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Dell Precision 5530 2-in-1 (i7-8706G, Radeon WX Vega M GL, 4K UHD) Workstation Review

Kaby Lake-G workstation. As if Kaby Lake-G wasn't niche enough already, Dell has gone the extra mile by offering a workstation convertible equipped with the rare Intel-AMD CPU. The end result is one of the most powerful 15-inch convertible workstations available even if it sacrifices some common connectivity features along the way.

Much like how the Precision 5530 is a workstation variant of the consumer XPS 15 9560/9570, the Precision 5530 2-in-1 is a workstation variant of the XPS 15 9575. The XPS 15 9575 was marketed as "the world's fastest convertible laptop" and it carried a few unique characteristics not found on nearly any other notebook including its MagLev keys, GORE insulation, and Kaby Lake-G processor. All of these traits are returning on the Precision 5530 2-in-1 to create a one-of-a-kind workstation that Dell is marketing as "the world's smallest convertible mobile workstation".

The major difference between the Precision 5530 2-in-1 and the XPS 15 9575 lies at the heart. The Precision utilizes a Core i7-8706G CPU and a Radeon Pro WX Vega M GL GPU which are not found on current SKUs of the XPS 15. In fact, the Precision 2-in-1 is one of the only laptops shipping with such a processor at the time of writing.

Despite what the name may suggest, the Precision 5530 2-in-1 is not just a standard Precision 5530 with tacked-on 360-degree hinges. Components are very different both inside and out as our full Precision 5530 review details.

Current configurations come with the choice between a Core i5-8305G or i7-8706G, 8 GB or 16 GB of DDR4 RAM, and a 1080p or 4K UHD touchscreen with a starting price of $1700 up to $2500 USD. The Radeon Pro WX GPU remains fixed at all levels.

The chassis of the Precision 5530 2-in-1 is otherwise identical to the XPS 15 9575 down to the keyboard keys and even display panel. As such, we recommend checking out our original reviews on the XPS 15 9575 for more information on the chassis, keyboard, speakers, and other features. Our review on the Precision 5530 2-in-1 will instead focus on its performance and how the uncommon Core i7-8706G and WX Vega compares to the competition.

Related reviews:

Dell Precision 5530 2-in-1 (Precision Series)
Processor
Intel Core i7-8706G 4 x 3.1 - 4.1 GHz (Intel Core i7)
Graphics adapter
AMD Radeon Pro WX Vega M GL - 4 GB VRAM, Core: 1011 MHz, Memory: 700 MHz, HBM2, 17.10.26-180627a-330846C
Memory
16 GB 
, 1300 MHz, 17-17-17-39, Dual-Channel
Display
15.60 inch 16:9, 3840 x 2160 pixel 282 PPI, 10-point capacitive, Sharp SHP148D, IPS, Name: LQ156D1, Dell P/N: FNVDR, glossy: yes
Mainboard
Intel QM175 (Skylake PCH-H)
Storage
SK Hynix PC401 512GB M.2 (HFS512GD9TNG), 512 GB 
Soundcard
Intel Skylake PCH-H High Definition Audio Controller
Connections
4 USB 3.0 / 3.1 Gen1, 2 Thunderbolt, 1 Kensington Lock, Audio Connections: 3.5 mm combo, Card Reader: MicroSD, 1 Fingerprint Reader
Networking
Intel Dual Band Wireless-AC 8265 (a/b/g/n = Wi-Fi 4/ac = Wi-Fi 5/), Bluetooth 4.2
Size
height x width x depth (in mm): 16 x 354 x 235 ( = 0.63 x 13.94 x 9.25 in)
Battery
75 Wh, 6 mAh Lithium-Polymer
Operating System
Microsoft Windows 10 Pro 64 Bit
Camera
Webcam: 720p
Additional features
Speakers: Stereo 1 W x 2, Keyboard: MagLev chiclet, Keyboard Light: yes, Active pen PN579X, Radeon Pro and AMD FirePro Settings, 12 Months Warranty
Weight
2 kg ( = 70.55 oz / 4.41 pounds), Power Supply: 422 g ( = 14.89 oz / 0.93 pounds)
Price
2000 USD
Note: The manufacturer may use components from different suppliers including display panels, drives or memory sticks with similar specifications.

 

Case

The Precision convertible is part of a growing lineup of thin-and-light workstations that challenge what a traditional workstation should be. Key competitors in this field are the super-thin 15.6-inch MSI WS63VR and Lenovo ThinkPad P1 which all sacrifice common connectivity features often associated with workstations for a sleeker and more attractive profile. Impressively, Dell manages to beat both of the aforementioned alternatives by not just being smaller and thinner, but also with more versatile 360-degree hinges. The OEM has definitely carved itself a unique design edge in a relatively small playing field.

380 mm / 15 inch 249 mm / 9.8 inch 17.7 mm / 0.697 inch 1.9 kg4.19 lbs371 mm / 14.6 inch 251 mm / 9.88 inch 19 mm / 0.748 inch 1.9 kg4.22 lbs361.8 mm / 14.2 inch 245.7 mm / 9.67 inch 18.7 mm / 0.736 inch 1.8 kg4.06 lbs356 mm / 14 inch 250 mm / 9.84 inch 18 mm / 0.709 inch 2.1 kg4.58 lbs357 mm / 14.1 inch 235.3 mm / 9.26 inch 16.82 mm / 0.662 inch 2 kg4.37 lbs354 mm / 13.9 inch 235 mm / 9.25 inch 16 mm / 0.63 inch 2 kg4.41 lbs297 mm / 11.7 inch 210 mm / 8.27 inch 1 mm / 0.03937 inch 5.7 g0.01257 lbs

Connectivity

Users have just four USB Type-C ports and no other options. The two ports on the left are also Thunderbolt 3 ports for compatibility with a wide range of external devices. It's possible to charge the system via a compatible external monitor such as the Dell S2718D, but charging will be much slower than the dedicated 130 W AC adapter.

Left: 2x USB Type-C w/ Thunderbolt 3, MicroSD reader, Battery check
Left: 2x USB Type-C w/ Thunderbolt 3, MicroSD reader, Battery check
Right: 2x USB 3.1 Type-C, 3.5 mm combo audio, Noble Lock
Right: 2x USB 3.1 Type-C, 3.5 mm combo audio, Noble Lock

SD Card Reader

Unlike the XPS 15 9570 or Precision 5530, the Precision 5530 2-in-1 drops the full-size SD reader for a MicroSD reader. Performance is thankfully nearly as fast with sequential read rates above 200 MB/s. Transfer rates, however, are about 20 to 30 percent slower than the full-size SD readers of the Precision 5530 or ThinkPad X1 Extreme.

SD Card Reader
average JPG Copy Test (av. of 3 runs)
Gigabyte Aero 15X v8
  (Toshiba Exceria Pro SDXC 64 GB UHS-II)
191 MB/s +49%
Lenovo ThinkPad X1 Extreme-20MF000XGE
  (Toshiba Exceria Pro SDXC 64 GB UHS-II)
189 MB/s +47%
Dell Precision 5530 Xeon E-2176M
  (Toshiba Exceria Pro SDXC 64 GB UHS-II)
166.2 MB/s +29%
Dell Precision 5530 2-in-1
  (Toshiba Exceria Pro M501 UHS-II)
128.6 MB/s
maximum AS SSD Seq Read Test (1GB)
Gigabyte Aero 15X v8
  (Toshiba Exceria Pro SDXC 64 GB UHS-II)
242 MB/s +17%
Lenovo ThinkPad X1 Extreme-20MF000XGE
  (Toshiba Exceria Pro SDXC 64 GB UHS-II)
241.7 MB/s +17%
Dell Precision 5530 2-in-1
  (Toshiba Exceria Pro M501 UHS-II)
206.5 MB/s
Dell Precision 5530 Xeon E-2176M
  (Toshiba Exceria Pro SDXC 64 GB UHS-II)
190.7 MB/s -8%

Communication

The Precision 5530 2-in-1 swaps out the gamer-centric Killer 1435 in the XPS 15 9575 for an Intel 8265 module. General performance and reliability are otherwise no different for browsing or streaming. Unlike the ThinkPad X1 Extreme, Dell is offering no configurations with the Intel 9560 which is capable of up to two times the theoretical transfer rate of our Intel 8265 (1.73 Gbps vs. 867 Mbps).

No WAN or 4G LTE options exist which would have paired well with the portability of the convertible.

Networking
iperf3 transmit AX12
Dell Precision 5530 Xeon E-2176M
Intel Wireless-AC 9260
648 MBit/s +27%
Lenovo ThinkPad X1 Extreme-20MF000XGE
Intel Wireless-AC 9560
628 (593min - 651max) MBit/s +23%
HP ZBook 15u G5 2ZC05EA
Intel Dual Band Wireless-AC 8265
528 MBit/s +4%
Dell Precision 5530 2-in-1
Intel Dual Band Wireless-AC 8265
510 MBit/s
Gigabyte Aero 15X v8
Intel Dual Band Wireless-AC 8265
379 MBit/s -26%
iperf3 receive AX12
Gigabyte Aero 15X v8
Intel Dual Band Wireless-AC 8265
682 MBit/s +12%
Dell Precision 5530 Xeon E-2176M
Intel Wireless-AC 9260
663 MBit/s +9%
HP ZBook 15u G5 2ZC05EA
Intel Dual Band Wireless-AC 8265
639 MBit/s +5%
Lenovo ThinkPad X1 Extreme-20MF000XGE
Intel Wireless-AC 9560
627 (319min - 666max) MBit/s +3%
Dell Precision 5530 2-in-1
Intel Dual Band Wireless-AC 8265
609 MBit/s

Accessories

Included extras are a USB Type-C to USB 3.0 Type-A adapter, USB Type-C to RJ-45 adapter, and a PN579X active stylus.

