17XPS Video Card Consensus

XPS 17 NON - 3D
I have read so much on the forum, it is hard to keep track of everything.

Would it be fair to say that the consensus regarding the difference between the currently offered GT 555M 3GB and the 550M 1GB is negligable when it comes to most gaming?

It seems like I have read some voice that opinion...just don't recall for sure. The $150 price difference would be no great concern for me, but why bother if it's not a big upgrade.

 

Literally you get maybe a 5-10% performance gain going to a GT555M. It's just an overclocked GT550M. Also all the VRAM is a marketing ploy.

 

Thanks, that's basically what I remember reading.

However, I've tooled around on the forum for a good hour now and found one post where dave343 said: "If you do plan on playing any "serious" games, current or future titles, get the 555M, it has a faster memory bus; 192bit on 555M vs 128bit on the 550M. Makes a big difference when gaming at FHD."

I would be getting the full HD 1080P screen. Not sure I'll do a lot of gaming, but I would like the option. As I mentioned, the extra $$ isn't so much an issue, but I will probably get the system this weekened (tax free weekend) and TN has a $1500 limit on computer purchases for it to be tax free, so, I guess I may have to make some adjustments to my configuration.

 

The 555m on the L702x is not just a overclocked version of the 550m. I would actually say that the 550M is an overclocked 540m, which, in turn, is an overclocked 525m. The 555m has 144 shaders (compared to the 525-550m's 96), so it's the only truly different chip in the XPS lineup. This translates into real game performance, performance on Crysis 2 (High) on the 555m is around 39FPS, while on the 550m it's around 29FPS. I'd say that's a pretty big difference.

NVIDIA GeForce GT 555M - Notebookcheck.net Tech
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NVIDIA GeForce GT 550M - Notebookcheck.net Tech

 

Dell's 550m has been reported to have 144 shaders for some odd reason. That said, the 555m can overclock to a roughly GTX 460m level while the 550m can't. At stock speeds there is a 10-15% difference between the 555m and 550m. Me, I wanted the best gaming performance I could get while retaining Optimus, so the 555m was an easy choice. I've not regretted it at all.

 

Thanks for the input. I guess I'll get the 555M...just need to decide if the TV tuner card is an option for me. Overclocking the 555M...would that create much more heat under the hood? Seems like with the 2720 CPU and a souped up GPU...and just ONE vent, that might make for 'issues' over time.

 

Most people have done it with limited extra heat (even with the 2720). If you don't overclock the memory, heat doesn't build up much more. That said, I've yet to do it to mine. I don't play super-demanding games, but it is nice to know I can play anything decently.