Aaron44126

Looks like a dual-pipe CPU heatsink, which is the best that you can get. (I remember upgrading my M6700 CPU heatsink from single-pipe to dual-pipe.) I also think the only GPU heatsink variations are one for AMD GPUs and one for NVIDIA GPUs, and the difference there was basically to account for different heights of the GPU die/chip. I wish they made still made laptops more like this... I love how many things you can swap out! (I guess there is always Framework.)

1. This thread has some information on M4800 fans types. See posts by @unnoticed. Delta is generally considered the best, but not that one that you have there... There is another one that has way more blades and a sort of cone-shape raised thing going on. I think that the one that you have was intended to be paired with a lower-powered dual-core CPU. 2. The difference between the docks AFAIK is that the wider one has an extra DVI/DisplayPort output (and maybe a couple of other extra ports). Both of them support an iGPU-attached display through DVI/DisplayPort if you enable that BIOS option, but if you get the wide one then only one of those ports will attach to the iGPU (you'll have to do trial and error to figure out which ... I do not remember). Note that there are also different USB 2.0 and USB 3.0 versions of the docks, but it is hard to tell them apart because they look the same. The USB 3.0 version might have a little "+" symbol next to the USB ports on the left side ...?

Same driver but it is pretty easy to accidentally have Optimus not available if you are doing manual mucking in the driver INF file. (I think NVCleanInstall does modifications to the INF but I have not used it myself...?) I found this out when trying to do an "unsupported" GPU upgrade on my Precision M6700, putting in a Quadro M5000M, which requires INF editing; on my first try, the driver installed properly but Optimus simply would not engage and render anything. There are a a few flags that need to be set properly in the INF in order for Optimus to be activate after the install is done (NVSupportMSHybrid, NVSupportOptimus, NVOptimusHCloneDisabled, ...). NVIDIA does not tend to set them for laptop configurations that do dGPU-only output, and they have a separate set of configuration/flags for pretty much every laptop model / dGPU combination.

(Rant time...) Optimus is a wreck. It is a really cool idea for power savings, but it is a kind of tacked-on solution to Windows that I have not found to work well. Specifically, the dGPU frequently does not power off when it should, rendering the solution pointless. Many users have reported issues with it on the Precision line. It is way too easy for the system to get "stuck" with the NVIDIA GPU powered on even when no apps are using it. The tray icon that shows whether the GPU is powered on or off isn't even always reliable and sometimes shows that the dGPU is powered off when it is actually on; you might have to check using the nvidia-smi command line tool, or the NVAPI library. Some easy ways to get the NVIDIA GPU stuck on: Plug in an external monitor that attaches directly to the GPU, and then unplug it to go back to a single display powered by the iGPU. Some processes will be locked to the NVIDIA GPU and keep it powered on. Use fast user switching to activate a second Windows desktop session under a second account. Same thing, some processes will be locked to the NVIDIA GPU and keep it powered on. Run a background application that just doesn't have good "Optimus-awareness" and improperly attaches to the dGPU for tasks that could be handled fine by the iGPU. Examples: Epic Games client, Cygwin X Windows server. Some of these can be "solved" by specifically setting them to use the iGPU in either NVIDIA control panel or Windows graphics settings... but some apps bypass those settings and attach to the dGPU anyway. A possible solution when this happens is to just use Device Manager to disable and then re-enable the NVIDIA GPU, causing the NVIDIA display driver to reset and all apps attached to the dGPU to detach. This seems to kick it back into the correct state so that it will power off. You can script this with a tool like DevManView, which has command line options to enable and disable devices. Linux isn't much better. At least when I tried Ubuntu on the Precision 7770, getting the system configured so that Optimus would even properly shut the dGPU at all took some reading and experimentation, and then it was pretty easy to get it into a state where the dGPU would not power off even though it "should" if certain programs were running. (Doesn't help that many tools that monitor the GPU will cause it to power on, too...) I'm not sure how far it extends; Precisions are the only laptops with NVIDIA GPUs that I have used in recent memory. I have no idea if similar issues occur on systems with AMD dGPUs. I will say that I have much appreciation of my MacBook Pro in this area after 10+ years on the Precision; it reminded me that high-performance laptops can actually be portable without a constant worry over power management — I routinely have it unplugged and powered on for over 12 hours at a time (not in use with the display on the entire time, but never "sleeping") and it usually still has over 50% left on the battery! I wish the PC laptop ecosystem would get this figured out.

