The Dell XPS 15 9560 Review: Infinity Edge Part Two
by Brett Howse on July 31, 2017 8:00 AM ESTGPU Performance
It feels like we’ve been waiting a long time to see the smaller Pascal cards come to notebooks. The larger GTX 1080, 1070, and 1060, all debuted almost a year ago, but it wasn’t until CES this year that the smaller GTX 1050 was made available to notebook manufacturers.
There’s a lot of upgrades from the outgoing GTX 960M available in the previous XPS 15 thanks to the new Pascal architecture. GP107 offers the same 640 CUDA cores, 40 Texture Units, and 16 ROPs as the GTX 960M, but it offers much higher core, boost, and memory clocks. Dell outfitted the XPS 15 with the 2 GB GTX 960M on the last generation, but they’ve equipped the latest model with the 4 GB model as well. For a full breakdown on the changes, check out our launch article for the GTX 1050 for notebooks.
While the GTX 960M was adequate for light gaming, the GTX 1050 should offer much better performance around the 1920x1080 resolution, but to see the difference, the laptop was run through our full gaming tests. The performance comparisons are against the same systems as the previous tests for system performance. The Razer Blade Pro is outfitted with a GTX 1080 GPU, and the ASUS GL502VS features a GTX 1070, so both of those, being gaming systems, are going to have an advantage, but they are included just to see how big the delta is.
First up, the synthetics:
3DMark
The latest version of 3DMark continues to evolve with new tests, in order to keep it current with systems of today. Fire Strike is the most graphically demanding test in our results, followed by Sky Diver, Cloud Gate, and then the mobile focused Ice Storm Extreme. It’s clear the GTX 1050 is a step ahead of the GTX 960M when looking at these tests, with the new XPS 15 showing a substantial improvement over the outgoing model. Yes, it’s a long way from the bigger GTX 1070 and GTX 1080 notebooks, but the new Pascal card outperforms the Maxwell version by 39.9% on Fire Strike, 33.8% on Sky Diver, 20.7% on Cloud Gate, and 17.9% on Ice Storm Extreme. The more demanding the task, the bigger the gain is as well.
Dota 2 Reborn
Valve’s online battle arena game is one that’s well suited to even low-end systems, so it’s not surprising to see the XPS 15 be CPU bound even at our enthusiast settings. Since this laptop has a UHD display, trying to run Dota 2 at 3840x2160 at max settings only allows for 31.3 FPS, so the card is perfect for 1080p gaming, but doesn’t have the muscle to power UHD games even if they are less demanding.
Tomb Raider
Although several years old now, the original Tomb Raider is still a very demanding game for notebooks, especially when all of the settings are cranked up and TressFX is enabled. At low to mid-settings, the GTX 1050 can easily power this game to multiples of the 60 Hz refresh rate, but at maximum settings, it can’t quite get to the 60 FPS mark. The improvement over the previous generation is an impressive 53.2% increase in performance at the Enthusiast settings.
Rise of the Tomb Raider
The latest version of Tomb Raider is even more demanding, and the XPS 15 can only manage to be playable at the mainstream settings.
Civilization VI
The latest version of Civilization is as demanding on the CPU as it is fun to play – which means it’s very demanding. Graphics generally takes a back seat here, but with all of the settings maxed out, the performance impact can be substantial. Here we see the GTX 1050 struggle at Enthusiast levels, although on a game like this, 30 FPS is likely adequate.
Bioshock
Another legacy game, it’s kept in our tests since we have such a large amount of data to compare this against. At high settings levels, it can still be punishing for notebooks, although the GTX 1050 is the first mid-level notebook GPU to be able to crack the 60 FPS barrier.
Dragon Age: Inquisition
This RPG offers immense worlds, with long sight lines, which can be very taxing on GPUs. The GTX 1050 definitely offers strong performance here compared to the outgoing model, but it still can’t quite handle max settings at 1080p.
Shadow of Mordor
Again, we can see that the GTX 1050 is really a mid-tier card, for light 1080p gaming, or at that resolution with some settings turned down. It’s generally not quite enough to handle this resolution on the more demanding titles.
GPU Conclusion
Switching to Pascal in the XPS 15 has brought with it some very strong improvements in performance. It is common to see it 40-50% faster than the outgoing GTX 960M, but with a similar TDP. NVIDIA doesn’t release official TDP values for its notebook cards, but since Dell hasn’t increased the weight or noise with the new XPS 15, it’s very likely the GTX 1050 is very close to the GTX 960M’s power requirements. We’re likely not to see this kind of jump in performance for a while again, but it’s still fascinating to see just what an increase in performance NVIDIA was able to achieve by moving from an old 28 nm process for Maxwell, to the 14nm process used for GP107.
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Garrett S. - Monday, July 31, 2017 - link
How on earth is everyone using these Dell XPS 15 9560 models?I have purchased 2 brand new factory sealed models from Amazon, and both had defects. If you look under my name (Garrett S.), you will see that the screen shuts off, on/off rapidly like a strobe light in a club. Both laptops did this.
So, I recently ordered a factory refurbished unit from Dell, from a different reseller (again, because brand new factory sealed units were always defective), and the new one has the same issue. Screen randomly shuts off and flickers after a couple of hours. 3 laptops in 1 month.
Don't believe me? I've posted videos of the problem, on amazon, as a verified purchase under product review. Can't fake that...
