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Dell XPS13 G210M & Windows 7 Review

post #1 of 25
10/21/09 at 11:43pm
Thread Starter 





Intro
I’m always on the lookout for the latest compact, but powerful notebooks. The Studio XPS 13 with its GeForce G210m hybrid SLI graphic cards is a welcomed member to my laptop family.

Specs:
XPS 1340, Intel Core 2 Duo P8800 (2.66GHz/1066MHz FSB/3M L2 Cache)
Merlot Red High Gloss Finish with Leather XPS 1340
4GB, DDR3, 1067 MHz 2 Dimm forXPS 1340
13.3 Inch Wide Screen WXGA WLED Backlit LCD with 1.3 MP Camera, XPS 1340
NVIDIA GeForce N10M-GS 512MB
90 WATT AC ADPTR, NB ST
500GB 7200RPM Free Fall SensorSeagate Hard Drive
8X DVD+/-RW Slot Load Drive for XPS1340
Dell Wireless 1510 802.11n Half Mini Card
56 WHr 6-cell Lithium Ion P Primary Battery

Windows Performance
This review was done using Windows 7 Professional x64
I’ll take it! Impressive CPU and GPU scores



GPU

G210M
According to notebookcheck.com this card can be set with Core Speed: 625MHz and Memory 800MHz. As you can see Dell didn’t downclock it much.


Hybrid SLI is great; simply changing your Windows power scheme adjusts the GPU’s as follows:
(plugged in)
Power Saver: SLI Disabled
Balanced: SLI Enabled
High Performance: SLI Enabled

(battery)
Power Saver: SLI Disabled
Balanced: SLI Disabled after 15 minutes of inactivity.
High Performance: SLI Enabled

CPU
The C2D P8800 2.66GHz automatically scales its frequencies from 1.6GHz /w a 6x multiplier up too 2.6GHz /w a 10x multiplier. This behavior is seen in all power schemes, on AC power or battery.


Benchmarking
On to the good stuff

At the time I ordered, and currently as I write this review, there are no reliable benchmarks on the GeForce G210M. You cant even search for it on furturemark.com, notebookcheck.com only has a guess, and I found nothing in the popular notebook forums.
I’m glad to report the G210M performs extreamly well! Stock setting and my 3DMark06 is 4751.

(lol its labeled as Generic VGA)

And with a push: 5231!


Now that’s hot, and on a 13” notebook. It’s only 10% lower then the GT 240M, the top “performance” notebook GPU according to NVIDIA

I’ve read other XPS 13 reviews with the GeForce 9500M and a common complaint was Hybrid SLI did not give a significant performance boost when gaming. The G210M certainly does.

Crysis is still a GPU killing game; I used their GPU benchmark (@1280x720) with the following results.

9400M G – SLI disabled: Max: 34.92 Min: 17.15 Average: 25.34 FPS


G210M – SLI enabled: Max: 61.87 Min: 29.60 Average: 43.02 FPS


That’s a 70% performance increase with a real game example!

Conclusion
If you want a small notebook with high performance 3D gaming capability the Studio XPS13 is your next laptop!
LL
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post #2 of 25
10/22/09 at 5:32am
Great stuff! REP!

cheers ...
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post #3 of 25
10/22/09 at 10:22am
Wow maker!
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post #4 of 25
10/27/09 at 7:27am
Very nice write up. I mean sweet! I like small. But can you talk about heat? I know as small as it is going to run hotter but what do you think? Good?

Was that the leather trim I saw in the second photo? I am so tempted to buy one of these. I love small wanted a 13 but my 14 at the time had better GPU.

+rep!
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post #5 of 25
11/3/09 at 1:24am
Thread Starter 
Quote:
Originally Posted by powerpack
Very nice write up. I mean sweet! I like small. But can you talk about heat? I know as small as it is going to run hotter but what do you think? Good?
Excellent question. The quick answer is that it depends if SLI is enabled, but the results are drastically different.

