Dell precision 7510 vs. XPS 15

Mine just arrived (2 hours ago). Mobile Precision7510. ... Are there any tests you want me to run?

Sorry about the delayed response...I was out of town. The fan is silent and, even under the most demanding usage, barely even needs to come on. I am impressed and this is by far the best laptop I have ever had. My only complaint is that the speakers are weak so the maximum sound level is only adequate with some distortion. I may get a wireless speaker to compliment this laptop.

Mine just arrived (2 hours ago). Mobile Precision7510 with 64GB, DDR4-2133MHz on Win 8.1pro 64-bit (having an IT background, I use "Classic Start" for a Win-7 interface). 512GB M.2 PCIe NVMe High Performance SSSD plus a 2TB SATA 2nd drive. i7-6820HQ cpu & Quadro M1000M gpu. 6-cell (91Wh) LiIo battery, backlit keyboard and 1080p IPS touchscreen (I needed all this for my video processing work). Insanely fast boot time with 3-hour run under heavy load. Haven't tried gaming, but that's not really my thing. I feel like the Guinea pig as this is a new CPU on a still unreviewed laptop, and I am expecting issues...

All in all, much better performance and battery life than the custom machine that I am replacing ($1k HP Envy with 32GB DDR3, i7-4720HQ, 1TB SATA). I replace/wearout my laptop every year, but this one (at just under $3k) hopefully will last more than a year. Are there any tests you want me to run?

I have not experienced any heat issues except when the Nvidia card is active. Regardless of the ease of the video demands (even if the application is idle), once the M1000 is active, the GPU fan goes full blast and the battery life drops like a stone. I strongly recommend using the Nvidia default settings which have the laptop rely upon the CPU's processor (mine is the 6820) for graphics work except when an application automatically requests the dedicated GPU.

The high performance SSD has not been a cause of heat and my work is extremely drive intensive (I process video files of 100GB or more). However, I have been struggling with frequent blue screen of death issues ever since I received my laptop and Dell support has yet to provide a solution (I have had hundreds of emails with escalated support). They had me disable the free fall protection (one cause) and have no solution for the WHEA_UNCORRECTABLE_ERROR (a hardware voltage issue) so maybe this laptop has some design issues. I love this computer's potential, but this is a new design that might need more time to mature. Lost productivity and tech support time have far exceeded the cost of this computer.

Hi guys!
I m not sure about the RAM I really need, so my question is:
Can I buy the laptop with 32GB of ram and upgrade the ram to 64GB if I need it? OR does the customisation you do on Dell's website affects the board/slots and make any upgrade impossible...?
May seem a stupid question for you but I m sure I'll get quick answer here (I ve been waiting from dell for a couple of days)!!! Thanks

Mine just arrived (2 hours ago). Mobile Precision7510 with 64GB, DDR4-2133MHz on Win 8.1pro 64-bit (having an IT background, I use "Classic Start" for a Win-7 interface). 512GB M.2 PCIe NVMe High Performance SSSD plus a 2TB SATA 2nd drive. i7-6820HQ cpu & Quadro M1000M gpu. 6-cell (91Wh) LiIo battery, backlit keyboard and 1080p IPS touchscreen (I needed all this for my video processing work). Insanely fast boot time with 3-hour run under heavy load. Haven't tried gaming, but that's not really my thing. I feel like the Guinea pig as this is a new CPU on a still unreviewed laptop, and I am expecting issues...

All in all, much better performance and battery life than the custom machine that I am replacing ($1k HP Envy with 32GB DDR3, i7-4720HQ, 1TB SATA). I replace/wearout my laptop every year, but this one (at just under $3k) hopefully will last more than a year. Are there any tests you want me to run?

Hi Ali_109,

Yes, you can buy the laptop with 32Gb of DDR4 RAM now and upgrade to 64Gb later. Whatever RAM configuration you buy now, your system will still come with 4 RAM slots in total.

