Dell Precision 5520 (E3-1505M, UHD) Workstation Review

Much like XPS machines in recent years, not much has changed in the basic design of the Precision 5520 since its predecessor. We should emphasize that this isn’t a bad thing, however, as the most recent XPS/Precision 5000 series designs have been widely praised—for not only their portability, but also their construction quality. In terms of the former, the Precision 5520 preserves the ultra-thin bezels of the 5510 (referred to by Dell as the InfinityEdge display) to effectively fit a 15.6-inch display into the body of a typical 14-inch machine. By the same token, the weight is quite a bit lower than any of the competing models in today’s comparison field: at 2.078 kg, it’s over 500 grams lighter than even the ThinkPad P50 Workstation.

Stability is also excellent thanks to the angled aluminum case design; pressure on the base unit produces hardly any flex, and even the display lid (also aluminum) resists torsion better than expected. It isn’t the most durable build around, but taking into account the size of the machine, it is impressive (Dell points out that the machine has undergone MIL-SPEC testing). Large, horizontal rubber feet (now familiar to any XPS users) line the bottom of the machine and ensure a firm grip on the surface below.

Fingerprints are still a bit of an issue on the carbon fiber-lined palm rests and keyboard surface, but the visible pattern works well to obscure them. The hinges do a fine job of supporting the display, yielding very little in the way of vibrations in the face of motion or heavy typing. As a result, it isn’t possible to open the machine with one hand, however.

Overall, the Precision 5520 arguably remains the most attractive workstation on the market, and certainly one of the most portable.

Once again, the port selection of the Precision 5520 is essentially identical to that of the 5510. We’re supplied with two USB 3.0 ports alongside a single Thunderbolt 3 port (USB 3.1 Type-C Gen 2), as well as one additional option for video output (HDMI). This is perhaps a bit thin in the workstation realm, but again, this is a thin machine! It should be pointed out that at least the ports are well-spaced to the point where even larger connectors are welcomed alongside adjacent cables and devices.

The SD card reader performance surprised us with extremely fast transfer rates exceeding those of any of the other machines in our comparison field. Its sister model, the Dell XPS 15 9560, provided comparably speedy results.

The card reader only accepts around two-thirds of an SD card; the rest of the card protrudes from the port while in use, so leaving a card inserted permanently is not a sustainable strategy.

The Precision 5520 is offered with optional security features (some for a small premium), such as integrated TPM, vPro management technology, and the typical suite of (free) administrative software, readily available from the Dell Support website.

Dell’s Precision workstations also include the Dell Precision Optimizer software package, which rebalances system resources to optimize configurations for the use of specific applications (such as AutoCAD, video editing software, and so on). Numerous other optional utilities also exist for download from the Dell Support site, including Dell Update (for driver/BIOS updates) and Dell Command Power Manager (which provides more granular control over power profiles and charging conditions).

The warranty included with our Precision review unit was 1-year on-site (after remote diagnosis). Other options exist, such as longer warranty periods and Dell’s well-reviewed ProSupport, which is in-region (North American based in this case). Please see our Guarantees, Return policies and Warranties FAQ for country-specific information.

Naturally, although it isn’t exactly optimized for it, the Precision 5520 can also be used for a bit of gaming (between work sessions, of course). The device managed all of the titles we tested on Ultra settings at 1080p resolution—however, as we should expect, none of the games were playable at 4K resolution. This is not much of a surprise, as the M1200 is but a fraction as powerful as the GTX 1050 in gaming benchmarks, and not even the 1050 can come close to managing reliable 4K gaming.

Under CPU stress, the Precision 5520 quickly reports CPU temperatures reaching above 90 °C, which results in reduced clock rates back to around 3.0 GHz in short order. The frequency will also occasionally dip below this level (to around 2.6 GHz) in an effort to keep temperatures in check—which technically qualifies as throttling. That we witnessed this reduced performance both in our synthetic stress testing and during the more realistic Cinebench R15 multi-CPU loop test (detailed above in the Processor section) suggests that the Precision 5520, as equipped, cannot make full (or even significant) use of its Xeon E3-1505 v6 CPU. For that reason, it might be wiser to go with a lower-priced option, as performance may not be greatly affected.

GPU performance is considerably stabler. Our Witcher 3 stress test (detailed in the GPU Performance section) saw no appreciable drop in frame rates over the course of a full hour, which gives us confidence that the Precision 5520 can more easily handle heavy GPU loads. Temperatures during this test were a bit on the high side, but they remained stable around 74 °C, so there wasn’t any reason for major concern. Moreover, our synthetic tests and actual gaming benchmarks are right in line with what we’d expect from the hardware. So for those planning on heavy GPU loads with less CPU involvement, the Precision 5520 should get the job done.

It should be noted that even with the Dell Command | Power management software thermal profile set to Ultra Performance, these results do not change. The bottom line is that the 5520 is a very thin workstation to be packing these components, so some degree of sacrifice is to be expected. At least that sacrifice only seems to manifest itself in the realm of CPU proficiency, leaving GPU capabilities untouched (which is what many workstation users require most).

While idling, the Precision 5520 is noticeable, but not very much so: we recorded an average of just 32.1 dB(A). As you might expect, things change under load—and the Precision 5520 heats up rather quickly (faster than most other workstations, undoubtedly thanks to its much smaller case). Here, we measured 41.3 dB(A) average and 45.5 dB(A) maximum—not terribly noisy, but right in line with what we see from other mobile workstations.

The Precision 5520 manages to heat up fairly quickly under load, though the most significant temperature development is primarily concentrated in a few specific quadrants. While idle, nothing out of the ordinary applies. Under synthetic stress, however, we measured hot spots in the top center quadrants of both top and bottom of the base unit with readings of 51.6 °C and 43.6 °C, respectively. The former is certainly uncomfortable to the touch—but by the same token, the 43.6 °C hot spot on the underside really isn’t all that bad, especially considering that it’s located in the center of the machine (and so it should not likely contact the user’s legs while in use on the lap). And besides, average temperatures still only reach 35.5 °C / 34.5 °C, which really isn’t anything uncommon.

A slightly more realistic scenario for real-world stress effects is represented by our Witcher 3 temperature measurements; here, the averages subside to 34.6 °C / 33.6 °C, respectively.

While idle, the Precision 5520’s low power consumption is only topped by the Precision 3510—the latter of which only has to power a 1366x768 (rather dim) display. We measured an average of 13.6 W, which is quite good for a workstation sporting a bright UHD display. Under load, things change a bit: we observed 100.3 W consumption on average here, with a peak of 126.3 W—very close to the maximum of the included 130 W power adapter. Still, this is down from the previous Precision 5510, which recorded a maximum reading of 131.8 W.