Precision 7560 & 7760 Owners' Thread

A fresh Windows OS was installed on my 7560. Now I could not use Fn keys. How could I enable them? Do I need to install a specific software or driver ?
Thanks.

 

I think you will need the Serial IO driver:

https://www.dell.com/support/home/e...de=wt64a&productcode=precision-15-7560-laptop

 

I find the thermals on the 7760 weird with Nvidia Dynamic Boost 2.0. Maybe it's supposed to be like this but I will describe my observations from running Folding at Home (CPU + GPU) overnight.
It looks like the CPU and GPU have roughly a 145W thermal budget with the GPU taking up most of it. The GPU is prioritized ~115W, and the CPU is around ~30W.
My avg CPU and GPU temps were both 75 degrees.
Since Folding at Home isn't a 100% consistent load, the GPU power draw is quite varied. I will say the CPU does a good job of filling up the thermal budget when the GPU stops.
However my real problem is that the fans seem to be going back and forth (not very frequently though) between presumably the 2nd highest and highest fan setting.
I think not running the fans on max speed with "Ultra performance" mode and iGPU disabled, and the windows power slider all the way to the right is a decision that will hamper system performance considering that the CPU being capped at 30W in a combined load is a lot less than ideal since it gives clock speeds of only 2200mhz.
I feel like making the fans go on full speed continuously and increasing CPU power would be a good decision.
@Dell-Mano_G Any comments on this?

 

Have you tried using DellFanCmd to disable the EC fan control and then lock both of them to 100%?

 

Not yet, but I will try it now. I wonder what the max rpm of the fan in these systems is.

 

Just saying, don't get the 3 year warranty long life cycle battery unless you somehow really want the warranty (only ensures that the battery keeps 75% of it's charge after 3 years).
The reason being the "long life cycle battery" prevents advanced charging options, meaning that you can't use express charge (expected), but you also can't limit how much the battery charges. Limiting how much the battery charges is what will help extend the battery life. I have limited my XPS 15 7590 from charging past 70% for 1.5 years, and have used it on battery a fair bit, and the battery health hasn't dropped a single percent.
I'm pretty disappointed that Dell didn't clarify what the "long life cycle battery does". I don't think they will give me a long life cycle battery, though I could try saying that I didn't know the implications of a long life cycle battery (no advanced charge options).
If you don't have the long life cycle battery, you can just set the charging mode to "primarily AC use" which will do pretty much the same as the long life cycle battery.
For anyone wondering, the long life cycle battery charges in around 2 hours with light use of the system.

 

Par for the course: the default charging power is around 45 - 47 W. 95 W h / 47 W ≈ 2 hours.

 

Thanks for noting. I ordered the Long life thinking it is better. Figured same price and get the warranty. Now that you point it out, looking at the options, I see

• 6 Cell 95Whr ExpressCharge Capable Battery
• 6 Cell 95Whr Long Life Cycle Lithium Ion Polymer Battery (3 Years Warranty)

So how quick will the express charge, charge the battery? I assume that is the only advantage and once charged, both will last the same. Also, what is the expected life of the express charge battery?

 

If the 7X60 ExpressCharge is the same as the 7X30's, then it charges at 90 W (2x power as standard charging), filling the battery in around an hour. It slows down to around 70–75 W near the 100% mark.

 

This business with the "long warranty" battery missing advanced charging options has been around for basically 10 years, nothing new here.

You are not required to use ExpressCharge with the ExpressCharge-capable battery. There is an option to enable or disable this in the BIOS and in the Dell Power Management app. Using ExpressCharge would charge your battery faster but also presumably wear it out faster. It should be used only in situations where you are "on the go" a fair amount and need to charge your battery as quickly as possible when you have the opportunity.

A lot of us use the advanced charging options to limit battery charging in order to prolong its life. For instance, you can set it to only start charging if the battery level is below 50% when you plug it in, and stop charging when it reaches 85% (or something along those lines). There's a downside to this too. I have this set up on my two main systems, but they are plugged in almost all of the time, so this means the battery rarely gets a chance to "top off". It seems to lose some charge over time without the system/OS realizing it. I might unplug them for a minute or so here and there to move them between rooms, but then plugging them back in doesn't start the battery charging because the level isn't low enough. I find that if the battery hasn't been charged at all for a month or two, the system might "think" that it's at 80% capacity... and then when I finally need to use it unplugged, it's yelling at me that it's about to die after just 10-20 minutes.