Maintenance

Serviceability requires only a Philips screwdriver and a sharp edge. Unlike on most other workstations, however, many components are not end-user upgradeable including the RAM. "Proper" Dell workstations like the Precision 7720 are more user-friendly in terms of serviceability.

Easy to access with not much to upgrade
Easy to access with not much to upgrade

Warranty

The standard one-year limited warranty applies with options to extend up to five years. We're disappointed to not see a baseline two-year warranty since this is a workstation after all. Please see our Guarantees, Return policies and Warranties FAQ for country-specific information.

Input Devices

Keyboard and Touchpad

See our original review on the XPS 15 9575 for more information on the keyboard and trackpad. As for the Dell Premium Active WACOM Pen, it is unfortunately not a hassle-free experience. The two side buttons are too soft with narrow travel and poor feedback when compared to the Surface Pro alternative. Replacing the writing tip can be tricky because there are threads inside that can very easily fall out or become unaligned. While there are no issues when writing with the pen, we find that its buttons are just too finicky to rely on.

The side buttons are spongy and feedback and can take some getting used
The side buttons are spongy and feedback and can take some getting used
Top cap button pulls off for inserting the AAAA battery
Top cap button pulls off for inserting the AAAA battery

Display

The Precision 5530 2-in-1 utilizes the same 4K UHD Sharp SHP148D/LQ156D1 IGZO panel as on the Precision 5530 and XPS 15 9575. As a result, all three systems share similar response time characteristics and color profiles. The crisp panel here is easily the highlight of the system. Even the 4K BOE panel on the X1 Extreme is quite similar albeit less color accurate out of the box. 

One notable difference is that screen brightness appears to be dimmer this time around but not by a significant margin. Pulse-width modulation still occurs at the exact same settings as what we measured on the XPS 15 9575.

Interestingly, Dell is not marketing the Precision 5530 2-in-1 as being "HDR Ready" whereas the aforementioned ThinkPad X1 Extreme is advertised with HDR capabilities. According to our measurements, the Dell display is comparable to the Lenovo display in brightness, contrast, and color coverage - if not better. We suspect it could be a licensing hurdle involving Dell or Sharp.

Users who prefer native FHD instead of 4K UHD can opt for the 1080p IGZO configuration instead. While we've yet to personally test such a SKU, the 1080p panel will likely be identical to the 1080p XPS 15 9575.

Backlight bleeding is minimal and largely unnoticeable even during movie playback with black borders.

Minimal uneven backlight bleeding
Minimal uneven backlight bleeding
Subpixel array (282 ppi)
Subpixel array (282 ppi)
Dell PremierColor settings used for our measurements
Dell PremierColor settings used for our measurements
Dell PremierColor version
Dell PremierColor version
354.5
cd/m²
411.2
cd/m²
395.1
cd/m²
365.2
cd/m²
430.9
cd/m²
443.3
cd/m²
349.5
cd/m²
396.3
cd/m²
434.7
cd/m²
Distribution of brightness
Sharp SHP148D tested with X-Rite i1Pro 2
Maximum: 443.3 cd/m² (Nits) Average: 397.9 cd/m² Minimum: 20.98 cd/m²
Brightness Distribution: 79 %
Center on Battery: 430.9 cd/m²
Contrast: 1231:1 (Black: 0.35 cd/m²)
ΔE Color 3.29 | 0.5-29.43 Ø5, calibrated: 3.58
ΔE Greyscale 2.6 | 0.57-98 Ø5.3
100% sRGB (Argyll 1.6.3 3D)
87.2% AdobeRGB 1998 (Argyll 1.6.3 3D)
99.4% AdobeRGB 1998 (Argyll 2.2.0 3D)
99.9% sRGB (Argyll 2.2.0 3D)
91.2% Display P3 (Argyll 2.2.0 3D)
Gamma: 2.19
Dell Precision 5530 2-in-1
Sharp SHP148D, IPS, 15.60, 3840x2160
MSI GS65 Stealth Thin 8RE-051US
AUO80ED, IPS, 15.60, 1920x1080
Lenovo ThinkPad X1 Extreme-20MF000XGE
B156ZAN03.2, IPS, 15.60, 3840x2160
Dell Precision 5530 Xeon E-2176M
Sharp SHP148D / LQ156D1, IGZO, 15.60, 3840x2160
Gigabyte Aero 15X v8
LGD05C0, IPS, 15.60, 1920x1080
HP ZBook 15u G5 2ZC05EA
CMN15E7, IPS LED, 15.60, 1920x1080
Dell XPS 15 9575 i7-8705G
Sharp SHP148D, IPS, 15.60, 3840x2160
Display
-23%
-2%
-14%
-24%
-48%
-12%
Display P3 Coverage
91.2
65.8
-28%
86.3
-5%
76.5
-16%
63.6
-30%
43.05
-53%
78.7
-14%
sRGB Coverage
99.9
92.1
-8%
100
0%
98.4
-2%
93.8
-6%
64.7
-35%
97.9
-2%
AdobeRGB 1998 Coverage
99.4
67
-33%
99.4
0%
76.4
-23%
64.9
-35%
44.5
-55%
79.2
-20%
Response Times
64%
-5%
5%
68%
847%
3%
Response Time Grey 50% / Grey 80% *
49.6 ?(25.2, 24.4)
20 ?(10, 10)
60%
61.6 ?(30.8, 30.8)
-24%
48 ?(24.4, 23.6)
3%
16.8 ?(8.4, 8.4)
66%
41.6 ?(22, 19.6)
16%
48.4 ?(23.2, 25.2)
2%
Response Time Black / White *
37.6 ?(20.4, 17.2)
12 ?(6.8, 5.2)
68%
32 ?(15.6, 16.4)
15%
33.6 ?(19.6, 14)
11%
11.2 ?(6, 5.2)
70%
28.8 ?(15.6, 13.2)
23%
34.8 ?(19.2, 15.6)
7%
PWM Frequency
990 ?(25)
1000
1%
25770 ?(40)
2503%
1000 ?(25)
1%
Screen
-11%
-4%
-5%
10%
-29%
1%
Brightness middle
430.9
250.9
-42%
396
-8%
451.7
5%
313
-27%
229
-47%
488
13%
Brightness
398
257
-35%
380
-5%
440
11%
300
-25%
212
-47%
440
11%
Brightness Distribution
79
83
5%
90
14%
90
14%
78
-1%
88
11%
81
3%
Black Level *
0.35
0.32
9%
0.28
20%
0.4
-14%
0.33
6%
0.23
34%
0.3
14%
Contrast
1231
784
-36%
1414
15%
1129
-8%
948
-23%
996
-19%
1627
32%
Colorchecker dE 2000 *
3.29
2.77
16%
4
-22%
3.11
5%
1.29
61%
4.2
-28%
3.16
4%
Colorchecker dE 2000 max. *
7.46
5.89
21%
7.6
-2%
8.62
-16%
2.04
73%
18
-141%
8.8
-18%
Colorchecker dE 2000 calibrated *
3.58
2.5
30%
0.9
75%
3.07
14%
4.2
-17%
Greyscale dE 2000 *
2.6
4
-54%
6.1
-135%
3.7
-42%
0.69
73%
2
23%
3.3
-27%
Gamma
2.19 100%
2.27 97%
2.25 98%
2.11 104%
2.43 91%
2.23 99%
2.178 101%
CCT
6870 95%
6901 94%
7786 83%
6492 100%
6550 99%
6292 103%
6811 95%
Color Space (Percent of AdobeRGB 1998)
87.2
60
-31%
88.5
1%
69
-21%
60
-31%
41
-53%
71.7
-18%
Color Space (Percent of sRGB)
100
92
-8%
100
0%
98
-2%
94
-6%
64.5
-35%
97.9
-2%
Total Average (Program / Settings)
10% / -4%
-4% / -4%
-5% / -5%
18% / 11%
257% / 122%
-3% / -1%

* ... smaller is better

Color space covers AdobeRGB almost in its entirety. Strangely, color space is a bit wider than what we measured on both the Precision 5530 and XPS 15 9575 likely due to differences in PremierColor settings. Nonetheless, graphic designers and CAD users will appreciate the wide gamut.

vs. sRGB
vs. sRGB
vs. AdobeRGB
vs. AdobeRGB

Further analyses with a spectrophotometer reveal accurate grayscale and colors when compared to the AdobeRGB standard. Our calibration attempt improves both grayscale and RGB balance just slightly to suggest that Dell's AdobeRGB preset may not be absolutely perfect.

