SvenC

Is it really too hard for Dell to auto switch back to iGPU output when running on battery? Maybe some of the more hardware experienced members here can add some knowlegde or explanation if and why that dGPU output mode cannot dynamically be adjusted at runtime based on running on battery or not? Having to reboot, change BIOS dGPU output mode and reboot again, if you just want to plug/unplug your laptop and run optimized for attached hardware or battery life, is not that user friendly 😉

I saved a link from support.dell.com where you can enter your service tag (saved that one for mine) or search by product name on that support page. That should bring you to the software downloads page as well.

This one? https://dl.dell.com/FOLDER14196338M/1/DellDockFirmwarePackage_WD19_WD22_HD22_WD25_SD25_01.01.13.exe

I am still using my old WD19DC which is enough for my iGPU only config. We have colleagues with the new SD25TB5, I'll ask if I can test one and check. But, if I don't have any TB5 hardware (displays still HDMI and DP attached) would that help to check your issue on my side?

Sad but true.

Did Dell Command Update find and install the latest BIOS 2.6.1? I don't use that updater, always manually checking and installing updates.

Dell Pro Max 18 Plus with iGPU only works pretty well. Battery drain is OK - too much is typically caused by virus full scans and Windows Updates and sometimes the Windows search indexer goes crazy - If those processes are "sleeping" I get around 5 to 6 hours on light work with dimmed display. One glitch with the latest Dell provided Intel graphics driver which turns off the brightness control - brightness always max - Windows UI brightness controls do not work either - had to install the old driver and block Windows Update from installing new drivers automatically - sigh... So, the hardware seems pretty OK for my tasks - maybe the additional dGPU cause too much stress if CPU and GPU are used.

Multi monitor DPI scaling with my additional 27" 2560x1440 + 24" 1920x1200 would be easier with 18" 1920x1200 - without quirks (*) the 18" DPI is a bit too high - and no, I do not want to exchange the other displays to higher DPI displays 😉 (*) advanced font changer vs WIndows 11 build in scaling

BIOS updates and weekly full virus scans (ESET, have to use, company policy...) bring up the fans loud and clear. Sometimes too many browser tabs (e.g. with animated advertising like winfuture.de) uses a few cores with high load Visual Studio updates in sequence for 2019, 2022, 2026 and Preview and SSMS updates. Normal work is pretty silent - but hey, whats normal anyways 😉 I would buy it again - only wishes: 1920x1200 pixels 500+ nits on my 18" and the name Dell Pro Precision 7 oder 9 😉

Here is mine with iGPU only

Did you check if disabling Intel SpeedStep fixes those intermittend noises? Maybe that cirrus driver "only" runs into trouble in some or all cases if ACPI stuff happens to save some power?

Funny, how new display technology seems announced as better for color accuracy (and whatever more) with potentially less power draw. But somehow an optimized LED 1920 x 1200 with 500+ nits (appreciated for both 16" and 18") could/should be even less power hungry, if you care about readability anywhere outside with daylight and much less about color accuracy - e.g. as a code and text reader and writer who likes contrast and reduced blue light 😉

I feel your pain and wished the same! I lost that control some years ago with Win10 updates and my need to run Hyper-V which disallowed some switches needed for undervolting my 7740 back in the times. Got worse with Win11 - never tried the BIOS offset patching way (no unimportant spare laptop to try that stuff) Would have loved to try undervolting, PLx and LLC customizations/optimizations on my 7680 which tended to get too warm and had too much battery drain - but too scared to brick my workday machine. Same with my PM18P - better than the 7680 (handed over to a colleague...) but still room for power and battery improvement. I guess Intel and Dell (and the other brands) do not want to test all power related permutations of BIOS settings and/or had too many support cases of "miss-patched" or even bricked systems if power users tried harder than they should... and Microsoft/Windows helped/helps to make undervolting and stuff as hard as possible - only those who dare know the current (always moving harder) outcome 😉 I moved on only to keep looking if this stuff comes back in an easier and saver way or if the BIOS defaults and public options are the best way to keep on going...

Not sure what you would like to me? Which cable switch? Which bios option switch? I did not follow your case here and too little time to do now. Could you provide context and test questions again? And I'll see if I can be of any help. My PM18P is with iGPU only and I kept my dock WD19DC with that Dell specific double USB-C cable which is using the two USB-C ports on the left side of my laptop. The dock uses an old "power brick" with 240W. IIRC the laptop gets around 210W from the dock with that dual USB-C connector. I do not connect an additional power adapter to the laptop - power only from WD19DC - and have no problems. Big difference in our setups is: no power draw from a dGPU. I do not need a dGPU for my work and that makes my WD19DC a supported dock.

I read about less SSD performance and less battery time somewhere and could measure that back in the days when I switched from Win 10 to 11 - first with dual boot to go back to 10 in case of issues and I checked SSD speeds of my data drive (m.2 NVMe - lower numbers with 11, same hardware, only 10 and 11 on two other drives. Shorter battery time on Win 11. From then on I read about some perf updates which came with "feature updates" and from time to time Win 11 seems to get faster drive speeds and more battery time than in the beginning of Win 11. Biggest SSD slow down is our company policy which forces another virus scanner on our systems so real time scanning slows down and DevDrive cannot use async file scanning... I understand your point of stability of features and behaviour and the choice when to upgrade to next H1 or H2 to avoid surprises after a forced Windows Update 😉