Dell XPS M1710 - GeForce Go 7900 GTX 512 Mobile Gaming, Part 1
by Jarred Walton on April 18, 2006 9:00 AM EST- Posted in
- Laptops
Test Setup
Since this is the very first notebook that I've had the opportunity to review, and it's also the first notebook we've received with the new GeForce Go 7900 GTX GPU, I felt it would be better to compare this against a couple of similarly equipped desktop computers for starters. Most of our readers are more familiar with desktop performance, and since this is a DTR notebook it seems fair to compare it with a couple relatively current desktop computers. The two desktop computers are also equipped with a 7900 GTX graphics card, at both stock clock speeds (650/800) as well as clock speeds matching the laptop's GPU (500/600).
All three systems have 2GB of RAM and dual core CPUs, helping to keep things "fair". Of course, the T2600 processor in the laptop costs about twice as much as either of the desktop processors, and if you were to overclock the desktop CPUs you could likely get another 30-40% in clock speed. Basically, this is not an apples to apples comparison, but the two desktop systems are thrown into give you a better frame of reference.
We ran a typical battery of tests, including games, applications, and a couple other areas. Time constraints limited the amount of testing we could get done before the NDA lift (and it's already a few hours late), but we will be providing a follow-up article with further testing and information. That said, if there are any specific areas that you'd like to see tested, feel free to e-mail me or leave a comment.
Since this is the very first notebook that I've had the opportunity to review, and it's also the first notebook we've received with the new GeForce Go 7900 GTX GPU, I felt it would be better to compare this against a couple of similarly equipped desktop computers for starters. Most of our readers are more familiar with desktop performance, and since this is a DTR notebook it seems fair to compare it with a couple relatively current desktop computers. The two desktop computers are also equipped with a 7900 GTX graphics card, at both stock clock speeds (650/800) as well as clock speeds matching the laptop's GPU (500/600).
All three systems have 2GB of RAM and dual core CPUs, helping to keep things "fair". Of course, the T2600 processor in the laptop costs about twice as much as either of the desktop processors, and if you were to overclock the desktop CPUs you could likely get another 30-40% in clock speed. Basically, this is not an apples to apples comparison, but the two desktop systems are thrown into give you a better frame of reference.
| Dell XPS M1710 | |
| Processor | Intel Core Duo T2600 (2.16 GHz 2x2MB) |
| Chipset | Intel 945PM 64-bit Dual-Channel |
| Memory | 2 x 1024MB DDR2-667 |
| Graphics | NVIDIA GeForce Go 7900 GTX 512MB (500/1200) |
| Hard Drive | 100GB 7200 RPM |
| Intel Socket 775: ASUS P5LD2-E Deluxe | |
| Processor | Intel Pentium D 920 (2.80 GHz 2x2MB) |
| Chipset | Intel 945P |
| Memory | 2 x 1024MB DDR2-533 4-4-4-12 |
| Graphics | NVIDIA GeForce 7900 GTX 512MB (650/1600) |
| Hard Drive | Western Digital SATA-2 250GB 16MB 7200 RPM |
| AMD Socket 939: DFI Infinity | |
| Processor | AMD Athlon X2 3800+ (2.0 GHz 2x512KB) |
| Chipset | NVIDIA nForce4 |
| Memory | 2 x 1024MB DDR-400 (2-3-2-7 1T) |
| Graphics | NVIDIA GeForce 7900 GTX 512MB (650/1600) |
| Hard Drive | Western Digital SATA-2 250GB 16MB 7200 RPM |
We ran a typical battery of tests, including games, applications, and a couple other areas. Time constraints limited the amount of testing we could get done before the NDA lift (and it's already a few hours late), but we will be providing a follow-up article with further testing and information. That said, if there are any specific areas that you'd like to see tested, feel free to e-mail me or leave a comment.
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ElFenix - Wednesday, April 19, 2006 - link
'since' indicates passage of time, while 'because' indicates some form of causation. So, rather than, 'Since this is the very first notebook...,' the sentence would read, 'Because this is the very first notebook....'Fairly disappointing that this notebook will have a problem with watching many DVDs. Considering the size and weight it's amazing that there isn't a larger capacity battery.
17" LCDs must suck down a ton of juice.
Trisped - Friday, April 21, 2006 - link
http://encarta.msn.com/encnet/features/dictionary/...">Actually it can be used both ways.http://encarta.msn.com/encnet/features/dictionary/...yacoub - Tuesday, April 18, 2006 - link
so wait, why was it unable to run FEAR or Quake4?JarredWalton - Tuesday, April 18, 2006 - link
I will be running those in part two; delaying the article for another day or two just for those two applications didn't seem to make much sense, especially since there's so much to say about this laptop that it would have ended up a monolithic single review. Heck, the laptop can even run Oblivion at a reasonable speed even at 1920x1200 -- but there are still some areas in the game that really kill performance.JarredWalton - Tuesday, April 18, 2006 - link
I should mention that part of the reason some benchmarks weren't run yet is because they require more manual intervention. Quake 4 used to work okay with my automated script, but with the latest beta patch it always crashes on exit. FEAR, Lost Coast, Oblivion, Call of Duty 2... all of those require you to sit down in front of the system and manually execute each benchmark. When you're trying to benchmark several systems at once, especially with a looming deadline, that can be problematic.yacoub - Wednesday, April 19, 2006 - link
ah ok, thanks :)DarkForceRising - Tuesday, April 18, 2006 - link
Is this tested right out of the box, or was some software disabled/removed? I read an article recently about one of the XPS desktops, and it had major issues playing games with the included software. The games that did play had a major hit in performance.JarredWalton - Tuesday, April 18, 2006 - link
I did disable/uninstall some software, chief among those being McAfee Internet Security. Many benchmarks like Winstones and SysMark basically require a "clean" OS if you want to have any chance of them running without difficulties. In fact, I couldn't get SysMark to complete either, because one of the scripts kept on failing. There are still quite a few icons in the system tray -- more than I'd really like to have there -- but none of them seem to really affect performance.Trisped - Friday, April 21, 2006 - link
You should probable include a disclamer them. Otherwise readers will be upset when they have the product and it doesn't perform up to you specs.Personally I find it easier to build a custom desktop then remove software from premade systems due to all the "optimizations" done. Plus, since it is a Dell you can't just wipe it and start with a fresh install (since they didn't include the drivers so you have to recover it back to system shipped status).
While I am at it, I would like to see a comparision with a similarly priced desktop (to keep it in perspective) and one of the new mac desktop and laptops. Since both of the macs are basied on similar laptop tech they should make a good comparison.
Odeen - Tuesday, April 18, 2006 - link
What's up with the narrow 87-key keyboard layout? The laptop is a sizeable 15.5" across, which is enough room to include the regular 87 keys plus a separate numeric keypad.Not everyone plays WASD-controlled FPS'es on a gaming laptop, y'know, a numeric keypad helps with a game such as the Civilization series.
Granted, there are certain "economies of scale" that comes with recycling a keyboard part from the budget-ish 6000-series Inspiron, but when every other part of the laptop is stamped with a glowing XPS logo, and the machine costs $3400, it's only fair to splurge on a more functional keyboard that takes advantage of the widescreen aspect of the notebook. Fujitsu does it on their 17" laptops that cost far less than this XPS.