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日本[Video Review] Dell Precision 17 7770 – Needs new cooling ASAP
Dell Precision 17 7770 in-depth review
Today, we have another workstation. This time, it is a big boy, and it is meant for heavy-duty projects. An attestation for that is the use of up to NVIDIA RTX A5500 dedicated graphics.This graphics card will allow you to work with professional software, receiving full support, and guaranteed effectiveness. Both are thanks to the way it is built, and the way the software interacts with the drivers.But hey, we jumped to the graphics card before we even said the name of the laptop. It is a Dell Precision 17 7770. And as a modern version of the "Chekhov's gun" principle, if there is a GP[...]
Pros
- Up to 128GB of DDR5 (CAMM) + four M.2 slots
- Capable hardware
- 99% DCI-P3 coverage and accurate colors/li>
- No PWM
- Fingerprint reader + optional IR face recognition and 5G connectivity
- SD card reader + 2x Thunderbolt 4 + HDMI 2.1
- Packs good security features
- Great keyboard and touchpad
- Good battery life
Cons
- High price
- Cooling is not great
- No mention of spill-resistance
Dell Precision 17 7770 - Specs
- HDD/SSD
- up to 28000GB SSD
- M.2 Slot
- 4x 2280 M.2 NVMe PCIe x4 Gen 4 See photo
- RAM
- up to 128GB
- OS
- Windows 11 Pro, Windows 10 Pro, Windows 11 Home
- Battery
- 93Wh, 6-cell, 93Wh, 6-cell , 83Wh, 6-cell
- Body material
- Plastic / Polycarbonate, Aluminum
- Dimensions
- 398 x 265.02 x 25.95 - 26.70 mm (15.67" x 10.43" x 1.02")
- Weight
- 3.02 kg (6.7 lbs)
- Ports and connectivity
- 1x USB Type-A
- 3.2 Gen 1 (5 Gbps)
- 1x USB Type-A
- 3.2 Gen 1 (5 Gbps), Sleep and Charge
- 1x USB Type-C
- 3.2 Gen 2 (10 Gbps), DisplayPort
- 2x USB Type-C
- Thunderbolt 4
- HDMI
- 2.1
- Card reader
- SD, SDHC, SDXC
- Ethernet LAN
- 10, 100, 1000 Mbit/s
- Wi-Fi
- 802.11ax
- Bluetooth
- 5.2
- Audio jack
- 3.5mm Combo Jack
- Features
- Fingerprint reader
- optional
- Web camera
- FHD
- Backlit keyboard
- optional
- Microphone
- Dual Digital Array Microphones
- Speakers
- 2x 2.5W Tweeters + 2x 2.5W Woofers
- Optical drive
- Security Lock slot
- Wedge Lock
All Dell Precision 17 7770 configurations
[Intro]
While there are smaller and more portable workstations, today we’re having none of that. Instead, here’s the Dell Precision 17 7770, a larger machine with the power for heavy projects and tough work. It’s got 55W Alder Lake HX-series processors, as well as professional graphics, while the RTX 3080 Ti makes an appearance too.
[Design]
With such hardware, you can’t expect a lightweight machine, as the Precision 17 weighs above 3 kg but it’s not very thick with a profile of 26.7 mm. It’s built like a tank, with aluminum all around the outside. The base uses a softer material, like plastic or carbon fiber, which doesn’t impact the rigidity whatsoever.
[Input devices]
The lid opens all the way so it can lay flat on an office table. The bezels are thicker than you’d expect, but then again you’re getting a Full HD webcam and a bunch of sensors for facial recognition and auto awake and log-in functions. The base houses a full-sized keyboard, with a NumPad and all the other good stuff, including a power button with an optional fingerprint reader. The keyboard is good for typing, as there’s enough key travel and the feedback is uniform and tactile. The touchpad is pretty big despite what the images might show, while the responsiveness and smoothness are okay too.
[Ports]
The port selection includes a lot of ports, split between the left and right. The left side has two Thunderbolt 4 ports, one USB Type-A 3.2 (Gen. 1) port, an HDMI 2.1 connector, a LAN port, the power plug, and an optional SmartCard reader. On the other side, we have an SD card slot, an audio jack, one USB Type-A 3.2 (Gen. 2) port, and one more Type-A port. The Thunderbolt and Type-C ports support Power Delivery for charging as well as DisplayPort 1.4 output.
[Display]
There are two IPS displays to choose from, including a Full HD and a 4K variant. The latter has a 120Hz refresh rate for whatever reasons. We tested the Full HD model, which is an excellent display, with great viewing angles and a high max brightness of 526 nits. The panel also completely covers the sRGB color gamut and 99% of the DCI-P3 gamut that’s used in digital cinema, so the image is punchy and vibrant at all times. You can switch between the two gamuts through the Dell software.
We recommend you stick with DCI-P3 as this is where our Design and Gaming profile works best, increasing the accuracy to a dE value of 0.7, so colors appear true to life.
We’ll link our display profiles in the description below.
[Sound]
The speaker setup isn’t perfect, but there are still no significant deviations across the entire frequency range. We say not perfect, as the max volume can be a bit higher.
[Performance]
The Alder Lake HX-series offers high-performing processors with more cores and a higher 55W power limit. We tested the Core i7-12850HX, which has 16 cores and 24 threads, which mops the floor with anything from last year, breaking the 20000-point mark in Cinebench R23. It’s more powerful than the ThinkPad P16 Gen 1, which is another heavy-duty workstation machine.
There are a lot of GPU options, but we tested the RTX A3000 with a 130W power limit. It has the same chip as the RTX 3060, so its performance is pretty similar to that card with a similar power limit.
[Cooling]
For cooling these components, we’ve got a dual fan setup with two heat pipes and two heatsinks right above the CPU and GPU. In the stress test, the processor does really well, maintaining 85W for more than 15 minutes, while going as high as 101W in quick bursts. The GPU doesn’t reach its 130W limit, instead settling at 115W in both short and long runs, so there’s performance left on the table.
In terms of comfort during intense workloads, Dell is for some reason using the keyboard as a heat vent, pushing hot air through it, as opposed to drawing fresh air to keep things cool. This results in a hotspot of around 49°C.
[Battery]
On the other hand, the laptop is surprisingly efficient with its 93Wh battery, lasting for 13 hours and 6 minutes of Web browsing, or 10 hours and 22 minutes of video playback.
[Teardown and upgradeability]
For upgradeability, we find a service hatch that gives you access to one of the FOUR M.2 Gen 4 SSD slots. As for RAM, we’ve got CAMM modules once again, which are a bit harder to upgrade, but increase the capacity up to 128GB, which is a lot of RAM.
Our teardown video shows exactly how to access the CAMM module, as well as the four SSD slots.
[Verdict]
The Dell Precision 17 7770 is one of the more competent workstations that we’ve seen, however, with a revamp to the cooling setup it can truly become unbeatable, as it’s got the hardware and the features to be the best.
For more information about the Dell Precision 17 7770, check out the written review on our website.
