Nigh on Noon

Thanks for the suggestions. I tried using the "optimized" setting, and unfortunately I see the same behavior. Yeah, it does kind of seem like the power limits change to an "unplugged" mode, despite being on AC.

So I bought a used 7560, and I thought all was well, until I actually starting paying attention during long gaming sessions... The CPU will start off at about 45-50W, which I believe is the rated TDP, so, fine. The clock is about 3.8-3.9 GHz. But, after maybe 5 minutes, the CPU will drop to about 41W, and the clocks don't noticeably drop. If it could maintain this level of performance long term, I'd be fine with that. But not long after, the power drops to about 35w, and then it seems to bottom out somewhere in the 20s. By now, the clocks are less than the base clock (often below 2GHz), and the framerate is significantly worse than where it started. I don't think its a temp problem. When the TDP is in the ~45W regime, the temps are admittedly in the low 90s / upper 80s. Which is to say, not great, but I believe that is technically below Intel limits, and I would be okay with those temps. When the TDP drops, the temps are in the 70s. Despite these low temps, the TDP never rises again. It seems like the laptop just decides to enter a "prefer cool temps at all costs" mode. (I am using the ultra performance mode in the bios.) If I unplug and replug the charger, the TDP will rise to 45w for a moment or two, but soon will drop again, just as it did originally. Oh, and I am using a 240w charger, FWIW, the one that I use with my 7710. I'm leaning towards returning the laptop (I have about a week left to return it if I want), if I can't resolve the issue, or if I confirm that this is actually intended behavior.

I believe so, yes. Apparently, discrete graphics and Ryzen options are coming in July - https://www.notebookcheck.net/Dell-Pro-Max-14-and-16-availability-revealed.981634.0.html That article also mentions QHD+ displays, although I don't see that mentioned in the attached press release.

I was given a Latitude 5420 that appears to be completely dead. No LED, no fan, nothing. I tried disconnecting the battery and CMOS, and holding down the power button for a minute. That didn't work. I tried reseating the one ram stick, and putting it in the other slot - didn't work. I took out the motherboard and I couldn't see any obvious damage. I'm just about ready to give up, but I wanted to ask here to see if anyone has any last ideas.

Just wanted to check in and say I no longer have my GS66, I sold it last year. No problems came up with it, but to be honest, I was worried about the build quality in the long run. In particular, I feared the hinges would eventually loosen up. If I ever get something to replace it, I'm thinking I'd like to get a used Precision 7560 and swap the display for a QHD 240Hz panel. So, a machine with basically the same specs as my GS66, but hopefully as sturdy as my 7710.

Unfortunately, I've had to go back to default timings. Despite passing memtest, I eventually experienced some graphical glitches. Specifically, there were some small black boxes that would show up on screen. One time, when the glitches appeared, during a game, the laptop actually hard shut down. So I reset ram timings, and the glitches stopped occurring. Then one day I re entered the tweaked timings, and within two days the exact same graphical glitch was back. So, that's why I'm pretty sure the issue was ram related. (If anyone has a better explanation of what happened, I'm all ears.) Does there exist some set of timings that wouldn't cause glitches like this? Probably, but they would be so close to default timings that I'm not sure they'd be worth finding.

Well that's unfortunate. That puts it off my radar for now. Like Aaron said, even the smaller XPS 15 has sodimms.

Whoa, the 5680 looks nice. A compact chassis, but still has two so-dimms and a card reader. But the screen options are disappointing - only 60hz and you have to choose either 1920x1200 or 3840x2400. I feel like 2560x1600 120Hz+ should replace FHD/WUXGA as the bare minimum sort of display these days. (Same criticism applies to the 7680.)

It seems they are currently listing the RTX 3000 as having 12GB, so either they got the name or the VRAM amount wrong. Hopefully the RTX 3500 is what that option actually represents.

You know, I was thinking, given that its only 160-bit and 70W, it should easily translate to a laptop form factor. Can you imagine 20GB in a laptop? That would be sexy.

https://www.nvidia.com/en-us/design-visualization/rtx-4000-sff/ The new desktop card is very interesting! 20GB across a 160-bit bus (a first I believe), half-height, dual slot, and no external power required - only 70W. I wonder where it will land compared to the Ampere A4000. Here is a pdf with the new mobile parts: https://nvdam.widen.net/s/dmdqnnwcmk/proviz-mobile-linecard-update-2653183 Pretty much what was expected. I bet the "3500 Ada" is what the 4070 Ti mobile will end up being. I wish the 4070 mobile had those specs to begin with.

Nice, what laptop is that? Your Windows 7 skin fooled me there for a second. "Wait, how are you running... oh, its a skin, ha."

Sure, here is a timespy run:

I've achieved some modest timing improvements. Note Gear Mode is now 1. The following settings have passed a Memtest86, so long as I keep the memory voltage at 1.25V. There is probably room for slightly better timings, but given that memtest takes ~11 hours, I'm happy with this configuration for now.

Does anyone have the 3466 ram in their 7560 or 7760? I'm wondering what latencies those kits run at. Thanks.