Dell Prescision 7730

[deathman20]

So got my hands on this Dell PC here. Its loaded... i9 8950hk, 32GB ram (2666), Quadro P3200 GPU, NVMe 250GB PM981 & NVMe 1TB 970, 1080p display.

At first it seemed really cool and fast with the 6C/12T proc but then quickly realized that it was throttling something bad, thermally and power limits. First one up the power limit, dell enforces a limit of certain states on their laptops that can really limit your CPU. For instance, this CPU full tilt uses around 70-75W of power.... but wait the limit for the CPU package is 60W after 28seconds.... Booo. Which yeah its a shame if your in sub zero weather because you are thermal throttling at default. So in comes the tweaking!

Downloaded Intel XTU for starters found some quick guides to start with voltages and went from there. Right now I have C1/C2 @ 4.8 C3 @ 4.7 and C4/C5/C6 @ 4.5Ghz when in use. I have enabled a -0.14V offset! Thats right -140mV. Not only that I did a slight voltage tweak to the onboard GPU of just -0.05V. Hey all the power I can get to stay under the 60W package limit I'll take.

So now instead of thermal throttling or even hitting the package limit of 60W for most things it goes by at 4.5Ghz @ around 75C when playing games. If doing benches it will get into the low 90's and it will enable the power limit in due time. Though with the offset in voltages instead of 3.0-3.2Ghz I get 3.8Ghz for my 60W ceiling. Now I didn't run any tests with the GPU before i did the tweaks to see if it was "limited" as well but with the CPU hitting 100C just opening documents, a website, or even steam, i didn't want to try it.

Overall just a few minor tweaks to the CPU and it becomes a very nice usable and what should already be partially tweaked laptop that actually feels proper what you paid for. Not only that at least when it does throttle getting an additional 600-800Mhz of performance and when its boosted getting an additional 200Mhz of performance with all the cores. Its a win win all around.

 

[EarthDog]

Nice find!!!

 

[deathman20]

Nice find!!!

Not necessarily a find... but got it legit. No cost to me. Think it would retail around for $2800-3000 from the dell refurbished site.

 

[custom90gt]

Have you used throttlestop? I like it much more than XTU and it's a lot less buggy.

 

[deathman20]

Have you used throttlestop? I like it much more than XTU and it's a lot less buggy.

I read up on it a bit but I've been using XTU for years with my work laptop. Haven't had issues with it but, be curious to try it.
Does it auto boot with the settings enabled like XTU and reverts to standard if there is a system crash? I know XTU is like that and liked that when i tested settings.

 

[custom90gt]

I read up on it a bit but I've been using XTU for years with my work laptop. Haven't had issues with it but, be curious to try it.
Does it auto boot with the settings enabled like XTU and reverts to standard if there is a system crash? I know XTU is like that and liked that when i tested settings.

I'm surprised you're able to have XTU start up every time and apply settings automatically. That's one of the most problematic things about it.
TS is super easy to use and the config file saves all of your settings. You can even have different profiles for AC vs Battery if you would like. To get it to auto start I use task scheduler. If you have issues I'm happy to help. Another good thing with TS is you can set up speed shift per your liking as well as lock out power limits if you want to bypass Dell's PL1 limiting.

Again, happy to help if you want to try it out. I haven't installed XTU since switching.

 

[deathman20]

Hmmmm guess more tweaking will commence on this soon Different profile for AC vs Battery would be sweet! I'd probably clock it considerably lower for Battery just to have more life as its already a fast PC in general. As for Dell's PL1 60W limiter... it really can bypass this? Even if it was 70-75W bingo the sweet spot.

Yeah might hit you up on that some more Been sick this past week, blasted cold, so might look at it more next week.

 

[deathman20]

I'm surprised you're able to have XTU start up every time and apply settings automatically. That's one of the most problematic things about it.
TS is super easy to use and the config file saves all of your settings. You can even have different profiles for AC vs Battery if you would like. To get it to auto start I use task scheduler. If you have issues I'm happy to help. Another good thing with TS is you can set up speed shift per your liking as well as lock out power limits if you want to bypass Dell's PL1 limiting.

Again, happy to help if you want to try it out. I haven't installed XTU since switching.

So started to play with it but still doesn't seem to bypass the Dell PL1 setting. Still seems to kick in even after adjusting the settings.

Though swapping profiles between AC and Battery is sweet works like a charm. Just to tweak those settings now since I'll down clock it a bit more to keep cooler, longer running and quieter for battery powered.


Thanks for the tip with the app! Will be playing more with it here and fine tuning it some more

 

[custom90gt]

So started to play with it but still doesn't seem to bypass the Dell PL1 setting. Still seems to kick in even after adjusting the settings.

Though swapping profiles between AC and Battery is sweet works like a charm. Just to tweak those settings now since I'll down clock it a bit more to keep cooler, longer running and quieter for battery powered.


Thanks for the tip with the app! Will be playing more with it here and fine tuning it some more

Did you try the "disable and lock turbo power limits" under FIVR? You have to download a small file first and put it in the TS folder.

 

[deathman20]

Did you try the "disable and lock turbo power limits" under FIVR? You have to download a small file first and put it in the TS folder.

Hmmm i disabled it and set the 60 to 90 and increased the limit to 320000x seconds. Not sure if I locked it.... Will have to double check that next just powered it down after lunch here so see if I can look at it tonight.

I have not downloaded any additional file, if there is one I will need to look for it.

 

[custom90gt]

Hmmm i disabled it and set the 60 to 90 and increased the limit to 320000x seconds. Not sure if I locked it.... Will have to double check that next just powered it down after lunch here so see if I can look at it tonight.

I have not downloaded any additional file, if there is one I will need to look for it.

Yeah under FIVR there is a section that talks about disabling and locking it, but first it makes you click on a download like to be able to write/lock the memory.

 

[deathman20]

Yeah under FIVR there is a section that talks about disabling and locking it, but first it makes you click on a download like to be able to write/lock the memory.

Hmmm haven't found it yet. Will keep looking but happy to say that the AC to Battery switch is fantastic!!!! Just that feature alone is gold!

Battery limiting it to a max of 3.8 (2 cores) 3.6 (4 cores) and 3.4 (6 cores) with a -170mV offset is wonderful. Was on the laptop just web surfing, downloading and installing a program and barely hit my battery for the hour I was on it. Roughly 9% drop. Even at 76% battery life I had left it still said had 6+ hours.

 

[custom90gt]

Here is the section I keep referencing:

 

[deathman20]

Ah ha... tried it but had no success so far. Still pushes back down to 60W limiter. Might try to reset and reinstall everything to see if I can get it to work fresh.

Guess really its most likely not a big deal overall. To even keep the higher clocks has to go to turbo mode for the fans and sounds like a harrier jet LOL. Still love the option to go between AC and Battery mode automatically. Just showed my dad this as well and will try this on my work laptop as I'm sure this will be a huge life saver when remote.

 

[CJustin]

You said you used the Intel XTU. Does it allow you to bypass the BIOS to set up limits for the processor?
Or does it alter the BIOS and allows you to set the ceiling limits for the processor speed, voltage, and temperature?
I always wondered how an application like XTU that operates on an OS allows you to alter the BIOS.

 

[EarthDog]

There are options to change power limits in XTU, IIRC.

 

[CJustin]

Hey, nice find there.
Why did you use XTU? I mean any specific reasons?

I find Throttlestop a bit easy to use than XTU.
ThrottleStop has grown in feature-set and stability over the years, and can be used for undervolting, “set-and-forget” temperature/clockspeed profiles, benchmarking, SST tweaking, and temperature monitoring.

Just asking