Dell XPS 15 (L501X): Intel Core i7 840QM/2GB nVidia GT435m Review

First indications from the Windows Experience Index show that the machine performance is limited to the mechanical hard drive, which is a 7,200 rpm Samsung unit with 16mb of cache.

The software installation isn't too bad, although as always Dell include McAfee, an immediate deinstall for us. While we also appreciate the fact that Skype and other social networking software is preinstalled, we do wish Dell would offer a ‘bare bones' software configuration like some of the smaller, dedicated system builders in the UK.

The Intel Core i7 840QM is at the heart of this machine. This is a £280 optional upgrade from the 740QM processor. Both are 4 core designs with Hyperthreading (4 physical, 4 logical), but the 840QM has an additional 2MB of cache (8MB) and runs at 1.86ghz, an increase from the 1.73ghz of the 740QM.

The nVidia Geforce GT 435m handles the Dell  XPS 15 graphics. It has 16 ROPs, 96 unified shaders with a hefty 2GB of GDDR3 onboard tied into a 128 bit bus. The core runs at 650mhz and the memory at 800mhz with shaders running at 1300mhz. This will be no gaming powerhouse, but it should manage most titles at moderate or lowish settings. The screen is a full 1080p panel (they do offer 720p screens in the configuration tool), so the GT 435M has a fair amount of pixels to push if you want to game at the native resolution. Intel HD graphics are also onboard and with nVidia's Optimus technology it will switch between both, depending on the task at hand.

There is 4GB of Samsung PC3-10700 (1333mhz) memory installed which is running at 9-9-9-24 1T timings.

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