Hi All,
Seems a bit strange to be posting on a forum where the majority of posts are about best gaming builds when I have no intention of gaming with this laptop!
A bit of a background:
I've currently got a decent spec Dell XPS 15 9560 - i7-7700HQ, 16GB 2400ghz RAM, 512GB SSD.
As I mentioned in the title, I'm after an uber powerful workstation for general work, but specifically G-Sheets and Excel. Most of my company live in the Google universe so, much as I would prefer to use Excel which is a (slightly) better tool and certainly less CPU heavy, I need something that will run some monster G sheets (millions of calculation cells, linked to other sheets, pivot tables etc) that I have designed and maintain for the company. They are used by dozens of others every day for data entry and reporting.
My current laptop is getting a bit slow in handling the data and frequently overheats - unsurprising given its very slim profile.
I originally was going to upgrade the RAM to 32GB and hope that fixed it. However, a bit of Googling suggested that RAM has no impact on spreadsheets, but its more about the CPU and number of cores. When the fans go on overdrive I can see that my CPU is maxing out at 100% but my RAM isn't.
So, being a bit of a Dell fanboy, I checked out the high spec Dell machines. I can get a 2019 Dell refurbed Precision 7540 with an i9-9880H with 16GB and a 512GB SSD for around £1,425 + VAT (with a 5 year Dell warranty). I also built a new 7750 on the Dell website with an i9-10885H processor, 16GB 3200mhz RAM and a 512GB class 50 M.2 SSD. When I built it (couple of weeks ago) Dell were doing a deal on Precisions so it was coming out at around £2.1k + VAT, but its now at around £2.6k + VAT. Ideally I don't want to spend much more than £1.6k-£1.8k as my company are kicking in £1k and I have to make up the rest!
I had a brief flirtation with getting an ultra fast desktop and a Chromebook for when I travel again - I'm going to be WFH full time for the next 6 months and then likely 1 day a week in the office. However, that just seemed like a bit of a faff and I may suffer with the Chromebook. But, in building the uber desktop (Ryzen 9 5900x, 16GB 3200mhz RAM and 512GB Samsung 980 M.2 SSD for around £1.25k + VAT) I did find PCSpecialists so some good came out of the exercise!
I have done 2 builds which I'll share below:
SEE BELOW
I like the Nova chassis as its a little thicker which I guess will help with cooling? I'm really not fussed about looks or weight as I'll not be travelling with it every day. However, having read up on the Ryzen 9 3900 it does have quite a performance lag behind the X chipsets. I also really wanted to check out the intel options too. I've been using CPU.userbenchmark to compare processors, and the i7-10850H which is the most powerful Intel chip in the 15.6" laptops benches 81st. Also, ideally I'd like a Thunderbolt 3 connection so that I can carry on using the array of Dell TB docks that I already have (2 monitor setup plus laptop screen)
So I spec'd up a Defiance aswell:
SEE BELOW
Both the Defiance and Nova choices are similar prices - around £1.2-£1.3k + VAT.
However, I was hankering after an i9, so I thought I'd spec up the Recoil IV 17.3" DTR option. Decided that the i9-10900k wasn't worth the uplift over the i9-10850k for just 100ghz of speed (£95+ VAT more):
SEE BELOW
However, this pushes the budget up quite a lot to £1.85k + VAT.
As I really don't want or need a great graphics card, it seemed a bit of a waste to have the basic card in the Recoil being an RTX 2070, which is obviously contributing to that price.
I guess my questions to you knowledgeable folks are as follows:
1) Given what I'm looking for, which of these builds offers best VFM for me? I need to get at least 3 years of comfortable computing out of the machine before I can talk my way into another upgrade, hopefully a bit longer...
2) None of these builds have a metal case (I don't think?). As I mentioned, before, I have been a Dell fanboy for years an years. A succession of Latitudes (mainly i7s and top spec) were followed by the current XPS 15, so although I'll be using a keyboard/mouse via a dock most of the time, I don't want the laptop to feel cheap on the occasions when I do use it directly.
3) I'm worried about cooling and I have spec'd a cooling mat with each laptop. Having chatted directly with PCS, they said that the thermal mat in the Recoil is already better than the arctic upgrade. Should I worry about throttling based on my use?
Any other advice gratefully received, and sorry for the LOOOOOOOONG first post!
P.S. Hit the character limit so I will post the specs below...
