Dell Inspiron 7577 - Teardown | Mods & Upgrades | Technical Details | Pics of Internals | Optimizing

IF Dell didn't use Max-Q for their 1060 in that 7577 I sure hope they increased the thermal throttle limit too. Let us know what you get and find once arrived

 

STANDARD GTX 1060 (Laptop):
https://www.notebookcheck.net/Mobil...060-Laptop-Benchmarks-and-Specs.169547.0.html

MAX-Q GTX 1060 (Laptop):
https://www.notebookcheck.net/NVIDIA-GeForce-GTX-1060-Max-Q-GPU-Benchmarks-and-Specs.224734.0.html

https://www.techpowerup.com/gpudb/2976/geforce-gtx-1060-max-q

DESKTOP GTX 1060:
https://www.notebookcheck.net/NVIDIA-GeForce-GTX-1060.167603.0.html

My Personal Dell 7577 w/MAX-Q GTX 1060:


See my signature for more details. My max boost clock when max-OC'd with MSI Afterburner is approximately 1873MHz. For a 60Hz panel the Max-Q variant is just fine.

 

Pretty sure my MAX-Q version stays under 70C when playing Overwatch on ULTRA / EPIC settings (highest possible for every option) in a 27C ambient room with its MAX OC of +205/+550 and my maximum undervolt of -0.160V. I don't think I have grabbed a wattage number from it yet though.

 

That was my experience when reviewing my 7577 a few months back too.

I also agree, the MaxQ 1060 at FHD 60Hz is more than enough.

Later down the road if that changes...the beautiful thing about PC gaming as that we can drop a few settings that you'd likely not miss/notice anyway and we're back in business

 

Here's the Nvidia GeForce GTX1060 in my Alienware 15 R3 for a comparison.

 

How much headroom is there to OC yours?

 

Haven't played around w/OCing on it yet.

 

Got my unit. It bought it as a refurbished one, but got a scrach and dent one, maybe this is normal, I dont know.

Other then these two imperfections it seemed untouched. They are both on back vents, could chage it if it starts to bother me (but it wont).



The screen bleed was unnoticible or very minimal, this is a worst case of use, but in normal conditions its unseen.



Other then that. Fan noise ir really high, they try to keep GPU and CPU at 60C and then playing games its really noisy, but with headphones you wont be bothered (others nearby will )

Nothing else bad to say, love the looks and performance of mine.

 

You got a solid screen there. Better than my first and second units in terms of bleed. Be sure to examine every single key in your keyboard very closely. My first keyboard had a faulty key that had to be pressed hard and perfectly in the center to register.

A good undervolt will help with your fans, especially if you are on the 1080p panel. If you use an external monitor you will be hearing them more in general since using an external monitor will only allow your machine to go as deep as C3 sleep state due to it being driven by the dGPU.

On that note, I would recommend checking your deepest sleep state with no external monitor connected by using Throttle Stop. My SSD power settings were preventing anything deeper than C2 which equates to more heat and less battery life, especially at idle and minimal usage scenarios.

(See my signature for performance results and other details.)

 

Panel is 1080p and I am gaming on it currently, thinking of buying an external monitor, but for now I am good.

Regarding keyboard. Inspected it, all is good.

Will try undervolting today. And will check sleep states. Thanks.

 

If anyone is looking to replace their Inspiron 7577 screen with a 120Hz panel, the Chi Mei N156HHE-GA1 works with full brightness control.

Just replaced mine over the weekend and it's so much better than the stock LG panel.

 

How much did it cost? Did you need to disassembly whole laptop or only screen cover?

 

I paid around $120 (with some eBay coupons). I was unable to find a panel in the USA when I bought mine so I had to order it from China. This is the seller I bought it from: https://ebay.to/2l4gsAk

I did see some panels panel pop up recently being sold from San Antonio, TX: https://ebay.to/2MfBCaW

For disassembly you only need to remove the plastic bezel around the screen. I'll go ahead and let you know that the plastic clips make awful noises when removing/reinstalling the bezel. If you replace your panel I would be sure to unplug the battery before touching any connectors.

