Dell 17r N7720 SE - user review

Just ordered me a 17r-se, i7 3630 version, no3d nor backlit. Sadly had no option for the backlit option, will eventually look into buying one from ebay or so. Just wondering are there still throttle issues, or have they been fixed with bios/proper thermal paste?

 

If you read the last pages, you'll see there's two news for that issue :

-A modified VBIOS
-The last DELL drivers for the GPU seems to fix it.

 

You are absolutly right, should have skimped less pages sorry. Thank you either way!

 

Hey, there's only 141 page to read !

If you find a backlit keyboard, feel free to share the find here

 

I have a 7720 in the mail and intend to put in a Samsung 500 GB SSD with 60 GB allocated for SRT to optimize the 1 TB hard drive. The trim issue with RAID seems resolved with the 11.6 iRST drivers and a 7 series chipset.

Did anybody do this and would share their experience?

 

Are you sure you need to accelerate the 1TB disk? I'm running the OS and all software from a 256GB SSD, and have a 750GB as a media/data drive. With this setup, I really don't feel I need to speed up the mechanical drive, it's plenty fast for the workloads I need from it.

IMO, if you run all software from a 500GB SSD, apart from loosing 60GB of very fast disk capacity, you're not going to notice any performance benefits caching the data drive... of course unless you have a very specific workflow.... please don't take this as criticism, just pointing out I've considered what you're planning to do and decided against it.

 

Cheers, will do!

 

after a windows update with installing Net Framework (4 extended profile)....not the the standard net framework 4 (just about 7-8 extended drivers)

....i noticed a drop on the overall performance ...............at first i didnt see what it was, then i started to go through the PC and removed this drivers..............after i got the PC back as it was when i first got it..........i also increased the physics (and overall) scores in 3dmark11 ................just a tip !


what a type language backlit keyboard are you searching for ???? (i have some connections abroad)

 

No worries about criticism.

I run lots of virtual machines in both VirtualBox as well as VMware. Some of it is job related and the rest hobby and for fun.

As an example, I have a close to 15 year old HP Laserjet 3100 that is still my workhorse printer even though HP did its last driver update for XP in 2002. I am running it in a Windows 2000 VM and it functions just about perfectly even the scanning part.

Another case is the BBC. It still hasn't adjusted its Windows Media Player download to Windows 8. It complains about an old media player needing an upgrade! An XP VM to the rescue. Downloads now easy as pie.

All these VMs, especially Vista and Win7 ones, take a lot of space. Shuffling isn't practical either. So now performance of the conventional HD becomes very important.

I hope this explains it.

 

Yup, that's a pretty valid reason for caching! Sorry can't be of any help, hopefully someone here has actually tried a similar setup...

 

Looking for an ''US/International Qwerty Chiclet Keyboard''. From the Netherlands my self, if that matters. And much appreciated the help.

 

I cache my secondary wd 750GB black drive with a mushkin 120gb msata...

 

I just got my system. To my disappointment there is no RAID option in the BIOS (A10). Is there any BIOS level where the RAID option appears for owners without an mSATA card?

I may have to forego the SRT performance benefits then.

 

I asked the commercial if the computer comes with a second hard drive caddy. She couldn't tell me that and told me to ask the support if it's missing.

I'm a bit dissapointed because when i ordered the computer, i asked several times to change the delivery adress and the commercial told me it was done. They sent me the bill where it specify the wrong delivery adress.

The commercial did not answered my mails and i spent more than 30 minutes on phone and i got three people that told me :

-Impossible to change the adress, we'll have to stop the delivery and you will have to get the computer at the UPS warehouse.
-Imposible to change the adress, you'll need to cancel the order and make a new one
-Let it got, wait until the order's statut change to "Sent" and send me a mail to tell me the new adress (It was the commercial speaking... But she got that f***** adress for days in a bunch of mails !)


The computer is in "production"... I'm waiting to see if gets better. Oh god...

I hope their support is better than that...

 

Very interesting! Did you replace the Dell supplied mSATA SSD or did you simply add the Mushkin to the mSATA slot and the RAID option in the BIOS magically appeared?

 

I believe when you install a msata then the bios allows intel rapid storage technology option. In my case i replaced the dell supplied one.

 

Thanks a lot for the information but I don't want to take the risk of buying a cheap mSATA device and then still not have the RAID BIOS option.


On another note, I just ran iPerf on my USB 3.0 Gigabit Ethernet device and got throughput of 122 MBytes per second using a 9 KB window size. So this easily overcomes the slow Ethernet port issue.

