Testing system configuration
XPS One 27 may be a simple concept, but the
combination between desktop processor and laptop graphics make it hard for you
to classify it from the comparing point of view. The most recent laptop model
we tested recently is a monster based on Sandy Bridge-E and equipped with SLI –
it’s not a fair fight. And that review used the old hardware.
XPS
One 27 may be a simple concept, but the combination between desktop processor
and laptop graphics make it hard for you to classify it from the comparing
point of view.
Desktop CPU of XPS One 27 has to oppose to
2 flagship rivals from or recent System Builder Marathon. Its tiny GeForce GT
640M is forced to face up to the super powerhouse Radeon HD 7970M of the recent
P170EM. And the combination of mechanical hard drive fast cache drive is
compared with the sub-storage system of many computers from this line. Though
it’s not on the same class considering the quality or feature view point, the $600
SBM computer represents pour “average” performance goal.
Result: 3DMark and PCMark
XPS One 27 is not a gaming PC. However, on
the other hand, so are most of the laptops, at least from a view point of a
loyal PC gamer. In other words, our $600 System Builder Marathon computer
provides performance that’s twice the performance of what we normally consider
as basic. May be XPS One of Dell will creates a half of is 3DMark GPU score?
In
other words, our $600 System Builder Marathon computer provides performance
that’s twice the performance of what we normally consider as basic.
To me, playing entry-level game starts with
the detail level from average to high and low 1,280x720 res. My basic
expectations are not pretty high, but the GPU score of only 1,831 in 3DMarkworrying.
May be CPU of this all-in-one will support some of our platform-restricted
games, such as Skyrim?
PCMark pay much attention to the storage,
and SSD cache drive of this premium configuration XPS One 27 does help it a
lot. However, the productivity increase is still unusually low compared to the
previous tested laptop.
A 32GB SSD cache drive is large enough to
increase the separate storage score of XPS One.
SiSoftware Sandra
Core i7-3770S of this premium XPS One has
huge advantages in Sandra Arithmetic, though even Core i7-3610QM of the older
laptop also beats the desktop computers equipping with Core i5.
17 inch XPS One falls behind a little bit
in Crytography of Sandra, which we know as a sign of memory bandwidth
disadvantages because AES-NI provides the prompts for processor as fast as
they’re loaded from RAM.
Core
i7-3770S of this premium XPS One has huge advantages in Sandra Arithmetic
And as expected, our bandwidth data is
slightly lower than the platform I use to compare. That advances a question why
so many computer equipped with SO-DIMM deploy DDR3-1600 CAS 11, when DDR3-1600
CAS 9 is quite actually cheap at this moment?
Battlefield 3
XPS One 27 is a multi-functional PC, and
this premium configuration is designed mainly for working through
productivity-increasing apps easily. However, we still think that a
multi-functional PC will be able to create playable frame rate at lower res.
Luckily, the average fps rate of 56.1 of Dell at 1,280x720 using Medium-quality
settings in Battlefield 3 is actually good. In other words, the leading
gap of the laptop is surprisingly large.
The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim
Skyrim is
usually considered as the limit to the platform, but that’s because we normally
run games on the extreme graphics hardware. With minimum frame rate swing in
this game, the average speed of 44fps at 1,280x720 by using the High detail
settings seems to be extremely smooth.
F1 2012
Our laptop has failed this test, due to the
problem it has with the Enduro tech of AMD. While that also stops the game from
appearing in the overall performance chart, it’s good to see the weak portable
graphics processor of XPS One 27 can push this game to the natural 2,560x1,440 res
of the screen.
Far Cry 3
Our Far Cry 3 testing session is too
new to appear in last year’s laptop reviews, and the fact that we don’t have
data for all systems means that we need to keep it away from overall
performance review. But we still want to see whether the discrete mobile GPU of
XPS One being able to handle this game skillfully at 1,280x720. That setting
seems to be smooth, regardless of the usual 33.4fps frame rate. Lower quality
settings are always options, though we love this game thanks to the rich of
detail.
