XPS M170 or the Inspiron E1705

Hi,

I am pretty confused about this...should i buy the XPS M170 or the Inspiron E1705?My use is going to be CAD/CAM/CAE,simulation,design,gaming movies...so high end!!both should work ok but i dont get coupons for XPS...so cant get it cheap and the coupons for E1705 are not working...so it costs the same now....the XPS standard comes with Geforce 6800 and the E1705 with 7800...so any suggestions would be superb and help me solve my dilemma.

Rishi

 

Since this question deals with two Dell computers, I'm moving it to the Dell forum.

 

Basically the main difference between the two is that the E1705 is dual core processors and has the new technology. The M170 doesn't.

The coupons are not valid for the E1705 because it is so new (I'm guessing), and XPS never has any coupons. So I guess the question comes down to (if you can afford both systems), do you want the new technology or do you want the old technology?

If you can afford it, I would go with the newer technology. Unfortunately, we don't have any reviews on the E1705 yet, but we should have one shortly by one of our admins, Abaxter.

SG

 

With the XPS, you're paying extra for a hologram on the lid, some LEDs around the case, and, supposedly, "better" customer service. I have no idea about the latter. The e1705 is a better buy. If you're willing to try it over the phone, someone really should be able to make the coupons work. Now, there might be some small print I haven't read, but I believe there's nothing that voids the coupons for use on the e1705.

Best,
Howie

 

I think it is voiding the coupon on the E1705 because it says "selected" Inspirons.

 

Your also buying (if you choose it anyway) the 7800 GTX Go over the 7800 Go.

While benchmarking and overclocking has shown that the 7800 Go is a good overclocker, its still using slower memory and theres no guarentee it can reach even the base speeds the 7800 GTX Go Can.

If the system is for gaming, the Dothan processors can more than hold there own for now against the Core Duos since most games are not coded for SMP

I don't really see that much advantage of the E1705/9400 over the XPS M170 in terms of performance, even upgradability since apparantly 945 boards will not accept Merom processors down the line.

Price and focus are the concerns I would assume. If its gaming than the XPS M170 for now will give you just as good and better performance, albeit probably at a higher cost.

 

almost every game is reciving smp "fixs" that is allowing games to take advantage of dual cores (not to full potential but an advantage).

They are not being coded for smps yet but it will come soon enough

definitelygo E1705 wish i could get one

 

I would choose the XPS because of the 7800GTX and because the sominia platform in the XPS is fast and reliable. The core duo notebooks will have bugs in the beggining so unless you want to wait the XPS is the way to go.

 

There really isn't any bugs in the core duo processors as I proudly own one. I game with it everyday for a couple hours or more. And never do I experience slow down in gameplay, or missing details for the games i've been playing.
-Boiling Point Road to hell.
-GTA: San Andreas.
ect,.... at full resolution on all options.

I would go with the Inspiron, not to mention XPS's are more prone to be jacked than Inspirons, and Dell usually doesn't cover theft for warranty.(to my knowledge at least).

 

If its true that almost every game is recieving SMP fixes than it might be less of an issue however still the advantage of the 7800 GTX Go vs 7800 Go can't be ignored. As it stands the base 7800 Go barely outperforms the 6800 Go Non-Ultra.

Base numbers for Comparison 3DMark 05
T2500 Core Duo + 7800 Go = 3836
Pentium M 740 + 7800 Go GTX = 6681

Overclock Performance Comparison
T2500 Core Duo + 7800 Go = 5630 (363 Core/882 Memory Coolbits Optimal Clock Setting)
Pentium M 740 + 7800 Go GTX = 7411 (425 Core/1220 Memory)

My system isn't all that great for a comparison to a more aggressively OC'd system... Pentium M 770 + 7800 Go GTX = 8118 (450 Core/1250 Memory No Artifacts)

Its not saying the E1705 isn't a capable gaming platform because it certainly is but it won't beat an XPS.

However after re-reading a bit CAD/CAM will almost certainly be superior on an E1705 so it seemingly would be a better compromise.

 

Personally I'd go for a fully loaded XPS if I could afford it. But if all you want to do is the usual stuff (work/multitask) and not alot of gaming etc. then the 9400 is probably fine.

 

How do you overclock the E1705? I have one and got 3826 3dmark 05.

My E1705 runs Solidworks 2006 and Proengineer Wildfire 2.0 large assemblies very well. But Realview (real time rendering) on Solidworks doesn't work - maybe this is a driver issue?

 

Overclocking can be kept simple and safe by downloading the latest Mobileforce drivers from Tweaksrus.com. They also have a tutorial that explains how to uninstall old drivers so they don't interfere. Once installed, there's an nvidia desktop tool that will allow for manual overclocking, select the "Optimial Setting" option and it will overclock to around 360/860.....temps do not change much if at all

 

I just had the ption last month to go with either the 9400 or the XPS. Hands down the XPS won. BUT that is because I love to game. There just is no way that with the current game available that the 9400 will equal the XPS. But if you do other things with your laptop that can take advantage of the dual core, then of course stick with the 9400.

I've read alot of posts' where people say that the newer games will need or will run more efficiantly on a dual core system. I'm sure that is true, but by the time most of these games hit the market (with the exception of a few), I think that both of these systems will be obsolete.

Either way just make the descision that you'll be happy with, because in the end, your the one stuck with it! Good luck!