9. 3DMark05 Test Results

There are three tests shown in the following three charts. The first test was done at a display resolution of 1024x768; the second at 1600x1200; the third at 1900x1200. The last is the XPS M1710's highest resolution. Within each resolution a test is done without any anti-aliasing or texture filtering and with anti-aliasing (AA) set at 4 and texture filtering anisotropy (AF) set at a maximum of 8. Here are the results of those tests.

Check out those 3DMark05 scores! Now, I realize we've come a long way since the Dell XPS Gen 2 with its GeForce Go 6800 graphics processor, but just for fun here are a few numbers from MobilityGuru's tests of the XPS Gen 2 in August of 2005 as compared with my tests for the XPS M1710 and its GeForce Go 7900 GTX:

The differences between the two notebooks and their graphics processors are large across the table, but they're especially large at 1600x1200 with 4xAA and 8xAF. We're talking over 4,000 points. Clearly there has been an improvement in graphics processor technology at higher resolutions with the XPS M1710 and its 7900 GTX processor possibly representing the state of the art in this technology area.

Wondering why I'm not comparing the XPS M1710 to the more recent XPS M170 and its GeForce Go 7800 GTX? The simple answer is that MobilityGuru has been unable to obtain an M170 review sample from Dell. Assuming I can get my hands on an evaluation unit from the next XPS generation, all will be fine. I'll have a fistful of data to compare the M1710 and whatever Dell comes up with next.