Newegg.com - SYBA SY-ADA24029 Gigabit Ethernet Adapter 10/ 100/ 1000Mbps USB 3.0 Type A 1 x RJ45

 

So I ordered the 17r se with the 32GB msata and the 1TB 5400 HDD. I want to put SSD in primary with OS and a 500GB 7200 HDD. What result can I expect? My guess is the msata will be redundat?

 

It will not be redundant, but I'd say that you keep the 32G msata and use it to cache the 1TB 5400 hdd, then use a SSD as C: drive for OS and most used applications. A cached 5400 drive will be fast enough i think.

 

I currently have a 128GB mSATA drive as Windows boot drive, and two 1TB 5400rpm drives in RAID1 for my data storage. I've tried many different BIOS settings, and different ways of connecting the harddrives. So, with mSATA, without mSATA, with iRST, with AHCI, with IDE... There seems to be no RAID option in the BIOS. I've also tried different BIOS versions (A01, A03, A08, A11) and none include a RAID option.

The way I enabled RAID was simply from within Windows. When you think about it, that's probably the safest way for a laptop anyway. If your laptop gets fried and you want to recover the harddisk data, simply put the harddisks in another Windows-enabled machine and you're good to go. IF there was a BIOS RAID setting (which I don't believe there is) and your laptop would die, you'd have to find another exact same hardware Intel RAID controller (and possibly firmware version, not sure about that) to be able to even read your RAID array...

Performance wise there's virtually no difference (in some cases, Windows RAID is faster than hardware RAID even), so overall I think software RAID isn't a bad option.

 

Appreciate your thoughtful post.

Based on various articles, it appears that Smart Response Technology caching depends on a BIOS RAID setting.

How to Set Up Intel Smart Response SSD Caching Technology | PCWorld

First, connect both drives to the Intel-powered SATA ports in your system; then fire it up, enter the system BIOS, and configure the SATA controller to RAID mode.

Within RST did you get the Accelerate menu despite using software RAID?

 

That article assumes the BIOS on the computer supports RAID, which, I'm pretty certain, the Inspiron BIOS doesn't. As far as the Accelerate menu, I don't know about that: I use a 128GB mSATA SSD as a regular drive which holds Windows and all my program files. The laptop boots from that drive. All my data (video/photos/downloads/etc.) are stored in RAID1 on the two 5400rpm drives. They aren't accelerated because I use the full 128GB of the SSD as a regular drive, so basically I'm not using the iRST at all.

 

Please don't take this guy's advice. No matter the quality of your panel, properly calibrating it with a colormeter will make a HUGE difference.

 

stevedensmore...........yeh you really know what you talking about....calibrating a standard screen and getting same colour gamut as a X-Black or True life ?
(what type of calibrating product fix that ?? stevedensmore home-made calibrating tool)

( why dont you upload some photos or videos of your super calibrated 7720 screen ??? then we all can see the miracle)

anyway.......................................................................................................
i dont know how many 7720 owners who have change this settings on msata card..................if you not tried it...you should.

i knew there was a different........but not SO much better writing/reading speed on the hard drive.

1............inactivate acceleration
2...........change to Maximum mode

3...........feel ~30% faster speed on your hard drive (also disable emptying of wriiting cache inside device manager......make even more speed)

 

hi there. i have an inspiron 17r 7720, ivy bridge 17 3610q, gt650 m, 6gigs ddr3, and 750GB. i also had this grotesque flickering problem especially when booting up, and always when on battery. i followed the steps there and it works like a charm. i believe though that battery life will be less, i don't know to what extent, but i'm assuming 5% less. to early to tell.
cheers.

 

