Dell XPS 15 - can it run SC2?

Hello all first post!

Would the Dell XPS 15 with just the i5-560m and the nVidia Geforce 420m be able to run Starcraft 2? Would it be able to run it on medium settings at 1080p?- if not, what are your experiences with playing lower resolution than the screen's native? Does it create nasty pixelation?

After a lot of research, I've concluded that the new Dell XPS series offers some of the best, rounded laptops on the market. I'm ready to buy it, but as a casual gamer, I was just wondering if it could handle a modern game. Any help is greatly appreciated. Thanks!

tldr; Can the XPS15 with the nvidia 420m handle SC2 at medium/high settings?Even at 1080p?

 

You will probably get over 30fps average on medium in SC2 at the native resolution.

You'll probably be under 30fps with shaders set to high.

NVIDIA GeForce GT 420M - Notebookcheck.net Tech

 

That would be remarkable! Even though the resolution would be 1920x1080 I could pull off medium settings?

 

Check my XPS 15 thread, there is plenty of gaming info in there. But yes, SC2 plays on high @ 1080p on my i7 and 435m and gives 35-40fps in multiplayer

 

Trust me, I read through that entire thread! Part of my worries stem from the fact that it seemed like you needed to overclock your 435m to get playable framerates at 1080p at anything above medium! That's why I'm wondering about the capabilities of the 420m. Thanks!

 

lol, no it plays fine stock at high settings (650/1500/800) getting 30-34fps. I just like overclocking.
Plus the 420m seems to be a good clocker if you are so inclined

If you want I can lower my clocks to the 420m and test later?

 

The performance difference between the 420m and 435m is pretty big. Whether or not the difference is just due to the clock speeds (notebookcheck seems to imply so) is yet to be seen.

 

In theory it should only be clock speed that is different. They both have the same specs.
So far people that have had the 420m have managed to get over 600mhz OC which is very similar to the stock 435m. I realise that not everyone wants to overclock though

 

I would appreciate that a lot! And what kind of settings were you testing SC2 at on your 435m?

 

sorry, missed your reply.

Running it at 1080p all high settings.
I will run it at 500/1000/800 when I get home and let you know what fps. I will also drop some settings to medium and see how it goes

 

Great news! Using afterburner I dropped my clocks to 500/1000/800 as per the 420m specs.

I thought for a laugh I would run SC2 at my overclocked settings (800/1600/1000) and surprisingly it ran really well!
Settings: 1080p, all high except shadows medium. I got 25-35 fps in a 1v1 skirmish. It was solidly around the 30-35fps until I started some large battles then it dropped to approx 27 with the odd dip to 25 once.

I was gob smacked! I guess maybe some large 3v3 or 4v4's would be unplayable at these settings, but you could easily give it a mix of medium/high or overclock a little.

 

Thanks a bunch for looking into that for me, ninja! I really appreciate mate. Got my XPS 15 on order

 

So you're saying the GT420 can cut the mustard when overclocked but the GT435 is needed to get good FPS in SC2?

Does that extra 2GB of video memory even do anything? I saw a 3GB option for the GT435.

Also, is the GT435 an option for i5? I'd really like to keep Optimus around or am I just going to have to wait until Sandy Bridge or whatever?