I basically have 2 modes of PC usage.

1. Basic usage = NO HEAT
This includes internet browsing, watching TV, M$ Office. All with SLI disabled.

I think I put “basic usage” is put to the limit. I’m taking online classes for a Masters in Computer Information Systems. For this last class I’ll commonly have 10+ IE windows open, 3 or 4 word documents, some excel, at least one video lecture playing, and multiple “minor” apps running (mostly calculators) to get me through this advanced calculus course. I experience no heat at these times, and I’m online for many hours at a time. After clocking 4 hours in a class you can barely call the notebook warm.
I also do much remote work on this notebook, where i'll have a sea of application open (i commonly max IE instance, 15+ office docs open, countless instance of explorer.exe, etc) with the same results. no heat, no need for a laptop cooler (outside of proper air flow). Since CISCO does not have an x64 VPN client outside of CISCO Anywhere, I sometimes have to run an x86 Windows XP VM when connecting to this VPN concentrator. Even with a VM running heavy and high CPU usage, I experience no major heat and do not require a laptop cooler for comfort.


2. Gaming (SLI enabled) = Hotness!

My current game is AION, 2009’s MMORPG of the year. AION puts any gaming rig to a test, not the worst, but certainly going to have the GPU fans running 100%. To put the heat into perspective, I still use the Nexut TDD-3000 Heat-Pipe laptop cooler(no fans) and it actually gets HOT after a couple hours of gaming. My Alienware m15x (GeForce 8800m GTX) never had this laptop cooler “hot” but the XPS 1340 certainly does. The rear exhaust blows heat at such a high rate you can compare it with a small hair dryer. Its fine to game on, but you “need” a decent laptop cooler; you’re not gaming with this rig directly on your lap! However, the palm rests, keys, and mouse pad only get (rather) warm. Never uncomfortable, but you know your notebook is cooking underneath.


That is the leather trim you see, and it is very nice. I normally don’t care about things like that, but I had to get Boston University red and you have to get the leather. It adds nice aesthetics, and is helpful when carrying the notebook; if you only touch the leather it prevents fingerprints on the glossy surface.
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post #6 of 25
11/6/09 at 12:00am
hows the keyboard on this?
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post #7 of 25
11/9/09 at 8:25am
Hey marker01 can you specifcy what you mean by "with a push" to get 5200? Did you overclock the card? If so with what program. Thanks.
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post #8 of 25
11/9/09 at 4:22pm
nice review

Thanks
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post #9 of 25
11/10/09 at 3:33pm
Thread Starter 
Quote:
Originally Posted by airtas View Post
hows the keyboard on this?
Love it! no wide open slots between keys. The lighted keyboard is great for use in a dark room. There are 3 settings; off, dim, and bright.

Quote:
Originally Posted by mosh
Hey marker01 can you specifcy what you mean by "with a push" to get 5200? Did you overclock the card? If so with what program. Thanks.
Glad someone asked
I did slightly overclock it, getting that to work was not easy.
Rivatuner failed, it would not show the GPU's for overclocking.

The standard Nvidia nTune OC utility did not work either. it seriously blue screened the box when you try to launch any nTune utility (including NVmonitor!)

I finally came across 6.02_nvidia_system_tools. this is a Nvidia add on that works great for overclocking the 9400m & g210m in the XPS13! default Nvidia OC tools work fine.
I know it can go further then the 3dmark score i got, the trick is getting both the 9400 and g210 in a "happy" sync. I just haven't had time to push it any further.
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post #10 of 25
11/10/09 at 5:31pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by marker01 View Post
Love it! no wide open slots between keys. The lighted keyboard is great for use in a dark room. There are 3 settings; off, dim, and bright.


Glad someone asked
I did slightly overclock it, getting that to work was not easy.
Rivatuner failed, it would not show the GPU's for overclocking.

