Precision 7560 & Precision 7760 owner's thread

[Ionising_Radiation]

I need more USB-A ports (and possibly more displays) than the 7560 supports, so I am in the market for a Dell dock. I've read through the Dock compatibility guide and I am comparing between the WD22TB4 and the WD19DCS. I am most concerned about the power delivery: will I be able to charge the laptop with just the WD22TB4, and is the CPU/GPU likely to be throttled? I absolutely don't want the hassle of having two gigantic AC adaptors lying on the floor. 

 

Furthermore, is the WD19DCS (which is recommended over the WD22TB4 for the Precision 7560) liable for an update soon? As the model name suggests, it's from 2019, and USB-C PD today supports 240 W over a single port, which makes me feel that Dell might release an updated dock with a single cable some time soon. 

[SvenC]

3 hours ago, Ionising_Radiation said:

I need more USB-A ports (and possibly more displays) than the 7560 supports, so I am in the market for a Dell dock. I've read through the Dock compatibility guide and I am comparing between the WD22TB4 and the WD19DCS. I am most concerned about the power delivery: will I be able to charge the laptop with just the WD22TB4, and is the CPU/GPU likely to be throttled? I absolutely don't want the hassle of having two gigantic AC adaptors lying on the floor. 

 

Furthermore, is the WD19DCS (which is recommended over the WD22TB4 for the Precision 7560) liable for an update soon? As the model name suggests, it's from 2019, and USB-C PD today supports 240 W over a single port, which makes me feel that Dell might release an updated dock with a single cable some time soon. 

 

My 7740 throttles with anything less than the dual cable dock. I think that is the reason for the DC or DCS recommendation.

 

I guess we would need updated USB-C hardware in the laptop for 240W USB-C power to work. So I doubt you would be able to make use of a newer dock wth 240W over one cable on older Precision laptops.

 

There were several posts that you get a little less performance with just the DC dock powering the laptop (its 210 instead of 240W). Not sure if that is just measurable or noticable. Might depend on the workload when CPU and GPU max out.

[Aaron44126]

8 hours ago, Ionising_Radiation said:

I need more USB-A ports (and possibly more displays) than the 7560 supports, so I am in the market for a Dell dock. I've read through the Dock compatibility guide and I am comparing between the WD22TB4 and the WD19DCS. I am most concerned about the power delivery: will I be able to charge the laptop with just the WD22TB4, and is the CPU/GPU likely to be throttled? I absolutely don't want the hassle of having two gigantic AC adaptors lying on the floor. 

 

Furthermore, is the WD19DCS (which is recommended over the WD22TB4 for the Precision 7560) liable for an update soon? As the model name suggests, it's from 2019, and USB-C PD today supports 240 W over a single port, which makes me feel that Dell might release an updated dock with a single cable some time soon. 

 

AFAIK, WD19DC(S) supports 210W PD and not 240W.  (Doesn't really matter for Precision 7560 which just expects 180W.)  There have been a few reports of 77X0 systems working better under high load if you plug the AC adapter in directly, even with a dual-cable dock.

 

You'll definitely want a dual-cable dock if you don't want a separate AC adapter plugged in.  A single-cable dock will be capped at 130W and you will get throttling.  (Also, that means that third-party docks are out.)

I seriously doubt that Precision 7560 will ever be able to support 240W PD over USB-C (single-cable), as @SvenC says.  Even if the standard supports it now, this system was not designed with that level of PD in mind.  It might work in future systems.

 

If you need more USB ports, you could just get a simple USB hub (or a display with a USB hub built in).  The 7560 already supports four display outputs...  Possibly more if you have any monitors that support DisplayPort daisy-chaining.  In my case, I have a Dell monitor with built-in four-port USB hub and I just connect it to the USB-A port on the right side (with a right-angle adapter so the cable goes straight back and doesn't stick out into the "mouse" area).

[Aaron44126]

BIOS update 1.12.1 is posted.

https://www.dell.com/support/home/en-us/drivers/driversdetails?driverid=P8F69

 

Fixes:
- Firmware updates to address security vulnerabilities including (Common Vulnerabilities and Exposures - CVE) such as CVE-2022-0004, and CVE-2022-24410.
- Fixed the issue where the system stops responding when clicking the icons in Enhanced Pre-Boot System Assessment (ePSA) advanced test.
- Fixed the issue where the Alt Gr key on the keyboard does not work in BIOS Setup Menu.

 

 

...I noticed that 7X50, 7X40, and 7X30 also got BIOS updates this morning.

 

[Edit]

Living on the edge!

Updated with no issue.

[SvenC]

1 hour ago, Aaron44126 said:

...I noticed that 7X50, 7X40, and 7X30 also got BIOS updates this morning.

