Precision 7550 & 7750 Owners' Thread

The Dell Precision 7550 and 7750 are the 15.6" and 17.3" successors to the Precision 7540 and 7740.

Notable changes include the following:

• The change from 4 smaller exhaust vents to 2 larger rear vents
• Smaller chassis and slimmer side bezels
• Removal of the PointStick, consolidation of PgUp & PgDown into Fn key shortcuts,
• A new hinge design, and the removal of the internal magnesium structure frame. There is now a small "inner frame" to provide some structural rigidity. The hinges are also attached to the base unit (the plastic upper palmrest assembly) instead of attached to the frame (like prior mobile Precision models).

Other changes:

• 9th to 10th generation Intel processors
• Increased memory speeds for mid to upper tier configurations (DDR4-2933)
• No 2.5" drive bay support
• On the 7750, 4 M.2 NVMe slots are available; however, only 3 of those slots are SATA compatible.
• A new option for UHD HDR600 displays with 800 nits of brightness, a native 5000:1 contrast ratio, and 100% Adobe RGB coverage. Dell promotes these displays as having a "2D backlight", which is akin to a MicroLED backlight that uses local dimming. This display option is currently unavailable as of launch.

Notes:

• Display aspect ratio remains unchanged at 16:9, unlike the Precision 5550 and 5750, which is based off of the new XPS and are 16:10.

The Nvidia graphics options are mostly the same, with the T1000, T2000, RTX 3000, RTX 4000, and RTX 5000 on offer. It remains to be seen whether the TDP set for these cards are the same as the 7540 and 7740.

Intel-only graphics options are available in some configurations.

There are currently no AMD CPU or GPU options as of launch.

Detailed Specifications

Service Manual

 

I have a 7550 on the way.

Specs:

• Mobile Precision 7550 CTO Base
• Intel Xeon W-10885M (8 Core, 16MB Cache, 2.40 GHz to 5.30 GHz, 45W, vPro)
• E5 US Power Cord
• M.2 512GB PCIe NVMe Class 50 Solid State Drive
• Intel AX201 2x2 + Bluetooth 5.1 Driver
• Windows 10 Pro for Workstations (4 Cores Plus) Multi - English, French, Spanish
• Bottom Cover with Smart Card Door Opening
• 180W E5 Power Adapter (EPEAT)
• Internal Dual Pointing Backlit Keyboard, US English
• 15.6" UHD, 3840x2160, 60Hz, Anti-Glare, Non-Touch, 100% Adobe, 500 Nits, IRCamMic/WLAN
• 16GB, 2X8GB, DDR4 2933Mhz Non-ECC Memory
• Intel® Wi-Fi 6 AX201 Wireless Card
• Palmrest with Smart Card, FIPS Fingerprint reader & NFC
• 6 Cell 95Whr ExpressCharge Capable Battery
• NVIDIA Quadro RTX 3000 w/6GB GDDR6
• Intel vPro Technology Enabled
• Intel Xeon W-10885M (8 Core, 16MB Cache, 2.40 GHz to 5.30 GHz, 45W, vPro)

Est. Arrival 6/19. Will test. Hoping that the fan control has been improved from the 5 fixed speeds in prior Precision models.

 

Oh.... I didn't know you could configure with non-ECC memory!

Homer

 

Dell has been using basically the same fan strategy in the EC for about a decade (between Precision and other systems as well) so I don't have high hopes that it will be changed in this model. It's already been explicitly stated that there won't be any more control than previously (just four modes: balanced, cool, quiet, high performance — though now you can select in the BIOS instead of just in the Dell Power Manager app).

 

It's very unfortunate that they're doing this. Some of Dell's high-end consumer offerings (eg. Alienware) have much smoother fan control algorithms. Creature comforts aren't at the forefront of a workstation, but given that many of these machines are multi-purpose, it would be a good idea for them to make this change. They can still have the fixed speeds, but I wish the fans would change speed in a smoother fashion. Their desktop and fixed-workstation offerings also have much more granular control over the fans.

 

Let's invite our creative BIOS folks to let's say "adapt" a setting to be more custom. Just thinking out loud here...