Grayscale before calibration
Grayscale before calibration
Saturation Sweeps before calibration
Saturation Sweeps before calibration
ColorChecker before calibration
ColorChecker before calibration
Grayscale after calibration
Grayscale after calibration
Saturation Sweeps after calibration
Saturation Sweeps after calibration
ColorChecker after calibration
ColorChecker after calibration

Display Response Times

Display response times show how fast the screen is able to change from one color to the next. Slow response times can lead to afterimages and can cause moving objects to appear blurry (ghosting). Gamers of fast-paced 3D titles should pay special attention to fast response times.
       Response Time Black to White
37.6 ms ... rise ↗ and fall ↘ combined↗ 20.4 ms rise
↘ 17.2 ms fall
The screen shows slow response rates in our tests and will be unsatisfactory for gamers.
In comparison, all tested devices range from 0.1 (minimum) to 240 (maximum) ms. » 95 % of all devices are better.
This means that the measured response time is worse than the average of all tested devices (21.6 ms).
       Response Time 50% Grey to 80% Grey
49.6 ms ... rise ↗ and fall ↘ combined↗ 25.2 ms rise
↘ 24.4 ms fall
The screen shows slow response rates in our tests and will be unsatisfactory for gamers.
In comparison, all tested devices range from 0.2 (minimum) to 636 (maximum) ms. » 83 % of all devices are better.
This means that the measured response time is worse than the average of all tested devices (33.9 ms).

Screen Flickering / PWM (Pulse-Width Modulation)

To dim the screen, some notebooks will simply cycle the backlight on and off in rapid succession - a method called Pulse Width Modulation (PWM) . This cycling frequency should ideally be undetectable to the human eye. If said frequency is too low, users with sensitive eyes may experience strain or headaches or even notice the flickering altogether.
Screen flickering / PWM detected 990 Hz ≤ 25 % brightness setting

The display backlight flickers at 990 Hz (worst case, e.g., utilizing PWM) Flickering detected at a brightness setting of 25 % and below. There should be no flickering or PWM above this brightness setting.

The frequency of 990 Hz is quite high, so most users sensitive to PWM should not notice any flickering.

In comparison: 53 % of all tested devices do not use PWM to dim the display. If PWM was detected, an average of 18110 (minimum: 5 - maximum: 3846000) Hz was measured.

Outdoors under shade
Outdoors under shade
Outdoors on overcast day
Outdoors on overcast day
Outdoors on overcast day
Outdoors on overcast day
Wide IPS viewing angles with no color degradation
Wide IPS viewing angles with no color degradation

Performance

A defining feature of the Precision 5530 2-in-1 is its Kaby Lake-G CPU. Unlike the XPS 15 9575 series, however, the Precision convertible uses the Core i7-8706G with vPro support whereas the XPS convertibles are limited to the i5-8305G and i7-8705G. Nonetheless, all three processors are still limited by a 65 W TDP whereas the i7-8809G is faster and more demanding with its 100 W power envelope.

Since this is a workstation, the hybrid GPU has been changed from the Radeon RX Vega M GL to the Radeon Pro WX Vega M GL. Core specifications between the two GPUs are otherwise identical according to GPU-Z including clock rate (1011 MHz), memory clock rate (700 MHz), bandwidth (179.2 GB/s), number of shader cores (1280), and memory (4 GB HBM2). Even HWiNFO continues to label the GPU as a Polaris 22 microarchitecture instead of Vega. Consequently, performance should be on a similar level to the GeForce GTX 1050 Ti.

Current RAM options offer no ECC features which may upset some workstation users.

 

Processor

This is the fourth Kaby Lake-G processor in our database after the i5-8305G, i7-8705G, and i7-8809G. While the i5-8305G and i7-8705G are disappointingly very similar in terms of raw performance, the i7-8706G in our Precision 2-in-1 is decently faster by about 10 percent over the i7-8705G according to CineBench R15 Multi-Thread. The results put the i7-8706G just slightly ahead of the i7-7700HQ which is an impressive feat considering that the Kaby Lake-G processor also incorporates a discrete GPU under its thermal envelope. The Coffee Lake Xeon E-2176M in the standard Precision 5530, however, is still significantly faster by almost 45 percent.

Running CineBench R15 Multi-Thread in a loop is a good indicator of performance sustainability over time. As shown by the graph below, the first loop results in a score of 781 points before eventually stabilizing at around 750 points to represent a performance dip of just 4 percent.

See our dedicated page on the Core i7-8706G for more technical information and benchmark comparisons.

CineBench R10 32-bit
CineBench R10 32-bit
CineBench R11.5 64-bit
CineBench R11.5 64-bit
CineBench R15
CineBench R15
06012018024030036042048054060066072078084090096010201080Tooltip
Dell Precision 5530 2-in-1 WX Vega M GL, i7-8706G, SK Hynix PC401 512GB M.2 (HFS512GD9TNG): Ø748 (717.21-781.39)
Dell XPS 15 9575 i7-8705G Vega M GL / 870, i7-8705G, SK hynix PC401 NVMe 500 GB: Ø677 (641.53-746.06)
Dell XPS 15 9575 i5-8305G Vega M GL / 870, i5-8305G, Toshiba XG5 KXG50ZNV256G: Ø666 (631.88-709.46)
Dell Precision 5530 Xeon E-2176M Quadro P2000, E-2176M, SK hynix PC400 512 GB: Ø1024 (1006.14-1126.25)
Cinebench R15
CPU Single 64Bit
Average of class Workstation
  (166.2 - 301, n=27, last 2 years)
254 Points +48%
Dell Precision 5530 Xeon E-2176M
Intel Xeon E-2176M
189 Points +10%
Intel Hades Canyon NUC8i7HVK
Intel Core i7-8809G
178 Points +3%
HP ZBook 17 G4-Y3J82AV
Intel Xeon E3-1535M v6
175 Points +2%
MSI GS65 Stealth Thin 8RE-051US
Intel Core i7-8750H
175 Points +2%
Dell XPS 15 9575 i7-8705G
Intel Core i7-8705G
174 Points +1%
HP ZBook 15u G5 2ZC05EA
Intel Core i7-8550U
172 Points 0%
Dell Precision 5530 2-in-1
Intel Core i7-8706G
172 Points
MSI WS63VR 7RL-023US
Intel Core i7-7700HQ
156 Points -9%
HP EliteBook 735 G5 3UN62EA
AMD Ryzen 7 2700U
147 Points -15%
CPU Multi 64Bit
Average of class Workstation
  (706 - 3625, n=27, last 2 years)
2343 Points +200%
Dell Precision 5530 Xeon E-2176M
Intel Xeon E-2176M
1095 Points +40%
MSI GS65 Stealth Thin 8RE-051US
Intel Core i7-8750H
1083 Points +39%
Intel Hades Canyon NUC8i7HVK
Intel Core i7-8809G
864 Points +11%
HP ZBook 17 G4-Y3J82AV
Intel Xeon E3-1535M v6
806 Points +3%
Dell Precision 5530 2-in-1
Intel Core i7-8706G
781 Points
Dell XPS 15 9575 i7-8705G
Intel Core i7-8705G
746 Points -4%
MSI WS63VR 7RL-023US
Intel Core i7-7700HQ
740 Points -5%
HP EliteBook 735 G5 3UN62EA
AMD Ryzen 7 2700U
640 Points -18%
HP ZBook 15u G5 2ZC05EA
Intel Core i7-8550U
552 Points -29%
Cinebench R11.5
CPU Single 64Bit
Average of class Workstation
  (last 2 years)
2.97 Points +49%
Intel Hades Canyon NUC8i7HVK
Intel Core i7-8809G
1.99 Points 0%
Dell Precision 5530 Xeon E-2176M
Intel Xeon E-2176M
1.99 Points 0%
Dell Precision 5530 2-in-1
Intel Core i7-8706G
1.99 Points
Dell XPS 15 9575 i7-8705G
Intel Core i7-8705G
1.97 Points -1%
HP ZBook 15u G5 2ZC05EA
Intel Core i7-8550U
1.93 Points -3%
MSI WS63VR 7RL-023US
Intel Core i7-7700HQ
1.74 Points -13%
CPU Multi 64Bit
Average of class Workstation
  (last 2 years)
21.6 Points +156%
Dell Precision 5530 Xeon E-2176M
Intel Xeon E-2176M
12.4 Points +47%
Intel Hades Canyon NUC8i7HVK
Intel Core i7-8809G
9.41 Points +11%
Dell Precision 5530 2-in-1
Intel Core i7-8706G
8.44 Points
MSI WS63VR 7RL-023US
Intel Core i7-7700HQ
8.14 Points -4%
Dell XPS 15 9575 i7-8705G
Intel Core i7-8705G
7.65 Points -9%
HP ZBook 15u G5 2ZC05EA
Intel Core i7-8550U
5.86 Points -31%
Cinebench R10
Rendering Multiple CPUs 32Bit
Average of class Workstation
  (last 2 years)
39399 Points +63%
Dell Precision 5530 Xeon E-2176M
Intel Xeon E-2176M
32132 Points +33%
MSI WS63VR 7RL-023US
Intel Core i7-7700HQ
28975 Points +20%
Intel Hades Canyon NUC8i7HVK
Intel Core i7-8809G
25809 Points +7%
Dell Precision 5530 2-in-1
Intel Core i7-8706G
24130 Points
Dell XPS 15 9575 i7-8705G
Intel Core i7-8705G
23794 Points -1%
HP ZBook 15u G5 2ZC05EA
Intel Core i7-8550U
17505 Points -27%
Rendering Single 32Bit
Dell Precision 5530 Xeon E-2176M
Intel Xeon E-2176M
6973 Points +6%
Average of class Workstation
  (last 2 years)
6888 Points +5%
Intel Hades Canyon NUC8i7HVK
Intel Core i7-8809G
6668 Points +2%
Dell Precision 5530 2-in-1
Intel Core i7-8706G
6549 Points
HP ZBook 15u G5 2ZC05EA
Intel Core i7-8550U
6445 Points -2%
Dell XPS 15 9575 i7-8705G
Intel Core i7-8705G
6436 Points -2%
wPrime 2.10 - 1024m
MSI WS63VR 7RL-023US
Intel Core i7-7700HQ
216.4 s * -8%
Dell Precision 5530 2-in-1
Intel Core i7-8706G
199.6 s *
Dell XPS 15 9575 i7-8705G
Intel Core i7-8705G
197.6 s * +1%
Intel Hades Canyon NUC8i7HVK
Intel Core i7-8809G
186.7 s * +6%
Dell Precision 5530 Xeon E-2176M
Intel Xeon E-2176M
147 s * +26%