I believe you will find that the heatsink is different between lower-end and high-end GPUs. You can enter your service tag at dell.com/support and get a parts list for your system. Maybe someone with a higher-end system can compare the part number for the heatsink.

See my post above on Pascal GPUs (GTX 1050Ti is Pascal, I believe...). It will not work. With M4700/M6700 you will get a lock-up at boot and with M4800/M6800 you will get a BSOD from acpi.sys (but Linux will work).

The Dell docks typically have an unmarked round button on the top that is actually a power button which you can use to turn the laptop on while the lid is shut.

This is another red flag. It really seems to be a textbook scam site; lure people in with low prices and then make them pay using a payment method that is difficult/impossible to revoke when you don't deliver a product. Without any actual business details listed, even filing a legal challenge to be reimbursed would be difficult. Do not buy anything using a payment method that you won't be able to reverse or dispute, unless you have some reason to really trust that you will get what you paid for...

...Wait. The SupportAssist test you can do from Windows has a fan test, and the program actually manipulates the fan speed during this test? (I knew about the one you can run from the BIOS, but not about a Windows one.) If so I'll have to find time to dig in and see if it can be reverse engineered, it might providing the missing piece to allow manual fan control on these newer systems...

I think that must be a copy/paste error from the M6800 immediately below in the sig; M6700 can definitely only take 3rd-gen CPUs...

Having my own heatsink/fan assembly replaced. I just called them a little bit ago and they agreed to send the part out. It sometimes makes a grinding noise but only when it is operating at low speeds. It has been getting more frequent over time. Enough is enough...

Haven't seen any of these upgrades, though upgrading Precision 7X30 with a 7X40 GPU was shown to be possible originally by @Ionising_Radiation. In the case of 7X50/7X60, the GPU cards are not quite the same. Precision 7X60 supports PCIe4 and they have removed one DGFF connector from these cards compared to the 7X50 ones, running them at 8×PCIe4 rather than 16×PCIe3. If you were to install such a card in a Precision 7X50, it will only run at 8×PCIe3 (assuming that it even worked). You'll also want to compare photos and see if the screws are in the same place (I seem to remember seeing a difference there but it has been a while since I looked). If the cards are physically compatible then there is a decent chance that it will work, but I'm not sure if a Precision 7X50 would be happy about not having all of the DGFF connectors on the motherboard side attached to something (I guess you could test that by removing the appropriate DGFF connector on your current card and seeing if it will run at 8×PCIe3), or if Dell has not changed the DGFF pinout when they dropped one of the connectors.

If you need help with Directory Opus customization, you are probably best off asking at the Directory Opus forum.

I used mSATA in the M4800 for the whole time that I had one with zero problems. It goes in the WWAN slot. (There might be an option in the BIOS that you have to check to switch that slot between PCIe mode and SATA mode.... I do not recall, it was there on some older Precisions but I think that this one switches automatically.) Double-sided should fit fine, there is plenty of clearance. You cannot put a mSATA drive into another slot. It has to be hooked up to the chipset SATA controller and only the WWAN slot has that connection; the other slots just offer PCIe and USB connections. (You could, however, put a WWAN card into one of the other slots, since that uses a PCIe connection... if you could somehow get it to physically fit, or if they make a half-height one.) I have not put an mSATA drive into any systems older than M6700 so I can't say for sure about those older ones. I do recall people mentioning that there was trouble booting from the mSATA card in the M6500.

Installed on my 7560 just now with no issues.

Eh. I am kind of inclined to go along with the suggestion in the message. Worry about it "if the problem recurs". Not sure what really can be done other than replacing the fan assembly again — or the motherboard, if this turns out to be not a fan issue.

Eh, I generally agree with @Etern4l. My original assertion was based on a cursory web search. If Google isn't being explicit about the level of privacy offered with this backup method, then you can assume that it is not private and they would be able to turn data over to i.e. law enforcement that comes in with a court order.

Yeah, I haven't used it myself but I see the claim that "Google One" device backup feature has the data encrypted by your Google account password.