 

Hey all. Just attempted to install a standard 2.5" 9.5mm HDD in my 7577. Can confirm the 9.5mm drive is too tall, the bottom lid will not close. In order to add extra media storage, you need a thin 7mm 2.5" HDD.

https://www.dell.com/community/Laptops-General/Inspiron-7577-Hard-Drive/td-p/5175777

 

It will bulge less if you remove the blue foam pads but it fits as i have done it on a few 7577s and no one ever had an issue.

You can remove the pads and even reuse them later if you want to put them back.

 

This was detailed in the other main 7577 thread here on NBR a while back. It should probably come up if you search for "7mm" or "9.5mm" in that thread.

Sorry for your troubles.

 

Came across somebody who snapped the screws in the caddy trying a 9.5mm. Be careful out there guys...

 

Hi Von. Wondering if you changed the panel?. I have the 7577 1050ti IPS version and i am also not happy with color reproduction

 

Hi

Was wondering if anyone running Linux on the 7577 had bumblebee working? If so, were there any special steps to take, eg kernel parameters or configuration changes?

Thanks

 

Hi, I would just like to add some information on the aftermarket IPS display upgrade situation

I have been researching for a while now the possible alternative displays that can be used to upgrade the awful stock LG WF6 panel that comes with the 7577. I have just installed a Samsung LT156HL02-002 panel and can confirm that it works flawlessly. Just to note that the backlight controls continue to work as expected with this particular panel and it is indeed plug and play.

It seems that this is not a very well documented panel online and requires some digging to get the correct specs.

I can confirm the specs are as follows (specific to my panel with an X-Rite i1Display Pro):

>Contrast Ratio - 947:1
>Max Brightness - 303nits
>Gamma - 2.37
>DeltaE - 1.8
>sRGB Coverage - 98%
>Adobe RGB Coverage - 75%

I am unsure if there is a matte variant of this panel, the HL02-002 is definitely a glossy panel unless specified.

To my knowledge this panel has been used only in higher end workstation machines but cannot be sure. The closest evidence from an online source of even a similar panel being used is in the MSI PE60-2QEi581, this is the link to the display review of the HL02-002's cousin, the HL01 ( https://www.notebookcheck.net/MSI-PE60-2QE-Prestige-Notebook-Review.145525.0.html) This gives you a rough idea of panel quality.

I haven't had a chance to check response times, but it doesn't seem any worse/better than the stock LP156WF6-SP-M3 I have switched from.

Please let me know if there is any way I can help fellow 7577 owners. I have done the thermal paste/underclocking stuff and done a few upgrades/mods myself (explains why I saw the original post!). I have great faith in this machine!

 

Please, add part numbers for battery / power brick / RAM / fans / SSD etc.

 

UHDi7 Here, planning out the roadmap for upgrading this thing until it eventually dies/becomes unusable and I have a few questions.

1. Any Experiences with a XMP Kit of ram? Thinking about getting something beyond 2400MHz but if it doesn't I want to try for lower latencies instead
2. What would i be looking at for temps with Conductonaut or something of the like? the load GPU+CPU temps on this thing kinda spook me (90+/- playing Warframe)
3. If I left this thing in AHCI mode, putting in a NVME SSD in the M.2 slot, would i still be able to use the SATA device in AHCI mode/At all?
4. Any Experience with a Wigig+AC card like the QCA9008-TBD1? It seems I'd need to snake up another pigtail for the Wigig line, not sure if this thing has the space
5. Would a UHD Variant be able to use the 120Hz display noted earlier? Or would the resolution change become a problem?

 

There isn't an XMP profile in the BIOS and the 7577 will likely be limited to the stock RAM speed and CAS.

UHD uses a 40 pin connection and a FHD 120hz uses a 30 pin. They're not compatible with each other. Repasting the 7577 is a nightmare so be prepared to do the job. 10c at best with LM from a new 7577 machine.

 

You can use a 120hz panel but you would have to change the display cable as well. The motherboard end of the the terminal should be the same for both. There is no separate motherboard variant UHD vs HD.

From what I have heard from a few people with the 7577, it can take 2666 MHz RAM and use it at the speed.

You could maybe fit in a line for WiGig and use an Intel 18265/18260 or a QCA equivalent. However rather than WiGig if you want sustained high bandwidth that works outside of just one room with less sensitivity to obstructions an Intel 9260AC paired with a Netgear R7800 with HT160 gives me around 114 MB/s (900+ Mbps) when doing transfers to my NAS even when my laptop is ~15ft away through two walls (Drywall/Wood) or around 840 Mbps one floor below.

