buying xps l502x questions

Hi. I am about to buy an XPS l502x laptop, and have a couple questions:
1) Should I go with 4GB, 6GB, or 8GB of RAM? Price is not an issue here. Do the DIMMS work effectively in the 8GB?
2) Which video card should I get. The 525 1GB or the 540 2GB? I heard that anything over 1GB will not show an increase in performance. I play Microsoft Flight Simulator quite a bit. Does the 540 have any added features that the 525 doesn't have?

 

1. You can get ram much cheaper elsewhere. Save a few bucks and order it seperately. Also, the L502X will support Kingston's HyperX 1866 ram, which (last I checked) can't be configured from Dell. So, if money is no object, and you really really want the best you can get right now, there you go.

2. The 1GB extra ram isn't likely to make much of a difference. Further, the 525m and the 540m are basically the same chip. However, the 540m is binned higher, and thus is more likely to be able to stably overclock. It's not a critical upgrade, but very much unlike ram, is not something you can change later if you decide to go cheap on the front end. For that reason alone, a lot of folk will recommend going for the 540.

 

If price is not an issue then why even ask, get the biggest numbers. You won't notice a difference in performance though.

 

If you're getting the XPS 15, make sure you get the 1920x1080 B+RGLED display. This upgrade is significantly more important than any of the upgrades, and you should never skip it or you're wasting your money on the entire computer by ordering it with a crap screen.

The 1366x768 screen is terrible, but the 1920x1080 is really good. Both in resolution (how much you can fit onscreen at once) and image quality. The 1366x768 screen in the XPS 15 is one of the worst screens out there right now, and in general the 1366x768 resolution is too low for a 15.6" laptop because it makes things onscreen huge. 1920x1080 lets you fit side-by-side windows and greatly reduces your scrolling. The basically always going to be the most important upgrade, no matter which laptop you buy, but this is especially so for the XPS.

But to answer your questions

1) Don't upgrade the RAM on Dell's site. Upgrade it later because it's cheaper.

2) The 540M is only 12% better. It's a nice upgrade as "icing on the cake" because technically you can't upgrade it later, but the 525M is overclockable to 540M speeds anyway. Get the 1920x1080 display upgrade first though, it's far more important.

 

Thank you all for your replies/suggestions. I am looking forward to getting this since my last computer was 6 years ago and stuck at 100GB hard drive for all this time.

 

The 720P screen is not crap in the slightest. Mine also came with a Samsung screen, which is supposed to be better. If you game, then 1920 is a big mistake, if you do photoshop then it is a sensible choice.

 

You were a lucky one, most of the 720p screens are an AUO I believe, but whichever brand it is, everyone says it is a horrible screen. Some of the other brands that occasionally come into Dell's stock are better, yes.

 

1) too many people have gotten the bad screen for it to be worth the risk

2) the resolution is limiting, no matter how you put it

3) never make games the deciding factor of your resolution decision. You can always run games in a lower resolution but you can't make up for the low resolution outside of games. Plus, due to the sheer quality difference, games look better on the 1080p screen regardless whether you're running in native resolution or not

 

The quality of the 720p screen doesn't even need to enter in to the discussion. The incredible contrast and color reproduction qualities in the 1080p panel effortlessly blow everything else away. It is worth twice the price that they charge for it.

No, the 540M isn't a fast enough GPU to max out the newest games at 1080p. However, once you see the 1080p panel on this laptop, you will no longer question the quality of the upgrade. I really don't think that anyone who supports the argument for the 1366x768 res panel has spent much time, if any, with the B+RGLED panel. It's impossible to sanely argue against.

 

how do I check if it's samsung or auo?
when around the forum.. guest the only way is to open up the cover

 

Look under Hardware ID inside Properties of Monitor in Device Manager.

The 720p screen can also be LG, in addition to Samsung and AUO. The AUO one is straight up garbage. Don't risk it. Besides you don't want a 720p screen in a $1000 laptop.

 

The only serious choice with the XPS 15 is the FHD display. If you can't get it or don't want it then get a different laptop.


also... the 1080p is fine for some gaming. Not the newest, but I run Crysis2 @ 1920 x 1080, highest settings. I also run Bioshock2 at high settings (although I can't remember @ what res).