Studio XPS 16 getting gpu upgrade anytime soon?

Is the Dell Studio XPS 16 getting a graphics card upgrade anytime soon? I'm thinking about buying one soon, I really like 'em but the graphics card is the slowest thing in it for me. I know it's a multimedia laptop, not a gaming laptop but cmon now. On Dell's page, GAMING is the biggest keyword for this laptop. ATI HD 4670 is last gen and DX 11 is upon us. Competitor HP Envy 15 is already using the HD 5830. So can we expect a graphics card upgrade anytime soon from Dell?

 

Why not just buy envy 15 or asus g73?

 

Cons to Envy 15:
Price
No RGB LED screen
No backlit keyboard (on a high-end laptop, why is this option missing?)
Less port connectivity (I can't even plug in a headphone and a mic...)
Heat problems

Cons to Asus G73:
Battery life
Form factor (I need to take this thing to class with me daily)
Less port connectivity (no eSATA, no ExpressCard)

 

The envy doesn't even have an optical drive; that's an odd thing to leave out.

 

Envy's builtin mic is actually very good. Sometime I switch to bluetooth mic with skype, and the other end can't hear the difference.

 

I am wondering the same question and am in the same situation. The Envy is pricey and is really lacking some major convenience features and the Asus is just not portable enough. If the SXPS16 had an i7 with a DX11 ATi card, weighed under 7lbs, and had 3-4hrs of battery I would be set. All that is missing from that equation is the GPU.

 

Glad ya made this, as I was wondering too. It surely cannot be long as almost the entire Dell line has been refreshed with DX11 cards. It seems crazy that the flagship entertainment system has only DX10.

 

Ok, ya whatever. That too. I don't really use optical media that much but sure. Basically Envy is garbage.

Agree completely

 

bump, anyone want to reply on topic?

 

No one can really know. We can only really guess. I'm going to guess soon, because Dell has to keep up with competing manufacturers somehow...The ATI 4xxxs are being left behind.

 

Just a question..

What the hell games are you guys playing? The 4670 is fine for every game I've thrown at it

 

That is not the point, a laptop has a non upgradeable graphics for the most part. A lot of people are trying to replace desktops, so getting the absolute best card vs price point is an essential choice if looking to keep it for circa 2 years ( which I am )

The 4670 is old hat, while it may play games ok now, it will struggle in the future and does not have DX11.

 

Exactly. The 4670 is a pretty decent card but according to notebookcheck there still is room for improvement. I'm not that hardcore of a gamer, or else I would be looking at Asus or Alienware. I want an all around good laptop, Studio XPS 16 fits the bill but the graphics is still a little weak if you want to play any game at native resolution. Also, no DX11 support

 

Main reason I'm waiting for the 5xxx GPU is so I can get the lower TDP to go with the lower TDP i5 CPU. More battery life and less heat, hopefully.

 

Subscribing to this thread because in all honesty, the Dell XPS 16 is exactly what I'm looking for, with the exception of it having an outdated graphics card. Lets hope the refresh is soon.

 

Doomtomb: i can play almost all games at native resolution at high/maximum settings.

 

glad to hear, i just wished you named "almost all games" that you play.

honestly, the only reason im interested is because i wanna see if i like any of those games (preferebly new games that run perfect). i cant go and buy games, to find out they dont work good on my computer

i always have this problem with "trials" where im limited to the amount of stuff i can do i need to test to the fullest, so if i cant test properly, i will rather just see what other people say instead lol

 

I play: Dragon Age Origins
Mass Effect 1 & 2
Fallout 3
All at max settings AA excluded, it often proves unnecessary

I play these @ 720P
Devil May Cry 4
Crysis & Crysis Warhead
Lost Planet Colonies

 

Hmm, I have recently bought the XPS 16 and was hoping the GPU was goood enough.

Is there an option to replace the GPU? Does it have MXM module?

 

The SXPS 16 already has enough heat/throttling problems... and you wanna put a bigger, beefier GPU in it?

Dell just needs to give up, admit they effed up and redesign this laptop, with a better GPU.

 

The 5730 (Dell Driver page seems to imply it will someday replace the current cards and some people already have it) is both bigger and beefier than the 4670 in terms of performance, but the bigger difference is that it is significantly cooler and more energy efficient.

 

Bigger and beefier? Uhhh not really.

4670 - 55nm - Core: 675mhz SP: 320@675mhz Memory: 800mhz/128bit bus

Fillrate: pixel: 5.4GP/s texture: 21.6 GT/s bandwidth: 25.6 GB/s

5730 - 40nm - Core: 650mhz SP:400@650mhz Memory: 800mhz/128but bus


Fillrate: pixel: 5.2GP/s texture: 13 GT/s bandwidth: 25.6 GB/s


In summery, it has the same memory bandwidth, and although it has 80 more sps they are clocked slower. The difference in performance is well within 2-3% tops, look at all the synthetic benchmarks at notebookcheck.com

It is bigger by no means as its produced on a smaller manufacturing process, 40nm vs 55nm. So at best you're looking at the same performance producing slightly less heat than 4670. It will run a bit cooler but not drastically cooler like this guy mentions.

You will hardly notice any performance gains in gaming. Yea it supports DX11 but honestly what (of the very few) DX11 games are you going to run on a laptop, especially this one, and at decent quality and FPS?

It is bigger and beefier by no means..

And that's IF the 164X gets it..

 

Contradiction. Anyway, Notebookcheck said it performs 11% better on 3D Mark 05. I'd call that bigger and beefier performance. This really has nothing to due the manufacturing process, the size of the fans, or otherwise.

Also, a few notebookreviewers already have the card in their XPS 16's (installed by Dell).

 

Its not a contradiction. I said TOPS, meaning it will perform 2-3% better at the most, otherwise its the same performance in a lower power envelope.

And it has a lot to do with the manufacturing process actually, a lot. Bigger and beefier? based on one benchmark, 3dmark01 (pretty relevant, 3DMark01 eh? 9 year old benchmark, definitely a solid win there!) with 11% gain? Translate that into real world performance..which is what I'm talking about. You really don't know what you're talking about, no offense.

P.S. can you link to where ever you read someone had dell install a 5730 in there machine? I've searched the site, where would this be posted at? I can't find anything..I've been following this he-said she-said 5730 garbage for months and every few days someone will come along and say the same stuff like you, saying someone else got it installed, mentioning the dell driver (which btw was spotted WEEKs ago) etc etc. Ya well prove it, I'd like to put my foot in mouth.

Every time someone (i can think of quite a few actually) on this forum was promised a 5730 it ended up being a mistake or error on Dell's part, and because like you, believed it was coming, set themselves up for further dissapointment.