 

[Edit]

Living on the edge!

Updated with no issue.

No problems with the new 1.20.2 on my 7740 so far.

[heikkuri]

8 hours ago, SvenC said:

No problems with the new 1.20.2 on my 7740 so far.

Same here with 7760, 7550 and 7540. Better download now when available.  Next week everything withdrawn anyway.

[Rinconmike]

I updated my 7760 bios from the 1.10.1 to 1.12.1.  Took just over 5 minutes.  I downloaded the bios file and ran it.

 

I also updated the following drivers.

 

Dell Nvidia 30.0.15.1236, A15 which is Nvidia 512.36.  Note that Windows update updated to 512.36 automatically a couple of days ago.  When windows update updates the Nvidia driver it removes the Nvidia HDMI and USB drivers.  I ran the dell EXE and it reinstalled the HDMI and USB.

 

I updated the following from Command Update.

• Intel AX211/AX210/AX201/AX200/9560/9260/9462/8265/3165 Wi-Fi UWD Driver; Version 22.130.0.5, A25; Release date 06 May 2022
• Intel Management Engine Components Installer; Version 2218.2.2.0, A08 Release date 13 Jun 2022
• Intel PCIe Ethernet Controller Driver, Version 12.19.2.45, A24, Release date 14 Jun 2022

One item Command Update shows available is 

• Dell ControlVault3 Driver and Firmware, Version 5.8.30.51, A19, Release date 28 Dec 2021

I have not updated this one yet.  The fix is: "Fixed the issue where the RFID card cannot be detected after multiple placements and removals on contactless reader."

 

I do not use a card reader.

 

I am concerned it will impact something else on the system. Looking at device manager, my ControlVault firmware is 5.7.20.0

 

[Aaron44126]

12 minutes ago, Rinconmike said:

I am concerned it will impact something else on the system.

 

I've never had an issue from a ControlVault update and I am already on the 5.8.x version.  (I don't use the smartcard reader, but I do use the fingerprint reader which is also part of ControlVault.)

[Rinconmike]

18 minutes ago, Aaron44126 said:

 

I've never had an issue from a ControlVault update and I am already on the 5.8.x version.  (I don't use the smartcard reader, but I do use the fingerprint reader which is also part of ControlVault.)

Thanks.  I updated with no issue.

[PlagueWrath]

Hi guys, I'm having some weird issues with my Precision 7760, it seems that I can only get about 140w from a WD19DC dock, rest is coming from the battery which is slowly draining, after it reaches 10% it stops draining, but performance is really bad then.
Can anyone with a docking station test this on their system?

[Aaron44126]

Precision 7560 + WD19DC and we do not have this issue.  Are the LEDs on both of the USB-C cables lighting up …?

[PlagueWrath]

10 hours ago, Aaron44126 said:

Precision 7560 + WD19DC and we do not have this issue.  Are the LEDs on both of the USB-C cables lighting up …?

Yes, both are lit. I've tried changing power adapter - no difference. Could it be that your 7560 is not pulling more than 140w so you're not seeing a problem? I guess it's possible that total system power reported by HWInfo may be wrong, but it seems accurate.
Done some more tests, disconnected the dock and plugged in supplied power adapter (240w), I can't get close to rated wattage, about 205w pulled and battery starts to drain.

[Aaron44126]

BIOS update 1.13.0.

 

- Fixed the issue where the system cannot detect the dock when you disable the External USB Port option in the BIOS setup.
- Fixed the issue where LAN port on the dock does not work when you connect a Thunderbolt 3 hard drive. This issue occurs when you disable the External USB Port option in the BIOS setup.

https://www.dell.com/support/home/en-us/drivers/driversdetails?driverid=TMMTG

[Rinconmike]

on Bios 1.13.0 one enhancement listed is:

 

- Added the Lid Switch option in the BIOS setup.

 

Anyone know what this is?

 

[Ionising_Radiation]

Has anyone got a 7760 with an A4000 in it? Could you be kind enough to extract the VBIOS with nvflash, using the command:

cd path\to\nvflash64.exe
nvflash64.exe --save a4000.rom

and upload the resulting .rom file?

 

Thanks!

[Aaron44126]

52 minutes ago, Ionising_Radiation said:

Has anyone got a 7760 with an A4000 in it?

 

Maybe you can PM @zhongze12345 and get his attention.

[PlagueWrath]

On 7/17/2022 at 3:48 AM, Ionising_Radiation said:

Has anyone got a 7760 with an A4000 in it? Could you be kind enough to extract the VBIOS with nvflash, using the command:

cd path\to\nvflash64.exe
nvflash64.exe --save a4000.rom

and upload the resulting .rom file?

