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
Battlefield 2 Benchmarks
The final game we'll test in part 1 is Battlefield 2, and like DODS it's fairly CPU limited. While it is entirely possible to run BF2 in widescreen resolutions, there are a couple of issues. First, there's no way to select widescreen resolutions in the GUI, so you have to pass the resolution via command line parameters. Unfortunately, there's no way to adjust aspect ratio in Battlefield 2, so you basically end up with a stretched image. (If you look at what should be a circular map in the top right corner of the screen while playing, you'll find that it's an ellipse, clearly showing that widescreen resolutions are running with the wrong field of view.)
A clear indication that the game is becoming CPU limited can be found in the fact that the sound enabled tests significantly impact performance. FEAR, for example, generally shows little to no performance impact when you turn on sound, because it's almost completely GPU limited. Once again, the audio subsystem in the M1710 appears to be the least demanding of the processor. Note that the laptop was set to 5.1 audio, even though there's no way to connect five speakers, so for now it simply appears to be more efficient. Only the X2 3800+ is able to come out ahead of the M1710, and then only with a faster graphics card.
The final game we'll test in part 1 is Battlefield 2, and like DODS it's fairly CPU limited. While it is entirely possible to run BF2 in widescreen resolutions, there are a couple of issues. First, there's no way to select widescreen resolutions in the GUI, so you have to pass the resolution via command line parameters. Unfortunately, there's no way to adjust aspect ratio in Battlefield 2, so you basically end up with a stretched image. (If you look at what should be a circular map in the top right corner of the screen while playing, you'll find that it's an ellipse, clearly showing that widescreen resolutions are running with the wrong field of view.)
A clear indication that the game is becoming CPU limited can be found in the fact that the sound enabled tests significantly impact performance. FEAR, for example, generally shows little to no performance impact when you turn on sound, because it's almost completely GPU limited. Once again, the audio subsystem in the M1710 appears to be the least demanding of the processor. Note that the laptop was set to 5.1 audio, even though there's no way to connect five speakers, so for now it simply appears to be more efficient. Only the X2 3800+ is able to come out ahead of the M1710, and then only with a faster graphics card.
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timmiser - Tuesday, April 18, 2006 - link
Quieter than my Inspiron XPS version 1.Bluestealth - Tuesday, April 18, 2006 - link
Do they turn off, because that would just get annoying...timmiser - Tuesday, April 18, 2006 - link
Yes. You can change the color and intensity of the lights plus configure the 3 light positions: Speakers/air vents/XPS lid, seperately.The lights are controlled in the BIOS and also in an included Dell windows utility.
JarredWalton - Tuesday, April 18, 2006 - link
Yes, all the lights can be disabled within the BIOS.Patrese - Tuesday, April 18, 2006 - link
Great review, I found the addition of the game tests with sound quite good, just as the inclusion of reference desktop systems for comparison. And the laptop is just awesome...Not that I have the money to buy one of these (not even close, to be honest), but I got curious about the battery life on uses likes web/office. I wonder if the energy saving features can take it a bit closer to the "normal" laptops on that kind of use, since in gaming the 7900GTX certainly needs a lot of juice. And how hot does it get under gaming?
JarredWalton - Tuesday, April 18, 2006 - link
I'll be getting a copy of MobileMark shortly, but I didn't have it in time for the first part. There are quite a few other things I'm going to try to cover in part 2, like potentially turning down GPU performance for longer battery life. Maximum temperatures are warm but not hot - older P4M laptops are all substantially hotter, and even some PM laptops get warmer. The larger size does help with cooling, I would imagine.One43637 - Tuesday, April 18, 2006 - link
i feel sorry for the person that tries to game with that thing on his/her lap. battery life on that thing must be horrendous. good thing it's billed as a DTR.JarredWalton - Tuesday, April 18, 2006 - link
The system gets warm, but not uncomfortably so (for me). I will get some specific numbers for part 2.plewis00 - Tuesday, April 18, 2006 - link
Who games with a laptop actually on their lap? You need a decent mouse anyway and that means a table surely?Rock Hydra - Tuesday, April 18, 2006 - link
I sit on the couch with my Dell 110L in my lap and use the couch cushion next to me as my mousing surface and play games.