@SlurpJug: I'm sending in a recommendation based on yours, bumping the video to a 5000 and making the SSD Opal-2. I also dropped NFC and fingerprint reader as our IT doesn't support those. Here's hoping it gets approved! We can add on a 1TB NVMe for ~$220. as opposed to $800 from Dell. I'd be curious to know how big an SSD heat sink this can accommodate.

Homer

 

Sounds good! If you can post the 5 character alphanumeric part number for the RTX 5000 (it's tied to your machine's service tag, which you may not be able to access until the machine has been delivered to you) that would be great. We are considering post-purchase GPU upgrade possibilities. Will post the one for RTX 3000 once I'm able to get the service tag of mine.

@Ionising_Radiation

 

So, I managed to get the part numbers for the Quadro RTX 3000, 4000, and 5000, for the 7550. The part descriptions are exactly the same as their 7540 counterparts, so I don't know how Dell is going to differentiate. I have also asked for the 7750 part numbers, and we'll see what they say. Here goes:

Code:

Quadro RTX 3000 ----- 464HC ----- CRD,GRPHC,NV,N19E-Q1,DGFF2
Quadro RTX 4000 ----- 045DG ----- CRD,GRPHC,NV,N19E-Q3,DGFF2
Quadro RTX 5000 ----- KTVG5 ----- CRD,GRPHC,NV,N19E-Q5,DGFF2

 

I haven't heard of anyone successfully modifying the fan curves or behavior in the BIOS. There is limited control available by issuing commands to the EC.

I have in the last week come up with a new fan control mechanism for the Precision line. It "locks" the fan speed at the lowest level that the EC normally runs at (≈2400 RPM). If the CPU temperature increases above a configurable threshold (say, 80 °C?) then it will release fan control to the EC and the fans can ramp up. When the CPU and fans cool back down then it will lock the fan level again. It is working on both my Precision M6700 and Precision 7530.

Not a totally ideal solution, but it improves things a bit over the stock configuration:
* The fans will never shut off. (I find the default on-again-off-again behavior to be annoying. The M6700 in particular makes a very noticeable sound when it starts the fans up from 0 RPM.)
* The fan speed will remain constant during moderate computing operations that do not push the CPU temperature above the unlock threshold.

...And it solves a few issues I have with the existing customizable control options (DellFanCmd+SpeedFan, or HWiNFO64):
* These solutions only allow for three fan levels ("off", "medium"/2100RPM, and "high"/4400RPM); the difference between "medium" and "high" is especially jarring and the allowing the EC to control the fan at high CPU temperatures will smooth that out a bit.
* The lowest level that the EC runs at is actually a little bit higher than the "medium" setting that you can force it to, keeping things a bit cooler in idle mode. Also, the EC can run the fans higher than the "high" setting that you can force it to, so with manual fan control you will never be able to get things as cool as you can with the EC in charge.

I will be publishing the source code and information on how to use the solution to the DellFanCmd thread sometime probably within the next 2-3 weeks. It needs some polish and stability testing first.
(I also have a .NET library for issuing the EC commands which I will publish at the same time, if any dev-types want to take a stab at their own solution without having to dip down into C++.)

 

@SlurpJug, @Aaron44126,

I have managed to procure the part numbers for the 7750 as well. The Quadro RTX 3000 is precisely the same part as in the 7550, which leads me to think that users of the 7550 should be able to use the 7750 cards instead, to achieve a 30 W boost for free (nice!)

I get a feeling the only difference between the 7550 and 7750 RTX 4000/5000 cards are the VBIOS programming.

Code:

7550
Quadro RTX 3000 ----- 464HC ----- CRD,GRPHC,NV,N19E-Q1,DGFF2
Quadro RTX 4000 ----- 045DG ----- CRD,GRPHC,NV,N19E-Q3,DGFF2
Quadro RTX 5000 ----- KTVG5 ----- CRD,GRPHC,NV,N19E-Q5,DGFF2

7750
Quadro RTX 3000 ----- 464HC ----- CRD,GRPHC,NV,N19E-Q1,DGFF2
Quadro RTX 4000 ----- G85HM ----- CRD,GRPHC,NV,N19E-Q3,DGFF3
Quadro RTX 5000 ----- 0GF2K ----- CRD,GRPHC,NV,N19E-Q5,DGFF3