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    Should I buy this XPS 16 config?

    Discussion in 'Dell XPS and Studio XPS' started by merlin2375, Mar 17, 2010.

  1. merlin2375

    merlin2375 Notebook Consultant

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    i7-720 (would consider 820, but everything I've read says it's not worth the money)
    256gb ssd
    WLED
    ATI Mobility RADEON® HD 4670 – 1GB
    8 gigs of ram

    How bad would the throttling be on this set up for gaming. When not gaming, am I likely to notice anything?
     
    merlin2375, Mar 17, 2010
    #1
  2. melthd

    melthd Notebook Evangelist

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    voted No because the quad core eats too much power while giving only a little more performance than the 620m or 540M. And since you could afford 8 GBs of RAM and SSDs, i would also take an RGB LED.
     
    melthd, Mar 17, 2010
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  3. merlin2375

    merlin2375 Notebook Consultant

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    My main concern is with throttling. I only game every once in a while. The RGBled is no longer an option at least when I try and configure a unit on the Dell website.
     
    merlin2375, Mar 17, 2010
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  4. starr

    starr Notebook Enthusiast

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    for what its worth, i bought the same spec laptop and, ended up sending it back a few days ago... mine would def. throttle when playing games on max (Alien vs Preditor, nba2k10, nfs...) and it got real annoying but what really got to me, and forced me to return it, was how bad the heat dissipation was on these quad core machines... and im talking about excessive heat while surfing, listening to music, watching hd videos or even just talking to a friend on the webcam for an hour or so (which turned the bottom of my laptop into a portable grill it seemed)

    maybe your ssd might make the palm rest a little bit cooler but if your not concerned about the heat issue then pull the trigger...
     
    starr, Mar 17, 2010
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  5. merlin2375

    merlin2375 Notebook Consultant

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    /\/\ That's very helpful. Heat is definitely a concern for me because it does get used year round and not always in air conditioned places. I especially don't want a portable grill when just doing basic things like surfing, etc because it's uncomfortable to use but also will kill the components.

    What are you going to get instead. I looked at the nvy 15 but it doesn't have a built in optical drive?! That's dumb.

    It further begs the question, should laptops even have i7. Every forum I've read on every manufacturer seems to have a complaint in one way or another about the i7 in the laptop. Severity is another matter, but it's there: either heat or throttling.
     
    merlin2375, Mar 17, 2010
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  6. boomhower

    boomhower Notebook Evangelist

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    Do you really need 8GB's of RAM? That is a ton of money for something that 99% of users don't need.
     
    boomhower, Mar 17, 2010
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