The Dell XPS 15 isn’t exactly advertised as a gaming laptop, however as it’s available
with GTX 1650 graphics it should still be possible to play some games on it, so let’s
find out just how well it performs in 20 different games and also compare it with some other
laptops to see how it stacks up.
I’ve got one of the highest specced versions of the new Dell XPS 15 7590 laptop, there’s
an Intel i7-9750H CPU, Nvidia GTX 1650 graphics, and 32GB of memory running in dual channel
with a 4K OLED screen, however I’ve tested all games at 1080p as this hardware won’t
be capable of 4K gaming.
The XPS 15 is available in quite a few different configurations, including i5 or even i9 CPU,
you can find examples and updated prices linked in the description.
The Dell software doesn’t offer much in the way of performance modifications, I’ve
done all testing with the power manager set to ultra performance for best results.
We’ll only be covering gaming performance in this video, so if you’re new to the channel,
you'll definitely want to get subscribed for the upcoming thermal testing and full review.
Let’s start out by going through all 20 games at all setting levels, then afterwards
we’ll see how the XPS 15 compares with some other laptops.
Battlefield 5 was tested in campaign mode, and it was still possible to run with above
a 60 FPS average with medium settings, however in my testing I still thought high and ultra
were quite playable, probably as there was minimal difference between 1% low performance.
Control was very playable with low settings, which is the setting preset that was required
to play with 60 FPS averages. Medium settings felt a bit worse, and I wouldn’t want to
use ultra on this hardware. To be fair though, in my personal opinion I think the game still
looks good even at low anyway.
Borderlands 3 was tested using the game’s built in benchmark tool, and this was another
test where the low setting preset was needed in order to score 60 FPS or higher, I think
we’re starting to see a trend.
Apex Legends was tested with either all settings at maximum, or all settings on the lowest
possible values, as it doesn’t have predefined setting presets. In this game even with all
settings maxed out it was still a playable experience, however given the competitive
nature of the game lower settings for higher 1% low performance would be preferable.
Shadow of the Tomb Raider was tested with the built in benchmark, and was another test
where low settings was required to hit the 60 FPS sweet spot, and this is one of the
games we’ll use to compare with other laptops soon.
Ghost Recon Breakpoint was also tested with the benchmark tool, yet again the low setting
preset was needed for 60 FPS in this test.
Wolfenstein Youngblood was tested using Vulkan, and so far I’ve found this game to run quite
well on basically anything. Max settings wasn’t actually that bad, however the second highest
preset was much better and able to average a solid 60 FPS.
Far Cry New Dawn was tested with the built in benchmark, once more the low setting preset
was needed for 60 FPS. Although this is typically a CPU heavier test, the lower 1650 GPU is
giving lower results as that’s the main limitation here.
Fortnite was tested with the replay feature, and as a less demanding game even epic settings
was playing with 60 FPS, so definitely usable and honestly just fine given we’ve got a
60Hz screen anyway, however much higher was possible with lower settings should you wish
to further reduce input lag.
Overwatch is another well optimized game and was tested in the practice range, again even
with the highest epic setting preset it was possible to average above 60 FPS, actually
this was just hit for the 1% low result, but again much higher is available with lower
settings.
CS:GO was tested using the Ulletical FPS benchmark, and as a game that depends primarily on CPU
power the results aren’t all that much lower compared to a laptop with higher graphical
power. Don’t get me wrong, there is a difference, it’s just smaller compared to most other
games.
Dota 2 was tested playing in the middle lane, and as another primarily CPU heavy game the
results at lower settings aren’t really that much different compared to other laptops
with the same CPU. At ultra settings where we’re presumably a bit more GPU bound, it
was a little lower now, however 150 FPS is still plenty for this game.
Rainbow Six Siege was tested with the built in benchmark. Even the maximum ultra setting
preset was able to hit 60 FPS for the 1% low, and that’s with a 100% render scale, so
another game that should play quite nicely on this machine.
The Division 2 was also tested with the built in benchmark, and a 60 FPS average was only
just achievable with the medium setting preset, however we could get much higher with the
low preset, where even the 1% low was now around the 60 mark.
PUBG was tested using the replay feature, and high settings was still able to run over
60 FPS, a pretty good result for a game that’s been labelled as poorly optimized, however
I really think that’s been turned around over the last year or so. Either way with
very low settings it was still possible to reach 100 FPS and above.
Assassin’s Creed Odyssey was tested with the built in benchmark, and although this
is generally more of a CPU heavy test, the lower GPU is letting us down a bit and stopping
a 60 FPS average even with the low setting preset.
Watch Dogs 2 is a resource heavy game, but I think it still plays fine with a stable
30 FPS, so it was working fine for me with very high settings, however ultra was noticeably
worse in comparison so I wouldn’t use it, though if you do want higher 60 FPS was hit
at medium.
The Witcher 3 was playing ok with high settings while still looking good. Medium settings
was closer to 60 FPS, but not by much, while ultra settings was noticeably a bit more stuttery
in comparison.
F1 2019 was tested using the game’s benchmark tool, and the highest setting preset was still
able to average 60 FPS here, however stepping down even one level almost doubled this.
Strange Brigade was tested with Vulkan using the game’s benchmark tool. This one doesn’t
need powerful hardware to run, which is why almost 60 FPS averages were possible with
the ultra setting preset.
Now we’ll take a look at how this config of the Dell XPS 15 compares with other laptops,
use these results as a rough guide only as they were tested at different times with different
drivers.
In Battlefield 5 I’ve got the XPS 15 highlighted in red near similarly specced machines. I
haven’t tested that many GTX 1650 laptops yet, but out of the ones I have covered, surprisingly
the XPS 15 was out in front, at least in terms of average FPS. I thought it was interesting
that the 1% low was below that of the L340, considering that machine has single channel
memory, however 1% low results are usually all over the place in this title.
These are the results from Far Cry 5 with ultra settings in the built in benchmark.
This time the XPS 15 was behind the Aorus 5 with same specs, which I think makes sense
as this is more of a CPU heavy test. I’ve only just started doing the thermal testing,
make sure you’re subscribed for that video, but CPU performance in this machine is lower
than I expected as Dell seem to prioritize cool and quiet over performance.
These are the results from Shadow of the Tomb raider with the built in benchmark at highest
settings. It’s only just 1 FPS behind the Aorus 5 with similar specs now, and 1 FPS
ahead of the L340, so quite similar when compared to the other 1650 laptops that I’ve covered
on the channel.
Despite not being a gaming laptop, the GTX 1650 graphics is definitely making the XPS
15 capable of gaming. Although most modern games at higher settings didn’t go too well,
low to medium settings was definitely playable in most games.
It is also possible to get the XPS 15 without the GTX 1650 graphics, in which case only
the Intel graphics will be available. This will perform significantly worse compared
to what I’ve shown here, so if you’re doing graphically intensive tasks, such as
gaming for instance, you’ll definitely want to consider the GTX 1650 option.
Let me know what you thought of the gaming performance from the Dell XPS 15 laptop down
in the comments, I’ll test out thermals in depth in an upcoming video and the full
review is still to come, so if you’re new to the channel consider getting subscribed
for those as well as future tech videos like this one.