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
Closing Thoughts
As far as portable gaming goes, the XPS M1710 is currently one of the best options available -- certainly the best I've ever used. SLI gaming laptops are on the horizon, but as our benchmarks show there are quite a few titles that don't really need multiple graphics cards to be perfectly playable. In fact, personally I think multiple GPUs in desktops is already getting a bit carried away, and while I don't generally want a thin and light notebook, anything larger than the XPS M1710 starts to get into the "luggable" category as opposed to being a truly mobile computer. A single fast graphics chip at present seems the best way to balance performance against heat and power requirements.
As for how the XPS M1710 compares with other laptops, we don't have anything in-house faster right now, but there will almost certainly be competitors in the near future. For now, this is an extremely powerful mobile gaming platform, and it deserves serious consideration if you're in the market for such a system. The system also looks great, and the 17" LCD feels huge -- you generally sit with the laptop very close to your face, so a 17" laptop display feels about the same as my 24" desktop display. This is by no means a complete review, and we will have a follow-up article looking at some specific details, but our first impression is definitely favorable.
Would we recommend you go out and purchase such a laptop? Yes, provided you're willing to spend the money. If you're looking to save money, you almost certainly won't be able to afford a laptop this fast and powerful. If you want maximum battery life, there are better options out there as well. You can probably even find faster laptops if you're willing to spend more money and go with a larger, heavier system. As we mentioned at the beginning of this article, there are many ways to build a laptop, and no one design will be right for every person out there. The Dell XPS M1710 manages to strike a good balance between cost, performance, and size, though obviously at the higher end of the spectrum in all three categories.
Compared to the two desktop systems, it manages to hold its own, and the Pentium D 920 in particular often struggles to keep up. The end result is that you're basically looking at a $1000 "mobility tax" if you want to have all of the performance of a desktop system in a mobile platform. The laptop even manages to handle running nearly every current game at the LCD panel's native 1920x1200 resolution (FEAR being one of the few exceptions).
We will have a second article looking at the finer details of the XPS M1710 and the GeForce Go 7900 within a couple weeks, including a closer look at the internals and construction as well as a few attempts to further increase performance. The good news is that so far we haven't encountered any serious problems -- in fact, the only problems during testing can basically be attributed to user error. If you have any comments or questions in the meantime, send them my way.
As far as portable gaming goes, the XPS M1710 is currently one of the best options available -- certainly the best I've ever used. SLI gaming laptops are on the horizon, but as our benchmarks show there are quite a few titles that don't really need multiple graphics cards to be perfectly playable. In fact, personally I think multiple GPUs in desktops is already getting a bit carried away, and while I don't generally want a thin and light notebook, anything larger than the XPS M1710 starts to get into the "luggable" category as opposed to being a truly mobile computer. A single fast graphics chip at present seems the best way to balance performance against heat and power requirements.
As for how the XPS M1710 compares with other laptops, we don't have anything in-house faster right now, but there will almost certainly be competitors in the near future. For now, this is an extremely powerful mobile gaming platform, and it deserves serious consideration if you're in the market for such a system. The system also looks great, and the 17" LCD feels huge -- you generally sit with the laptop very close to your face, so a 17" laptop display feels about the same as my 24" desktop display. This is by no means a complete review, and we will have a follow-up article looking at some specific details, but our first impression is definitely favorable.
Would we recommend you go out and purchase such a laptop? Yes, provided you're willing to spend the money. If you're looking to save money, you almost certainly won't be able to afford a laptop this fast and powerful. If you want maximum battery life, there are better options out there as well. You can probably even find faster laptops if you're willing to spend more money and go with a larger, heavier system. As we mentioned at the beginning of this article, there are many ways to build a laptop, and no one design will be right for every person out there. The Dell XPS M1710 manages to strike a good balance between cost, performance, and size, though obviously at the higher end of the spectrum in all three categories.
Compared to the two desktop systems, it manages to hold its own, and the Pentium D 920 in particular often struggles to keep up. The end result is that you're basically looking at a $1000 "mobility tax" if you want to have all of the performance of a desktop system in a mobile platform. The laptop even manages to handle running nearly every current game at the LCD panel's native 1920x1200 resolution (FEAR being one of the few exceptions).
We will have a second article looking at the finer details of the XPS M1710 and the GeForce Go 7900 within a couple weeks, including a closer look at the internals and construction as well as a few attempts to further increase performance. The good news is that so far we haven't encountered any serious problems -- in fact, the only problems during testing can basically be attributed to user error. If you have any comments or questions in the meantime, send them my way.
