Precision 7670 & 7770 pre-release discussion (Alder Lake)

[Aaron44126]

I did check with a rep again this afternoon, hoping to corroborate the 7/5 or 7/7 RTO dates suggested by @FabeFromBOD.  They still don't have tentative RTO date to hand out.  I was given a rough "maybe within two weeks" estimate that I don't put much stock in.  (I would like to think that it is likely that the system will launch within two weeks, I just don't think the rep was going off anything solid when he said that.)

...I'll check again sometime after the holiday weekend.

[operator]

Activity ongoing reg. firmware for Dell Dock and WWAN.

 

Also new BIOS was released.

CinnamonBayAdl_1.3.1

 

[Aaron44126]

2 hours ago, operator said:

Also new BIOS was released.

CinnamonBayAdl_1.3.1

 

1.0.0 was signed on March 21.

1.3.1 was signed on May 10.

...So, it's newer but not "new".

[operator]

47 minutes ago, Aaron44126 said:

...So, it's newer but not "new".

 

Seems like they keep some time for validation...

 

CinnamonBayAdl_1.0.0 - signed March 21st - released June 20th

CinnamonBayAdl_1.1.0 - signed April 1st - released June 20th

Precision_7X70_1.1.1 - signed April 11th - released June 20th

CinnamonBayAdl_1.2.1 - signed April 28th - released May 25th

CinnamonBayAdl_1.3.1 - signed May 10th - released July 5th

 

I'm a bit confused why 1.2.1 is showing as released in May, while the support page was not online at that time and the other ones showing released in June as the page did go online.

...and also why 1.1.1 has a different Name. 🙂

[Aaron44126]

1 hour ago, operator said:

I'm a bit confused why 1.2.1 is showing as released in May, while the support page was not online at that time and the other ones showing released in June as the page did go online.

...and also why 1.1.1 has a different Name. 🙂

 

This is not unusual, I've seen many times before where they are inconsistent on the support page with the filename and release date.

 

There are plenty of things posted "before" the support page went live.  For instance, the Wi-Fi driver has a date in May.  The Intel Rapid Storage driver just appeared on the 7X70 support pages today, but it has a posted date of June 10.  In some cases, they might upload something and have it "hidden" (as is likely the case with these BIOS updates), and in some cases, they may release something for a different system and then add 7X70 to it later (as is likely the case with the Intel Rapid Storage and Wi-Fi drivers).  They can also post something, pull it down, and then post it again later with a new release date (see Precision 7X60 1.11.0 BIOS update).

 

[Edit]

Checked in this morning, reps are still not able to provide an RTO date.  (Didn't think there was really any chance that it would change over the weekend...)

[FabeFromBOD]

 Hi @Aaron44126,

My contact remains on his position towards with RTO's date on July 7, waiting to see if the truth is elsewhere 😀.

 

Since we are expected, we will not be surprised by a new postponement , but if they continue like this, I advise them to rename it to 7780 🤣 

[FabeFromBOD]

Here is configuration that I made quoted. (sorry french specs)

 

 

Does anyone know if there are two CAMM slots in the 7770 ? specs are fuzzy on this.

 

 

[Aaron44126]

11 minutes ago, FabeFromBOD said:

Does anyone know if there are two CAMM slots in the 7770 ? specs are fuzzy on this.

 

There is one CAMM slot.  Dell is selling single CAMM modules with configurations from 16GB up to 128GB.

 

If you get a SODIMM configuration you will get an interposer/adapter card that plugs into the CAMM slot and offers two SODIMM slots.  (The SODIMM configurations will not be available at launch.)

 

The interposer will not be available to purchase separately.  (Might be able to find it on eBay later.)  However, Dell will make CAMM modules available separately for upgrades.

 

CAMM modules:

Spoiler

32GB bottom side, showing connector.

 

Top side.  Look at positions of screw holes to get a feel for relative size.  Starting from top-left, clockwise: 16GB, 128GB, 64GB, 32GB.  (64GB and 128GB have DRAM chips on both the top and bottom of the card.)

 

SODIMM interposer:

Spoiler

 

[FabeFromBOD]

13 minutes ago, Aaron44126 said:

 

There is one CAMM slot.  Dell is selling single CAMM modules with configurations from 16GB up to 128GB.

 

If you get a SODIMM configuration you will get an interposer/adapter card that plugs into the CAMM slot and offers two SODIMM slots.  (The SODIMM configurations will not be available at launch.)

