Precision 7530 & Precision 7730 owner's thread

The displays run on a different "channel" than everything else. Everything that is not a display runs through the PCIe/Thunderbolt-attached "ASMedia" USB controller which is in the dock. This thing seems particularly flaky. I'm not sure if it is the hardware or the drivers or both. Very interested to hear from someone who has tried the new WD19DC dock which does not have a USB controller built-in (it operates over USB-C and not Thunderbolt; aside from the displays which are still handled over a separate DisplayPort connection, it is basically a glorified USB hub). I suspect that it will operate with basically no problems like the WD15 did. I don't think that I'll be able to get my hands on one until towards the end of the year.

If you have your 7530 through a company, maybe you could get them to spring for one of these docks to try out, since your TB18DC is causing productivity issues...

 

So I got my motherboard replaced, fans seem not to produce this odd sound anymore. Plus I got my performance back, as the new CPU seem to keep up with 8850H in original laptop.

 

Spoken like a true computer scientist: why work when you can be lazy and get the computer to do it for you?

Said 'odd sound' was probably coil whine.

 

Hi All,

I just got a 7530 without discreet graphics. I was pretty happy this was an option as my previous laptop had discreet graphics and always ran hot, noisy and battery would not last long... I'm a sysadmin and mainly use it for server and network administration, apart from the standard email / browsing, docs, etc. I don't do Gaming from this laptop but I do some tasks that are quite memory and CPU intensive...

All that said, I wanted to extend my laptop monitor to 3 external monitors and bought a couple of TB18DC dock's of eBay despite all the bad reviews and complains (I only found out of the new WD19 a couple of days later). After making sure the all firmware and drivers were upgraded I have to say this dock works quite well for me, I've had 0 connectivity problems, etc. BUT, I'm only able to extend to 2 external monitors... Turns out I misunderstood the dock specification that state only 4 monitor configurations require a discreet GPU, when they say 3 are supported they are including the internal laptop monitor in the count. Seems like all Intel integrated GPUs are only able to handle 3 max active displays...

I am aware I can buy the parts to add the discreet GPU to the laptop but makes little sense given my utilization and negative points mentioned above.

I looked into Thunderbolt 3 to DP or HDMI and I believe these are not really external GPUs but just connect the monitor to the internal DP lanes using TB3 so I am guessing this is still limited by the internal Intel GPU, correct?

I also found some USB devices that seem to actually be an external GPU but reviews are normally bad and they seem to take a big performance toll on the laptop...

Is there any good solution to this conundrum? can anyone suggest a device that will do what I and work well without the big performance hit?

Thanks!!!

 

You are right in that USB-C video adapters just use the DisplayPort feature of the USB-C connection. It doesn't add a new GPU.
Have you tried two monitors off of the dock and one connected directly to the system? That's working for us, one user who has 7530 in Optimus configuration (Intel GPU driving the displays). 2x 4K panels attached to TB18DC, another 1080p panel attached via HDMI to the system directly, and the 4K laptop built-in display, all functioning.
If you want an external GPU then you can look into Thunderbolt eGPUs, I think that would be the best way to go for the best experience (if a bit expensive).

 

This is really useful, thanks a lot!

 

Yes, I've tried connecting one directly to the laptop using HDMI and does not work, I mean, as soon as I extend to it one of the other two that were working gets disconnected... Maybe even in Optimus configuration the system uses the discreet GPU for the fourth monitor? because everything I've read says these Intel 6XX GPUs are maxed out at 3 active displays total... The Intel Graphics Control Panel recognizes all 4 monitors but only has 3 drop down selectors:



I'll look into the eGPUs... Thanks!

 

I just checked and you are right. It is reporting three monitors connected to the Intel GPU. One of them was bumped to the NVIDIA GPU.
Interesting. Yes, I think you might be out of luck without an eGPU.

 

Mmm, just looked into the eGPU solution and its really pricey and overkill, I think this is meant for people that wants to do Graphic Design or Gaming on Laptops even beyond what discreet graphics can do... I'm going to try one of those USB 3.0 HDMI Adapters, these use DisplayLink and I was reading that it now has direct integration into Windows 10 and works much better, this is a cheap solution and I can always return it if it does not work, will report back... plus my external monitors are only 1920x1200 which is more than enough for me and should be quite easy to handle for an adapter designed to drive a 4K monitor...

 

I daresay the single biggest problem with the TB18DC is not the fact that it uses ThunderBolt, but rather that it contains an ASMedia USB controller, which is notorious for unstable connections (especially to VR headsets, for instance).

Dell could've used an Intel controller instead, and I expect half the problems would disappear.