SXPS16 i5-540m or i7-820qm?

Which one?

With the i5, you can get the RGBLED screen.
With the i7, you get the 15.6" WLED FHD screen.

I need to pull the trigger within days. So which is better? Which will run cooler? Which will have better battery life? Which will be faster?

I do a lot of 3D modeling and Finite Element Analysis. Either will be spec'd with 8GB of RAM and the 256GB SSD.

Which one should I get? The cost difference is marginal. Will I regret not getting the i7? Will I regret not getting the RGBLED screen?

And why does Dell.com not allow me to build an i7 computer with a Blu-Ray drive (says there is an OS conflict)?

Thanks!

 

if i were u i d get i5 with rgbled,i5 is cooler and 35w power

 

But will it handle the things I need it to handle?

 

I'd call in to try and get an i7 with the RGBLED. The i5 will run cooler and give better battery life while in multi-threaded tasks the i7 will outperform the i5 (quads ftw lol ) There is no OS conflict, otherwise my computer wouldn't work. I'd go with the i7 config out of personal preference but if you're concerned about Battery life I think you're looking at the wrong line.

 

I'm plugged in, I'd say, 95% of the time.

I just want to be able to watch a full-length movie while on battery (for plane flights and such). That's all.

I'll see if I can get an i7 with an RGBLED and BluRay. I think that would be my best configuration.

 

I have an i7 with RGBLED and Blu Ray. It's totally awesome

I ordered mine in December, they may be out of some part currently. But this combo certainly exists, you may either have to wait, or call them and ask!

 

I have the i7 with RGBLED and Bluray, but i'm not happy with the RGBLED. As much as I want to love the vibrance of the colors I'm not able to reproduce accurate colors no matter how many different LCD's or Calibration tools I attempt. That being said, Dells resolution specialists have allowed me to downgrade to the 1080P WLED Display and upgrade from the i7 720QM to the i7 820QM.

Hopefully the WLED allows me to be more accurate.

(btw this is important for me because I work in graphic Design and accuracy is quite helpful)

 

Hmm, what color? Black, White, or Red?

 

for what you are doing the i7 quad is the way to go.

 

One thing to consider, The RGBLED display does seem to cut about 1 hour from the battery life. If you go WLED you will gain that back but loose whatever "Vibrance" you wanted originally.

Just keep in mind. I personally don't like the RGBLED due to the fact that it doesn't reproduce accurate colors, this applies to movies games and everyday use as well as photo and video manipulation. Others may disagree but from what I saw (I may be very picky) there was just too much color saturation and too much of one color pushing over the others when trying to calibrate.

So hopefully that helps

 

What do you mean by one color pushing over the others?

I'm sure it's been beaten to death, but is it possible to swap between CPU and Independent graphics control? I know on the Alienware M11x you can do it by punching Fn+F6.

I don't do any video or photo editing but I do occasionally watch videos/movies and play some games.

What is the i7-820 w/ RGB battery life like (with the SSD)? Can I get 4+ hours out of it on the lowest brightness settings?

If only the M11x had an internal BluRay drive and an i7, I would just get one of those. The specs on it look about perfect for what I want to do, and I can get over the goofy colors. But it doesn't have an internal drive, and that's a problem for me. Plus, its best processor is a C2D SU7300, which looks sluggish at best.

If they can't do the RGB screen, I guess I'll be OK with the WLED. My first SXPS13 had a WLED screen, and it was really nice looking. I just figured the RGBLED would be even better. I wonder why it gets worse battery life?

 

I'd go with an i7-620M.

 

What is the 620M? That's not an option for the SXPS16, is it? They only list the i7-720QM and i7-820QM

 

It looks like Dell lists ~4hrs with the 9-cell battery.

If you could allow native graphics processing, I bet that number would go up, don't you think?

I'm still a little disappointed that the XPS16 is so large. I carry the computer every day, everywhere I go. I use it on a plane, and on my lap (!!!). I had originally purchased an XPS13, which was the perfect size but after having half a dozen problems, I'm swapping out of that lineup.

I wish the M11x had a DVD drive and an i7. That would be a no-brainer option. Saddly, I doubt that SU7300 could keep up with what I do. Plus the RAM only has an 800MHz rating. I can't see how the SXPS16 wouldn't blow it out of the water.