hi there. i have an inspiron 17r 7720, ivy bridge 17 3610q, gt650 m, 6gigs ddr3, and 750GB. i noticed that some of my temperatures are a bit high on idle. ., and usually 15-20 degrees higher on rendering in blender.
I took the baseplate off, and noticed a rather alarming fact: the air inside the case, especialy at the gpu/cpu does not move. this get's worse if you mount a second harddrive. i know the fan is mounted in such a way as to pull some air from the cpu/gpu assembly, but it is next to nothing, especially in the ram department. i also was thinking on buying a laptop stand, but i don't think that would work, because the stand just blows air uniformly, thus not creating airflow inside the casing. so, i want to make an extra cooling unit. first i just wanted to take out the dvd-unit and replace it with a large fan, because, let's face it, you use your dvd once a year to install the OS, and in the free space for the second hard drive mount a custom heatsink connected to the cpu/gpu, but i found that the endeavor is futile, because of some piece of structural plastic between the dvd-Hdd. and then i thought of mounting in the free space that for my 2nd hard drive a custom 2 fan unit, 1 for the ram/wireless, and another for blowing extra air to the gpu/cpu assembly. i am also interested in making a custom heatsink extension for the gpu, directed towards the new cooling unit. i plan on making the build schematics for this piece available to anyone, for free.
So, if anyone has dissasembled the computer, and made measurements or relevant photos of the components in question, or will open it in the near future, i would be very thankfull for ortho pictures(not perspectives), precision measurements, a 3d model, 3d scan, anything that would help. i am aiming at 60degrees C for cpu on load, and 50 for gpu. and also if you have some data on small fans, i would apreciate it.
cheers watson.

 

OK so I just ran the 1080 Benchmark test on furmark. Here are my results:

10fps stead with 79 degree max temp with arctic silver 5
10fps bouncing back and forth to 7fps with stock paste/pads max temp over 90 degrees

 

Quick question regarding Optimus...when watching a blu-ray with the included PowerDVD 9.6, I notice it's not using the nVidia graphics.
When I try to configure which app uses which graphics, and I choose powerdvd9.exe, it greys out the chooser and fills it in with the Integrated Graphics option.
Why can't I choose nVidia graphics for PowerDVD?

The nVidia Graphics monitor never shows I'm using the nVidia GPU nor does my GPU Monitor widget. I'm not much into playing games, but I suppose I could load one up and fire it off.

In particular, though, is why I cannot choose nVidia GPU for PowerDVD9?

Is there a way to just always have the nVidia GPU for everything?

Nice PC, btw, espcially for the price I got at the Outlet (~$600).

 

Another things...I tried putting in a Crucial m4 mSATA 256GB SSD. Doesn't work. When I power on the unit, the Dell logo screen stays on much longer than is normal.
BIOS Setup shows "none" in the mSATA field. If I put a stock 32GB mSATA in, that works fine. I tried the Crucial 256GB mSATA in a XPS 14 Ultrabook, and it works fine.

So, my card is working, but not at all in the 7720. Any ideas? I'm on BIOS A11 (newest, I think).

Thanks.

 

Re: Optimus

I would like to know the same.
Cannot choose nvidia card for Powerpoint. Using some heavy transitions/animations (+ videos) in Powerpoint for client's presentations, and would prefer if I can choose nvidia card, to be on the safe side.
But option is greyed out. I am sure it was possible while ago (different/earlier drivers), but not possible now.
Help/solution appreciated.
Thanks.

 

i have to take my critism about cyberlink 9.6 and windows 8 back. blue ray playback works fine after the installation of the newest patch

 

Yes, like that you could see a calibrated screen through your uncalibrated screen... And even if yours is calibrated, his cam recorder or camera may not be. And we don't even speak about the condition of the recording...

Thank you for the laughting !

 

I have a question relating to heating problem. I noticed that my system was shipped with disabled Bluetooth feature. The system itself is at ~50C (HD 4000 gpu) and ~45C(GT 650M) in idle mode, the fan kicks in here and there while I browse webs. But as soon as I turn on Bluetooth, the fan kicks in immediately, runs at full speed and never stops. HD 4000 gpu jumps to ~70C and stays there, while the GT 650M stays at ~50C. I can feel the hot air rushing out of the vent.

I recently cleaned out bloatwares so I uninstalled some Intel software stuff, including Intel PROSet/Wireless WiFi Software. All drivers are intact and function.

Updating my Intel PROSet/Wireless Software for Bluetooth Technology to 2.6.1209.0268, as well as BIOS A11, doesn't fix the problem.

Does anyone have any input?

 

I don't think we've heard of any bluetooth issues with the 7720 yet. Don't worry about monitoring GPU temperatures, the reason you see the spike with the HD4000 is because it's integrated into the CPU chip. Try monitoring the CPU activity and temperatures. Open up task manager and activate bluetooth. Does the bluetooth process run at 100% as soon as you turn it on? If so, I'd say it's a driver issue.

 

Thank you realG.

Turns out that the computer NEEDS Intel PROSet/Wireless WiFi Software to run cool. Maybe it's the thing with Win 8.