 

The interposer will not be available to purchase separately.  (Might be able to find it on eBay later.)  However, Dell will make CAMM modules available separately for upgrades.

 

CAMM modules:

  Reveal hidden contents

32GB bottom side, showing connector.

 

Top side.  Look at positions of screw holes to get a feel for relative size.  Starting from top-left, clockwise: 16GB, 128GB, 64GB, 32GB.  (64GB and 128GB have DRAM chips on both the top and bottom of the card.)

 

SODIMM interposer:

  Reveal hidden contents

 

 

Thanks a lot @Aaron44126, if I understood well, it will be possible to switch after to on a SODIMM solution if interposer will be available on a third-party provider ?

[Aaron44126]

1 minute ago, FabeFromBOD said:

Thanks a lot @Aaron44126, if I understood well, it will be possible to switch after to on a SODIMM solution if interposer will be available on a third-party provider ?

 

Yes, but with only two SODIMM slots, maximum memory capacity for this configuration would be 64GB.  (You can use ECC modules, though.)

[FabeFromBOD]

6 minutes ago, Aaron44126 said:

 

Yes, but with only two SODIMM slots, maximum memory capacity for this configuration would be 64GB.  (You can use ECC modules, though.)

 

Ok understood, I think better solution wil to buy an upgrade of CAMM module, more secure 🙂

[Aaron44126]

2 hours ago, FabeFromBOD said:

Here is configuration that I made quoted. (sorry french specs)

 

 

Noticed the 1TB SSD in there.  You should check the price with the base 256GB SSD if you have not already.  It's probably much cheaper to buy your 1TB SSD separately, if you are comfortable installing it yourself.

 

[Edit]

Also, do they show an estimated ship date on your quote?

[-batab-]

2 hours ago, FabeFromBOD said:

Here is configuration that I made quoted. (sorry french specs)

 

 

Does anyone know if there are two CAMM slots in the 7770 ? specs are fuzzy on this.

 

 

Does that exceed 4k€? I've been away from Dell for a long time now and I configured a couple of options that looked absurdly expensive. 

 

However I was in love with my M6300 and it would be nice to get back on track with a new precision. 

[Aaron44126]

1 hour ago, -batab- said:

Does that exceed 4k€?

 

We have some numbers from earlier in the thread.  @win32asmguy got this quote:

 

On 6/7/2022 at 11:11 AM, win32asmguy said:

They quoted me $4000 for the following:

12950HX

32GB Non-ECC CAMM DDR5-4800

256GB SSD

3080Ti

FHD 60hz 100% DCI-P3 with FHD non-IR camera

Non-backlit keyboard (whoops)

No SSD door/Security devices

Windows 10 Pro

96W Battery

4 year ProSupport

 

I got basically this, bumping up to 128GB RAM, 4K 120Hz display / IR camera, fingerprint reader, backlit keyboard, and 5 year ProSupport Plus and it came out at $6000.  (Expecting the RAM actually made up the bulk of the difference there.)

 

These are both USD.  I don't know how different to expect the prices to be for other markets...

...But I recommend to always go through the sales rep, annoying as that is, they can beat the price that you see on the web site.

[operator]

7670 is online! At least in Europe:

...did not see anything about the 7770 model yet.

 

[Aaron44126]

48 minutes ago, operator said:

...did not see anything about the 7770 model yet.

 

Awesome.  It's normal for the rollout of new models to take a few hours, so just check back in a bit.

 

I was expecting China to launch first (just because of time zones) but it doesn't look like they have it yet.

 

It's a bit early over here in the U.S. but I'll be keeping an eye on it throughout the morning...

 

[Edit]

I noticed that the Precision 7770 UK URL shows an empty page but does not error out so I'd assume it will be launching soon as well.  (Several Precision 5000 models behaved like this during the April 19 rollout.)  https://www.dell.com/en-uk/shop/cty/pdp/spd/precision-17-7770-laptop

[-batab-]

Damn, it's sad that I got a crazy good clevo build for less than 2.5k€ a few years ago and now I should spend 4-5k€ to get something as top notch as that one 😞

 

I have yet to decide if I want to commit that hard but spending "only" 2.5k€ now, would basically get me something barely better than my 5yo P650HP6 😞

[__starrify__]

1 minute ago, -batab- said:

Damn, it's sad that I got a crazy good clevo build for less than 2.5k€ a few years ago and now I should spend 4-5k€ to get something as top notch as that one 😞

Exactly the same pain here 😞

Besides, yes it is the same in the IE region that we now observe the new 7670 model being online, but not yet 7770.

