Face Off: 15-inch Budget Pascal Gaming

All three notebooks are very similar in size. Since these are budget gaming notebooks, plastic dominates whereas costlier models from Razer or Aorus utilize magnesium alloy. The Dell and Lenovo systems utilize rubber and aluminum surfaces sparingly around the base and lid, respectively, for superficial appeal. Even though the systems may look nice from a distance, there's no denying that the chassis of these budget notebooks don't feel as firm when compared to the flagship models from the MSI GT series or the Asus ROG G7xx series. The lids in particular are especially susceptible to flexing and could use improvement in future redesigns.

If choosing amongst the three, the Inspiron 7567 has the more rigid base due to its thicker chassis and inner plastic skeleton for reinforcement. The drawbacks are its heavier weight and slightly larger dimensions as shown by our comparison below.

We find the typing experience more comfortable on the Sabre than on the Y520 or 7567. Its individual keys are more evenly sized and uniform in feedback for better consistency between keys. In comparison, the keys on the Lenovo clatter a bit louder and its NumPad keys are awkwardly cramped in order to make room for the enlarged Arrow keys. The Dell system has half-sized Arrow keys, a strangely spongier Space key, and what feels like shallower travel. Backlight comes standard on all models with the Sabre in particular offering three-zone RGB lighting.

The slightly roughened plastic trackpads work without issues on the three systems. The mouse keys, however, are very different depending on the model. The integrated mouse keys on the Dell are softer in feedback and uneven in travel depending on where the user clicks. Meanwhile, the dedicated keys on the Lenovo are a little more reliable, but feedback is once again uneven due to the center-mounted design. The independent mouse keys on the Gigabyte feel instantly familiar and more comfortable as a result.

Both the Gigabyte and Lenovo systems utilize the same 1080p IPS panel from LG Philips and thus share very similar color profiles and contrast levels between them. Colors and backlight intensity are otherwise merely average and not significantly different between the three models. The TN panel on the Dell in particular is the poorer display of the three not only because of its obvious viewing angle disadvantages, but also from its very poor contrast. Darkened scenes in games or movies will appear noticeably muddier and grayer.

Dell has clearly sourced a cheap TN panel for its 7567 series. Fortunately, an IPS option is available that performs better than the two TN configurations we've tested. We highly recommend avoiding the TN SKUs in favor of the IPS panel.

CPU Performance

The Sabre 15 and higher-end Dell SKU have nearly identical CPU performances according to CineBench and 3DMark Physics benchmarks. The Lenovo, however, lags behind both other systems even though it is equipped with the same 2.8 GHz i7-7700HQ CPU. As detailed in our Y520 review, the notebook appears to have issues maintaining stable Turbo Boost clock rates when under stressful multi-threaded loads and the slightly lower scores reflect this.

The slower 2.5 GHz i5-7300HQ in the lower-end Dell SKU is even further behind its peers especially in multi-threaded workloads where it is at an obvious thread count disadvantage. The Sabre 15 and higher-end i7-7700HQ Dell SKU are each about 40 percent faster than the i5-7300HQ in the lower-end Dell configuration.

See our dedicated pages on the Core i7-7700HQ and i5-7300HQ for more benchmarks and comparisons.