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MagyarDell XPS 17 9730 laptop review: GeForce RTX 4070 multimedia monster
The 2023 XPS 17 9730 is the fourth iteration of the original 2020 XPS 17 9700 design. It is an internal update with 13th gen Intel Raptor Lake-H CPUs and Nvidia Ada Lovelace GPUs to replace last year's 12th gen Alder Lake-H and Ampere options, respectively. There are otherwise no major superficial changes and so we recommend checking out our review on the original XPS 17 9700 to learn more about the physical features of the laptop. Any future redesigns will likely take inspiration from the recent XPS 13 Plus series.
Our specific configuration in review is a higher-end SKU with the Core i7-13700H, GeForce RTX 4070, and UHD+ 2400p glossy touchscreen for approximately $3500 USD retail. Other SKUs are available with the RTX 4050, RTX 4060, RTX 4080, Core i9-13900H, or 1200p matte display instead. Interestingly, all configurations must come with discrete graphics whereas previous XPS 17 models had cheaper integrated UHD or Iris Xe options.
Competitors in this space include other flagship 17-inch multimedia laptops like the LG Gram 17, HP Envy 17, MSI Creator Z17, or the 16-inch Apple MacBook Pro 16.
More Dell reviews:
Potential Competitors in Comparison
Rating | Date | Model | Weight | Height | Size | Resolution | Best Price |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 90 % | 05/2023 | Dell XPS 17 9730 RTX 4070 i7-13700H, NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4070 Laptop GPU | 2.5 kg | 19.5 mm | 17.00" | 3840x2400 | |
| 88.8 % | 05/2022 | Dell XPS 17 9720 RTX 3060 i7-12700H, GeForce RTX 3060 Laptop GPU | 2.5 kg | 19.5 mm | 17.00" | 3840x2400 | |
| 86.4 % | 05/2023 | LG Gram 17 (2023) i7-1360P, Iris Xe G7 96EUs | 1.4 kg | 17.8 mm | 17.00" | 2560x1600 | |
| 86.3 % | 04/2023 | HP Envy 17-cr0079ng i7-1255U, GeForce RTX 2050 Mobile | 2.6 kg | 19.6 mm | 17.30" | 3840x2160 | |
| 83.8 % | 09/2022 | MSI Creator Z17 A12UGST-054 i9-12900H, GeForce RTX 3070 Ti Laptop GPU | 2.5 kg | 19 mm | 17.00" | 2560x1600 | |
| 93.7 % | 03/2023 | Apple MacBook Pro 16 2023 M2 Max M2 Max, M2 Max 38-Core GPU | 2.2 kg | 16.8 mm | 16.20" | 3456x2234 |
Case — Same Design Three Years Running
SD Card Reader
| SD Card Reader | |
| average JPG Copy Test (av. of 3 runs) | |
| Dell XPS 17 9720 RTX 3060 (Toshiba Exceria Pro SDXC 64 GB UHS-II) | |
| Dell XPS 17 9730 RTX 4070 (Toshiba Exceria Pro SDXC 64 GB UHS-II) | |
| Apple MacBook Pro 16 2023 M2 Max (Angelbird AV Pro V60) | |
| MSI Creator Z17 A12UGST-054 (AV Pro SD microSD 128 GB V60) | |
| HP Envy 17-cr0079ng (AV Pro SD microSD 128 GB V60) | |
| LG Gram 17 (2023) (AV Pro SD microSD 128 GB V60) | |
| maximum AS SSD Seq Read Test (1GB) | |
| Apple MacBook Pro 16 2023 M2 Max (Angelbird AV Pro V60) | |
| Dell XPS 17 9730 RTX 4070 (Toshiba Exceria Pro SDXC 64 GB UHS-II) | |
| Dell XPS 17 9720 RTX 3060 (Toshiba Exceria Pro SDXC 64 GB UHS-II) | |
| LG Gram 17 (2023) (AV Pro SD microSD 128 GB V60) | |
| MSI Creator Z17 A12UGST-054 (AV Pro SD microSD 128 GB V60) | |
| HP Envy 17-cr0079ng (AV Pro SD microSD 128 GB V60) | |
Communication — No Wi-Fi 6E
The XPS 15 and XPS 17 continue to be the only laptops in recent memory to to ship with Wi-Fi 6E WLAN modules and yet NOT support Wi-Fi 6E connectivity. Thus, you won't be able to connect to any 6 GHz Wi-Fi networks. This shouldn't be a major issue for most users, but it's disappointing nonetheless for a laptop costing over $3500.