The standard Nvidia nTune OC utility did not work either. it seriously blue screened the box when you try to launch any nTune utility (including NVmonitor!)

I finally came across 6.02_nvidia_system_tools. this is a Nvidia add on that works great for overclocking the 9400m & g210m in the XPS13! default Nvidia OC tools work fine.
I know it can go further then the 3dmark score i got, the trick is getting both the 9400 and g210 in a "happy" sync. I just haven't had time to push it any further.
Link please?

cheers ...
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post #11 of 25
11/11/09 at 1:16am
Thread Starter 
At the time I was found this, I went through at least a dozen others. Uninstalling and re-installing all versions of nTune I could find. I was in one of those deep, dark, places of the internet we don’t regularly visit.

That said, I have no idea what site I downloaded this from or found the link. I searched around again and found it! http://www.nvidia.com/object/nvidia_...ools_6.02.html. the key is to remove “nTune” from your vocabulary and add “nvidia system tools”
While this is official Nvidia software, read the warning… you can fry your GPU using this one; it does not have the idiot button like old school cool bits or even RiviaTuner did…
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post #12 of 25
11/11/09 at 1:35am
Quote:
Originally Posted by marker01 View Post
At the time I was found this, I went through at least a dozen others. Uninstalling and re-installing all versions of nTune I could find. I was in one of those deep, dark, places of the internet we don’t regularly visit.

That said, I have no idea what site I downloaded this from or found the link. I searched around again and found it! http://www.nvidia.com/object/nvidia_...ools_6.02.html. the key is to remove “nTune” from your vocabulary and add “nvidia system tools”
While this is official Nvidia software, read the warning… you can fry your GPU using this one; it does not have the idiot button like old school cool bits or even RiviaTuner did…
Your a very intelligent man.

I just followed your instructions and it worked like a charm. Changed the speeds of both the 9400M and the 210M and went from 4640 3dmarks to 4900 3dmarks. Will somehow try and see if I can get up to 5000. I have the 2.53 Ghz processor so might not be able to get the 5200+ your getting.

But that is really amazing. I've been trying with various programmes to overclock but I haven't been able to. This works perfectly.
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post #13 of 25
11/11/09 at 1:35am
Marker,
Can you do me a favor and check if the Ethernet works correctly after the system resumes from sleep/standby?

When mine wakes, the ethernet does not work. Ever after repairing the connection, disabling/enabling the adapter, uninstalling the driver, the ethernet will not work. It will work beautifully once again after a system restart. Another user reported the same issue.

Thanks in advance.
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post #14 of 25
11/11/09 at 8:59pm
Thread Starter 
Quote:
Originally Posted by happymagic View Post
Marker,
Can you do me a favor and check if the Ethernet works correctly after the system resumes from sleep/standby?

When mine wakes, the ethernet does not work. Ever after repairing the connection, disabling/enabling the adapter, uninstalling the driver, the ethernet will not work. It will work beautifully once again after a system restart. Another user reported the same issue.

Thanks in advance.
np, i would have replied faster but i couldnt find an RJ-45

i disabled the wireless to avoid any false positives, plugged in the ethernet cable, verified i had an IP and could get online.
I put the system to sleep, left it there for a moment, woke her up and everything worked fine, twice.

I'm running Windows 7 Ultimate x64.
Are you running 7 or Vista?
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post #15 of 25
11/12/09 at 6:55pm
I am on Windows 7 Pro X64. Tried Vista home X64, but got the same problem, so I am positive it is not a OS issue. Another user posted to my thread on notebookreview forums with the same issue, so I do not know if this is an isolated issue or a common one. I am scheduled for a motherboard replacement tomorrow, but I am on the fence about the tech taking everything apart on a brand new laptop.

which drivers are you using?
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post #16 of 25
11/15/09 at 3:06am
Thread Starter 
I'm using the default Microsoft driver for the Ethernet NVIDIA nForce Networking Controller.
Driver Provider: Microsoft
Driver Date: 10/17/2008
Driver Version: 1.0.1.211

The chipset i'm using is the only one available for Win 7 for the 1340 on dell's driver site Version 2.08, A02.

