Geek thread - Discuss IT stuff

The Barracks
#1044

Nice. It’s a surprisingly decent laptop, it’s got two drive bays, two RAM slots, a socketed WiFi card, replaceable battery. Replaceable, NOT hot-swappable, you can’t just pop it out from the bottom like on an old laptop, but it isn’t glued in like an Apple. The only two immediate downsides I see are 1) that the parts needed to install a second drive (bracket and cable) seem to be scarce, but your guy might have some kind of parts to fit and 2) that the laptop might be a bit plastic-y given the price. You won’t be getting aluminium, carbon fibre or anything else exotic for that price.

EDIT:

Just pray that W10 shows you mercy.

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#1045

:joy: that could be a reason to start :flushed: :crazy_face:

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#1046

Still no response from the Dell person, I might go an interrogate another one of them in a couple of days if they don’t respond. I also suspect that the first guy either lied to me or didn’t know, but I suspect that the GPU is indeed a Max Q version. The regular one is 80W, the Max Q is 60W. If it was a regular one and it was running at 100% with no power throttling and the CPU was also running at 100% with no throttling (45W), then the system would be drawing 125W, the charger is 130W. That leaves 5W to run the rest of the laptop…the 4K screen alone draws 14W. With an MQ, you’d have 25W of overhead for the rest of the system. Also the XPS 17 (identical chassis), uses a 2060 MQ which is limited to 65W. It doesn’t make sense for them to put an 80W GPU in one and a 65W in the other.

If the system draws more power than the charger can provide, it will start using the battery at the same time to make up for the gap. When the battery finishes though, the system will either slow down significantly or it will just shutdown depending on how it was designed. It’s also why laptops run a lot slower on battery than they do when plugged in, because the battery can’t supply the same sort of power continuously.

Now obviusly the above scenario will likely never happen, because of usage cases and thermal throttling, but engineers still have to design the system to have some form of redundancy (having a power supply that is more powerful than the system’s theoretical max power draw).

2 Likes
#1047

Arrived today :partying_face:

20200619_213420

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#1048

Right, Dell still haven’t gotten back to me, so I’ll ambush another one of them with their chat tomorrow. I’m going to hit them with the same set of questions I hit the first guy with. The info he gave me has clashed with what I’ve found over the past couple of days and with what I’d reasonably expect.

I’ve already estabilished, that logically/mathematically the Quadro in the Precision has to be a Max-Q. I was browsing Geekbench yesterday and saw that a couple of user entries for the Precision had popped up, and it is indeed a Max-Q.

The guy also told me that you get as many SDD brackets as you get SSDs in your system. I.e. if you buy a laptop with one SSD, you get one bracket, two gets you two. That doesn’t seem to be the case. I’ve now seen two reviews of production versions and one review of pre-production version that opened the laptop. All three laptops had a single SSD and two brackets.

Another revelation I came upon was that I’ve been doing my research based on false information from a usually reputable site. TechPowerUp has a database of GPUs and until yesterday, I haven’t had reason to believe that the info on it was wrong. Well, it is for both versions of the Quadro RTX 3000, they made it out to be a siginificantly better than the 2060 Max-Q which comes in the XPS 17, it’s not. It’s only marginally better. More to the point, results on Geekbench (so far at least) suggest that they are pretty much identical. I suspect as more results come in and the sample size grows, the Quadro will probably only be 5-10% better and only in certain workloads.

I bring this up, because any reason to buy a Precision has just been flushed down the toilet. The Xeon in the Precision is actually just an i9 with ECC RAM support enabled (they’re literally identical in every other spec). Yes, the Precision will have better and more reliable drivers (theoretically) and marginally better performance, but it will cost 50% (~£1400, based on current prices) more for the same configuration. The Precision will still cost more even if you decreased the RAM and storage on it.

1 Like
#1049

Got off the chat with Dell a while ago. The person I got this time was fairly frustrating, gave me answers to questions I didn’t ask. Although, they did tell me to send them an email with my questions and they’d ask some other team. They said I should expect an email around Wed (I doubt they’d reply, but we’ll see).

The only straight answer I got was when I asked if I can buy one with no RAM, SSDs or OS. Gave me the same answer as the other guy. RAM and an SSD are compulsory, the OS is optional, but only on the Precision and not the XPS.

I asked two extra questions. I asked when the i9 comes out, they said there’s no official update on it (it’s more an Intel supply chain issue than a Dell issue from what I’ve read). I also asked how many displays the dedicated GPU can support (there’s an option in the BIOS that lets you bypass the stupid integrated graphics). They said that you can only run the laptop display, which I’m calling full BS on.