Already sent off laptop number 3. Here goes laptop number 4, 5, 6, etc...
linster - Tuesday, August 1, 2017 - link
When I read user horror stories like yours, I can't help but think other issues may be involved. Sure, you could be the anti-lottery winner, someone has to be on the other end of the luck spectrum. However, 3 laptops all having the exact same problem? Unless it was a bad batch, statistically highly unlikely. Have you thought maybe of testing to see if it's your environment. I don't know, maybe some type of electronic interference? Something other than just spectacularly bad luck?Garrett S. - Tuesday, August 1, 2017 - link
It's not my power strips, electricity, humidity, environment, or anything else. Other users on amazon are posting similar images and videos of the exact same problem.The funny part is, these are brand new factory sealed laptops directly from dell, and even the refurbished ones from dell have the same issue, but it doesn't replicate itself immediately (it takes 2-3 hours of usage before screen starts flickering).
Users on reddit are posting the same thing. Users on amazon are showing verified purchased review videos of the problem. The Dell XPS 15 9560 laptop on amazon has 3 out of 5 stars which is a great improvement, compared to when it was released. When laptop was released earlier in the year (march?) the laptop had 2 out of 5 stars. Guess what? Not one review had a "manufacturer's response" posted which other computer makers often do.
That leads me to believe that dell doesn't give a flying **ck.
Because all of the brand new laptops have the same problem, I tried dell manufacturer refurbished. Same problem. Customers are returning defective laptops to dell (which is why it's labeled refurbished on the bottom), and the same problem exists.
Why? Most likely, the dell "technicians" are simply turning on the laptop, and if the screen turns on, they immediately ship the device. However, the problem occurs after 2-3 hours of regular web browsing or word processing usage. The screen shuts off and on, and off, and flashes and gets progressively worse, similar to a strobe light. Perhaps the dell "technicians" can't/won't test longer than 5 seconds verifying if the screen simply turns on? The problems *ALWAYS* show after a couple of hours use.
If there is something wrong with my environment, then why do all the product reviews of this laptop on amazon show 3 out of 5 stars (previously 2 out of 5 stars)?
Perhaps everyone's environment is terrible around the world! My environment consists of a very clean table in the dining room. You can see my dining room table on the video posted on amazon, under garrett, in the amazon verified reviews, along with everyone else's. Just be careful you don't have a seizure from watching the strobe like effect that the laptop screens display.
It's ok. Shipping is free.
If I were you guys, I would buy stock in UPS. They are beginning to know me on first name basis. I see this happening all year on this model of laptop from dell.
ddriver - Tuesday, August 1, 2017 - link
Bad karma. I've had lots of dell products, laptops included, never ever had a problem with any of them. Not a single unit manifested any kind of problem during the warranty period, most were working well after double the time until they were sold on the cheap.Garrett S. - Tuesday, August 1, 2017 - link
Once again... respectfully ddriver...Why on earth does the product have 3 out of 5 stars (2 out of 5 stars in first month during release) on amazon for this dell xps 9560 laptop, with verified purchase reviews? Most people buying the product on the most popular online retailer in the U.S. is having the same problem I am having. Review the Dell XPS 9560 on amazon. 3/5 is the review, which is better than it was a short while ago, 2/5. That's the lowest I've ever seen of any product on Amazon.
How is this karma directed towards me? Why is everyone else having the same problem? Check out reddit. There are hundreds of negative reviews of the same thing.
Oh wait a minute... Maybe everyone purchasing these Dell 9560 XPS 15 laptop models have a specific vendetta against Dell and they all want to get even at Dell... Strange that everyone was waiting for years, and they are all choosing now, and only 1 specific newly released model, and they are all showing pictures and videos of the problem... verified purchases...
You're right! It's a conspiracy.. You are onto something here bro....
Glock24 - Wednesday, August 2, 2017 - link
From what I've read in forums and other people's experiences, Dell's QC is pretty bad. If you are lucky, you'll get a good unit and it may last over 10 years. But a lot of units have faults and are very problematic.rrinker - Wednesday, August 2, 2017 - link
You know what they all have in common? They were purchased through Amazon. You know what is really really bad? Amazon's shipping and packing. They actually sent me a hard drive which was in the static bag LOOSE IN A BOX with just one piece of crumpled paper for packing. It was, as I expected, DOA. When contacting them for a replacement, I specifically mentioned the poor packaging. Replacement one came - PACKED EXACTLY THE SAME WAY! Luckily this one worked, although what sort of life span it will have is still up in the air. It's multiply backed up so it's just an annoyance at having to tear the box apart if (when) it dies. I left two blistering packaging feedbacks. That takes some kind of special to pack a hard drive like that. At the same time I bought a power supply. It was encased in foam inside the OEM box, PLUS they placed that inside another larger box totally packed with air bags. Really boggles the mind. Wonder if Amazon's involvement with shipping the laptops is causing an issue. I hope Amazon doesn't warehouse these - even here in the northeast there are reports of the inside of the local Amazon distribution center getting well over 100 degrees on a sunny day.Glock24 - Wednesday, August 2, 2017 - link
I've had many problems with Dell laptops in the past, from cheap Inspirions to expensive Latitudes. The problems include keyboard failing, motherboard dying, one Latitude melting, LCDs failing, etc. Luckily the client had extended 3 year warranty, and Dell repaired or replaced the units, but even the replacements failed in less than a year. Those were systems from 2012 to 2015. Since then I don't recommend Dell anymore.Seems like they are no better now.
Sancus - Tuesday, August 1, 2017 - link
I bought an XPS 9560 and had zero problems with it. I've used my display for 12+ hours at a time and no flickering or anything like this.I suspect a software issue if it's that reproducible, though. I'm not saying that the rate of defects on the 9560 is acceptable, just adding a report of someone who has had no problem.
Rc1138 - Wednesday, August 2, 2017 - link
In my case screen flickering issue was solved with uninstall of dell premium color software that was incompatible with new gpu drivers (though that was on 9550)