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IntelUser2000 - Wednesday, April 19, 2006 - link
At DDR2-667 it will be better because it can run synchronously with the FSB. Probably add another 2% :).
Anemone - Sunday, April 23, 2006 - link
However the 533 runs much cooler which could be an issue for some users.Personally I went with 2gb of 667, but do be aware that the stuff gets pretty toasty :)
JarredWalton - Wednesday, April 19, 2006 - link
Oh yeah, sorry about not including that information. Things slip through the crack now and then, but I've updated the spec table.spinportal - Thursday, April 20, 2006 - link
Thanks for the explaination. I upgraded my laptop to DDR2-533 1GB for 63$ instead of DDR2-667 for 90$, which is almost 27% price differential for maybe 4% gain, so on the price-perfomance curve, it doesn't rate as a good buy.spinportal - Wednesday, April 19, 2006 - link
Why hasn't anyone called Jarred on this? Why is the article linking to the M170 laptop for 1300$ and not putting the link to Dell's M1710 which is 2600$ starting?? Come on, stop with the bait & switch advertising.Also, I'm peeved with Dell as I got the E1710 with the Go 7800 GTX, and now, a month later, they pushing the ATi X1400 mobility! What a joke!
Also, Dell didn't offer a CD replacement install disc for XP MCE for $10 at the time of my purchase. Dell won't renegotiate with me to extend that offer which is bad business. Corporate Greed and Penny Pinching at its FINEST!
And Also, why is there DDR2 2GB Upgrade obnoxiously high at 300$? OCZ / NewEgg has a super deal for 1 GB DDR2-533 SODIMM PC-4200 for 73$ with 5$ S&H and a $9 rebate!
Also, the E1705 had a promotional rebate period. I got $400 off mine, nearly 33%. Now with the M1710 there is nothing happening. I'll be damned if I paid stock price.
Also, it'd be nice if Dell would think to offer an upgrade (reasonably priced) to replace the E1705 with a Go 7900 GTX graphix mini-board. It can't be that hard to manufacture a common board and PCI-e interconnects for all their laptops?
In closing, Dell better wake up and offer a Merom upgrade path as well for all these new laptop lines for enthusiasts. Its long due that laptop upgrades, especially for DTR machines, are commonplace and easy for DIYers.
Anemone - Sunday, April 23, 2006 - link
The CD replacement disk, write to Dell and CC Microsoft support in the email. Microsoft doesn't need the rep that comes with this double dealing. They should send you the install CD without issue. A call to your Attorney General's office would further enforce the point. That disk is your ultimate proof of ownership if the hardrive goes south or the laptop gets destroyed. It is illegal in many states to deny you that.The 7900GTX doesn't fit the power spec of the 1705. There are ways around this, but they are not for the faint of heart :) Notebookforums.com has some pointers if you look around.
Merom is pin compatible with Yonah (per Intel) and "should" (with some people out there having done it already) be a drop in replacement into a Yonah notebook (like the 1705 and 1710). Some risk of proprietary design issues is there, but likely with Dell being Intel's kid sister, you could expect they'd get it right. :)
RogueSpear - Wednesday, April 19, 2006 - link
I think it's fantastic that Intel is finally back in the game again, especially in the desktop arena. They never really did cede much in the portable market. Now if ATI could finally get something worthwhile for portable graphics. See this is what makes me smile. Good old fashioned competition. I think AMD has gotten a little too smug with themselves after 3 or 4 years total dominance, much like how Intel was around 3 years ago. As far as I'm concerned, all of the Intel vs. AMD and nVidia vs. ATI back and forths is fantastic. In the end it almost always results in progression of technology and increased performance. Oh yea, that's one hell of a laptop too :) I hope that I can stand to stick it out until we see a version of this laptop with Merom. If I'm going to spend 4 G's, may as well get 64-bit capability even if I don't take advantage of it right away.timmiser - Wednesday, April 19, 2006 - link
With my M170, I am unsure how to update the Nvidia driver to the latest version on the Nvidia website. They have specific drivers for the 7800 GTX Go but they are not supported by Dell so when I try to install them, it won't let me.Is there a mod tool somewhere that will allow me to force the driver to be installed? Dell never updates their official video drivers so this is important.
(I know for my old XPS with the Radeon 9800 I had the same problem but there was a mod tool available to get around this.)
Anemone - Sunday, April 23, 2006 - link
Video drivers (all versions to the latest) for M170/Gen2 and all similar:laptopvideo2go.com
Should find more than enough there to guide you :)
timmiser - Tuesday, April 25, 2006 - link
Thanks for the link. :)