping it.

 

I've been using my 7530 (i9-8950hk, 64 Gb RAM, Quadro P2000, FHD screen + external 4k monitor) with Linux for about 2 weeks. Mainly as a desktop workstation.

Here's my feedback:

- good build quality. I find the TB18DC connection a bit loose, though. As the cable is thick and somewhat rigid, occasionally the dock gets disconnected when the laptop is moved.

- undervolted to -145 mV and stable. Low load temps are around 45-55°C, fans not spinning. Fans start whenever temps reach 60°C. I find them high-pitched (my laptop is on a VESA mount - hence fans noise may not be as muffled as they would be with the laptop on the desk)

- artificial load gives 4.2 Ghz on all cores, then throttles to 4 GHz and stays there. Temps got up to 95°C then down to 80°C. 4.5 to 4.6 GHz in single core, stable. I never hit 4.8 Ghz, or perhaps in very short spikes I couldn't monitor.

- TB18DC dock works on Linux. I had to disable C-State in BIOS for USB to work. Audio, ethernet and other ports work fine

- battery life is sub-par. I didn't try it extensively, but I suppose it's somewhere between 3 to 5 hours. New battery is 95% capacity.
Indeed there's a relatively high power consumption, even when idling (10 to 15 W).
I use TLP, and PowerTOP to monitor energy consumption. I'm not super-confident with the latter, because it reports high consumption for ethernet. I believe the NVidia card messes up with consumption stats. I get more consistent stats with Intel video card, but I can't use Intel on a daily basis because it looks like I cannot drive any external monitor if using Intel-only video (I guess this is all about wiring).

In the end this laptop conveniently replaces my old setup (desktop workstation + low-end laptop). It's powerful and stable. Overall it's silent, but as I live in a quiet area I find the fans to be noisy when they spin up. I'm surprised the double TB3 dock ports would not stick in, and be prone to disconnect when moving the laptop. Eventually there are battery optimizations to be done, and I suppose on Linux that means a bit of tinkering to identify the culprits and reduce power consumption.

 

Instructions for undervolting in Linux You've used?

 

@ksm123
There are several utilities available. All are command line based
The easiest I could find is iuvolt.

 

Which distro are you using? Also, are you using HDMI, USB-C, or Displayport for your external display?

 

Using Kubuntu 18.04 (upgraded from Dell's OEM Ubuntu).
External display is usually on DP through the dock, or on HDMI (direct connection).