I actually got in touch with Nvidia last night to ask them about the 2060 Max Q. The woman told me that the chip has been designed to support a maximum of four displays and that the laptop should work with four displays if it has four output ports. She didn’t say if one of the four was actually the laptop’s native display, but in my case I just need it run four displays, full stop. However, she also said that I should get in touch with Dell in case they’ve made some changes with their design of the laptop (Nvidia obviously have no way of knowing every single modification that every company has made with their laptops).

Dell chat transcript (identifying info removed, obviously).

Session Started with Agent
Robert : “Precision and XPS questions”
Robert : “Hello, I had some questions about the Precision 17 5750 and XPS 17 9700 that I was wondering if you could answer for me.”
Agent : ““Welcome to UK, Ire, NL, Swe, consumer sales I am [agent name] , My mail-id is [email] : , (EU service from South India). Hope you are doing well! In order to serve you better,you can e-mail me directly in case of any disconnect. Or call [phone number] with your query, After you make the purchase you will get reward points that you can use it online only.”
Robert : “1) Can I configure a system without any RAM, SSDs and OS?
2) Is the Quadro RTX 3000 a regular one or a Max-Q?
3) How many total displays can the 2060 Max Q and RTX 3000 support when the integrated
graphics bypass is enabled in the BIOS?
4) Are the 256GB” class 35 SSDs a 2230 or 2280 form factor?
5) Do all configurations come with two SSD brackets?
6) When will the i9 XPS 17 be coming out?
7) Is it possible to get an XPS 17 in Titan Grey?”
Agent : “may i know the catalogue number you are looking at”
Robert : “Where would I find the catalogue number?”
Agent : “its near the price”
Agent : “6) When will the i9 XPS 17 be coming out?>>>… we do not have any official update on this”
Agent : “7) Is it possible to get an XPS 17 in Titan Grey?>>> its only with silver”
Agent : “5) Do all configurations come with two SSD brackets?>>>>. the laptop supports to upgrade the storage”
Robert : “I can only see order codes but not catalogue numbers, are they the se thing?”
Agent : “4) Are the 256GB class 35 SSDs a 2230 or 2280 form factor?>>>>>>>. i need to check based on the catalogue number as 30 and 80 is only the size”
Agent : “3) How many total displays can the 2060 Max Q and RTX 3000 support when the integrated graphics bypass is enabled in the BIOS??>>>>> for XPS 17 its only with UHD presently”
Agent : “1) Can I configure a system without any R, SSDs and OS?>>>>>. we can help you without OS on precision laptops only”
Agent : “for XPS 15 you get ubuntu”
Agent : “2) Is that Quadro RTX 3000 a regular one or a Max-Q?>>>>>. may i know which model you are looking at”
Agent : “what is the computer you are using Robert”
Robert : “I’m looking at the Precision 17 5750.”
Robert : “But i cannot find a catalogue number, only an order code.”
Agent : “okay, do you have the link”
Robert : “https://www.dell.com/en-uk/work/shop/workstations/precision-5750-build-your-own/spd/precision-17-5750-laptop/xctop5750emea_vi?configurationid=ef79cd2e-206c-42b8-a1c2-e261ccc854c5”
Robert : “Order code: xctop5750emea_vi”
Agent : “checking”
Agent : “this is Precision 5750”
Agent : “on this you can upgrade the ram / storage”
Agent : “let me send you the details of this”
Robert : “Yes, I know. My question was regarding the form factor of the class 35 SSD. Is it a 2230 or a 2280?”
Robert : “Also, is the quadro rtx 3000 a max q?”
Agent : “Please allow me time to pull required detail. Since we are working from home & at times due to limited network connectivity, it may take an extra minute. Thank you for your understanding. In case the chat gets disconnected due to any unforeseen issue, yo” u can contact me at my email
Due to increase in customer contact, we are attending multiple customer at the se time.
We apologize if there is delay in response. Please rest assure that we are here to assist you with your concern. In case, due to any unforeseen challenge if the chat gets disconnected, we will get back to you via email/ call immediately.
Robert : “I understand, take your time.”
Agent : “ok”
Agent : “this is coming with”
Agent : “NVIDIA Quadro T2000 w/4GB GDDR6”
Robert : “That’s the base model, I’m interested inthe RTX 3000”
Agent : “yes no changes can be done to this”
Agent : “from our side”
Robert : “I just want to know if the RTX 3000 option is a maz q card or not.”
Robert : “*max q”
Agent : “you can opt for”
Agent : “NVIDIA Quadro RTX3000 mDP/HDMI/Type-C 6 GB GDDR6”
Agent : “but the built we have is not providing me to add”
Agent : “i will have to check with the product team on this”
Agent : “when are you planning to buy”
Robert : “I know, but which version of the rtx 3000 is it? Regular or max q?”
Robert : “I’m not looking to buy now, I just want the information.”
Agent : “we do not have the information”
Agent : “please wait”
Robert : “ok”
Agent : “may i have the bill and ship address”
Robert : “I’m not looking to buy right now.”
Agent : "fine, can you e-mail at "
Robert : “what do you want me to email?”
Agent : "its [email] "
Agent : “i can answer you only on wednesday”
Agent : “i will have to check with product team”
Robert : “So to clarify, I just email you any questions I have?”
Agent : “yes”
Robert : “I understand, thank you for your help. I will be sending an email soon.”
Agent : “sorry”
Agent : “if you take Intel Core Processor i7-10875H (8 Core, 16MB Cache, 2.30 GHz to 5.10 GHz, 45W, vPro)”
Agent : “then we can upgrade the graphic card to”
Robert : “Yes, I know”
Agent : “NVIDIA Quadro RTX 3000 w/6GB GDDR6”
Agent : “not with i5 processor”
Agent : “but coming to Regular or max q?”
Agent : “i will have to check with the product team”
Robert : “ok”
Robert : “thank you”
Agent : “Bye”
Session Ended

