Test Setup
By
Harald Thon,
published on July 27, 2004
Source: Tom's Guide US | Keywords: desktop, graphics, ambitions
Source: Tom's Guide US | Keywords: desktop, graphics, ambitions
Contents
- 1. Record Time For Development
- 2. The MR 9800's Details Spell The End Of The AGP Line
- 3. The MR 9800's Details Spell The End Of The AGP Line, Continued
- 4. MR 9800 Model Types
- 5. Test Setup
- 6. Test Setup, Continued
- 7. Dell Inspiron 9100 And Inspiron XPS: The Test Systems
- 8. Dell Inspiron 9100 And Inspiron XPS: The Test Systems, Continued
- 9. Benchmarks
- 10. Game Performance
- 11. DirectX 8: UT 2003
- 12. DirectX 8: UT 2003, Continued
- 13. OpenGL: Quake III Team Arena
- 14. DirectX 9: Aquamark
- 15. DirectX 8: Splintercell
- 16. Beside The Point: Sysmark2002 System Performance
- 17. Effect Of Powerplay Settings On Frame Rates
- 18. Battery Time, 3D Gaming And Mobilemark 2002
- 19. Effect Powerplay Settings On Battery Life
- 20. Conclusion: Genius Or Insanity?
5. Test Setup
For the test, ATi furnished us with an Inspiron XPS, only available on the U.S. market. The European headquarters for Dell sent us the Inspiron 9100, intended for the European market. For purposes of comparison we have also included the results from three DTR notebooks already tested - the Dell Inspiron 8600 with Nvidia Geforce FX Go5650 graphics chip, an Athlon64 notebook with MR9600 graphics processor and an early presample of the "original XPS" from Dell.
| Dell Inspiron XPS | Dell Inspiron 9100 | Dell Inspiron 8600 | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Type | Two-Spindle / Modular | Two-Spindle / Modular | Two-Spindle / Modular |
| Dimensions (WxHxD) | 358mm x 54mm x 272mm / 14.10" x 2.13" x 10.71" | 358mm x 54mm x 272mm / 14.10" x 2.13" x 10.71" | 357mm x 36mm x 276mm / 14.10" x 1.42" x 10.87" |
| Weight of unit | 4260g / 9.37lbs | 4260g / 9.37lbs | 3510g / 7.72lbs |
| Weight of charger and cable | 1140g / 2.51lbs | 1140g / 2.51lbs | 440g / 0.97lbs |
| Battery Weight | 700g / 24.71oz | 700g / 24.71oz | 470g / 16.59oz |
| Pointing Device(s) | Touchpad +Trackstick | Touchpad +Trackstick | Touchpad +Trackstick |
| Display Size | 15.4" | 15.4" | 15.4" |
| Display Resolution | 1920x1200 | 1920x1200 | 1920x1200 |
| CPU | Pentium4 3.40 GHz HT (Northwood) | Pentium4 3.20 GHz HT (Prescott) | Pentium-M 1.7 GHz |
| Memory Type | PC3200 DDR CL3.0 (infineon) | PC3200 DDR CL3.0 (infineon) | PC2700 DDR SDRAM |
| Amount of Memory | 512 MB | 512 MB | 512 MB |
| Chipset Northbridge | i865P | i865P | Intel 82855PM (MCH) |
| Chipset Southbridge | Intel ICH5 | Intel ICH5 | Intel 82801DBM ICH4-M |
| Graphics Controller | ATi MR9800 256 MB DDR 350MHz/ 300 MHz (core/memory) | ATi MR9800 256 MB DDR 350MHz/ 300 MHz (core/memory) | Nvidia Geforce FX Go5650 128 MB DDR 300MHz /325MHz (core/memory) |
| Hard drive bay | 2.5", 9.5 mm height | 2.5", 9.5 mm height | 2.5", 9.5 mm height |
| Ethernet | Broadcom 570x 10/100/1000 MBit | Broadcom 440x 10/100 MBit | Broadcom 440x 10/100 MBit |
| Bluetooth-Radio | option | Dell Truemobile 1450 (802.11 a/b/g) | Dell Truemobile 1300 |