This means that if you want the possibility of upgrading to 64Gb of DDR4 RAM later, you need to order your system with 2 sticks (DIMMs) of 16Gb each (be careful because you could also buy 4 sticks of 8Gb each, filling all 4 RAM slots). This 2 x 16Gb configuration will leave you with 2 empty slots in your system for later use.

Then, when you will be ready to upgrade to 64Gb, you will have to buy 2 sticks of 16Gb and fill the 2 empty slots in your system. At this point, you will have 4 x 16Gb or DDR4 RAM for a total of 64Gb.

What you need to know is that RAM sticks work better in pairs in this type of system. This is called dual-channel RAM. This means that your system will optimize the use of your RAM sticks using pairs of DIMMs (sticks). For example, your initial setup will have 2 sticks of 16Gb. In dual-channel mode, your operating system will assign one stick to channel 1 and the other stick to channel 2. If the Dell technician who will build your laptop knows what he is doing (!), he will put the first stick of 16Gb in slot 1 and the second stick of 16Gb in slot 3. This is how it is usually done in dual-channel RAM systems. FYI, your operating system should automatically work in dual-channel if your system was built correctly. There is a way to verify if your operating system is using dual-channel, just search online and you will find info about how to verify this in the Windows Control Panel.

When you will upgrade to 64Gb, you will have slot 2 and slot 4 empty on your system. You will be able to add one stick of 16Gb to slot 2 and another stick of 16Gb to slot 4. With this configuration, your system will be able to use the full power of dual-channel RAM. You will then have 32Gb for channel 1 and 32Gb for channel 2.

I am telling you this because you might be tempted to add ONLY 1 more stick of RAM later... Don't do this. It is not worth it. RAM is not that expensive and your system will be much faster if you upgrade your RAM in pairs. This means that you could buy 2 sticks of 8Gb later (for a total of 48Gb of RAM) instead of 2 sticks of 16Gb. This will work better than if you buy only 1 stick of 16Gb. Always buy your RAM in pairs of sticks (DIMMs) for optimal performance.

That's it, just make sure that you order your laptop with 2 DIMMs of 16Gb for now and you will be ok for upgrading later.


Cheers,

I am using these for programmers at my job, just a heads up if you plan on putting an M.2 Samsung 950 pro or something similar in the M.2:

You will need to update the BIOS to the latest version! Without doing this windows will not see the M.2 drive for a valid install location. You also need to format the install USB in a UEFI compatible partition scheme like GPT using Rufus or a similar program. Other things to consider if installing windows on a 3rd party M.2:

Make sure the BIOS is is UEFI mode, secure boot off, and SATA operation in RAIDon mode. I know the SATA thing does not make sense since its SATA, but I ran into issues with Windows seeing the M.2 without keeping SATA operation in RAIDon.

Lastly, you might need to inject some drivers into your Windows installer if you are trying for a fresh install of Windows 7 on an M.2. Dell and Microsoft have this documented, just google it.

In December I opened my support ticket. In January I disabled the freefall protection in the BIOS (which stopped the hardware blue screen crashes). Then they had me uninstall the Dell Support Assistant, which ceased the Pool Header blue screen crashes (yes...their software to test and fix your issues is the cause of the crash). Over two months, hundreds of support emails, several phone calls, and a delayed replacement system (promised 5 weeks ago) while Dell tries to resolve the hardware / driver issues. Sometimes the leading edge is the bleeding edge. The amazing thing is that even with all the blue screen crashes (over 50 to date), hundred wasted hours in support and lost productivity time...I still love the 7510 and do NOT regret my purchase. It remains the best beast I have ever owned and once Dell solves their design issues, I will earn 5 stars. It blows away my custom HP Envy and Asus. Or maybe I am just shell shocked and haven't fully processed the fact that my support ticket (on PRO support) is approaching its 3-month anniversary without resolution.