Barton's Blog

Project Sputnik keeps rolling on!

Today I’m proud to announce the new the Linux-based Dell Precision Mobile workstation line: the 3530, 5530, 7530 and the 7730.  These systems, which represent the fourth generation of the Precision developer editions, come preloaded with Ubuntu and have been RHEL certified.

These new thinner, lighter, premium-built Precision mobile workstations feature the latest Intel Core and Xeon processors, blazing-fast memory and professional graphics.

The new Precision 3530

Available today 

• Dell Precision 3530 Mobile Workstation, developer edition

Coming soon

• Dell Precision 5530 Mobile Workstation, developer edition
• Dell Precision 7530 Mobile Workstation, developer edition
• Dell Precision 7730 Mobile Workstation, developer edition

A double click on the specs

Dell Precision 3530 Mobile Workstation, developer edition

15-inch fully customizable and high-performance mobile workstation at an entry-level price point

• 8th Gen Intel® Core™ and next-generation Xeon® processors
• Memory speeds up to 2666MHz up to 32GB
• PCIe storage capacity up to 2TB
• NVIDIA Quadro® P600 professional graphics cards with 4GB of memory
• Support for 4K video to an external monitor at 60fps via HDMI 2.0
• Ports include HDMI 2.0, Thunderbolt and VGA
• Ubuntu 16.04 LTS preinstalled
• RHEL 7.5 certified (details below)
• Available worldwide

Dell Precision 5530 Mobile Workstation, developer edition

Dell’s thinnest, lightest and smallest 15″ mobile workstation with enhanced graphics, and a stunning design and display

• Available in Platinum Silver or Brushed Onyx, with a 15.6-inch display fit into a 14-inch chassis.
• Next-gen graphics up to NVIDIA® Quadro P2000.
• 8th Gen Intel® Core™ and next-generation Xeon® processors
• Enhanced 2666MHz memory speeds up to 32GB
• Up to 4TB of SSD storage
• USB Type C with x4 PCIe, Thunderbolt™ and HDMI 2.0 ports
• Ubuntu 16.04 LTS preinstalled
• RHEL 7.5 certified (details below)
• Available worldwide

Dell Precision 7530 Mobile Workstation, developer edition

The world’s most powerful 15″ mobile workstation, redesigned to be thinner, lighter

• 8^th Gen Intel® Core™ and Xeon® processors
• AMD Radeon WX and NVIDIA Quadro® professional graphics
• Largest & fastest memory on the market for mobile workstations up to 128GB of system memory &  SuperSpeed memory of 3200MHz
• Largest PCIe SSD storage capacity available for a 15-inch mobile workstation: up to 6TB
• Single cable docking and Thunderbolt™ 3 connectivity
• Ubuntu 16.04 LTS preinstalled
• RHEL 7.5 certified (details below)
• Available worldwide

Dell Precision 7730 Mobile Workstation, developer edition

The world’s most powerful 17″ mobile workstation, redesigned to be thinner, lighter 

• 8^th Gen Intel® Core™ and Xeon® processors
• AMD Radeon WX and NVIDIA Quadro® professional graphics
• Largest & fastest memory on the market for mobile workstations up to 128GB of system memory &  SuperSpeed memory of 3200MHz
• Largest storage capacity available for a mobile workstation (up to 8TB)
• Single cable docking and Thunderbolt™ 3 connectivity
• Ubuntu 16.04 LTS preinstalled
• RHEL 7.5 certified (details below)
• Available worldwide

RHEL 7.5 certification and drivers

As mentioned above, all four developer editions will be certified for RHEL 7.5 and the needed drivers will be included in the distro.  That being said, the AMD and NVIDIA drivers that come with 7.5 are inbox drivers.  We will be posting drivers for both graphic cards that will include professional features not included in the inbox drivers.  Stay tuned!

How did we get here?

Project Sputnik launched at the end of 2012 with the svelte XPS 13 developer edition.  While this fit the bill for a lot of folks, there was a set of folks who needed something beefier.  The demand stayed steady so Sputnik team member Jared Dominguez decided to take it upon himself to get Ubuntu up and running on the Precision M3800.

Jared hammock hacking

From this he created step-by-step instructions and posted them to Dell Tech Center for community members to follow.

While customers were excited to be able get Ubuntu going on their systems, they wanted more.  Given this sustained demand, in early in 2015 the M3800 developer edition became an official product.

In Spring of the following year our Linux-based Precision offering went from one system to four and the 5510, 3510, 7510 and 7710 developer editions debuted.  Last year this line was revved and the next gen, the 5520, 3520, 7520, 7720 were announced along with the addition of the Precision 5720 All-in-One.  And today… (see above)

Stay tuned

Watch this space for the upcoming availability of the Dell Precision 5530, 7530 and 7730 developer editions as well as the AMD and NVIDIA graphics drivers for RHEL 7.5 .

Extra-credit reading

The History of the Ubuntu-based Dell Precision mobile workstation line

• November 15, 2013 — Instructions posted to get Ubuntu up and running on a Precision M3800 mobile workstation
• January 27, 2015 — Precision M3800 officially joins Project Sputnik
• March 3, 2016 — Ubuntu-based Precision line 5510, 3510, 7510, 7710 announced
• January 9, 2017 — Next gen Ubuntu-based Precision line-up announced, 5520 and 3520 available
• March 18, 2017 — Precision 7520 and 7720 available
• April 18, 2017 — Precision 5720 All-in-One available

Pau for now…