| Modem | BCM V.92 56K Modem | BCM V.92 56K Modem | PCTEL 2304WT V.92 MDC Modem |
| Audio | Sigma Tel C-Major | Sigma Tel C-Major | Sigma Tel C-Major |
| Battery Capacity | 97Wh | 95Wh | 72Wh |
| DVD-/CD-R/RW-Drive | CD-R/RW SN-324F | DVD+RW GCA-4040N | NEC ND-5100A |
| Harddisc | FUJITSU MHT2060AH ATA-6 60 GB/5400rpm/8 MB | Hitachi Travelstar HTS726060M9AT00 ATA-6 60 GB/7200rpm/8 MB | Fujitsu MHT2060AT PL ATA-6 60 GB/4200rpm/2 MB |
| PC-Card Slot(s) | 1x type II ( L) | 1x type II ( L) | 1x type II ( L) |
| Floppy Drive | No | No | No |
| USB ports | 4x USB 2.0 (B) | 4x USB 2.0 (B) | 2x USB 2.0 (2x B) |
| 1394 ports | 1x (L) | 1x (L) | 1x (L) |
| IR port | Yes (F) | Yes (F) | IrDA 1.1 (L) |
| Serial Ports | No | No | Yes (B) |
| Parallel Ports | No | No | Yes (B) |
| VGA out | Yes (B) | Yes (B) | Yes (B) |
| DVI out | Yes (B) | Yes (B) | No |
| PS/2-Connector | No | No | No |
| Headphone/Microphone/ Line In Connector | Yes(L)/Yes(L) | Yes(L)/Yes(L) | Yes(L)/Yes(L) |
| Video-In/Out | No/Yes (S-Video) | No/Yes (S-Video) | No/Yes ( B, S-Video ) |
| B=Back side, F=Front, L=Left side, R=Right Side | |||
| Blackbox-M11 (Dell XPS Presample) | Yakumo Q8M Power64 XD | |
|---|---|---|
| Type | Two-Spindle / Modular | Two-Spindle / All-In-One |
| Dimensions (WxHxD) | 358mm x 54mm x 272mm / 14.10" x 2.13" x 10.71" | 333mm x 47mm x 285mm / 13.1" x 1.85" x 11.2" |
| Weight of unit | 4400g / 9.68lbs | 3985g / 8.77lbs |
| Weight of charger and cable | 1300g / 2.86lbs | 735g / 1.62lbs |
| Battery Weight | 650g / 22.95oz | 675g / 23.83oz |
| Pointing Device(s) | Touchpad +Trackstick | Touchpad |
| Display Size | 15.4" | 15" |
| Display Resolution | 1920x1200 | 1024x786 |
| CPU | Pentium4 2.40 GHz HT | Athlon 64 Mobile 3000+ |
| Memory Type | PC3200 DDR CL3.0 | PC2100 DDR SDRAM CL2.5 |
| Amount of Memory | 512 MB | 512 MB |
| Chipset Northbridge | Intel 865 | K8T800 |
| Chipset Southbridge | Intel ICH5 | VT8235 |
| Graphics Controller | ATi MR9700 128 MB DDR 445MHz/ 263 MHz (core/memory) | ATi MR9600 64 MB DDR 350MHz /200MHz (core/memory) |
| Hard drive bay | 2.5", 9.5mm height | 2.5", 9.5mm height |
| Ethernet | 10/100 MBit | VIA compatible 10/100 MBit |
| Bluetooth-Radio | option | No |
| Modem | Smart Link 56k | Smart Link 56k |
| Audio | SigmaTel C-Major Audio | C-Media AC97 |
| Battery Capacity | 95Wh | 98Wh |
| DVD-/CD-R/RW-Drive | DVD+RW-Drive | Panasonic UJ815 A 2x/1x8x/ /16x8x24xDVD-R/-RW/ /CD-R/-RW (Multi-DVD)+2x DVD-RAM |
| Harddisc | 80 GB | Seagate Momentus ST94011A ATA-6 40 GB/5400rpm/2 MB |
| PC-Card Slot(s) | 1x type II | 1x type II (R) |
| Floppy Drive | No | No |
| USB ports | 4x USB 2.0 | 4x USB 2.0 (R,B) |
| 1394 ports | 1x | 1x (F) |
| IR port | Yes (F) | Yes (F) |
| Serial Ports | No | No |
| Parallel Ports | No | Yes (B) |
| VGA out | Yes | Yes (B) |
| DVI out | Yes (B) | No |
| PS/2-Connector | No | No |
| Headphone/Microphone/ Line In Connector | Yes/Yes | Yes/Yes/No (F) |
| Video-In/Out | No/Yes (S-Video) | No/Yes (S-Video) |
| B=Back side, F=Front, L=Left side, R=Right Side | ||
- Previous page MR 9800 Model Types
- Next page Test Setup, Continued
