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$1300 Dell XPS 15 9500 vs. $2300 XPS 15 9500: Here is everything the higher-end option will get you

$1300 Dell XPS 15 9500 vs. $2300 XPS 15 9500: Here is everything the higher-end option will get you (Image source: Dell)
$1300 Dell XPS 15 9500 vs. $2300 XPS 15 9500: Here is everything the higher-end option will get you (Image source: Dell)
Surprisingly, battery life on the Core i7 GeForce option is almost the same as on the Core i5 iGPU option. The $1000 surcharge brings significantly faster graphics performance at the cost of running both louder and warmer in the process.

Unlike most smaller OEMs with more limited resources, major OEMs are able to offer far-reaching SKUs ranging from $1000 to $3000 USD all based on the same chassis. The latest Dell XPS 15 9500, for example, currently retails for $1300 to $2400 and more with plenty of options in between.

This page summarizes all the major differences between the least expensive XPS 15 9500 Core i5 option and priciest XPS 15 9500 Core i7 option. We recommend checking out our existing review pages on each of the two configurations to learn more about the 2020 XPS 15 series.

Physical Features

There are no major physical differences between the Core i5 and Core i7 options as they share the same keyboard, clickpad, webcam, chassis materials, speakers, ports, wireless, and others. The edge-to-edge glossy touchscreen on the 4K UHD option is the easiest way to tell it apart from the cheaper Core i5 FHD option.

Display

Aside from resolution, the 4K UHD display is ever-so-slightly dimmer with slightly slower response times. Thus, ghosting is more noticeable and it isn't as easy to see when outdoors. To make up for this, the 4K UHD panel covers AdobeRGB almost entirely compared to "only" sRGB on the FHD option.

PWM is not present on either option.

Processor

Jumping from the quad-core Core i5-10300H to the octa-core Core i7-10875H will net roughly 50 percent faster multi-thread performance. Meanwhile, single-thread performance will only be about 10 percent faster.

Storage

The least expensive SKU comes with only 256 GB of storage compared to 1 TB to 2 TB on the pricier options. Fortunately, it's easy to expand storage yourself via the two accessible M.2 2280 slots.

GPU Performance

This is a key reason for the price gap between the Core i5 and Core i7 SKUs. The latter comes with the uncommon GeForce GTX 1650 Ti to be orders of magnitude faster than the integrated UHD Graphics 630. The GPU is able to run the latest titles at both 1080p and reasonable frame rates.

System Noise

The Core i7 SKU runs louder since it uses the same cooling solution as the less powerful Core i5 SKU. It maxes out at around 47 dB(A) compared to 41 dB(A) on the iGPU-only option.

Temperature

Not only does the Core i7 SKU run louder, but it runs warmer as well. Surface temperatures can reach 49 C compared to 42 C on the lesser option.

Battery Life

The less demanding Core i5 build comes with a 56 Wh battery while the more powerful Core i7 build comes with an 86 Wh battery. Runtimes are excellent on both and almost identical to one another since the larger capacity on the latter makes up for the more demanding processors.

It's possible to replace the 56 Wh module with the 86 Wh module and vice versa, though this may void the warranty.

Dell XPS 15 9500 Core i7 4K UHD
Sharp LQ156R1, IPS, 15.60, 3840x2400
Dell XPS 15 9500 Core i5
Sharp LQ156N1, IPS, 15.60, 1920x1200
Display
-10%
Display P3 Coverage
89.7
81.5
-9%
sRGB Coverage
100
100
0%
AdobeRGB 1998 Coverage
99.8
79.6
-20%
Response Times
18%
Response Time Grey 50% / Grey 80% *
54 ?(26.4, 27.6)
42 ?(20, 22)
22%
Response Time Black / White *
33.2 ?(19.2, 14)
28.8 ?(15.2, 13.6)
13%
PWM Frequency
Screen
4%
Brightness middle
557.9
592
6%
Brightness
541
565
4%
Brightness Distribution
91
85
-7%
Black Level *
0.39
0.46
-18%
Contrast
1431
1287
-10%
Colorchecker dE 2000 *
4.54
3.19
30%
Colorchecker dE 2000 max. *
7.92
5.45
31%
Colorchecker dE 2000 calibrated *
3.82
2.03
47%
Greyscale dE 2000 *
3.2
3.9
-22%
Gamma
1.99 111%
2.25 98%
CCT
6451 101%
6522 100%
Color Space (Percent of AdobeRGB 1998)
89.5
71.6
-20%
Color Space (Percent of sRGB)
100
100
0%
Total Average (Program / Settings)
4% / 3%

