Is it really a good idea to get new XPS 15 9560 ?

Hello to everyone!


I’m planning to replace my old laptop and my interest is focussing on the new Dell XPS 15.

My old system was already a Dell laptop and my overall experience with it was quite good.


So, I’m fairly sure to buy the new XPS 15 9560 in the next few months and the reviews sound good, but there are also some downsides I read.


So, these are the things that make me still unsure:

1) The temperatures reported in many reviews are okay, but I’ve also read the big thread here about the problem with VRM overheating.
I don’t feel comfortable to mess around inside me laptop for fixing this problem, I have
absolutely no know-how for repasting or repadding. I intend to try undervolting on the new system ‘cause it seems like a really interesting concept.
What I’m asking myself is: Are the people who are complaining about thermal problems only a minority who got poor manufactured products or can I assume that every 9560 will have this problem?

2) Another issue is the slow response time of the display, I’ve read a bunch of complaints about ghosting. Playing games is one of the things I would do with this laptop, so it is also important for me to have a pleasurable gaming experience.
I wouldn’t have problems with light ghosting, so would you think the display is suitable for
casual gaming?


So would you recommend buying the XPS 9560 despite these issues?


English isn’t my native language so please see over my mistakes

 

1) You will likely experience drops in FPS due to CPU and/or GPU throttling if you're gaming heavily on this machine...People have to do alot of work to get this laptop gaming with 0 throttling...
2) Ghosting is pretty bad. Especially white text on black/dark backgrounds... I've noticed it more and more with scrolling... Gaming is alright...I don't notice it as much but I can definitely tell a difference between a desktop and laptop monitor in this case...

 

This is not a gaming laptop but you can do some light gaming with it.

You don't need to use undervolting software or take the laptop apart to repaste the CPU-GPU. Those are "free" performance enhancements if you like. Those tweaks can improve performance at the limit (eg when you are playing games).

As you will see here, users have not quite figured how to run the i7 without throttling significantly...

 

Honestly I had so much trouble with mine and the support, I may never buy a Dell again.

 

And some units are buggy. Read the 9560 thread from the beginning and make your own decision. Note the thread is biased as people without problems are less likely to post (I think)

 

A very valid comment which applies to most discussions where people are complaining. Those who have no problems tend to not seek out places to say they are happy unless they are people who have previously had problems and have continued to follow the discussions.

John

 

Well, thank you for your answers.

For clarification: The most demanding scenarios I'll face is playing any game which should run fine on the XPS
(let's say GTA 5) for a duration of ~2 h or a session with a pretty CPU-intense audio processing
software for the same time without throttling or overheating.

Dell calls it Xtreme Perfomance System so it should handle this easily, but apparently this isn't happening.
When I'm looking on the 9560 owners thread I'm sure that it's biased but nonetheless there's a still a huge
number of unsatisfied owners.
A premium laptop should run without creative user workarounds.

 

I've only had mine for a day so obviously take my statements with a grain of salt, but so far, I haven't experienced this. In all of my benchmarks and stress tests, the 4 cores have stayed at 3.4GHz. The laptop is not in a hurry to turn on its fans so the temperatures do reach 85C, but you can lower this with undervolting. I undervolted mine by 75 mV thus far and this has reduced the temperatures to about 80C at the maximum (wPrime benchmarking). I haven't done much gaming, but Torment: Tides of Numenera appears to run without any issues and while the fans do turn on fully, they're not very loud -- I almost don't hear them with $20 headphones.

I haven't noticed this at all -- just tried scrolling this page up and down really quickly and I just don't see it. Likewise, I haven't seen anything of the sort in gaming (but TToN is an RPG and not an FPS). That said, I have the 4K display and I think there are more complaints about the FHD version. The display is really nice; my only quibble with it is that it is glossy and thus produces reflections when black.

 

Well whatever XPS was meant to mean originally is probably forgotten at Dell. Now it is simply designed to be a MBP replacement, a thin sleek hipster design yet packing a powerful processor and GPU. One can't seriously expect it to perform as well as gaming designs with a kg more heatpipes and fins and any cooling for VRMs provided. And it is rather logical that the borderline design is sensitive to poor paste application, which is unfortunately the rule not exception, due to the production process.

I think many people don't notice sth is wrong even with flawed units.

It is also plain obvious that firmware QC is rather absent at Dell. I mean, another major phuckup with Intel video drivers just after 9560 launch, these guys can't be serious. I'm afraid these issues must affect the majority of the user base. Some evade if they're lucky to start at a stable state with everything they need functioning, and never updating...

 

Insulting!

Don't mess with Texas...

 

To be fair, it does look a lot like the MBP... but I would much rather have that than the usual "gaming" style that nearly every laptop with a consumer grade discreet GPU comes with. Also, it's considerably more powerful than an MBP for half the price.

I have not encountered any issues after downloading the latest drivers from Dell's site (except the Nvidia one which comes straight from Nvidia).

 

I agree. I think the majority of people probably have a flawed unit and don't even realize it yet. I didn't notice my screen's uneven lighting until I stared at a white background for a while. Now I'm on my 3rd panel and they're all terrible.

I didn't notice my headphone jack didn't work for a week or so.