* ... smaller is better

Cinebench R10 Shading 32Bit
9667
Cinebench R10 Rendering Multiple CPUs 32Bit
24130
Cinebench R10 Rendering Single 32Bit
6549
Cinebench R11.5 CPU Multi 64Bit
8.44 Points
Cinebench R11.5 OpenGL 64Bit
108.9 fps
Cinebench R11.5 CPU Single 64Bit
1.99 Points
Cinebench R15 CPU Single 64Bit
172 Points
Cinebench R15 Ref. Match 64Bit
98 %
Cinebench R15 OpenGL 64Bit
132.5 fps
Cinebench R15 CPU Multi 64Bit
781 Points
Help

System Performance

PCMark 10 ranks our Precision 5530 2-in-1 within single-digit percentages from the ThinkPad X1 Extreme and XPS 15 9575. On the other hand, older PCMark 8 benchmarks show it falling behind against many of its 15-inch workstation peers as shown by the chart below.

Attempting to reset Windows results in a boot loop on our machine. We're unsure if this is a widespread issue, but we recommend caution if refreshing or reinstalling Windows for this reason.

Dell offers an optional AI-based Precision Optimizer software (DPO) for workstations that "leans app behavior" and "takes the guesswork out of customizing settings" to get the best performance from a specific application. In other words, it will automatically tune system settings and hardware to maximize performance when running commonly used applications or workloads. DPO comes free with Precision PCs but its touted AI features require a license to use.

PCMark 8 Home Accelerated
PCMark 8 Home Accelerated
PCMark 8 Work Accelerated
PCMark 8 Work Accelerated
PCMark 10
PCMark 10
PCMark 10 - Score
Average of class Workstation
  (5488 - 8587, n=27, last 2 years)
6843 Points +44%
Dell Precision 5530 Xeon E-2176M
Quadro P2000, E-2176M, SK hynix PC400 512 GB
5072 Points +7%
Gigabyte Aero 15X v8
GeForce GTX 1070 Max-Q, i7-8750H, Toshiba NVMe THNSN5512GPU7
5059 Points +6%
Lenovo ThinkPad X1 Extreme-20MF000XGE
GeForce GTX 1050 Ti Max-Q, i7-8750H, Samsung SSD PM981 MZVLB1T0HALR
4785 Points +1%
Dell Precision 5530 2-in-1
WX Vega M GL, i7-8706G, SK Hynix PC401 512GB M.2 (HFS512GD9TNG)
4760 Points
MSI GS65 Stealth Thin 8RE-051US
GeForce GTX 1060 Mobile, i7-8750H, Samsung SSD PM981 MZVLB256HAHQ
4646 Points -2%
HP ZBook 15u G5 2ZC05EA
Radeon Pro WX 3100, i5-8550U, Toshiba XG5 KXG50ZNV256G
4046 Points -15%
PCMark 8
Home Score Accelerated v2
MSI GS65 Stealth Thin 8RE-051US
GeForce GTX 1060 Mobile, i7-8750H, Samsung SSD PM981 MZVLB256HAHQ
4676 Points +34%
Gigabyte Aero 15X v8
GeForce GTX 1070 Max-Q, i7-8750H, Toshiba NVMe THNSN5512GPU7
4504 Points +29%
Dell Precision 5530 Xeon E-2176M
Quadro P2000, E-2176M, SK hynix PC400 512 GB
3831 Points +10%
HP ZBook 15u G5 2ZC05EA
Radeon Pro WX 3100, i5-8550U, Toshiba XG5 KXG50ZNV256G
3721 Points +7%
Lenovo ThinkPad X1 Extreme-20MF000XGE
GeForce GTX 1050 Ti Max-Q, i7-8750H, Samsung SSD PM981 MZVLB1T0HALR
3611 Points +4%
Dell Precision 5530 2-in-1
WX Vega M GL, i7-8706G, SK Hynix PC401 512GB M.2 (HFS512GD9TNG)
3480 Points
Work Score Accelerated v2
MSI GS65 Stealth Thin 8RE-051US
GeForce GTX 1060 Mobile, i7-8750H, Samsung SSD PM981 MZVLB256HAHQ
5731 Points +38%
Gigabyte Aero 15X v8
GeForce GTX 1070 Max-Q, i7-8750H, Toshiba NVMe THNSN5512GPU7
5676 Points +37%
HP ZBook 15u G5 2ZC05EA
Radeon Pro WX 3100, i5-8550U, Toshiba XG5 KXG50ZNV256G
5137 Points +24%
Dell Precision 5530 Xeon E-2176M
Quadro P2000, E-2176M, SK hynix PC400 512 GB
4666 Points +13%
Lenovo ThinkPad X1 Extreme-20MF000XGE
GeForce GTX 1050 Ti Max-Q, i7-8750H, Samsung SSD PM981 MZVLB1T0HALR
4381 Points +6%
Dell Precision 5530 2-in-1
WX Vega M GL, i7-8706G, SK Hynix PC401 512GB M.2 (HFS512GD9TNG)
4146 Points
PCMark 8 Home Score Accelerated v2
3480 points
PCMark 8 Work Score Accelerated v2
4146 points
PCMark 10 Score
4760 points
Help

Storage Devices

There is only one internal M.2 storage bay with options ranging from a 128 GB SATA SSD up to a 2 TB NVMe SSD. The 512 GB SK Hynix in our unit is the same drive as found on the XPS 15 9575 and overall performance is more or less the same. Samsung solutions like the PM981 are faster while Toshiba XG5 SSDs are generally slower. Most larger workstations, like the HP ZBook or Precision 7000 series, have multiple internal storage bays for much higher storage capacities.

See our table of HDDs and SSDs for more benchmark comparisons.

AS SSD
AS SSD
M.2 drive
M.2 drive
Dell Precision 5530 2-in-1
SK Hynix PC401 512GB M.2 (HFS512GD9TNG)
Lenovo ThinkPad X1 Extreme-20MF000XGE
Samsung SSD PM981 MZVLB1T0HALR
Dell Precision 5530 Xeon E-2176M
SK hynix PC400 512 GB
HP ZBook 15u G5 2ZC05EA
Toshiba XG5 KXG50ZNV256G
Average SK Hynix PC401 512GB M.2 (HFS512GD9TNG)
 
AS SSD
84%
3%
-27%
13%
Copy Game MB/s
741
742
0%
837 ?(362 - 1670, n=9)
13%
Copy Program MB/s
435.5
324.8
-25%
470 ?(333 - 728, n=9)
8%
Copy ISO MB/s
913
1146
26%
1286 ?(757 - 2489, n=9)
41%
Score Total
2509
5355
113%
2922
16%
1697
-32%
2787 ?(1951 - 5185, n=11)
11%
Score Write
1180
2147
82%
1121
-5%
710
-40%
1188 ?(677 - 2309, n=11)
1%
Score Read
899
2132
137%
1226
36%
689
-23%
1089 ?(860 - 1914, n=11)
21%
Access Time Write *
0.051
0.028
45%
0.053
-4%
0.051
-0%
0.04845 ?(0.026 - 0.07, n=11)
5%
Access Time Read *
0.043
0.034
21%
0.073
-70%
0.103
-140%
0.04909 ?(0.043 - 0.07, n=11)
-14%
4K-64 Write
990
1782
80%
926
-6%
564
-43%
956 ?(486 - 1922, n=11)
-3%
4K-64 Read
685
1805
164%
970
42%
488.4
-29%
819 ?(623 - 1569, n=11)
20%
4K Write
101.9
130.9
28%
92.8
-9%
101.5
0%
118.8 ?(97.9 - 147.8, n=11)
17%
4K Read
42.43
56.8
34%
38.43
-9%
31.28
-26%
43.2 ?(24 - 55.6, n=11)
2%
Seq Write
887
2336
163%
1022
15%
441
-50%
1137 ?(680 - 2424, n=11)
28%
Seq Read
1697
2703
59%
2169
28%
1696
0%
2266 ?(1596 - 3012, n=11)
34%

* ... smaller is better

SK Hynix PC401 512GB M.2 (HFS512GD9TNG)
CDM 5/6 Read Seq Q32T1: 2664 MB/s
CDM 5/6 Write Seq Q32T1: 662 MB/s
CDM 5/6 Read 4K Q32T1: 393.6 MB/s
CDM 5/6 Write 4K Q32T1: 336.6 MB/s
CDM 5 Read Seq: 2065 MB/s
CDM 5 Write Seq: 635 MB/s
CDM 5/6 Read 4K: 45.7 MB/s
CDM 5/6 Write 4K: 128.9 MB/s

GPU Performance

Raw graphics performance is essentially identical to the Radeon RX Vega M GL in the XPS 15 9575 according to 3DMark benchmarks. Consequently, the GPU is on par with the GTX 1050 Ti in the ThinkPad X1 Extreme

When compared to Quadro GPUs, the Radeon Pro WX Vega M GL is about 9 percent faster than the P2000 in the standard Precision 5530 and 23 percent slower than the Quadro P3000 in the MSI WS63VR. Much faster options exist such as the Quadro P4000 or P5000, but none are available in as small of a convertible form factor as our Dell.