* ... smaller is better

Cinebench R20: CPU (Multi Core) | CPU (Single Core)
Cinebench R15: CPU Multi 64Bit | CPU Single 64Bit
Blender: v2.79 BMW27 CPU
7-Zip 18.03: 7z b 4 -mmt1 | 7z b 4
Geekbench 5.5: Single-Core | Multi-Core
HWBOT x265 Benchmark v2.2: 4k Preset
LibreOffice : 20 Documents To PDF
R Benchmark 2.5: Overall mean
Cinebench R20 / CPU (Multi Core)
Dell XPS 15 9500 Core i7 4K UHD
Intel Core i7-10875H
3250 Points
Dell XPS 15 9500 Core i5
Intel Core i5-10300H
2107 Points -35%
Cinebench R20 / CPU (Single Core)
Dell XPS 15 9500 Core i7 4K UHD
Intel Core i7-10875H
493 Points
Dell XPS 15 9500 Core i5
Intel Core i5-10300H
446 Points -10%
Cinebench R15 / CPU Multi 64Bit
Dell XPS 15 9500 Core i7 4K UHD
Intel Core i7-10875H
1391 (1148.9min - 1390.72max) Points
Dell XPS 15 9500 Core i5
Intel Core i5-10300H
889 (827.87min - 893.75max) Points -36%
Cinebench R15 / CPU Single 64Bit
Dell XPS 15 9500 Core i7 4K UHD
Intel Core i7-10875H
204 Points
Dell XPS 15 9500 Core i5
Intel Core i5-10300H
186 Points -9%
Blender / v2.79 BMW27 CPU
Dell XPS 15 9500 Core i5
Intel Core i5-10300H
508 Seconds * -44%
Dell XPS 15 9500 Core i7 4K UHD
Intel Core i7-10875H
353 Seconds *
7-Zip 18.03 / 7z b 4 -mmt1
Dell XPS 15 9500 Core i7 4K UHD
Intel Core i7-10875H
5335 MIPS
Dell XPS 15 9500 Core i5
Intel Core i5-10300H
4889 MIPS -8%
7-Zip 18.03 / 7z b 4
Dell XPS 15 9500 Core i7 4K UHD
Intel Core i7-10875H
36383 MIPS
Dell XPS 15 9500 Core i5
Intel Core i5-10300H
24388 MIPS -33%
Geekbench 5.5 / Single-Core
Dell XPS 15 9500 Core i7 4K UHD
Intel Core i7-10875H
1318 Points
Dell XPS 15 9500 Core i5
Intel Core i5-10300H
1183 Points -10%
Geekbench 5.5 / Multi-Core
Dell XPS 15 9500 Core i7 4K UHD
Intel Core i7-10875H
7799 Points
Dell XPS 15 9500 Core i5
Intel Core i5-10300H
4399 Points -44%
HWBOT x265 Benchmark v2.2 / 4k Preset
Dell XPS 15 9500 Core i7 4K UHD
Intel Core i7-10875H
10.2 fps
Dell XPS 15 9500 Core i5
Intel Core i5-10300H
7.28 fps -29%
LibreOffice / 20 Documents To PDF
Dell XPS 15 9500 Core i5
Intel Core i5-10300H
63.6 s * -21%
Dell XPS 15 9500 Core i7 4K UHD
Intel Core i7-10875H
52.6 s *
R Benchmark 2.5 / Overall mean
Dell XPS 15 9500 Core i5
Intel Core i5-10300H
0.646 sec * -11%
Dell XPS 15 9500 Core i7 4K UHD
Intel Core i7-10875H
0.584 sec *

