Which CPU to choose in Dell XPS 16?

Hey guys, had a look through some threads and (mainly the thread comparing the 620m and 720qm) and has helped a bit but cant find a straight answer.
I am about to purchase a Dell XPS 16 but unsure of the processor to get. I will list my other specs, what I will be using it for and the price differences and if anyone could give me advice on the best overall option that would be great.

Uses:
Mainly Gaming and HD video but also some DVD encoding here and there.
(along with the usual day to day stuff).
It will be primarily hooked up to a power supply and will only be used on battery a couple of hours at a time. so battery not a that big an issue.

Other Specs:
1GB ATI® Radeon™ HD 4670 graphics card
4096MB 1333MHz Dual Channel DDR3 SDRAM [2x2048]
500GB 7200RPM HDD

CPU options and how it reflects price of build:
Intel® Core™ i5 Processor 520M £1149
Intel® Core™ i5 Processor 540M £1169
Intel® Core™ i7 Processor 620M £1309
Intel® Core™ i7 Processor 720QM £1249

So shall I save some money and go i5 and maybe up the RAM, take the 720qm quad core or do I take the 620m dual core for £60 more which is apparently better overall from what I gathered off the other thread.
I know this sounds like a simialar question but in the other thread the CPU's were the same price, here they are not.

 

For your uses an i7-620M sounds very good. It is still extremely good at multitasking, even if it is only a dual core, due to it's 4 threads. Generally, gaming will only use 4 threads at the most, with a few exceptions in rare games. If you are using programs that use more than 4 threads though, they will benefit from the 720QM, I'd say. In programs that use less, the 620M will be faster. In a lot of benchmarks, the 720QM and the 620M perform very close, with the 620M falling just behind because most of these benchmarks are multicore optimized.

 

Thanks for your reply, thats some good detailed advice right there and it'd be a no brainer if they were the same price. Is the 620M worth £60 more than the 720QM do you think? Considering I'm at the top end of my budget.

 

I voted no. The difference in speed is not worth it.

But the 620M should run cooler, and give better battery life.

 

So the 620M is better for my needs, Will run cooler and last longer when it IS away from a power suply.
I would say I'd probably be willing to pay £60 extra for that, but as you said, the speed difference alone isnt worth it.


Just spoke to a Dell representative to try and get it for the same price and they were hopeless, they didn't understand why I wanted the 620M over the 720QM. When I started talking about multithreading they were completely lost.

 

they are stupid but if u want to game , the XPS 16 is average... for gaming , i recommend u get an Alienware M15x at least... its 15 inch and quite a good gaming laptop... if u don't have enough cash and u don't mind having anything other than a dell , i recommend a Sager NP8690...which u can get online UK reseller like Kobalt Computers and Novatech... these should be way better than Studio XPS 16 if u got a budget...

link for Kobalt computers and Sager Np8690 : http://www.kobaltcomputers.co.uk/g860_specifications.php

Its from 1299 pounds but fully customised about 1400-1500 , its a beast... also it more upgradeable than the studio XPS 16 as the CPU and GPU can be easily be replaced... look around and see if u like it.

 

Yeah, well some Dell reps have no idea what they are talking about. There probably are the odd one or two that do, but unfortunately, they seem far and few between.

I guess the poll says 720QM...

 

Cheers for the advice, the alienware I dont like and once i started personalizing it the cost got well over budget.

I like the form factor of the XPS 16 and liking the look of a Notebook is a big thing for me as I cant enjoy using an ugly Brick, however capable. Plus when I said gaming i didnt mean I needed a dedicated gaming rig, It will play what I want well and will do for a while yet.


After more research:
I have decided to pay the extra for the 620M.
The 720QM Is only faster in applications designed specifically for 4 cores, the 620M is as quick or quicker in every other aspect.
It uses less power so the battery lasts longer.
It runs cooler which given the XPS 16's cooling system is a plus.

 

The 620M is pretty power consuming. I wouldn't opt that much more for only a little performance over the 540M. Check out this review:

http://www.notebookcheck.net/Review-Intel-Core-i3-i5-i7-Processors-Arrandale.25085.0.html

 

well what about the sager? Its not to heavy and all and price is reasonable.

 

I would go for the i5-540M. 4 virtual cores and excellent clock speeds. Combined with the 4670, it will be perfect for gaming. You will easily be able to max MW2 on that, depending on your display resolution.

 

but the sage NP8690 or Kobalt computers version would max the game out no wonder what... Also has MXM 3.0B slot so it can take new GPU's in future unlike the Dell which is soldered to motherboard and weaker...