| Networking | |
| iperf3 transmit AXE11000 | |
| LG Gram 17 (2023) | |
| Dell XPS 17 9720 RTX 3060 | |
| HP Envy 17-cr0079ng | |
| Dell XPS 17 9730 RTX 4070 | |
| iperf3 receive AXE11000 | |
| LG Gram 17 (2023) | |
| HP Envy 17-cr0079ng | |
| Dell XPS 17 9720 RTX 3060 | |
| Dell XPS 17 9730 RTX 4070 | |
| iperf3 transmit AXE11000 6GHz | |
| Apple MacBook Pro 16 2023 M2 Max | |
| LG Gram 17 (2023) | |
| HP Envy 17-cr0079ng | |
| MSI Creator Z17 A12UGST-054 | |
| iperf3 receive AXE11000 6GHz | |
| Apple MacBook Pro 16 2023 M2 Max | |
| MSI Creator Z17 A12UGST-054 | |
| HP Envy 17-cr0079ng | |
| LG Gram 17 (2023) | |
Webcam — Only 720p
The XPS 15 and XPS 17 are probably the only flagship laptops still shipping with low resolution 1 MP or 720p webcams and no privacy shutter. Competing manufacturers like Lenovo, HP, Asus, and others have already moved on to 2 MP or even 8 MP solutions. Dell says the super-narrow display bezel of the XPS design limits the quality of the webcam sensor.
Maintenance
Display — Still Good, But No 120 Hz Option
Dell has been using the exact same 17.0-inch Sharp LQ170R1 IPS touchscreen panel for its XPS 17 series since the original 2020 model. Thus, the visual experience has remained identical ever since and we recommend checking out our existing reviews on the 9720, 9710, or 9700 models to learn more about the display. Though the wide DCI-P3 colors, good maximum brightness, sharp UHD+ resolution, and good 1500:1 contrast ratio are still great to this day, the 60 Hz refresh rate is starting to show its age as 90 Hz or faster panels are becoming common on other multimedia laptops like the Asus ZenBook 14 or Lenovo Slim 7i.
| |||||||||||||||||||||||||
Brightness Distribution: 85 %
Center on Battery: 457.4 cd/m²
Contrast: 1475:1 (Black: 0.31 cd/m²)
ΔE Color 3.16 | 0.5-29.43 Ø5
ΔE Greyscale 4.2 | 0.57-98 Ø5.3
100% AdobeRGB 1998 (Argyll 2.2.0 3D)
100% sRGB (Argyll 2.2.0 3D)
95.2% Display P3 (Argyll 2.2.0 3D)
Gamma: 2.17
| Dell XPS 17 9730 RTX 4070 10-point capacitive, Sharp LQ170R1, 3840x2400, 17.00 | Dell XPS 17 9720 RTX 3060 Sharp LQ170R1, IPS, 3840x2400, 17.00 | LG Gram 17 (2023) LG Display LP170WQ1-SPF2, IPS, 2560x1600, 17.00 | HP Envy 17-cr0079ng BOE0A66, IPS, 3840x2160, 17.30 | MSI Creator Z17 A12UGST-054 AUO3C9B (B170QAN01.0), IPS, 2560x1600, 17.00 | Apple MacBook Pro 16 2023 M2 Max Mini-LED, 3456x2234, 16.20 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Display | -6% | -4% | -3% | -3% | -2% | |
| Display P3 Coverage | 95.2 | 92.9 -2% | 97 2% | 98.31 3% | 98.9 4% | 99 4% |
| sRGB Coverage | 100 | 100 0% | 99.8 0% | 100 0% | 99.9 0% | 100 0% |
| AdobeRGB 1998 Coverage | 100 | 85.3 -15% | 84.9 -15% | 87.03 -13% | 86.4 -14% | 88.5 -11% |
| Response Times | -16% | 80% | 88% | 79% | -70% | |
| Response Time Grey 50% / Grey 80% * | 42.9 ? | 51.2 ? -19% | 2 ? 95% | 1 98% | 11 ? 74% | 80.5 ? -88% |
| Response Time Black / White * | 31.3 ? | 35.2 ? -12% | 11 ? 65% | 7 ? 78% | 5 ? 84% | 47.2 ? -51% |
| PWM Frequency | 14880 ? | |||||
| Screen | -30% | -6% | 9% | -13% | 4294% | |
| Brightness middle | 457.4 | 512.7 12% | 405 -11% | 390 -15% | 444 -3% | 504 10% |
| Brightness | 430 | 463 8% | 363 -16% | 385 -10% | 415 -3% | 487 13% |
| Brightness Distribution | 85 | 85 0% | 82 -4% | 86 1% | 88 4% | 94 11% |
| Black Level * | 0.31 | 0.32 -3% | 0.225 27% | 0.395 -27% | 0.7 -126% | 0.001 100% |
| Contrast | 1475 | 1602 9% | 1800 22% | 987 -33% | 634 -57% | 504000 34069% |
| Colorchecker dE 2000 * | 3.16 | 5.98 -89% | 3.35 -6% | 1.66 47% | 2.48 22% | 1.5 53% |
| Colorchecker dE 2000 max. * | 5.8 | 12.09 -108% | 7.96 -37% | 2.9 50% | 3.52 39% | 3.3 43% |
| Greyscale dE 2000 * | 4.2 | 7.2 -71% | 5.28 -26% | 1.83 56% | 3.33 21% | 2.1 50% |
| Gamma | 2.17 101% | 2.54 87% | 2.43 91% | 2.25 98% | 2.33 94% | 2.25 98% |
| CCT | 6987 93% | 6914 94% | 7424 88% | 6727 97% | 6230 104% | 6882 94% |
