DELL XPS Studio 16 core i7 720 vs Studio 15 core i7 820

[shekharpati]

Was configuring a laptop in Dell india site and found these two of the same price


Dell Studio XPS 16
core i7 720qm
ATI Mobility RADEON® HD 4670 – 1GB


Studio 15
core i7 820qm
ATI Mobility Radeon™ HD 5450 - 1GB

Rest everything is the same as far as configuration goes

So which is better?

XPS has a better graphic card on paper but the graphic card has a very well known heating issues and requires a special thermal paste post purchase to perform (Note book review forums have hundreds of pages of such issues with three dell representatives also agreeing) not to mention the processor bottleneck requiring 130W adapter

As for Studio 15 no such issues have been reported as far as i know.
Does the graphic card in XPS justify settling for 720qm instead of 820qm (more so when everybody knows it does not work in that machine)

Also what other major stuff does XPS machine have that Studio 15 lacks which could justify such premium (USD 400)

As for use, I do like like to play High quality games but am not an addict. also would like the option of frequently converting my movies for my big screen mobile phone.

 

[shekharpati]

Wow no response in 3 days...... looks like nobody goes for dell these days

Was configuring a laptop in Dell india site and found these two of the same price


Dell Studio XPS 16
core i7 720qm
ATI Mobility RADEON® HD 4670 – 1GB


Studio 15
core i7 820qm
ATI Mobility Radeon™ HD 5450 - 1GB

Rest everything is the same as far as configuration goes

So which is better?

XPS has a better graphic card on paper but the graphic card has a very well known heating issues and requires a special thermal paste post purchase to perform (Note book review forums have hundreds of pages of such issues with three dell representatives also agreeing) not to mention the processor bottleneck requiring 130W adapter

As for Studio 15 no such issues have been reported as far as i know.
Does the graphic card in XPS justify settling for 720qm instead of 820qm (more so when everybody knows it does not work in that machine)

Also what other major stuff does XPS machine have that Studio 15 lacks which could justify such premium (USD 400)

As for use, I do like like to play High quality games but am not an addict. also would like the option of frequently converting my movies for my big screen mobile phone.

 

[Maziar]

Was configuring a laptop in Dell india site and found these two of the same price


Dell Studio XPS 16
core i7 720qm
ATI Mobility RADEON® HD 4670 – 1GB


Studio 15
core i7 820qm
ATI Mobility Radeon™ HD 5450 - 1GB

Rest everything is the same as far as configuration goes

So which is better?

XPS has a better graphic card on paper but the graphic card has a very well known heating issues and requires a special thermal paste post purchase to perform (Note book review forums have hundreds of pages of such issues with three dell representatives also agreeing) not to mention the processor bottleneck requiring 130W adapter

As for Studio 15 no such issues have been reported as far as i know.
Does the graphic card in XPS justify settling for 720qm instead of 820qm (more so when everybody knows it does not work in that machine)

Also what other major stuff does XPS machine have that Studio 15 lacks which could justify such premium (USD 400)

As for use, I do like like to play High quality games but am not an addict. also would like the option of frequently converting my movies for my big screen mobile phone.

I would choose the first one because of having a much more powerful VGA.
the difference between i7 720qm and 820qm isn't noticeable but HD 4670M is significantly faster than 5450M

 

[rmmil978]

I have the XPS 16, and the GPU heating issue is real. Basically, if you play high resolution games for more than about 30 minutes to 1 hour the GPU temperatures will rise past 84 C, and at that point Dell has designed these GPU's to "throttle", or lower their clock rate, so that the GPU cools down. Even though these GPU's can take around 100 C, Dell has put in them the design to "downclock" at 84 C. This will noticeably and adversely affect high performance gaming. If you are not going to be playing a lot of games on this laptop, you won't notice the issue.
The Studio 15 does not have this problem because it is using the 5450, which runs at cooler temperatures and so never "throttles" because it never reaches that 84 C.
So, the Studio 16 has a better graphics card that you can't fully utilize due to a Dell safety feature, and the Studio 15 has a lower end card that can be fully utilized. So gaming wise they will probably both be identical. Also, there is little, if any difference between a 820qm and a 720qm processor, at least in real world use.
The only standard feature the XPS has that a Studio 15 lacks is a standard backlit keyboard, at least when I bought mine.
My advice? Get whichever one is cheaper.

 

[shekharpati]

Best answer selected by shekharpati.

 

[shekharpati]

thanks rmmil..... that what i was thinking... though it makes you wonder what the hell the guys at Dell were thinking. dont they do tests on a new model?