This is the second time I have seen this site linked here recently, but I am suspicious. There is no physical address listed and it is full of misspellings and grammatical errors. That plus "prices that are a little bit too good" are typical scam site red flags. Buyer beware...

I have found Apple One to be a good value, but you actually do have to make good use of it, I can see that it would not be a good value for that many people. Cloud storage is absolutely necessary if you want to keep photos/videos backed up and iCloud does a good, seamless job of this in iOS. (With iCloud "Advanced Data Protection" turned on, you can actually back up your whole phone including passwords and health data with end-to-end encryption. I understand that Android has something similar, but third-party apps have to specifically register with the backup service to have their data backed up and not all of them do it....?) My kids both have iPads and Apple Arcade is a good source for games for them to play. Most "regular" games on the App Store are full of ads and/or constantly trying to get you to spend money on microtransactions; Apple Arcade games are pleasantly free of both. There's a lot of fluff on there but some decent titles too. (I don't play anything off of there myself, though I am mildly interested in Fantasian.) Wife and kids are both doing music all of the time as well, so Apple Music is beneficial to have and it means that I don't have to pay for Spotify or similar. Plus, they offer lossless audio which Spotify has been teasing for years but still hasn't launched (to my knowledge)... I actually do workouts with Apple Watch + Apple TV, so Apple Fitness+ is beneficial to have. Apple TV+ actually has some decent shows too. This is not a service that I would stay subscribed to it all of the time if it wasn't part of the bundle. But, currently enjoying season 4 of For All Mankind for example, Foundation season 2 was also fun, and there are a few others that I want to try out like Extrapolations and Ted Lasso. Apple News+ is the least interesting of the bunch. I've never found the need to pay for access to news (though I do support public media), but I do occasionally use Apple News+ to read something from a normally paywalled site like the The Wall Street Journal. For each individual service, you can definitely find a cheaper non-Apple alternative. However if you actually use several of them then Apple One is probably cheaper than a pile of alternatives added up. Plus, the general benefit of not having them try to monetize my usage of their services with data tracking and targeted ads is something that I am willing to pay a little bit extra for.

Unfortunately, nothing about this story is a surprise. :-\ Dell does generally use FedEx for delivery and doesn't require signature. They also "lock down" many of the options that you can use with FedEx like rerouting the package. One thing that you can do is place a "vacation hold" on your address through FedEx, and FedEx will not attempt to deliver the package on days when a vacation hold is in effect. But really, you do have to decide where you want the machine shipped and be prepared for the uncertain delivery date. (If I worked in an office, I would have it shipped to the office, even if I was not sure if I was going to be there on the delivery day.) The lack of repair parts is also not a surprise. When I bought the Precision 7770, I had to wait over a week to get a replacement display panel and a multiple weeks for a replacement heatsink when I asked for those. I'm not sure what is up with Dell's parts supply these days. It wasn't like this in the past. The mouse thing is weird. I can sort of get it if you're talking about the touchpad, but you should still be able to connect a USB mouse and use the PC. If you have tried multiple different mice and it is still not working, then it is most likely a software problem and not a hardware problem.

...Because laptops already don't have enough space for keys that people actually want. https://arstechnica.com/gadgets/2024/01/ai-comes-for-your-pcs-keyboard-as-microsoft-adds-dedicated-copilot-key/

Maybe S3 sleep (old systems) vs. "modern standby" (new systems) have a difference in terms of this behavior?

Best I can tell, there is an "issue" relating to the extradition from The Bahamas being tied to the seven charges that were the subject of the original trial and The Bahamas not responding to a request to allow them to pursue additional charges (which will prevent the second trial from starting), and also the SBF lawyer team asking the Judge Kaplan to delay sentencing until the second trial is completed so that sentencing can be determined based on "all relevant conduct". Given that he is pretty well damned after the outcome of the first trial, and that the sentencing guidelines would be the same even if he were convicted at the second trial, dropping the second may be the best way to keep things from being held up for an indefinite period of time.

Looks like they possibly did it to avoid delays in sentencing and restitution? https://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/2024/01/bankman-fried-wont-face-trial-over-alleged-foreign-bribes-campaign-funds/