 

If you're running Win8, I would definitely grab the new set of drivers from DELL's website. Should be pretty much the latest versions of everything you need, and "guaranteed" to work.

On an unrelated note, anyone else notice the Windows Experience Index go up to 7.2 with the new 310.70 nvidia drivers? Hopefully it will translate to some real game perfomance as well.

 

I wonder if i'll ever have the computer :



Seriously ! Are UPS employees taking drugs ?! Shangai, Hong-Kong, Korea, Germany, Dubai... I live in Belgium ! (Near Germany and France)

 

Hello

I intend to buy this notebook from Sweden.

The main usage will be AutoCad, Photoshop, Illustrator, 3dsMax, SketchUp, Rhino and some rendering programs.

I read to the first pages that there is possible to upgrade the RAM memory to 16GB. Is it true? Has it been noticed any disfunctions after this upgrade?

If I install the extra memory and the notebook breaks down, if I put the initial RAM memories in it before leaving it to the service, can the notice that I had 16GB of RAM installed instead of 8GB that is the maximum recommended by DELL???

I plan to buy the 3 year warranty extension in order to cover any damages. Will possible damages that occurred as a result of the excess RAM memory be covered?

Thank you in advance. I am sure that these questions may already have been answered before but 144 pages are tooooooo many to be read

 

Yes, it's possible to upgrade to 16gigs. Many have done it with absolutely no issues. If anything happens to the laptop, just put the original RAM back in, there is no way for DELL to tell you've had more RAM in there before (unless you physically damage the sockets during installation). There is absolutely nothing you can damage by having too much RAM in the system (assuming the RAM itself is not damaged in any way, then it would probably randomly do BSODs and all sorts of fun stuff).... soo, relax, get yourself more RAM, and enjoy the laptop!

 

Think twice before buying the 3 years of warranty.

You should know that in Europe, the seller have to provide a minimal of 2 years warranty. So if you buys a Dell on Dell website you'll have a 2 years warranty.


If you pay for the 3 years warranty, you will pay for the 2nd year that they are selling too... Sounds pretty stupid, isn't it ? It is possible to buy an warranty extension after a while so take that in consideration (Buying only 1 year extension after the 2 years)

 

Thanks for the advice!!!

When can i buy the warranty extension though? Can I buy it 2 years after the purchase???

 

hello

i want to know which 3d glasses are compatible with 17r 3d version ?

also is 3d emmiter required ?

should we buy nvidia 3d vision kit (1st gen is better ore 2nd gen ?) or only glasses ?

is 17r 3d version display 120Hz ?

thanks

 

One more question.

What kind of SSD can i set in the notebook.

From the customer support said that i can set just a 2,5 SATA III SSD, but not mSATA.

Is it true or is it just another "lie" like the one about the RAM memory?

 

One of my questions a few posts back (and yet unanswered by anyone) was about using a Crucial m4 mSATA card.
I tried one, and the 17R SE would not even see it, yet a 32GB mSATA worked fine (even as separate drive storage, not HDD cache).

The Crucial mSATA had old firmware on it (000F) and I could not update it before installing it. The Crucial now lives as my boot drive in my XPS ONE 27 desktop.

I have another one coming, it was on sale yesterday at buy.com for $159 (256GB). I'll try updating the firmware first, then pop it in the 17R SE and see what happens.

 

I intended to buy exactly the same mSATA SSD. If anyone knows something about that, please let us know..

 

Just know that these mSATA drives will only operate at SATA II speeds.

 

could anybody help me ?

thanks

"hello

i want to know which 3d glasses are compatible with 17r 3d version ?

also is 3d emmiter required ?

should we buy nvidia 3d vision kit (1st gen is better ore 2nd gen ?) or only glasses ?

is 17r 3d version display 120Hz ?

thanks"

 

Okay finally UPS lost my compuyer yesterday but they managed to retrieve it and deliver it to me today !

The computer is well built and the screen feels strong. The overall quality seems better than my Asus G73SW (High end Asus).

The screen have very good vision angle and the matte finish is clearly awesome. I can't speak for the colors now because they seems really too cold.

I don't have time today, i'll replace the HDD by a SSD tomorrow and i will do a color calibration too. I can't wait because the computer feels sooooooooo slow without a SSD !

I'll keep you tuned for the color profile !

 

You need nvidia glasses. there is an emitter on the bezel above the screen. As for 120hz I am not sure but here is the samsung part number for the screen: LTN173HT02

 

Congrats! Enjoy the laptop and keep us posted!