* ... smaller is better

PCMark 10
Score
Dell XPS 15 9500 Core i7 4K UHD
GeForce GTX 1650 Ti Mobile, i7-10875H, SK Hynix PC611 512GB
5125 Points
Dell XPS 15 9500 Core i5
UHD Graphics 630, i5-10300H, Toshiba KBG40ZNS256G NVMe
4329 Points -16%
Essentials
Dell XPS 15 9500 Core i5
UHD Graphics 630, i5-10300H, Toshiba KBG40ZNS256G NVMe
9874 Points +1%
Dell XPS 15 9500 Core i7 4K UHD
GeForce GTX 1650 Ti Mobile, i7-10875H, SK Hynix PC611 512GB
9808 Points
Productivity
Dell XPS 15 9500 Core i7 4K UHD
GeForce GTX 1650 Ti Mobile, i7-10875H, SK Hynix PC611 512GB
7994 Points
Dell XPS 15 9500 Core i5
UHD Graphics 630, i5-10300H, Toshiba KBG40ZNS256G NVMe
6996 Points -12%
Digital Content Creation
Dell XPS 15 9500 Core i7 4K UHD
GeForce GTX 1650 Ti Mobile, i7-10875H, SK Hynix PC611 512GB
4662 Points
Dell XPS 15 9500 Core i5
UHD Graphics 630, i5-10300H, Toshiba KBG40ZNS256G NVMe
3187 Points -32%
PCMark 8
Home Score Accelerated v2
Dell XPS 15 9500 Core i5
UHD Graphics 630, i5-10300H, Toshiba KBG40ZNS256G NVMe
3842 Points +3%
Dell XPS 15 9500 Core i7 4K UHD
GeForce GTX 1650 Ti Mobile, i7-10875H, SK Hynix PC611 512GB
3731 Points
Work Score Accelerated v2
Dell XPS 15 9500 Core i5
UHD Graphics 630, i5-10300H, Toshiba KBG40ZNS256G NVMe
5271 Points +16%
Dell XPS 15 9500 Core i7 4K UHD
GeForce GTX 1650 Ti Mobile, i7-10875H, SK Hynix PC611 512GB
4540 Points
3DMark
1920x1080 Fire Strike Graphics
Dell XPS 15 9500 Core i7 4K UHD
NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1650 Ti Mobile, i7-10875H
9930 Points
Dell XPS 15 9500 Core i5
Intel UHD Graphics 630, i5-10300H
1189 Points -88%
2560x1440 Time Spy Graphics
Dell XPS 15 9500 Core i7 4K UHD
NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1650 Ti Mobile, i7-10875H
3601 Points
Dell XPS 15 9500 Core i5
Intel UHD Graphics 630, i5-10300H
382 Points -89%
2560x1440 Time Spy Score
Dell XPS 15 9500 Core i7 4K UHD
NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1650 Ti Mobile, i7-10875H
3774 Points
Dell XPS 15 9500 Core i5
Intel UHD Graphics 630, i5-10300H
441 Points -88%
3DMark 11
1280x720 Performance GPU
Dell XPS 15 9500 Core i7 4K UHD
NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1650 Ti Mobile, i7-10875H
12865 Points
Dell XPS 15 9500 Core i5
Intel UHD Graphics 630, i5-10300H
1744 Points -86%
1280x720 Performance Combined
Dell XPS 15 9500 Core i7 4K UHD
NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1650 Ti Mobile, i7-10875H
13027 Points
Dell XPS 15 9500 Core i5
Intel UHD Graphics 630, i5-10300H
1783 Points -86%
Dell XPS 15 9500 Core i7 4K UHD
GeForce GTX 1650 Ti Mobile, i7-10875H, SK Hynix PC611 512GB
Dell XPS 15 9500 Core i5
UHD Graphics 630, i5-10300H, Toshiba KBG40ZNS256G NVMe
Noise
9%
off / environment *
28.4
28
1%
Idle Minimum *
28.4
28
1%
Idle Average *
28.4
28
1%
Idle Maximum *
28.4
28
1%
Load Average *
46
28
39%
Witcher 3 ultra *
42
Load Maximum *
47.1
41.9
11%

