Dell XPS 14z or 15z for gaming?

I am looking to a buy a laptop and was looking at the XPS 14z and 15z. I was thinking of getting battlefield 3 and was wondering how it would play on both of these laptops. The 14z has a NVIDIA GeForce GT 520M 1GB and the 15z has a NVIDIA GeForce GT 525M 1GB. Also, how much better would a NVIDIA GeForce GT 525M 2GB be over the 1GB?

 

For gaming, I'd go for the 15z over the 14z mainly because it has a bigger screen. If you're really into gaming, I'd look into a different laptop...Remember, the 15z/14z were built for mobility..not power.

Anyways, the 520m seems to be a lot worse in terms of gaming power than the 525m .

NVIDIA GeForce GT 525M - Notebookcheck.net Tech
NVIDIA GeForce GT 520M - Notebookcheck.net Tech

520m looks like it only features 48 shader cores compared to the 525m.
So I wouldn't bother with playing higher end games like BF3 if you get the 520m.

Also note that in notebook graphics, there isn't a very large difference in the vram (1gb vs 2gb) as the speed of the memory is too slow to efficently use all that memory.

ANd if you do get the 15z with the 525m, you will probably have to overclock to play BF3 and you would have to play in low res. (Basically, it won't look that great but will definately be playable).

 

The GT525M is actually a lot better than the 520M, it has twice the shaders, I have the GT525M and it does ok in games:

NVIDIA GeForce GT 525M - Notebookcheck.net Tech

If you can I would wait for Ivy Bridge and the GT640M, it will blow these two cards away!

 

If you're intending on buying a Dell XPS 15z, keep the following things in mind:
- The plastic chrome trim has been reported by users to come off easily after a short period of ownership.
- Do not buy one that has the 720p (1366x768) screen. 15.6" 1366x768 screens make things onscreen big and have bad image quality. You should ensure that your configuration or model has the 1080p (1920x1080) display.
- The models available on Dell's website are not good deals. The $999 model is only offered with the bad display, and the next-step-up model is $300 more, at $1299.
- This Newegg model is $999 just like the base model on Dell.com, but includes the 1920x1080 display as well as the arguably-unnecessary Core i7-2640M (don't pay extra to get this CPU, this model just happens to have it).
- Assuming you're in it for the portability, consider instead the even lighter Sony Vaio SE with the Radeon 6630M. Here's a Microcenter model for $949. The Radeon 6630M is very close to the GT 525M. Note: The screen has red-reproduction issues (red is orange-ish), but it has excellent viewing angles (it's IPS) and is a bit less grainy than the XPS 15z's screen.
- And if you need more GPU power, consider the HP Envy 15. Here is a saved-configuration from HP.com which is the base model + the 1920x1080 display upgrade. With coupon code NBG3253 it comes down to around $999. The Radeon 7690M is considerably faster than the GT 525M. Do not downgrade to the 1366x768 display. Note: Like the Vaio display, it does poorly in reds but has excellent viewing angles. The 1366x768 display's low-contrast is a worse issue than the reds though.

 

I would suggest looking at a laptop with a GTX560M / 570M or even GTX580M GPU if your want to play games like BF3 on it.

laptops like the inspiron series are ok for some lighter games but not graphic intensive games like BF3 etc.

MSI GT683 for one example is a reasonably priced gaming laptop that you get get with a 560/570 GPU option and has the cooling ability to run BF3

 

Wow, thanks for all the info. Yeah I was aware of the trim on the 15z as well as the fan being very loud. That is why I was trying to stick to the 14z since they seemed to fix the fan and I didn't see anyone complain about the trim. Also, the 15z's lid would flex a lot when you pushed it in the center. I have only bought dell computers and I had a coupon for 15% off that expires on the 29th. I just use my computer for school, surfing the web, and streaming movies from netflix. I have been wanting to try battlefield 3 on a computer instead of my ps3 because it looked a lot better and more fun on pc. I was looking at the envy 15 but didn't want to spend that much for a computer but that coupon you added helps, so I will probably get the envy 15.

The thing that frustrated me was that dell doesn't let use customize the 14z and 15z. I seen people reviewing models of the 14z that had the NVIDIA® GeForce® GT 520M 1GB with the amount of memory and processor I wanted for under $1000 but on dell.com the dedicated graphics card starts at $1100.

Two more questions, do you think 6GB of ram is good for me or should I get 8GB? And do you have any recommendations for an SSD of around 256GB?

Thanks for the information.
That laptop is a little bit overboard for me. The only game I plan to play on pc is battlefield 3 and the rest of the laptops use is for school, web browsing and streaming netflix. So, I would be OK with playing battlefield 3 on medium or low settings. Just want a laptop that is good for school but also makes battlefield 3 playable at a good price.

Thank you for the information. This is a difficult process. Would be much easier if they would just let use customize the 14z.

I would like to but they keep pushing back the release date of the Ivy Bridge. And once they do release them, I still have to wait a bit for the computer manufactures to release their new models with the chips in them and I would have to pay top dollar for them since they are brand new. I think Sandy Bridge is fast enough for now. I want to wait for windows 8 but I have an inspiron 1525 from like 2008 with a battery that last 5 seconds when taken off the charge so I don't know if I should wait that long.

 

deviltech claims release next week.

Also i advice against the envy 15. Notebookcheck had quite a few complaints which are unacceptable in a notebook in its class. The same applies tot the XPS 15z. I find the XPS 15 and sony SE the only notebooks in this class you could possibly buy. Of course, with ivy and kepler coming in next week...

 

If the XPS 14z has you because of its size, there's also the Sony Vaio SA to consider: Newegg.com - SONY VAIO SA Series VPCSA3AFX/SI Notebook Intel Core i5 2430M(2.40GHz) 13.3" 4GB Memory DDR3 1333 500GB HDD 5400rpm DVD±R/RW AMD Radeon HD 6630M

The XPS 15z is only decent if you get a model such as the Newegg model I posted, that has a decent price and the 1080 display. The 14z is a solidly mediocre laptop in-general: too low-power of a GPU even for much of casual gaming, too big to be an ultraportable, low build quality for its combination of price and lack of performance, too mediocre of a screen, and too expensive for what it is.

 

I have both the 15z and the XPS 15 L501x the cooling is much better on the L501X / L502X and the L502x has a half decent GPU option.