See our dedicated page on the Radeon Pro WX Vega M GL for more technical information and benchmark comparisons.

Cloud Gate
Cloud Gate
3DMark 11
3DMark 11
Fire Strike
Fire Strike
Time Spy
Time Spy
3DMark 11
1280x720 Performance GPU
Average of class Workstation
  (7432 - 54334, n=27, last 2 years)
23544 Points +135%
Dell Precision 7720
NVIDIA Quadro P5000, E3-1535M v6
19569 Points +95%
MSI WS63VR 7RL-023US
NVIDIA Quadro P4000 Max-Q, i7-7700HQ
15837 Points +58%
MSI GS65 Stealth Thin 8RE-051US
NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1060 Mobile, i7-8750H
14879 Points +48%
Intel Hades Canyon NUC8i7HVK
AMD Radeon RX Vega M GH, i7-8809G
14302 Points +43%
MSI WS63 7RF-290US
NVIDIA Quadro P3000, i7-7700HQ
12105 Points +21%
Dell XPS 15 9575 i7-8705G
AMD Radeon RX Vega M GL / 870, i7-8705G
10118 Points +1%
Dell Precision 5530 2-in-1
AMD Radeon Pro WX Vega M GL, i7-8706G
10020 Points
Lenovo ThinkPad X1 Extreme-20MF000XGE
NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1050 Ti Max-Q, i7-8750H
8619 Points -14%
Dell Precision 5530 Xeon E-2176M
NVIDIA Quadro P2000, E-2176M
8201 Points -18%
HP ZBook 15u G5 2ZC05EA
AMD Radeon Pro WX 3100, i5-8550U
3632 Points -64%
HP EliteBook 735 G5 3UN62EA
AMD Radeon RX Vega 10, R7 2700U
2907 Points -71%
1280x720 Performance Combined
Average of class Workstation
  (6413 - 22153, n=27, last 2 years)
15709 Points +92%
Dell Precision 7720
NVIDIA Quadro P5000, E3-1535M v6
10778 Points +32%
MSI GS65 Stealth Thin 8RE-051US
NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1060 Mobile, i7-8750H
10475 Points +28%
Intel Hades Canyon NUC8i7HVK
AMD Radeon RX Vega M GH, i7-8809G
10391 Points +27%
MSI WS63VR 7RL-023US
NVIDIA Quadro P4000 Max-Q, i7-7700HQ
9296 Points +14%
MSI WS63 7RF-290US
NVIDIA Quadro P3000, i7-7700HQ
9063 Points +11%
Dell XPS 15 9575 i7-8705G
AMD Radeon RX Vega M GL / 870, i7-8705G
8633 Points +6%
Lenovo ThinkPad X1 Extreme-20MF000XGE
NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1050 Ti Max-Q, i7-8750H
8589 Points +5%
Dell Precision 5530 2-in-1
AMD Radeon Pro WX Vega M GL, i7-8706G
8166 Points
Dell Precision 5530 Xeon E-2176M
NVIDIA Quadro P2000, E-2176M
8059 Points -1%
HP ZBook 15u G5 2ZC05EA
AMD Radeon Pro WX 3100, i5-8550U
4606 Points -44%
HP EliteBook 735 G5 3UN62EA
AMD Radeon RX Vega 10, R7 2700U
1872 Points -77%
3DMark
1280x720 Cloud Gate Standard Graphics
Dell Precision 7720
NVIDIA Quadro P5000, E3-1535M v6
86679 Points +122%
MSI GS65 Stealth Thin 8RE-051US
NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1060 Mobile, i7-8750H
83747 Points +115%
MSI WS63VR 7RL-023US
NVIDIA Quadro P4000 Max-Q, i7-7700HQ
74933 Points +92%
MSI WS63 7RF-290US
NVIDIA Quadro P3000, i7-7700HQ
65089 Points +67%
Average of class Workstation
  (32743 - 133204, n=15, last 2 years)
62922 Points +61%
Intel Hades Canyon NUC8i7HVK
AMD Radeon RX Vega M GH, i7-8809G
59162 Points +52%
Dell Precision 5530 Xeon E-2176M
NVIDIA Quadro P2000, E-2176M
42598 Points +9%
Dell XPS 15 9575 i7-8705G
AMD Radeon RX Vega M GL / 870, i7-8705G
42351 Points +9%
Dell Precision 5530 2-in-1
AMD Radeon Pro WX Vega M GL, i7-8706G
38986 Points
HP ZBook 15u G5 2ZC05EA
AMD Radeon Pro WX 3100, i5-8550U
17922 Points -54%
HP EliteBook 735 G5 3UN62EA
AMD Radeon RX Vega 10, R7 2700U
9904 Points -75%
1920x1080 Fire Strike Graphics
Average of class Workstation
  (4816 - 35868, n=28, last 2 years)
16313 Points +122%
Dell Precision 7720
NVIDIA Quadro P5000, E3-1535M v6
14666 Points +100%
MSI WS63VR 7RL-023US
NVIDIA Quadro P4000 Max-Q, i7-7700HQ
12312 Points +68%
MSI GS65 Stealth Thin 8RE-051US
NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1060 Mobile, i7-8750H
11814 Points +61%
Intel Hades Canyon NUC8i7HVK
AMD Radeon RX Vega M GH, i7-8809G
10248 Points +40%
MSI WS63 7RF-290US
NVIDIA Quadro P3000, i7-7700HQ
9489 Points +29%
Dell XPS 15 9575 i7-8705G
AMD Radeon RX Vega M GL / 870, i7-8705G
7348 Points 0%
Dell Precision 5530 2-in-1
AMD Radeon Pro WX Vega M GL, i7-8706G
7333 Points
Lenovo ThinkPad X1 Extreme-20MF000XGE
NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1050 Ti Max-Q, i7-8750H
7199 Points -2%
Dell Precision 5530 Xeon E-2176M
NVIDIA Quadro P2000, E-2176M
6741 Points -8%
HP ZBook 15u G5 2ZC05EA
AMD Radeon Pro WX 3100, i5-8550U
2644 Points -64%
HP EliteBook 735 G5 3UN62EA
AMD Radeon RX Vega 10, R7 2700U
1740 Points -76%
1920x1080 Ice Storm Extreme Graphics
Intel Hades Canyon NUC8i7HVK
AMD Radeon RX Vega M GH, i7-8809G
282345 Points
MSI WS63 7RF-290US
NVIDIA Quadro P3000, i7-7700HQ
121766 Points
Dell Precision 5530 Xeon E-2176M
NVIDIA Quadro P2000, E-2176M
75457 Points
Dell XPS 15 9575 i7-8705G
AMD Radeon RX Vega M GL / 870, i7-8705G
46963 Points
SPECviewperf 12
1900x1060 Solidworks (sw-03)
Average of class Workstation
  (88.8 - 225, n=10, last 2 years)
162.2 fps +116%
Dell Precision 7720
NVIDIA Quadro P5000, E3-1535M v6
142.3 fps +89%
MSI WS63VR 7RL-023US
NVIDIA Quadro P4000 Max-Q, i7-7700HQ
119.9 fps +59%
Dell Precision 5530 Xeon E-2176M
NVIDIA Quadro P2000, E-2176M
103.8 fps +38%
MSI WS63 7RF-290US
NVIDIA Quadro P3000, i7-7700HQ
102.9 fps +37%
Dell Precision 5530 2-in-1
AMD Radeon Pro WX Vega M GL, i7-8706G
75.2 fps
Intel Hades Canyon NUC8i7HVK
AMD Radeon RX Vega M GH, i7-8809G
66.9 fps -11%
HP ZBook 15u G5 2ZC05EA
AMD Radeon Pro WX 3100, i5-8550U
31.31 fps -58%
1900x1060 Siemens NX (snx-02)
Average of class Workstation
  (27.2 - 309, n=10, last 2 years)
170 fps +183%
Dell Precision 7720
NVIDIA Quadro P5000, E3-1535M v6
157.4 fps +162%
MSI WS63VR 7RL-023US
NVIDIA Quadro P4000 Max-Q, i7-7700HQ
111.7 fps +86%
MSI WS63 7RF-290US
NVIDIA Quadro P3000, i7-7700HQ
71.8 fps +20%
Dell Precision 5530 Xeon E-2176M
NVIDIA Quadro P2000, E-2176M
65.8 fps +10%
Dell Precision 5530 2-in-1
AMD Radeon Pro WX Vega M GL, i7-8706G
60 fps
Intel Hades Canyon NUC8i7HVK
AMD Radeon RX Vega M GH, i7-8809G
20.8 fps -65%
HP ZBook 15u G5 2ZC05EA
AMD Radeon Pro WX 3100, i5-8550U
18.74 fps -69%
1900x1060 Showcase (showcase-01)
Average of class Workstation
  (30.5 - 172.5, n=10, last 2 years)
115.5 fps +201%
Dell Precision 7720
NVIDIA Quadro P5000, E3-1535M v6
68.8 fps +80%
MSI WS63VR 7RL-023US
NVIDIA Quadro P4000 Max-Q, i7-7700HQ
62.6 fps +63%
MSI WS63 7RF-290US
NVIDIA Quadro P3000, i7-7700HQ
54.8 fps +43%
Intel Hades Canyon NUC8i7HVK
AMD Radeon RX Vega M GH, i7-8809G
49.34 fps +29%
Dell Precision 5530 2-in-1
AMD Radeon Pro WX Vega M GL, i7-8706G
38.31 fps
Dell Precision 5530 Xeon E-2176M
NVIDIA Quadro P2000, E-2176M
30.73 fps -20%
HP ZBook 15u G5 2ZC05EA
AMD Radeon Pro WX 3100, i5-8550U
7.28 fps -81%
1900x1060 Medical (medical-01)
Average of class Workstation
  (29.5 - 136.7, n=9, last 2 years)
84.5 fps +324%
Dell Precision 7720
NVIDIA Quadro P5000, E3-1535M v6
62.7 fps +214%
MSI WS63VR 7RL-023US
NVIDIA Quadro P4000 Max-Q, i7-7700HQ
41.8 fps +110%
MSI WS63 7RF-290US
NVIDIA Quadro P3000, i7-7700HQ
29.82 fps +50%
Dell Precision 5530 Xeon E-2176M
NVIDIA Quadro P2000, E-2176M
22.84 fps +15%
Intel Hades Canyon NUC8i7HVK
AMD Radeon RX Vega M GH, i7-8809G
21.43 fps +7%
Dell Precision 5530 2-in-1
AMD Radeon Pro WX Vega M GL, i7-8706G
19.94 fps
HP ZBook 15u G5 2ZC05EA
AMD Radeon Pro WX 3100, i5-8550U
3.99 fps -80%
1900x1060 Maya (maya-04)
Average of class Workstation
  (62.9 - 232, n=10, last 2 years)
144.2 fps +237%
Dell Precision 7720
NVIDIA Quadro P5000, E3-1535M v6
88.8 fps +107%
MSI WS63VR 7RL-023US
NVIDIA Quadro P4000 Max-Q, i7-7700HQ
73 fps +70%
MSI WS63 7RF-290US
NVIDIA Quadro P3000, i7-7700HQ
67.7 fps +58%
Dell Precision 5530 Xeon E-2176M
NVIDIA Quadro P2000, E-2176M
59.2 fps +38%
Intel Hades Canyon NUC8i7HVK
AMD Radeon RX Vega M GH, i7-8809G
54 fps +26%
Dell Precision 5530 2-in-1
AMD Radeon Pro WX Vega M GL, i7-8706G
42.84 fps
HP ZBook 15u G5 2ZC05EA
AMD Radeon Pro WX 3100, i5-8550U
11.75 fps -73%
1900x1060 Energy (energy-01)
Average of class Workstation
  (8.45 - 31.5, n=8, last 2 years)
20.4 fps +594%
Dell Precision 7720
NVIDIA Quadro P5000, E3-1535M v6
14.22 fps +384%
MSI WS63VR 7RL-023US
NVIDIA Quadro P4000 Max-Q, i7-7700HQ
10.6 fps +261%
MSI WS63 7RF-290US
NVIDIA Quadro P3000, i7-7700HQ
7.7 fps +162%
Dell Precision 5530 Xeon E-2176M
NVIDIA Quadro P2000, E-2176M
5.27 fps +79%
Intel Hades Canyon NUC8i7HVK
AMD Radeon RX Vega M GH, i7-8809G
3.52 fps +20%
Dell Precision 5530 2-in-1
AMD Radeon Pro WX Vega M GL, i7-8706G
2.94 fps
HP ZBook 15u G5 2ZC05EA
AMD Radeon Pro WX 3100, i5-8550U
0.26 fps -91%
1900x1060 Creo (creo-01)
Average of class Workstation
  (86.9 - 204, n=9, last 2 years)
153.8 fps +168%
Dell Precision 7720
NVIDIA Quadro P5000, E3-1535M v6
117.2 fps +104%
MSI WS63VR 7RL-023US
NVIDIA Quadro P4000 Max-Q, i7-7700HQ
91.9 fps +60%
MSI WS63 7RF-290US
NVIDIA Quadro P3000, i7-7700HQ
87 fps +52%
Dell Precision 5530 Xeon E-2176M
NVIDIA Quadro P2000, E-2176M
65 fps +13%
Dell Precision 5530 2-in-1
AMD Radeon Pro WX Vega M GL, i7-8706G
57.4 fps
Intel Hades Canyon NUC8i7HVK
AMD Radeon RX Vega M GH, i7-8809G
45.55 fps -21%
HP ZBook 15u G5 2ZC05EA
AMD Radeon Pro WX 3100, i5-8550U
18.82 fps -67%
1900x1060 Catia (catia-04)
Average of class Workstation
  (73.8 - 268, n=10, last 2 years)
183.1 fps +184%
Dell Precision 7720
NVIDIA Quadro P5000, E3-1535M v6
139.9 fps +117%
MSI WS63VR 7RL-023US
NVIDIA Quadro P4000 Max-Q, i7-7700HQ
110 fps +71%
MSI WS63 7RF-290US
NVIDIA Quadro P3000, i7-7700HQ
96.5 fps +50%
Intel Hades Canyon NUC8i7HVK
AMD Radeon RX Vega M GH, i7-8809G
77 fps +20%
Dell Precision 5530 Xeon E-2176M
NVIDIA Quadro P2000, E-2176M
69.6 fps +8%
Dell Precision 5530 2-in-1
AMD Radeon Pro WX Vega M GL, i7-8706G
64.4 fps
HP ZBook 15u G5 2ZC05EA
AMD Radeon Pro WX 3100, i5-8550U
17.1 fps -73%
1900x1060 3ds Max (3dsmax-05)
Average of class Workstation
  (last 2 years)
77.9 fps
HP ZBook 15u G5 2ZC05EA
AMD Radeon Pro WX 3100, i5-8550U
31.28 fps
3DMark 11 Performance
9731 points
3DMark Ice Storm Standard Score
49024 points
3DMark Cloud Gate Standard Score
19765 points
3DMark Fire Strike Score
6253 points
3DMark Time Spy Score
2213 points
Help

