Thanks to a previous thread I was able to understand PC Laptop a bit better and make more informed choices in helping a friend to get the right machine, CPU, RAM and SSD so thanks to everyone that helped me with their knowledge

The brand and the model he choose is the DELL XPS 15 with an i7 chip.

Does someone have hands-on experience with the DELL Precision and can make a strong case for it over the XPS ? It was supposed to be the better choice for a workstation but the consensus seems to be that there is no performance advantage over the XPS when using the same specs.

The biggest question to which I couldn't find an answer would be :

Which one have the better cooling profile ?


There are 3 options for the XPS as part of a sale operation until the end of the month on the Dell official European website :

Configuration 1 :

CPU - Intel® Core™ i7-13700H 13th generation (24 Mo Cache, 14 Cores, 5,00 GHz Turbo)

OS - Windows 11 Family

GPU - Intel® Arc™ A370M

RAM - 16 Go, 2 x 8 Go DDR5 Memory, 4 800 MHz

Drive - SSD M.2 PCIe NVMe 512 Go

Screen - 15,6" InfinityEdge FHD+ (1 920 x 1 200) Non Tactile, Anti-Glare, 500 cd/m²

Price - Retail : 1 599,00 € / Sale : 1 449,36 €


Configuration 2 :

CPU - Intel® Core™ i7-13700H 13th generation (24 Mo Cache, 14 Cores, 5,00 GHz Turbo)

OS - Windows 11 Family

GPU - NVIDIA® GeForce RTX™ 4050, 6 Go GDDR6

RAM - 32 Go, 2 x 16 Go DDR5 Memory, 4 800 MHz

Drive - SSD M.2 PCIe NVMe 512 Go

Screen - 15,6" InfinityEdge FHD+ (1 920 x 1 200) Non Tactile, Anti-Glare, 500 cd/m²

Price - Retail : 2 129,00 € / Sale : 1 879,36 €


Configuration 3 :

CPU - Intel® Core™ i7-13700H 13th generation (24 Mo Cache, 14 Cores, 5,00 GHz Turbo)

OS - Windows 11 Family

GPU - NVIDIA® GeForce RTX™ 4050, 6 Go GDDR6

RAM - 32 Go, 2 x 16 Go DDR5 Memory, 4 800 MHz

Drive - SSD M.2 PCIe NVMe 512 Go

Screen - 15,6" InfinityEdge FHD+ (1 920 x 1 200) Non Tactile, Anti-Glare, 500 cd/m²

Price - Retail : 2 249,00 € / Sale : 1 999,36 €


If my friend choose the 1st configuration he will install x1 16 Go Memory to meet his 32 Go RAM processing power goal.

This configuration is appealing as it cuts the price down BIG TIME due to the GPU being cheaper, I don't think you need a more powerful GPU on a audio laptop, If you feel different please educate me.

The idea of cracking a laptop open straight out of the box is pretty restrictive and annoying but will save money.

Important questions :

Will there be a second RAM slot for the upgrade installation ? (I believe so since the lowest spec is 2x8 Go)

Is 2x8 Go compatible with 2x16 Go upgrade ?

Is having 32 Go RAM compatible with Intel® Arc™ A370M ?

Is Intel® Arc™ A370M enough for audio ?


If he choose the 2nd configuration, he will not have to open his SLAPPING BRAND NEW COMPUTER to make any modifications.

Important questions :

Is there any advantage to have a NVIDIA® GeForce RTX™ 4050 in Audio ?

Will this more powerful GPU, with a different architecture, introduce DPC latencies ?

Is DPC Latency even an issue when you do not track vocals and only work in the box ?


3rd configuration, just more drive space, wich he doesn't need as he backups all his projects on external hardrives and cloud services. As said before, he doesn't use any samples libraries so he doesn't need the extra space. Only an OS, a DAW, VST's and the audio interface drivers will be installed on this computer.

Important question :

Is there Any advantage of having a bigger "headroom" with a 1TB SSD for writing/deleting operations that could benefit the RAM given that the 500 Gb will already be mostly empty ?


In Conclusion :

Does Intel® Core™ i7-13700H 13th generation (24 Mo Cache, 14 Cores, 5,00 GHz Turbo) have great performances compared to other i7 chips models ? (especially single-core)

Should my friend wait a few months to get the same computer with the new 14th gen i7's that just came out in an effort to better future-proof his investment at the cost of a 250€ discount ?


What is the most intelligent choice to make (Chip and configuration) in your opinion ?


Thanks for helping !

I did my best to research the subject and help my friend but I lack technical knowledge in the PC world as I am working on Mac.

I just don't want him to make a costly mistake and any help from someone that has the "edge" in PC audio laptops specs is greatly appreciated !

I already had some answer from my previous thread regarding the basics of PC laptops for audio and I'm thankful for the help I was given, this one is focused on a specific model and specific components available in said model configuration options.

One last question would be WIN 10 or 11 and why ?

Cheers and have a nice one

THANK YOU !

 

do make sure RAM and SSD is user-upgradeable, not all XPS laptops support that unfortunately,

Intel Arc A370M offers great value (roughly on par with RTX 3050), but being new there's actively ongoing development of drivers,
there is higher likehood of running into compatibility issues with softwares using Arc gpu than "traditional" nVidia gpus, that said Arc A370M has been sold for over year by now so all the initial hiccups should have been fixed by now,

about RAM, i7-13700H on its own should support up to 96GB ram in total (2x48 in 2 slots max), there may be some motherboard's manufacturer incompatibilities, so following comparable specs of included ram is recommended (CAS timings, frequency, power ratings..),

if M.2 SSD could also be replaced later when needed is good, still if you say 500Gigs is fine for him, then I don't see it as limitation,

OS, I'd stick with whatever is provided by default, because there will be way better driver support from manufacturer, if it's Windows 11 then it makes no sense to bother downgrading to Windows 10

 

Bump

 

Go ACER. Better cooling

 

@tzzsmk interesting take on GPU, definitely plays a big role in the overall price of the laptop, not on audio performance.

We are trying to figure what is better overall, potential driver stability with intel Arc or eventual DPC latency caused by NVIDIA discrete GPU architecture. None of which should be crippling but nonetheless a complicated choice to make, I didn't find many resources available on the subject with precise technical explications that makes that choice easy.

I checked if RAM and SSD were user upgradable on the XPS 15 and good news, its as per show on this video : http://tinyurl.com/3jk58xas

Thanks for clarifying the SSD and the OS situation, it was pretty silly to ask but I wanted to get that out of the way as there is so much contradictory infos out there.
I personally have 185 Go of free space on my 250 Go HD (MBP2014) and never ran into any performance issues related to drive size and 250 Go HD is far away from 500 Go SSD.

@bluerover is that just common knowledge that ACER have better cooling profile overall ? Or can you expand on the technical details ?
I lack a lot in term of cooling profile designs, I know that thermal paste + fans cools the CPU and profile + fans expels the heat out but don't know anything about what makes a good, efficient cooling profile design.