 

I think you will get about 2 hours while watch video, 1 hour for game.

 

i7-620 is a dual core version of the i7720QM.

i7-720 sit between i5-540m and i720QM

 

Notebookcheck rate 620m above 720qm.

 

The i7-620M is a dual core version of the I architecture. I personally chose it because it has higher clocks.

2 cores normal: 2.66ghz
2 cores turbo: 3.06ghz
1 core turbo: 3.33ghz.


So it's faster than the 720qm and all of the i5's, and can match the 820's turbo speed on twice as many cores than it can.


The 820 maxes out at 3.06ghz at 1 core active.

The 620M can turbo both cores to 3.06, and then turbo a single core to 3.33ghz.

Us it uses less power!


There is a link somewhere that leads you to one with the 620M option but I don't know where it went.

 

So now I am confused as heck.

What is the best processor option on the SXPS16? I thought it was the i7-820QM. Apparently that is not the case?

I guess 4-cores isn't necessarily better than 2?

I placed the order, but I might be able to change it still. Thanks!

 

Notebookcheck.com puts the i7-820QM at one click higher than the i7-620M

I'm thoroughly confused now, lol.

 

820qm > 620m = 720qm > 540m. 620m should be slightly faster for single thread application. 720qm should be slightly faster for multithread application.

 

The 620m is not equal to the 720qm.

The 720qm caps out at 2.8ghz (which is only on a single core when it gets to this point)

the 620m can turbo both cores to 3.06ghz which is above the 720's top clock on a single core, and the 620m can then turbo a single core to 3.33ghz which is faster than the 720 and the 820.

The 620 basically can provide twice the speed the 820 can at only it's first turbo level.

820 turbo up to 3.06ghz on a single core, 620 turbo up to 3.06 on two cores.


There are not many applications that use more than 2 cores, but the few that do the quads would be better, if not looking for visual 3d design, gaming, etc. The 620 will blow the 720 and 820 away.

Also pointing out the 620M uses less power than the quad cores.

 

820qm is still faster in single thread application.
In Cinebench R10 Rendering Single benchmark, 820qm got 3706, 620m got 3397, 720qm got 3314.

 

Well that is one test, the 620M will be faster in single threaded applications.

3.33ghz > 3.06ghz

 

620 is still only a dual core, and one that uses the 45NM process at that. Meaning it drains as much power as a quad without providing a huge leg up in performance on the 720 or 820. If you're using multi-threaded apps go with the 820 or 720 skip the dual core. Or like your poll originally asked the i5 it has lower power consumption.

 

Just to clarify for all on the thread, the 620m is 32nm Processing Die with a Max TDP of 35W. It consumes 10W less the the 720 and 820 QMs at 45W.
Here are the specs at Intel;
http://ark.intel.com/Product.aspx?id=43560

 

Don't forget 820qm has 30% higher memory bandwidth and 4MB more L3 cache.

 

TDP doesn't equal power consumption

 

For your usage, the 820QM would be a better bet as it has a fair gain over its cheaper brethren and you can utilize this power. For the majority though, the 540M is probably the best performance per cost as it does not give noticeably less performance compared to the 620M or 720QM, while being cheaper and consuming less power.

 

Nope, but the TDP of the 720 and 820 QMs is 45W, Hence 10W less.

820QM is here; http://ark.intel.com/Product.aspx?id=43124&processor=i7-820QM&spec-codes=SLBLX

620M is here; http://ark.intel.com/Product.aspx?id=43560

Compare them both here; http://ark.intel.com/Compare.aspx?ids=43124,43560,
And;
Bulk Budgetary Price 820QM= $546.00 620M= $332.00

 

No it doesn't, but it's directly related. It would be safe to assume that a 35W TDP CPU would consume less power than a 45W TDP CPU under normal conditions.

 

Considering that the programs I use can, and do, utilize quad cores, then I think I'll stick with the 820qm. It might run a little hotter, and consume more power at full load, but when running at full load I am plugged in and on a desk.

I can't imagine significant differences in power consumption while watching a video on an airplane.

 

**Late Inquiry**

Josh, why did you return the XPS and go for the Mac?? Did you have any issues with the RGB screen??

Sail