 

1. https://picload.org/view/dliarpca/hotstock1050ti.png.html <<< Stock i7 7700HQ / UHD GTX1050TI
1.1. https://picload.org/view/dliarpcl/hotstockonlyundervolting1050ti.png.html <<< Stock i7 7700HQGTX1050TI Undervolting CPU Offset -0.145

-------------------------------------------------------

2. https://picload.org/view/dliarpci/hotrepaste1060q.png.html <<< Stock i7 7700HQ GTX1060Q only Repast CPU/GPU
2.1 https://picload.org/view/dliarpcw/hotrepaste1060qundervoldandove.png.html <<< i7 7700HQ GTX1060Q, Repast, Undervolting CPU, Intern
GPU, Overvlocking GPU. CPU Offset -0.046, GPU Intern Offset -0,075, Overclocking GTX Clock +170, Ramclock +400
2.2 https://picload.org/view/dliarwdr/hotrepaste1060qundervoldandove.png.html <<< i7 7700HQ GTX1060Q, Repast, Undervolting CPU, Intern
GPU, Overvlocking GPU. CPU Offset -0.155, GPU Intern Offset -0,075, Overclocking GTX Clock +170, Ramclock +400

CPU/GPU 100% Load! 15 Minutes

Thanks for all the threads. It helped me a lot and now I want to pass on my experience. I am very satisfied now. The laptop runs very stable quiet and cool despite overclocking. Much better than before! So you can recommend it to anyone. Here below my experiences. These are all limits more is not with my settings.
Maybe it helps one Maximum 72 ° under full load is optimal
- Intel Extreme Tuning Utilitiy
- NVIDIA Inspector

lg. Philipp

 

What thermalpaste you used?

 

The Thermal Grizzly Conductonaut.

 

Hi,
Yay or Nay, is it a pain in the backside to add backlighting to a non backlit 7577?

 

@AlexanderKim here are the details you asked for:

 

Awaiting delivery of my Scratch & Dent 7577!

Is the Intel Wireless 9260NGW a worthwhile upgrade for this?

eta - Got some info on the other thread.

As you were.

 

Has anyone tried to change boot logo? I saw option in BIOS for this, but I'm unsure how this works and if it's save.

 

hello to everyone ,

does anyone know if this panel works for our model ?

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/NEW-CHIM...AG-LAPTOP-SCREEN-IPS-N156HHE-GA1/273405055485

the seller declares is an 120hz panel but as i remember when i checked the panel details , its a TN panel not an ips ?

 

Should be TN. Great display and very color accurate.

I have one in my current daily machine. Really needs calibration. Default is too “cool”.

 

once again bob thank you so much ! I've ordered it and im receiving on monday!

 

I did my repaste and repad today using Gelid GC extreme ( for CPU + GPU) and Artic 0.5mm 6W/mk (for CPU VRM only). A significant temperature decrease although the core differential is still around ~10* C. Core #3 and Core #1 temps are very stable; but for Core #1 is not, spikes happening but at much lower peak. I think the reason is the factory pads are too thick (1~1.5mm) and affect the contact between the die and hs. My next plan is replacing the factory GPU RAM pads with thinner ones for better hs alignment.

Stress test suing Asus RealBench (15min)
Before : -0.125mv

After: -0.125mv


// A little bit disappointing with Dell's 2x3 screws, their heads are thin and the material is too soft, easy to wear out. I have replaced them with the amazon's screw set.

 

I received N156HHE-GA1 month ago and it is way oversaturated! I tried manually calibrating it using QuickGamma and CLTest and managed to achieve reasonably accurate colors (in comparison with my IPS desktop monitor that I test on lagom.nl) but it introduces pretty visible color banding that breaks gradients. I wonder if such a great deviation in colors is 'normal' for this lcd or no. Here is my 'calibrated' color profile where you can see a big dip in blue channel and global gamma curve lowering overall

Here is my ICM color profile

 

Hey, do you think that changing pads for thinner ones could help in thermals? Have you tried changing all of the already?
Also, Core #1 is the hottest one for me too (also much warmer than the others).
As for the screws, try J1 screwdriver. Those screws are not actually Phillips, but JIS (as many others in electronics). Phillips screwdrivers tend to wear out JIS screws since they do not fit 100%.