Gaming Performance

Playing modern demanding games on the Radeon Pro WX Vega M GL is possible but not ideal. While performance is similar to the Radeon RX Vega M GL as one would expect, minor bugs are not uncommon on newer titles. As examples, Final Fantasy 15 would initially fail to recognize the Radeon GPU and run on the UHD Graphics 630 instead while Assassin's Creed Odyssey would give a warning about unsupported video drivers upon launch. Additionally, while many games are able to reach 60 FPS at lower settings, the slow response times of the display lead to more noticeable ghosting than gamers would like.

More casual titles like Rocket League, Fortnite, LoL, and PUBG are less demanding and a better fit for the occasional gaming session. Be sure to avoid resolutions greater than 1080p as frame rates begin to tank from the limited bandwidth available.

low med. high ultra4K
Sleeping Dogs (2012) 113.1 95.9 84.6 36
StarCraft II: Heart of the Swarm (2013) 254 146 134.1 71.4
BioShock Infinite (2013) 106.5 101.2 102.9 59.6
Metro: Last Light (2013) 98.2 94.8 77.5 41
Thief (2014) 68.6 67.1 64.3 42.7
The Witcher 3 (2015) 94.7 79 44.2 23.9 15.1
Batman: Arkham Knight (2015) 73 73 50 16
Metal Gear Solid V (2015) 60 60 60 50 25.1
Fallout 4 (2015) 106.9 80.4 49.8 35.5 14.7
Rise of the Tomb Raider (2016) 74.4 77.6 40.4 31.8 13.8
Ashes of the Singularity (2016) 50.3 34.8 16
Overwatch (2016) 193.7 173.4 109.8 52.3 32.9
Prey (2017) 116.1 91.3 74.9 65.5 19.9
Rocket League (2017) 185.6 146.2 100.2 34.3
Dirt 4 (2017) 194.3 97.1 54.5 31.3 18.3
F1 2017 (2017) 122 78 65 40 17
Final Fantasy XV Benchmark (2018) 63 32.5 21.8 8.3
F1 2018 (2018) 107 65 54 34 15
Shadow of the Tomb Raider (2018) 82 37 33 28 8
Assassin´s Creed Odyssey (2018) 44 33 27 17 10

Stress Test

We stress the system with synthetic loads in order to identify for any potential throttling or stability issues. When subjected to Prime95 stress, the CPU can be observed running at up to 3.7 GHz for the first few seconds before core temperature reaches 90 C. Once this ceiling is reached, clock rates drop to 3.4 GHz in order to maintain a cooler core temperature of 79 C. Since the base clock rate of the i7-8706G is 3.1 GHz, the CPU in the Precision 2-in-1 is able to maintain a +300 MHz Turbo Boost even when under extreme processing stress to be faster than many gaming laptops equipped with the Core i7-7700HQ. Running both Prime95 and FurMark simultaneously will throttle the CPU down to just 1.8 GHz.

