Precision 7720 Owner's Thread

oh yeah, apologies i was referring to the 7710, sorry about this guys

 

Is there a way for 4k screen to display at 1440p? 4k is just too difficult for gaming, 1440p is nice but it is not under list of resolution. 1080p is available but for some games it will limit the number of icons displayed.

I try create custom resolution under Nvidia control panel 2560 x 1440 but the screen goes blank. Is there anything i missed out?

 

Meanwhile I tried the eSATA on both port replicators (via eSATA to SATA cable) and and it worked without any problems.

Cheers,
Alex

 

Is it still working okay when waking it from standby? Lately on my 7710 I've been getting frequent blank display upon waking from sleep. For long time it's been working fine until the past few weeks. It happens after waking from standby/sleep when moving to and from the ePort dock. Originally when I'd get this problem (it's been about a year or more ago) only if I had switchable graphics disabled in the BIOS and docking while it was sleeping. Now it happens frequently when waking from sleep even with switchable graphics mode enabled and even if I'm not docked. I'm going to reinstall the video drivers to see if that fixes it.

 

Frequently changing docks (E/PORT 1 and 2 and TB16) and no blank screen so far (OPTIMUS enabled).

I tried disabling OPTIMUS but I got random screen noise on the internal display so I enabled it again and went for the option to drive all external outputs by the nvdia card. Had to do this to get true 4K (4096x2160) instead of UHD for my LG monitor.
It's a PITA to get this setup fully working: first I have to disable this option, then I use the Intel control panel to set up my screens (order and so on) and then switch back. Otherwise one of the external displays mirrors the internal and there's no possibility to get rid of this (internal display controlled by Intel driver, externals by Nvidia).

Cheers,
Alex

 

Is it correct that there is no configuration of the Dell 7720 that supports USB 3.1 Gen 2 ?
Every spec sheet I find says only Gen 1.
I'd like to use an external USB 3.1 Gen 2 SSD with the next laptop I purchase.

 

Thanks for all the reviews so far - I used them for my latest purchase.

I got my Precision 7720s last week. Here is a brief of what I ordered, and what I observed

System 1: New 7720, i7 7700; 8GB RAM, 1TB HDD, full HD, P4000 Quadro;
System 2: Refurbished 7720; Xeon 1505; 16GB RAM, 1TB HDD, full HD, P4000 Quadro
On each: Replaced RAM with Crucial 2x16GB 2400 (non ECC); Samsung EVO 500GB pcie NVME;

1. On New:
Negative:
- 'E' Key does not press properly; have to hard press it. Some other keys are also not as good (like spacebar) - they just skip registering a key stroke at random. My Macbook Pro keyboard is way better. However given the grief I have been with my past 'workstation' (Alienware 17 R4) due to keyboard issues- I will just live with sub-par keyboard
Non-issue/not hardware related:
- RAM replacement went without issue.
- NVME replacement caused a lot of grief. I restored the new drive from factory recovery disk - after removing the original HDD completely. However, after Windows Fall update - I got a weird error that a system folder is missing - and I ended up with putting the old HDD, restoring that from factory recovery disk, updating it fully with windows Fall update. I finally put the NVME back after using a disk image utility - I am guessing the original issue was due to me doing a restore from factory disk on the NVME disk. Wasted ~2 days with the full restore.
Plus:
- LOVE having audio controls. I know I know this is trivial - but I love being able to skip songs without opening the app..
- Quadro P4000: This is why I bought the laptop. I use it for Neural Network training (mostly learning). Compared to my old Alienware 17 with GTX 1080 - it is very slow. That had ~2500 CUDA cores -this has ~1700 cores. So the speed difference is expected even though the quadro is way expensive. On MNIST data set, the performance difference is almost linear. (I know quadros are for CAD and such - but on mobile platform, this is the best alternative outside of gaming systems).
- Audio quality: good.. but not as good as 15" macbook pro. not high on my list
- Display: Good - I use it at 100% scale at full HD resolution and text is clearly readable. Photos look good - but nothing here wows me compared to say the latest iPad or Macbook Pro
- Quality: This is subjective - i am going to share my view based on opening the system to install HDD and RAM, and compare it to Alienware 17 R4. The cover plates seem to be metal - little flex when removing. Removal itself is a simple affair - very well thought out - first remove battery cover with latch, then two screws and the user can reach the RAM and 2 PCIE nVME slots (HDD is available with just battery case). Everything is very well placed - there are metal plates/cages that hold things together. Little or no plasticy bits on the inside. IMHO - the internals show why it oozes quality. The NVME has a heat transfer plate made out of copper with an adhesive layer (even though I didnt order NVME drive) which feels quite solid. The HDD is in a cage of its own, and has a felt lining on its side of battery cover.
2. On Refurbished: this was a bummer. The track-point didnt work; the HDD was clunky sounding; the trackpad was 'gritty' (not sure how else to describe it). Then the RAM addition caused system to sporadically stop working. I returned it.

Hope this helps people somewhat. I hope this system works for me for few years.

 

Was the keyboard better on the refurbished one? Perhaps you could have swapped them out before sending it back.

 

My skills don't extend to swapping keyboards as far as I know.. but then again - I didnt notice the keyboard issue straight away because most of the time till today was spent trying to install the OS. I can live with a sub-par keyboard since the alternative (to have downtime) is worse.

 

Swapping the keyboard is actually really easy... You remove the plastic trim, and few screws, and the keyboard comes right out. Five minutes if you've never done it before. If it's a defective keyboard (i.e. others of the same model don't have the same problem), replacements are easily sourced from eBay.