[SvenC]

Going from 16GB CAMM to 64GB CAMM adds 831,51€ while you get 64GB DDR5 SO-DIMM (2x 32GB) for under 400€.

 

That tops the +600€ to go from 16GB to 64GB on the 5770 quite a bit.

 

Not good when there is no competition selling CAMM modules 😞

[operator]

1 hour ago, -batab- said:

Damn, it's sad that I got a crazy good clevo build for less than 2.5k€ a few years ago and now I should spend 4-5k€ to get something as top notch as that one 😞

😞

 

Don't put any trust in the prices you see on the web page or the configurator.

Get a quote from a Dell Sales Rep. The price can differ by a 4-digit amount!

 

 

[Aaron44126]

Observations, messing around with the Dell Precision 7670 configuration page (UK version).

• CPU upgrades are cheap, why not get 12950HX?  I almost wonder if it's worth it to Dell to have to deal with three different CPU/motherboard options.
  • [Edit] Actually looks like they also up the warranty price when you select a better CPU, so it is not as cheap as it looks.
• Based on previous pricing, GeForce RTX 3080 Ti should cost only slightly more than RTX A4500.  The GeForce option does not show on the web form.  You have to go through a sales rep to get it.
• Upgrade to 128GB RAM (from base 16GB RAM) costs around $2,000 USD (about the same in GBP with the VAT factored in).
• SSD prices are still quite high as well, you can get a (good!) SSD aftermarket for around half of what they are asking.
• ...Somehow, an "additional" 4TB SSD costs about two thirds of what it costs to put one in the primary slot.
• For displays, it looks like there are only WLAN options.  I wonder if that means that all of these systems will have the plastic antenna enclosure at the top of the display enclosure (rather than being all aluminum as the pictures show).  A previous poster noted that you can't select WLAN and OLED at the same time.  They appear to be offering it here.  (That said, you cannot actually select a WLAN card to add in, they are not offering it yet.)
  • I wonder if some of these are mislabeled.  There appears to be at least one case of duplication, same text but different price.
• With the Wi-Fi/Bluetooth card now soldered onto the motherboard, I wonder how the "no Bluetooth" option that you can select actually works.  Do they have a different motherboard version that has the Bluetooth capability disabled?  More likely it is just a firmware/BIOS toggle that they'll do for you.
• As expected, if you try to configure the system with three SSDs, it forces you to upgrade the GPU to at least RTX A3000.
• ...And if you select the A3000 GPU or better, it forces you to pick the 240W PSU and 93Whr battery.
  • I wonder why they don't just automatically select the PSU for you like they do with the chassis.  Seems like no reason to use 240W PSU with thin chassis if the CPU+GPU power limit is below 110W (as according to @Dell-Mano_G earlier).
• Nothing seems to explicitly tell you if you will be getting the "thin chassis" or "performance chassis".  (FYI: If you get A2000 or lower GPU, you will get the thin chassis.  Thin chassis only supports two SSDs.  If you think you might want to have three SSDs installed later, you need to pick the appropriate GPU now.)
• ...They're not showing an estimated ship date.

[operator]

Just talked to sales rep.

Even if it is configurable on the web page now, it seems not orderable yet.

They have a tentative date by tomorrow 7th, but this is not safe.

But the visibility in the web configurator let me hope the best....

 

[Aaron44126]

13 minutes ago, operator said:

They have a tentative date by tomorrow 7th, but this is not safe.

But the visibility in the web configurator let me hope the best....

 

I'm going to ask one of the reps that I've been dealing with and see what they say.  Maybe I can get a quote today so that I can just order first thing tomorrow morning.

 

...But this is a good sign, I think; just yesterday they were saying "no date yet", so with a date this close I think they'd be ready to hit it.

[serpro69]

If I select i9 CPU, then Windows 10 Pro becomes unavailable. I wonder if this is a mistake or intentional. Both i5 and i7 allow you to select Windows 10.

 

[operator]

9 minutes ago, Aaron44126 said:

 

• CPU upgrades are cheap, why not get 12950HX?  I almost wonder if it's worth it to Dell to have to deal with three different CPU/motherboard options.

 

In the configurator you see 25€ upgrade costs from i7 to i9. But when you select it, the total amount increases by ~400€.

So at least for me, I stay on i7 - its sufficient for my needs.