When under gaming loads, the GPU will run at its rated clock rate of 1011 MHz without a single hitch. Core temperatures are also quite cool at about 60 C which is impressive for a convertible capable of playing games.

Running on battery power reduces overall performance. A 3DMark 11 run on batteries returns Physics and Graphics scores of only 8309 and 5644 points, respectively, compared to 9579 and 10020 points when on mains.

System idle
System idle
Prime95 stress
Prime95 stress
Prime95+FurMark stress
Prime95+FurMark stress
Witcher 3 stress
Witcher 3 stress
CPU Clock (GHz) GPU Clock (MHz) Average CPU Temperature (°C) Average GPU Temperature (°C)
System Idle -- -- 53 53
Prime95 Stress 3.4 -- 79 --
FurMark Stress -- 535 - 868 -- 63
Prime95 + FurMark Stress 1.8 535 - 671 62 63
Witcher 3 Stress 3.7 1011 59 61

Emissions

System Noise

Fan noise is similar to the standard Precision 5530 despite the vast differences in hardware. The twin fans are idle when on desktop and can boost just slightly during very low loads like video streaming. Unfortunately, it doesn't take very much to bump fan noise to 40 dB(A) or higher. Expect a loud machine when running games or other similarly demanding workloads.

We can notice no electronic noise or coil whine from our test unit.

Same dual fans and triple heat pipe cooling as on the XPS 15 9575
Same dual fans and triple heat pipe cooling as on the XPS 15 9575
Fan noise profile
Fan noise profile

Noise Level

Idle
28.6 / 28.6 / 29.1 dB(A)
Load
39.8 / 47 dB(A)
  red to green bar
 
 
30 dB
silent
40 dB(A)
audible
50 dB(A)
loud
 
min: dark, med: mid, max: light   Audix TM1, Arta (15 cm distance)   environment noise: 28.6 dB(A)
Dell Precision 5530 2-in-1
WX Vega M GL, i7-8706G, SK Hynix PC401 512GB M.2 (HFS512GD9TNG)
MSI WS63VR 7RL-023US
Quadro P4000 Max-Q, i7-7700HQ, Toshiba NVMe THNSN5512GPU7
Lenovo ThinkPad X1 Extreme-20MF000XGE
GeForce GTX 1050 Ti Max-Q, i7-8750H, Samsung SSD PM981 MZVLB1T0HALR
Dell Precision 5530 Xeon E-2176M
Quadro P2000, E-2176M, SK hynix PC400 512 GB
HP ZBook 15u G5 2ZC05EA
Radeon Pro WX 3100, i5-8550U, Toshiba XG5 KXG50ZNV256G
Dell XPS 15 9575 i7-8705G
Vega M GL / 870, i7-8705G, SK hynix PC401 NVMe 500 GB
Noise
-3%
5%
-1%
6%
5%
off / environment *
28.6
28
2%
28.8
-1%
28.4
1%
29.8
-4%
28.2
1%
Idle Minimum *
28.6
33.2
-16%
28.8
-1%
28.4
1%
29.8
-4%
28.2
1%
Idle Average *
28.6
33.2
-16%
28.8
-1%
28.4
1%
29.8
-4%
28.2
1%
Idle Maximum *
29.1
33.2
-14%
31.3
-8%
28.4
2%
30.8
-6%
28.2
3%
Load Average *
39.8
41.4
-4%
36.4
9%
46.5
-17%
32.9
17%
29
27%
Witcher 3 ultra *
47
38.4
18%
36.4
23%
46.5
1%
36.5
22%
44.7
5%
Load Maximum *
47
43.5
7%
39.2
17%
46.5
1%
36.5
22%
47.4
-1%

* ... smaller is better

Temperature

Rear ventilation
Rear ventilation

Unlike on the HP Spectre x360 15, Dell Precision 5530, or Lenovo ThinkPad X1 Extreme, surface temperature development on the Precision 5530 2-in-1 is not symmetrical. Our temperature maps below show that the left half of the system will always be warmer than the right half by as much as 10 to 16 degrees when under extreme processing stress. Fortunately, the palm rests remain relatively cool, but expect some very warm WASD keys after prolonged stress. Surface temperatures are otherwise more or less uniform during low loads like browsing or word processing.

Max. Load
 48.6 °C
119 F
39.6 °C
103 F
33.2 °C
92 F
 
 44.6 °C
112 F
41.8 °C
107 F
28.8 °C
84 F
 
 30.2 °C
86 F
26.8 °C
80 F
25.8 °C
78 F
 
Maximum: 48.6 °C = 119 F
Average: 35.5 °C = 96 F
33.4 °C
92 F
37.6 °C
100 F
42.2 °C
108 F
30.8 °C
87 F
36.2 °C
97 F
40 °C
104 F
29 °C
84 F
32.2 °C
90 F
35.2 °C
95 F
Maximum: 42.2 °C = 108 F
Average: 35.2 °C = 95 F
Power Supply (max.)  53 °C = 127 F | Room Temperature 22.4 °C = 72 F | Fluke 62 Mini IR Thermometer
(±) The average temperature for the upper side under maximal load is 35.5 °C / 96 F, compared to the average of 32 °C / 90 F for the devices in the class Workstation.
(-) The maximum temperature on the upper side is 48.6 °C / 119 F, compared to the average of 38.1 °C / 101 F, ranging from 22.2 to 69.8 °C for the class Workstation.
(±) The bottom heats up to a maximum of 42.2 °C / 108 F, compared to the average of 41.3 °C / 106 F
(+) In idle usage, the average temperature for the upper side is 29.1 °C / 84 F, compared to the device average of 32 °C / 90 F.
(±) Playing The Witcher 3, the average temperature for the upper side is 35.1 °C / 95 F, compared to the device average of 32 °C / 90 F.
(+) The palmrests and touchpad are cooler than skin temperature with a maximum of 31.2 °C / 88.2 F and are therefore cool to the touch.
(-) The average temperature of the palmrest area of similar devices was 27.8 °C / 82 F (-3.4 °C / -6.2 F).

Speakers

Pink noise graph
Pink noise graph
Stereo speakers near front corners
Stereo speakers near front corners
dB(A) 0102030405060708090Deep BassMiddle BassHigh BassLower RangeMidsHigher MidsLower HighsMid HighsUpper HighsSuper Highs2034.637.72533.5333134.635.24032.633.95032.932.26332.531.9803232.810030.340.212530.146.316028.855.420028.461.625028.162.531526.464.140026.464.750025.468.263025.464.380024.569.6100024.670.5125024.468.8160023.866.1200023.869.5250023.764.6315023.566.3400023.462.3500023.464.6630023.470.8800023.472.51000023.366.21250023.363.81600023.157.6SPL36.380.1N2.750.9median 24.4median 64.6Delta1.64.235.335.132.931.831.83236.535.132.428.93328.936.328.848.32761.52752.924.860.92462.822.763.32269.521.267.82174.82075.919.472.718.97117.770.117.86917.671.817.668.117.671.417.673.717.670.417.571.617.671.617.669.617.459.717.583.630.662.51.5median 69.6median 17.84.72.4hearing rangehide median Pink NoiseDell Precision 5530 2-in-1Apple MacBook 12 (Early 2016) 1.1 GHz
Frequency diagram (checkboxes can be checked and unchecked to compare devices)
Dell Precision 5530 2-in-1 audio analysis

(±) | speaker loudness is average but good (72.5 dB)
Bass 100 - 315 Hz
(±) | reduced bass - on average 9.6% lower than median
(±) | linearity of bass is average (13% delta to prev. frequency)
Mids 400 - 2000 Hz
(+) | balanced mids - only 3.2% away from median
(+) | mids are linear (6.9% delta to prev. frequency)
Highs 2 - 16 kHz
(+) | balanced highs - only 2.8% away from median
(±) | linearity of highs is average (9.7% delta to prev. frequency)
Overall 100 - 16.000 Hz
(+) | overall sound is linear (13.9% difference to median)
Compared to same class
» 21% of all tested devices in this class were better, 4% similar, 74% worse
» The best had a delta of 7%, average was 18%, worst was 35%
Compared to all devices tested
» 12% of all tested devices were better, 3% similar, 85% worse
» The best had a delta of 4%, average was 25%, worst was 134%