 

I have replaced all of the thermal pads and have decent results since thinner pads mean more pressure on CPU die, so better heat transfer. Core #1 seems to be the hottest one because it has the highest turbo boost clock, and also because of the uneven heatsink & die contact - Dell suck. Thinner pads would help improve it. And when you repaste, try to cover up any gap between the fans and aluminum fins to increase the airflow through these fins.

Thank you for the knowledge about type of screw I used to think that "cross" = Phillips. However, I think you should replace the Dell's original with better ones

 

Did you change all of thermal pads for 0.5mm ones?

 

Yes I did, I applied 0.5 pads for VRMs VRAMs.

Dell heatsink is no perfect, may be my heatsink is different compared to yours. Make sure checking all the contact between VRM - Pads - Heatsink, especially at these pots in the picture, you may need to bend the hs for better VRMs contact.

 

Hey, I am getting banding on this screen as well. Did you find a solution by any chance?

 

No, but after tweaking color profile a bit more I managed to get smoother gradients without significant banding. But angle of view changes tone dramatically so tweaking is hard and pretty pointless anyway imo. Here is the smoother icm color profile for N156HHE-GA1 I'm using right now.

 

Same panel I covered here?

The ICC is in the description calibration via Spyder5 Pro.

 

Thank you for profile! I was looking for it a while ago. But if I'm not mistaken this panel factory calibration varies too much to use same profile everywhere. I'm getting better results with my own profile (judging by CLTest pattern uniformity) but it's interesting to compare them.

 

@B0B

Thanks for the profile. I tested it and it does ease the banding a bit but does not remove it completely. I tested the one from Bob as well and it does show banding too. Here are my results:

Your profile:


Bob:

No profile loaded:


As you can see, all situations leave thick vertical lines mostly on the top gradients. The last option would be my best setting for now as it does give me pink-ish lines unlike your profile and Bob's. I am using the latest Intel GPU drivers from Dell and Nvidia, I don't understand why this is happening.

For info, I manage to not get banding at all sometimes if I disable Windows color management, set my Nvidia control panel setting's preferred GPU to Integrated graphics and disable Windows Night Light. This works relatively well except with some games (battlefront II and project cars 2). This only works for when it's plugged in though, not on battery.

Do you mind sharing a photo of what you see on this page ( http://www.lagom.nl/lcd-test/gradient.php), just to have an idea if we are dealing with the same issue?

Thanks
Emil

 

Here you go. You can clearly see that default calibration is smoother on gradients but obviously toned in CLTest pattern. After calibration I'm getting more consistent CLTest patterns but some minor color banding in midtones but not so obviously visible as in your examples. Also I couldn't capture gradients from screen with all its brightness range on my phone (note 8), so bear in mind that either my camera is not sensitive enough either your screen is too bright.

ADDED:
Here is the great example that we can't get colors right on this panel due to dramatic angle color variation: http://www.madore.org/~david/misc/color/gammatest.png What's more is the colors changes in battery mode adjusting to picture (maybe some windows or drivers magic)

 

Thanks! It seems you are getting a lot less banding than me or it's a different kind of banding. There's an utility to force the screen to show all gradations of luminance (0-255 instead of 16-255), maybe it can help you. It's the fourth solution of this page: https://pcmonitors.info/articles/correcting-hdmi-colour-on-nvidia-and-amd-gpus/.

There's also the possibility to modify the screen's EDID (screen settings) using CRU utility. You can modify the color space and add HDR support, plus other settings. I will gather more info about it and try it. It looks like the most promising fix for now.

Finally there's a software called DisplayCal that manages the screens colors better than the default Windows color manager "apparently". It worked for a while for me but then the banding re-appeared. It might work for your case though.

Best, Emil

 

I'd like to install an OLED panel on this device but haven't found any of them available yet, only G7 OLED announcement from CES 2019. I would happily spend up to $200 for such an upgrade.

 

Won’t work. The lid assembly the display sits into is completely different

 

Moved to the other thread.