Dell XPS M1730: SLI, Penryn, and Overclocking
by Jarred Walton on February 28, 2008 10:00 AM EST- Posted in
- Laptops
Gaming Performance - Resolution Scaling
We decided to break out the resolution scaling charts from previous pages and focus solely on the Dell XPS M1730 in order to keep the graphs readable. We tested that 1440x900, 1680x1050, and 1920x1200 with SLI enabled, using both the official driver and the current 174.20 beta driver.
Quite a few games appear to be CPU limited, particularly at lower resolutions. There's no real need to run at lower resolutions with the system, however, with the possible exception of Crysis at higher quality settings. Most of the titles we tested perform almost identically with either driver version, but there are several titles at show dramatic improvements with the beta driver. We also see a couple of titles that drop in performance, but we notified NVIDIA and they are looking to correct the situation. (That's why they're beta drivers, right?) Dell told us they hope to have updated drivers available on their website sometime in the next couple of weeks.
While we're on the subject of drivers, we should also talk about Dell's rapid driver approval program for their gaming notebooks. Normally, any laptop drivers go through an extensive testing and evaluation process before an OEM will post them on their website. Looking at the above performance improvements in games like Bioshock, World in Conflict, and Crysis should make it clear how important drivers are when it comes to gaming - particularly when SLI is involved. Rather than going through the entire driver approval process, Dell's has a rapid deployment group for their XPS notebooks with the goal of posting beta drivers on a more frequent basis.
NVIDIA is also working to release quarterly driver updates for participating gaming notebooks, including Dell's XPS line. That's excellent news, as it provides users of older gaming notebooks that are no longer supported by the manufacturer a viable source for new drivers. Sure, you can always try hacked drivers from places like LaptopVideo2Go.com, but frequently hacked drivers don't perform as well as officially sanctioned drivers - especially on SLI setups. Case in point: the 174.20 drivers from LV2Go run on a different notebook were frequently up to 50% slower than the 167.46 drivers that shipped with the notebook.
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FXi - Friday, February 29, 2008 - link
If folks are going to be told that a laptop performs extremely well, I think it would be fair to throw at least a single desktop system (mainstream enthusiast level, nothing over the top) into the charts for comparisons. I realize it could stunt the graphs a bit, but folks really need to understand what they are buying into with these machines, and all too often they think they are getting something that is 90% of a desktop's power, and that's rarely the case.If it breaks the grapsh too badly, throw a couple of graphs in the end of the article (much like you have a couple of pages dedicated to "overclocking performance") that give the fair comparison. I'm not saying that lappies aren't worth it, just people should be fully aware of what they are paying for.
7Enigma - Friday, February 29, 2008 - link
I would completely agree with you up until the conclusion of the article. I have never owned a laptop, and probably won't for quite some time. Because of this I don't follow the laptop-only parts (CPU/GPU/RAM/etc.) much and so thought, "This is a crazy fast laptop but I wonder how it compares to a Q6600 with 8800GTX".The conclusion really put the laptop in perspective for me. Basically its a top of the line desktop system from a year ago. That's all I needed to hear. I think it is quite a feat to have a laptop capable of performance a year behind current tech. Yes it is more desktop in a small form factor, but it is a easily portable computer that behaves like a very capable desktop system.
With all that said, I can't wait to build my new system after 3 years with my current un-upgraded one. Just waiting on the 45nm quads and the new 9800's to pull the trigger...
funky24 - Friday, February 29, 2008 - link
man they got the best job in the whole world do u keep all hardware u test here ,man that is one mean laptop would kill to have it lolPlasmaBomb - Monday, March 3, 2008 - link
Nope, they have to give it back :(Baked - Thursday, February 28, 2008 - link
This is totally necessary... You can probably murder somebody w/ the power brick if they try to take the "notebook" from you.PlasmaBomb - Thursday, February 28, 2008 - link
What size and rating does the power brick on this beast have?JarredWalton - Thursday, February 28, 2008 - link
It's the biggest power brick I've seen to date, rated at 230W output. So assuming ~80% efficiency, even at the maximum load with overclocking it still has some remaining capacity. Heck, the power brick probably weighs as much as a Mac Air! ;)PlasmaBomb - Saturday, March 1, 2008 - link
Cheers for the info, any chance of a piccy?It must get rather hot, if indeed it's 80% efficient it is dumping 50W when drawing 260W from the plug!
JarredWalton - Sunday, March 2, 2008 - link
Image added. And it could be less than 80% efficient, but the point is the laptop uses nearly as much power as an entry level desktop with discrete graphics.Direct link to image:
http://images.anandtech.com/reviews/mobile/2008/de...">One big power brick
PlasmaBomb - Monday, March 3, 2008 - link
Cheers for the pics, good job btw :)