I'm looking at dell's driver now and i did not load R238876, the nVidia Ethernet control driver under Network. Maybe thats the problem.
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post #17 of 25
12/20/09 at 10:47pm

Dell XPS13 G210M & Windows 7 Review

Hey,
Great review. I'm planning to buy the same laptop with the same configuration within the next few days (only black, not red... the red is beautiful, just too much attention :P; WXGA screen, smaller hard drive/same speed). Anyway... there are some questions and I'd really appreciate it if you could answer them:
1) I'm not a big gamer, but I do like playing occasionally. Big fan of COD 4 and the NFS series. (Can't wait to try Shift, since my current laptop is a piece of crap) You think I'll face problems with the above mentioned games? Also, while playing the above games... do I HAVE to use a cooler? (VERY tight budget) I'm going to use a desk while playing anyway. My only worry is something going wrong as a result of too much heat

2) In future, once the G210m becomes outdated (hopefully not soon), can I replace it with a better card? Is this possible?

3) Since I'm getting almost the same model, any particular problems? something I should know about?

Thanks!

P.S. I'm not a computer geek, so I apologize if I said something that didn't make any sense.
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post #18 of 25
12/21/09 at 12:18am
1) The DeLL gets a 5200 3DMark06 and Nvidia I get 4900 ATI. I get avg 45 FPS COD4 all highest no AA at XGA. You should get better. COD is avg like 170 FPS. I am not a gamer but from what I read shift has some issues like demanding so I cant answer. Of course a cooler will help but that said install HWMonitor (free) run it and game. When done gaming check HWM it will tell you current/lowest/max of CPU/GPU/HDD so you can decide how it is doing. I would have to consider talking to those who know about getting and applying the best thermal compound. Of course warranty is always a good idea on a little powerhouse like that.

2) I am about 100% certain no it is not modular it is integrated into the MoBo.

3) Not for me to answer.

Good luck if I was in the market for a new and wanted 13 that is what I would get. The only reason I have 14 is because at the time better GPU I was about to buy old XPS 13.

Hope I helped some.
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post #19 of 25
12/21/09 at 1:01am
All right... the frame rate is good enough for me. Yeah... it comes with a standard one year warranty. I want to get more (considering I'm spending a pot load of $), but simply can't afford it. I'm going to seriously start doing research on Canadian bankruptcy laws after my purchase :P I'm just hoping it's not going to cause too much trouble.
Bad luck about the graphics card though. Oh well... It's impossible to get *everything* anyway. Yeah... I wanted a 13". Portability is my biggest issue (since I'm in University), and the XPS 13 was the best thing I could find. My current laptop (although served well) is a piece of junk (Compaq,512mb RAM, Intel-don't-remember-what- graphics, 1.5GHz I think, c2D, 13", XP Pro, battery doesn't work) so I wanted a really good one... something that'll last me hopefully for the next 2-3 years. My alternatives were the Asus UL80VT(amazing li'l thing , but no backlit keyboard and bad screen supposedly) or Studio 14z (in built 9400m graphics only but better 900p screen and good reviews)

Also, while reviewing the Asus UL80VT, for the first time I came across a concept called *overclocking*. I noticed that you've managed to overclock yer laptop too. Where can I find info on this subject? A good source... one that starts from the basics since I'm completely ignorant when it comes to all this.

Thanks!
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post #20 of 25
12/25/09 at 7:08am
I'm really impressed by how the GeForce G210M performs. With only 16 pipelines it is beating some GPUs with 32 pipelines like the GeForce 9600M GT in 3dmark06. Could this be due to the machine using hybrid SLI with the 9400M to boost performance during those benchmarks? If so, is it possible to turn off SLI and test how the G210M performs by itself, or is that not possible with this machine? Thanks.
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