 

Thanks!

There you go.

a4000.rom

[Ionising_Radiation]

18 hours ago, PlagueWrath said:

There you go.

Many thanks! 

[TheQuentincc]

So ? 7560 and 7760 share the same vbios for this card ? 

[Ionising_Radiation]

Wonderful.

 

@PlagueWrath's VBIOS flashed successfully on the on the 7560 A4000. One needs to use this modified NVflash (I downloaded 5.670, as the command below might suggest) with the following command in an administrator CMD.exe:

nvflash-5.670.0-Patched.exe --protectoff && nvflash-5.670.0-Patched.exe a4000_7760.rom

and follow closely the instructions on-screen, and accept all the scary prompts. 

 

After flashing, the 'Maximum Graphics Power' listed in the NVIDIA Control Panel System Information window goes from 110 W to 130 W: 

 

Power draw during benchmarks is also ~20 W higher (Fire Strike tops out at ~115 W power draw, which is significantly more than the ~87 W I used to see), and performance is noticeably improved. I probably need to run more detailed benchmarks, which right now I haven't got the time for, but this is nice: free 7760 performance in the 7560. I replicated this in the Pascal Quadro P3200, and again with the Turing RTX 5000 in the Precision 7530.

@Aaron44126, you Alder Lake lot in the 7670/7770 thread may want to take note: this hack still works as late as the 7X60 gen. Extrapolating, 7670 users may still be able to get a performance boost, especially since the GPUs are still Ampere; the flash command should still work.

 

@TheQuentincc, not entirely, but I suspected that both cards were almost exactly the same with the only difference being the power limit; I was right. The good thing is that the VBIOSes extracted from the 7760 are signed, so only a board-ID mismatch needs to be fixed (and this is rectified with the patched NVflash above).

 

 

[Ionising_Radiation]

More interesting findings.

 

I recently replaced my display because of some structural damage; I was luckily given the same display as I had before: the Chi Mei Innolux N156HCA-GA4 panel (also CMN151A, dell P/N DPVHF). As usual, this has no (detectable) PWM flicker.

 

I was able to overclock the usually 60-Hz display to a whopping 87 Hz (that's a 31% improvement in frame time: 16.67 ms to 11.49 ms). This is easiest when 'Hybrid Graphics' is switched off in the firmware, and the full-fledged NVIDIA Control Panel is available:

 

My aim is to reproduce this when the Intel GPU is driving the display (for some reason, the Intel control panel has a custom resolution option, but doesn't really work at all) as well as on Linux with xrandr.

[Aaron44126]

1 hour ago, Ionising_Radiation said:

@Aaron44126, you Alder Lake lot in the 7670/7770 thread may want to take note: this hack still works as late as the 7X60 gen. Extrapolating, 7670 users may still be able to get a performance boost, especially since the GPUs are still Ampere; the flash command should still work.

 

I was wondering about that.  I'm planning to "collect" the 7770 vBIOS images as users stop by with the various GPUs.  We'll see if anyone wants to try it.  (7670 is "officially offered" with 240W PSU as well, indicating there are situations where the system might want to draw more than 180W; seems like it might be possible to push the power envelope up.)

 

Curious what your CPU+GPU power draw looks like compared to before.  When I put a GPU in my M6700 that was more power hungry than the stock ones, it caused the CPU to become power-starved and throttle in situations where both were loaded.  (Dynamic Boost 2.0 in the 7560 might handle that better.)

[Ionising_Radiation]

Got some time to run Time Spy and Fire Strike: pretty much what I expected. Trade a bit of CPU performance for a bit of GPU performance. Personally, I'm OK with this: most of the time, the games I play are GPU-bottlenecked.

 

CPU has been undervolted. I do think however that a repaste will help, since like I mentioned, the display was replaced and I didn't monitor how the technician re-pasted the CPU/GPU. 

Time Spy


Fire Strike

[Aaron44126]

4 minutes ago, Ionising_Radiation said:

CPU has been undervolted. I do think however that a repaste will help, since like I mentioned, the display was replaced and I didn't monitor how the technician re-pasted the CPU/GPU.

 

...Did the tech take the heatsink out to replace the display?  You should just have to take off the display bezel and take out a few screws to remove the panel.  The display cable detaches from the back of the panel.

 

...Or did you have your whole display enclosure replaced?

[Ionising_Radiation]

4 minutes ago, Aaron44126 said:

...Did the tech take the heatsink out to replace the display?

He did, yes. In fact, he disassembled nearly the entire laptop to get to the display, because he followed the service manual to the letter, but at least he did, which means he's experienced.

 

I once got a tech that straight-up forgot to plug in the cables on my 7530 and I had to fix them up after the fact.