Chalybion

"AI-native" translation: Windows 11 will hide key functionality and settings while pretending to understand what the user wants, while continuously surveilling the user to serve targeted ads and share personal information with governments

Delta fans create less high frequency noise at high speeds. Not a necessary upgrade, but a nice-to-have if you are already taking off your heatsink. They are distinguished by a white plug (instead of black), and no sticker on the fan hub.

6-core CPU max power is 60-75W, and for the 15" precision, max GPU power is 80W. So a 180W adapter is plenty. 240W adapter is only needed for 17" models (w/ 110W GPU), or if overclocking an HK-variant CPU. The Xeons are supposed to be a binned version of the equivalent i7, with additional support for ECC RAM and vPro. So the Xeon theoretically has better silicon quality - so theoretically less voltage is converted to heat at the same clock speeds. You may not see an appreciable temperature difference. FWIW, I've undervolted two Xeons in these laptops; one was 100% stable at -115 mV (both core and cache), the other stable at -120 mV. I'm not sure how that compares to the i7s.

Unfortunately I can't find my notes, but on my 7540 I used an assortment of 0.5mm, 1mm, and 1.5mm thermal pads. Any quality pad should be OK in these laptops. I'm on "Aggressive" processor boost mode, and use an undervolt to limit max temperature at full boost. If your laptop reaches a max temperature of >90°C at sustained boost clocks, then different thermal paste/undervolting can definitely help your temps. But the 80-90 °C range is normal at sustained boost clocks on these laptops

Microsoft will do literally anything instead of making a working search function, a fully functional settings feature, and start menu / taskbar customization

Yep, looks like someone put in 5 mm screws instead of the two 3 mm screws that secure the palmrest there

Yes, Pascal should work without any problem. The P2000 is ~20% faster than the M2200. Turing works as well - I use a GTX 1650. Many people use a T1000. This is ~50% faster than the M2200. The only problem I have had is related to GPU power-state switching on battery - the GPU gets stuck at a low power state (resulting in poor performance), and the GPU occasionally fails to activate when launching certain programs, causing a hang. The GPU works perfectly on AC Power. In my experience, the laptop's internal screen does not support V-sync, but V-sync should work via DP or HDMI connection to an external screen.

This sounds like the godawful idea of an MBA who sincerely believes that they are "aligning synergies" and "creating value" by spamming Teams meeting invites (in other words, a psychopath)

De minimis value is $800; any item valued under that should owe no import taxes or tariffs. Of course, de minimis is supposed to go away 8/29 by 45's executive fiat. After 8/29, the duty coming from the EU should be 15% (of course, that all could be changed at anytime). I have heard of some shipments pre-emptively being charged tariffs ahead of the 8/29 deadline

Thanks, I didn't realize KeepassXC has TOTP functionality, now I need to see if I can completely replace Google/MS Authenticator

Absolutely worth it! For the 7740, you can use Throttlestop to increase the PL1 from 60W default up to 75W (Dell IC-limited). With a good undervolt, the 2276M will run at maximum turbo speeds at <75W (i.e. indefinitely with no frequency drops). If you know of some way to increase the power limit on the RTX 3000, I'm sure the forums here would be very interested. For the 10885H, a reasonable goal is >=4.0 GHz all-core with a good undervolt and mild tweaking of power settings.

Before I swapped from the E Port dock, I was (overly) concerned about reliability of the connector, but felt better knowing the cable can be changed, and (on the 7710) the port can be replaced. But really, no issues with USB-C reliability over the past six or so years. Only thing is that Dell docks don't prevent you from exceeding the display/resolution limits, which can lead to some really weird behavior

I've done a bit more digging: It sounds like the issues were specific to the TB16 dock. The "guts" of the WD19 and the WD22TB4 are essentially the same, so they should be equally compatible and reliable. If I were in your situation, I would definitely choose the WD22TB4 all the way.

The Precision 7710 is not officially on the compatibility list, but the WD22TB4 should work because TB4 is backwards compatible with TB3: https://www.delltechnologies.com/asset/en-us/products/electronics-and-accessories/technical-support/dell_docking_compatibility_guide.pdf I've used the WD19 with Precision 751X/771X, and it will work without issues. Both the WD19 and WD22 output 130W, which is adequate unless you are heavily loading the CPU and GPU. Plugging a 180W power adapter to the computer (while still docked) will give it full power if you need it. I don't have experience with the WD22TB4, but have anecdotally heard that the thunderbolt docks are less reliable than USB-C (i.e. WD19). However, the WD19 has only one USB-C port (front connection), so you would not be able to connect your both your monitor and external SSD to the dock. I'm not sure (haven't checked the numbers) if high refresh-rate 4K video would bottleneck your SSD on the WD19. So the WD22TB4 is your best bet, unless you have heard any horror stories about it, in which case WD19 would still be workable, but perhaps limiting.

GTX 1650 for $170: https://www.ebay.com/itm/166885329100?_skw=gtx+1650+mxm&itmmeta=01JQ97J6ETGBER0TKH605X8ARV&hash=item26db2408cc:g:fCUAAOSw1y9mocoq&itmprp=enc%3AAQAKAAAA8FkggFvd1GGDu0w3yXCmi1fF%2B6LzCsy3daAuyszZd5LUtC6psRAxna4zCMXiGa%2BF0dpXoMh7PcU%2Bqy95qEHAJljJ%2BFUCk%2BFG50GuxQGI5HRjdkL%2FoG%2BVnGRziUwDw5Z%2FQA7zi0wAA7rcid7oSYrN57f522fqRIimCZUHyDB6IBZsksT1VcbiNIMAmjRc0fOLt9kHVH390LNW0pE1bExAuzGreHkkQhmuKyahniq%2Bv%2BvDhP9QlI8RzSYlcUajfdMKCN1uHqpxkRnJbTjNMMdRLnJvFHTOguWBu7f8AfiD%2B1hoX3%2F3G%2FwJ%2BT3npVO3YDNGMA%3D%3D|tkp%3ABk9SR8rnyKe6ZQ