#1050

Hey @the_termin8r
why the push notification for this forum isn’t working ?
I mean, if the forum.lpunderground.com is not open in any firefox tab then why it doesn’t show me the notification of tracking activity ?

#1051

What have you set your topic status to? Check the option at the bottom of this page below the reply button.

#1052

i’ve set it to Watching, before that it was only to “Tracking”
Okay, let me tell you something… I’m doing a automation project and one of its task is related to capture notification Data …
So it is like:

Scan for new notifications
|_ Notification  Come
   |_ Capture it
       |_ IF Notification came from LPforum
          |_ Fetch email from Gmail
       |_ IF Notification didn\'t come from LPforum
          |_ Do nothing

Now, recently i got notification of someone’s activity and the tab is open tho but i didn’t get the email. Also, i set the “send me an email” option to “always” … So, is there any time limit to arrive the email at my inbox ?

#1053

No, the notification system is just completely broken on this forum. I sometimes get desktop notifications when I have the forum open in a tab. I never get notifications when it’s closed and then emails work sometimes and other times they come in lumps with posts from months ago. I stopped telling it to send me emails ages ago since I kept getting upward of 100 emails at a time.

#1054

that is true, i also didn’t get any notification if the lpforum isn’t open in any firefox tab. Can we report about this to the moderators or whoever manages the forum to add a push notification service?
Because i’ve designed my bash and python script in a way to only start fetching and perform regex if and only if the notification came from LPForum. But to do this task, i’ve to keep the tab open and run bash script in background (disown it) .

BTW for which field of computer science your work is related the most?

#1055

Good joke. :joy:

We’re on our own, the only two mods around are regular people and have no affiliation with the forum proviers.

None lol, I’m an electronic/electrical engineer. I’m horrific at programming of any kind.

#1056

isn’t it an official forum of Linkin Park ? I mean, i heard from someone that shinoda used to post in here… is it really real ?

Yeah i just checked your recent post explaining hardware level stuff

#1057

It being official doesn’t mean anything unfortunately.

No idea, over a decade ago, perhaps.

#1058

None the less I just started posting from my phone even though I had an account for over a month…lol

#1059

Dell finally replied to me.

  • About the Quadro, even they themselves don’t know, but they think it’s a Max Q (I know it’s a MQ).
  • About the M.2 form factors, it was in the documentation. I must’ve missed it…oops. :joy: As the other guy told me, class 35s are a 2230, everything else is a 2280.
  • They didn’t answer about the brackets and I can’t be bothered to push further.
  • Both the 3000 and 2060 support upto 4 displays

They also linked me to a slightly more in-depth spec sheet for the Precision that doesn’t seem to be on the enterprise section of their consumer site, but is on their true corporate site.

#1060

Works fine on my side

#1061

My new lap top just collapsed.

I was writing in word. And had nothing else open.
Suddenly nothing worked anymore.
I pressed the button for restart, now it’s this

20200701_201135

#1062

And after another try this

20200701_200432

It says, there is a problem. A new srart is needed. It will start.

#1063

Be specific, what was it that happened exactly? Did it freeze up, was it processing something, did Word go white, did you get a blue screen of death?

What exactly happend before the blue screen?

That’s how a blue screen crash works, it restarts itself once it gets its shit together, it doesn’t need input from you.

Welcome to the W10 survivors’ club.

1 Like