Dell XPS 13 9370 Review

Written by Matthew Lambert

August 9, 2018 | 18:30

Tags: #4k #core-i7-8550u #laptop #notebook #ultrabook

Companies: #dell #intel

PCMark 10 Photo Editing

Website: Futuremark

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This workload involves making a series of adjustments to a set of RAW and JPG photographs using ImageMagik - an open-source image processing library - to apply a range of filters with a live preview. The images are then saved in JPG and PNG formats.

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HandBrake Video Transcoding

Website: HandBrake

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We perform a simple encoding test using the freely available HandBrake software, which converts a 60-second, 400MB, 4K, MKV video sample to a high quality, 1080p, MP4 file using the available presets. Our results show strong scaling with increasing threads, which is indicative of high-performance video editing suites, albeit without any GPU acceleration.

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Cinebench R15

Website: www.maxon.net

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Cinebench uses Maxon's Cinema 4D engine to render a photo-realistic scene of some shiny balls and weird things (we miss the motorbike). The scene is highly complex, with reflections, ambient occlusion, and procedural shaders, so it gives a CPU a tough workout.

As Cinema 4D is a real-world application - used on films such as Spider-Man and Star Wars - Cinebench can be viewed as a real-world benchmark.

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Discuss this in the forums

Posted by Wakka - Fri Aug 10 2018 07:43

2133Mhz DDR3 and a 4K display squashed into a 13" space seem like very odd spec choices. Most of the 8th gen Dell laptops I were looking at were running 2666Mhz DDR4 - I know there's very little performance difference in it, but it still seems like a cheap-out for a £1500 device...

And who on this earth can actually use a UHD display on a 13" laptop? Why is it even an option??

Posted by Gareth Halfacree - Fri Aug 10 2018 08:01

Wakka
And who on this earth can actually use a UHD display on a 13" laptop? Why is it even an option??
That's the very reason my 9360 has the 1080p display instead.

EDIT:
Wakka
2133Mhz DDR3 and a 4K display squashed into a 13" space seem like very odd spec choices. Most of the 8th gen Dell laptops I were looking at were running 2666Mhz DDR4
Missed this bit when I replied this morning: it's for battery life boosting. The Core i7-8550U can use either DDR4-2400 or LPDDR3-2133, with the latter drawing considerably less power. Given that there's not a huge amount of room for battery in that teeny-tiny chassis, Dell opted for the latter. My 9360's the same, but slower: LPDDR3-1866 instead of the DDR4-2133 the processor can also support, to boost battery life. As it is one of the contributing factors that gets me about 18 hours of active use from a charge, I'm not so bothered!

Posted by TimB - Fri Aug 10 2018 08:34

Wakka
And who on this earth can actually use a UHD display on a 13" laptop? Why is it even an option??
I just bought the XPS 15 9570 and still went with the 1080p display, because I agree the UHD display is wasted at this size, plus its also a bigger battery drain.

Posted by edzieba - Fri Aug 10 2018 10:17

Wakka
And who on this earth can actually use a UHD display on a 13" laptop? Why is it even an option??
UHD + 200% scaling looks fantastic. Once you go high-DPI, you never look back.
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