* ... smaller is better

Dell XPS 15 9500 Core i7 4K UHD
i7-10875H, GeForce GTX 1650 Ti Mobile, SK Hynix PC611 512GB, IPS, 3840x2400, 15.60
Dell XPS 15 9500 Core i5
i5-10300H, UHD Graphics 630, Toshiba KBG40ZNS256G NVMe, IPS, 1920x1200, 15.60
Power Consumption
49%
Idle Minimum *
5.7
2.9
49%
Idle Average *
13.5
7.6
44%
Idle Maximum *
19.6
8
59%
Load Average *
114.1
41.7
63%
Witcher 3 ultra *
93
Load Maximum *
135.2
94.8
30%

* ... smaller is better

Dell XPS 15 9500 Core i7 4K UHD
i7-10875H, GeForce GTX 1650 Ti Mobile, 86 Wh
Dell XPS 15 9500 Core i5
i5-10300H, UHD Graphics 630, 56 Wh
Battery Runtime
-2%
Reader / Idle
1382
1581
14%
WiFi v1.3
546
556
2%
Load
121
93
-23%
XPS 15 9500 Core i5
XPS 15 9500 Core i5
XPS 15 9500 Core i7
XPS 15 9500 Core i7
XPS 15 9500 Core i5. Empty GPU and VRAM slots on motherboard
XPS 15 9500 Core i5. Empty GPU and VRAM slots on motherboard
XPS 15 9500 Core i7
XPS 15 9500 Core i7
XPS 15 9500 Core i5. Matte display
XPS 15 9500 Core i5. Matte display
XPS 15 9500 Core i7. Glossy touchscreen
XPS 15 9500 Core i7. Glossy touchscreen
XPS 15 9500 Core i5
XPS 15 9500 Core i5
XPS 15 9500 Core i5. Glare from glossy screen
XPS 15 9500 Core i5. Glare from glossy screen
XPS 15 9500 Core i5 on high load
XPS 15 9500 Core i5 on high load
XPS 15 9500 Core i7 on high load
XPS 15 9500 Core i7 on high load
XPS 15 9500 Core i5 on high load
XPS 15 9500 Core i5 on high load
XPS 15 9500 Core i7 on high load
XPS 15 9500 Core i7 on high load
XPS 15 9500 Core i5 Prime95 stress
XPS 15 9500 Core i5 Prime95 stress
XPS 15 9500 Core i7 Prime95 stress
XPS 15 9500 Core i7 Prime95 stress
XPS 15 9500 Core i5 CPU+GPU stress
XPS 15 9500 Core i5 CPU+GPU stress
XPS 15 9500 Core i7 CPU+GPU stress
XPS 15 9500 Core i7 CPU+GPU stress
XPS 15 9500 FHD vs. AdobeRGB
XPS 15 9500 FHD vs. AdobeRGB
XPS 15 9500 4k vs. AdobeRGB
XPS 15 9500 4k vs. AdobeRGB
Matte XPS 15 FHD subpixel array
Matte XPS 15 FHD subpixel array
Glossy XPS 15 4K subpixel array
Glossy XPS 15 4K subpixel array
XPS 15 9500 FHD black-white response times
XPS 15 9500 FHD black-white response times
XPS 15 9500 4K black-white response times
XPS 15 9500 4K black-white response times

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> Expert Reviews and News on Laptops, Smartphones and Tech Innovations > News > News Archive > Newsarchive 2020 06 > $1300 Dell XPS 15 9500 vs. $2300 XPS 15 9500: Here is everything the higher-end option will get you
Allen Ngo, 2020-06-11 (Update: 2020-06- 9)