Apple MacBook 12 (Early 2016) 1.1 GHz audio analysis

(+) | speakers can play relatively loud (83.6 dB)
Bass 100 - 315 Hz
(±) | reduced bass - on average 11.3% lower than median
(±) | linearity of bass is average (14.2% delta to prev. frequency)
Mids 400 - 2000 Hz
(+) | balanced mids - only 2.4% away from median
(+) | mids are linear (5.5% delta to prev. frequency)
Highs 2 - 16 kHz
(+) | balanced highs - only 2% away from median
(+) | highs are linear (4.5% delta to prev. frequency)
Overall 100 - 16.000 Hz
(+) | overall sound is linear (10.2% difference to median)
Compared to same class
» 5% of all tested devices in this class were better, 2% similar, 93% worse
» The best had a delta of 5%, average was 19%, worst was 53%
Compared to all devices tested
» 3% of all tested devices were better, 1% similar, 96% worse
» The best had a delta of 4%, average was 25%, worst was 134%

Energy Management

Power Consumption

Dell's hybrid Intel-AMD solution is very similar to the ThinkPad X1 Extreme in terms of power consumption when subjected to gaming-level loads. When subjected to maximum 100 percent loads, the Lenovo is able to draw more power than the Dell (119 W vs. 97 W) to suggest that it's better able at sustaining higher performance over time. This is indeed the case because the Core i7-8750H is about 30 percent more powerful than the i7-8706G in multi-threaded CPU tasks and it subsequently demands more power from the outlet when stressed. When simply idling on desktop, however, the XPS 9575 is definitely the one to beat in terms of efficiency.

We are able to measure a maximum consumption of 136 W from the medium-sized (~14.3 x 6.5 x 2.2 cm) 130 W AC adapter when subjected to Prime95 and FurMark load. As our graph below shows, this very high power demand is short-lived as the system eventually settles to a steady 94 W after just a few seconds. In other words, the system is unable to maintain maximum Turbo Boost for very long which corroborate with our CineBench loop test from above.

Constant consumption when running 3DMark 06
Constant consumption when running 3DMark 06
Constant consumption when running Witcher 3
Constant consumption when running Witcher 3
Prime95 initiated at 20s mark. Consumption spikes before dropping and leveling off
Prime95 initiated at 20s mark. Consumption spikes before dropping and leveling off
Prime95 and FurMark initiated at 20s mark. Consumption spikes even higher for a shorter period before dropping and leveling off
Prime95 and FurMark initiated at 20s mark. Consumption spikes even higher for a shorter period before dropping and leveling off
Power Consumption
Off / Standbydarklight 0.58 / 1.03 Watt
Idledarkmidlight 7.4 / 12.4 / 13.3 Watt
Load midlight 79.2 / 96.5 Watt
 color bar
Key: min: dark, med: mid, max: light        Metrahit Energy
Currently we use the Metrahit Energy, a professional single phase power quality and energy measurement digital multimeter, for our measurements. Find out more about it here. All of our test methods can be found here.
Dell Precision 5530 2-in-1
i7-8706G, WX Vega M GL, SK Hynix PC401 512GB M.2 (HFS512GD9TNG), IPS, 3840x2160, 15.60
MSI WS63VR 7RL-023US
i7-7700HQ, Quadro P4000 Max-Q, Toshiba NVMe THNSN5512GPU7, IPS, 3840x2160, 15.60
Lenovo ThinkPad X1 Extreme-20MF000XGE
i7-8750H, GeForce GTX 1050 Ti Max-Q, Samsung SSD PM981 MZVLB1T0HALR, IPS, 3840x2160, 15.60
Dell Precision 5530 Xeon E-2176M
E-2176M, Quadro P2000, SK hynix PC400 512 GB, IGZO, 3840x2160, 15.60
Gigabyte Aero 15X v8
i7-8750H, GeForce GTX 1070 Max-Q, Toshiba NVMe THNSN5512GPU7, IPS, 1920x1080, 15.60
HP ZBook 15u G5 2ZC05EA
i5-8550U, Radeon Pro WX 3100, Toshiba XG5 KXG50ZNV256G, IPS LED, 1920x1080, 15.60
Power Consumption
-34%
-15%
-23%
-61%
38%
Idle Minimum *
7.4
13.3
-80%
7.6
-3%
9.8
-32%
14
-89%
3.2
57%
Idle Average *
12.4
17.2
-39%
14.8
-19%
16.8
-35%
18
-45%
6.1
51%
Idle Maximum *
13.3
17.9
-35%
17.6
-32%
16.9
-27%
22
-65%
9.7
27%
Load Average *
79.2
83.7
-6%
86
-9%
102.3
-29%
91
-15%
62
22%
Witcher 3 ultra *
82.2
101.9
-24%
85
-3%
76.5
7%
142
-73%
48
42%
Load Maximum *
96.5
114.3
-18%
118.9
-23%
114.5
-19%
173
-79%
71
26%

* ... smaller is better

Battery Life

Runtimes are unsurprisingly similar to the XPS 15 9575 and so users can expect just over 7 hours of real-world WLAN use before needing to recharge. On the other hand, expect a battery life of under 70 minutes if running demanding tasks. The ThinkPad X1 Extreme has slightly shorter runtimes overall.

Any of the four USB Type-C ports can be used to charge the system.

Battery Runtime
Idle (without WLAN, min brightness)
12h 17min
WiFi Websurfing
7h 15min
Load (maximum brightness)
1h 10min
Dell Precision 5530 2-in-1
i7-8706G, WX Vega M GL, 75 Wh
MSI WS63VR 7RL-023US
i7-7700HQ, Quadro P4000 Max-Q, 48 Wh
Lenovo ThinkPad X1 Extreme-20MF000XGE
i7-8750H, GeForce GTX 1050 Ti Max-Q, 80 Wh
Dell Precision 5530 Xeon E-2176M
E-2176M, Quadro P2000, 97 Wh
Gigabyte Aero 15X v8
i7-8750H, GeForce GTX 1070 Max-Q, 94.24 Wh
HP ZBook 15u G5 2ZC05EA
i5-8550U, Radeon Pro WX 3100, 56 Wh
Battery Runtime
-50%
17%
35%
48%
94%
Reader / Idle
737
235
-68%
691
-6%
991
34%
762
3%
1301
77%
WiFi v1.3
435
175
-60%
384
-12%
501
15%
513
18%
514
18%
Load
70
54
-23%
119
70%
110
57%
156
123%
200
186%
Witcher 3 ultra
63

Pros

+ optional AI-based custom performance optimizer software
+ bright, high quality FHD and 4K UHD touchscreen options
+ included USB Type-C adapters, WACOM pen
+ very powerful CPU and GPU for the size
+ full sRGB and AdobeRGB coverage
+ portable and thin form factor
+ unique MagLev keys
+ Thunderbolt 3

Cons

- pulse-width modulation on lower brightness levels
- slow display response times; increased ghosting
- reduced performance when on batteries
- lacks many traditional workstation ports
- stylus buttons have poor feedback
- only one internal storage bay
- loud fans when under load
- non-expandable RAM
- no ECC RAM options
- no WAN or 4G LTE

Verdict

In review: Dell Precision 5530 2-in-1. Test model provided by Dell US
In review: Dell Precision 5530 2-in-1. Test model provided by Dell US

If you're a traditional workstation user who wants integrated VGA, full-size ports, thicker chassis, ECC memory, Smart Card readers, more storage space, E-Port compatibility, and easier serviceability, then the Precision 5530 2-in-1 is not for you. A Precision 7000 series laptop like the 7720 would be the better fit in such stationary scenarios.

On the other hand, professionals who are constantly taking their work on-the-road and are drawn in by the versatile 360-degrees hinges should consider the Precision 5530 2-in-1. Its CPU and GPU strike a great balance in terms of individual performance and its bright IGZO display has the range required to accurately reproduce both sRGB and AdobeRGB. It's a deceivingly powerful workstation despite the high portability and very thin form factor.

Users who want a portable workstation but are otherwise uninterested in touchscreen features or tablet mode may want to look at the Precision 5530 or MSI WS63VR as alternative options. The MSI chassis may not be as rigid as the Dell, but it offers faster Quadro P3000 and P4000 Max-Q graphics options that demanding workstation users may appreciate.

The Precision 5530 2-in-1 is a mobile powerhouse that finely balances performance and portability. If it's ports and ease of service you are after, however, then the the more traditional Precision 7720 would be the stronger and faster option.

Dell Precision 5530 2-in-1 - 10/12/2018 v6(old)
Allen Ngo

Chassis
95 / 98 → 97%
Keyboard
85%
Pointing Device
86%
Connectivity
47 / 81 → 58%
Weight
63 / 10-66 → 95%
Battery
89%
Display
86%
Games Performance
85%
Application Performance
88%
Temperature
88 / 95 → 93%
Noise
87 / 90 → 97%
Audio
50%
Camera
55 / 85 → 65%
Average
77%
83%
Workstation - Weighted Average

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> Expert Reviews and News on Laptops, Smartphones and Tech Innovations > Reviews > Dell Precision 5530 2-in-1 (i7-8706G, Radeon WX Vega M GL, 4K UHD) Workstation Review
Allen Ngo, 2018-10-14 (Update: 2019-02-26)