Seems a bit strange to be posting on a forum where the majority of posts are about best gaming builds when I have no intention of gaming with this laptop!
A bit of a background:
I've currently got a decent spec Dell XPS 15 9560 - i7-7700HQ, 16GB 2400ghz RAM, 512GB SSD.
As I mentioned in the title, I'm after an uber powerful workstation for general work, but specifically G-Sheets and Excel. Most of my company live in the Google universe so, much as I would prefer to use Excel which is a (slightly) better tool and certainly less CPU heavy, I need something that will run some monster G sheets (millions of calculation cells, linked to other sheets, pivot tables etc) that I have designed and maintain for the company. They are used by dozens of others every day for data entry and reporting.
My current laptop is getting a bit slow in handling the data and frequently overheats - unsurprising given its very slim profile.
I originally was going to upgrade the RAM to 32GB and hope that fixed it. However, a bit of Googling suggested that RAM has no impact on spreadsheets, but its more about the CPU and number of cores. When the fans go on overdrive I can see that my CPU is maxing out at 100% but my RAM isn't.
So, being a bit of a Dell fanboy, I checked out the high spec Dell machines. I can get a 2019 Dell refurbed Precision 7540 with an i9-9880H with 16GB and a 512GB SSD for around £1,425 + VAT (with a 5 year Dell warranty). I also built a new 7750 on the Dell website with an i9-10885H processor, 16GB 3200mhz RAM and a 512GB class 50 M.2 SSD. When I built it (couple of weeks ago) Dell were doing a deal on Precisions so it was coming out at around £2.1k + VAT, but its now at around £2.6k + VAT. Ideally I don't want to spend much more than £1.6k-£1.8k as my company are kicking in £1k and I have to make up the rest!
I had a brief flirtation with getting an ultra fast desktop and a Chromebook for when I travel again - I'm going to be WFH full time for the next 6 months and then likely 1 day a week in the office. However, that just seemed like a bit of a faff and I may suffer with the Chromebook. But, in building the uber desktop (Ryzen 9 5900x, 16GB 3200mhz RAM and 512GB Samsung 980 M.2 SSD for around £1.25k + VAT) I did find PCSpecialists so some good came out of the exercise!
I have done 2 builds which I'll share below:
SEE BELOW
I like the Nova chassis as its a little thicker which I guess will help with cooling? I'm really not fussed about looks or weight as I'll not be travelling with it every day. However, having read up on the Ryzen 9 3900 it does have quite a performance lag behind the X chipsets. I also really wanted to check out the intel options too. I've been using CPU.userbenchmark to compare processors, and the i7-10850H which is the most powerful Intel chip in the 15.6" laptops benches 81st. Also, ideally I'd like a Thunderbolt 3 connection so that I can carry on using the array of Dell TB docks that I already have (2 monitor setup plus laptop screen)
So I spec'd up a Defiance aswell:
SEE BELOW
Both the Defiance and Nova choices are similar prices - around £1.2-£1.3k + VAT.
However, I was hankering after an i9, so I thought I'd spec up the Recoil IV 17.3" DTR option. Decided that the i9-10900k wasn't worth the uplift over the i9-10850k for just 100ghz of speed (£95+ VAT more):
SEE BELOW
However, this pushes the budget up quite a lot to £1.85k + VAT.
As I really don't want or need a great graphics card, it seemed a bit of a waste to have the basic card in the Recoil being an RTX 2070, which is obviously contributing to that price.
I guess my questions to you knowledgeable folks are as follows:
1) Given what I'm looking for, which of these builds offers best VFM for me? I need to get at least 3 years of comfortable computing out of the machine before I can talk my way into another upgrade, hopefully a bit longer...
2) None of these builds have a metal case (I don't think?). As I mentioned, before, I have been a Dell fanboy for years an years. A succession of Latitudes (mainly i7s and top spec) were followed by the current XPS 15, so although I'll be using a keyboard/mouse via a dock most of the time, I don't want the laptop to feel cheap on the occasions when I do use it directly.
3) I'm worried about cooling and I have spec'd a cooling mat with each laptop. Having chatted directly with PCS, they said that the thermal mat in the Recoil is already better than the arctic upgrade. Should I worry about throttling based on my use?
Any other advice gratefully received, and sorry for the LOOOOOOOONG first post!
P.S. Hit the character limit so I will post the specs below...