| Colorchecker dE 2000 calibrated * | 1.34 | 1.16 | 2.91 | |||
| Total Average (Program / Settings) | -17% /
-22% | 23% /
7% | 31% /
18% | 21% /
3% | 1407% /
2631% |
* ... smaller is better
Display Response Times
| ↔ Response Time Black to White | ||
|---|---|---|
| 31.3 ms ... rise ↗ and fall ↘ combined | ↗ 16.9 ms rise |  |
| ↘ 14.4 ms fall | ||
| The screen shows slow response rates in our tests and will be unsatisfactory for gamers. In comparison, all tested devices range from 0.1 (minimum) to 240 (maximum) ms. » 83 % of all devices are better. This means that the measured response time is worse than the average of all tested devices (21.5 ms). | ||
| ↔ Response Time 50% Grey to 80% Grey | ||
| 42.9 ms ... rise ↗ and fall ↘ combined | ↗ 19.9 ms rise |  |
| ↘ 23 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. » 67 % of all devices are better. This means that the measured response time is worse than the average of all tested devices (33.7 ms). | ||
Screen Flickering / PWM (Pulse-Width Modulation)
| Screen flickering / PWM not detected |  | ||
In comparison: 53 % of all tested devices do not use PWM to dim the display. If PWM was detected, an average of 17909 (minimum: 5 - maximum: 3846000) Hz was measured. | |||
Performance — 13th Gen Intel + Nvidia Ada Lovelace
Testing Conditions
We set our unit to Performance mode via the MyDell software prior to running any benchmarks below. The Dell power profile settings are conveniently synchronized with the Windows power profile settings unlike on most other laptops.
It's recommended that users become familiar with MyDell as it is the central hub for adjusting audio, colors, power, and other pre-installed Dell apps like SupportAssist. Dell has redesigned the MyDell UI yet again to be more similar to the Dell Optimizer software that ships with many business laptops from the same manufacturer. Annoyingly, the app window is very small and it cannot be maximized.
Optimus comes standard for automatic switching between the iGPU and dGPU. There is no support for Advanced Optimus or MUX.
Processor
The Core i7-13700H in the XPS 17 performs very well with benchmark results that are slightly higher than most other laptops in our database equipped with the same processor including the recent XPS 15 9530. Turbo Boost in particular is impressive for a 25 percent performance advantage over the Core i7-12700H in last year's XPS 17 9720 model.
There is a notable catch to keep in mind, however. CPU Turbo Boost is not indefinite as shown by our graph below when running CineBench R15 xT in a loop. Performance would dip by about 25 percent after 9 or 10 runs which is steeper relative to most other laptops powered by H-series CPUs. When taking this throttling into account, the Core i7-13700H would actually perform almost identically to the Core i7-12700H. Thus, the Core i7-13700H is at its best when high performance is needed in short bursts such as when launching programs, editing images, or encoding short videos. Otherwise, it offers just minor performance benefits over last year's Core i7-12700H.
Upgrading to the Core i9-13900H option is expected to boost multi-thread performance by about 10 to 20 percent based on our experience with the MSI Stealth 17 Studio. Single-thread performance, however, would remain about the same if not slightly slower with the Core i9.
Cinebench R15 Multi Loop
Cinebench R23: Multi Core | Single Core
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 | 7z b 4 -mmt1
Geekbench 5.5: Multi-Core | Single-Core
HWBOT x265 Benchmark v2.2: 4k Preset
LibreOffice : 20 Documents To PDF
R Benchmark 2.5: Overall mean
Cinebench R23: Multi Core | Single Core
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 | 7z b 4 -mmt1
Geekbench 5.5: Multi-Core | Single-Core
HWBOT x265 Benchmark v2.2: 4k Preset
LibreOffice : 20 Documents To PDF
R Benchmark 2.5: Overall mean
* ... smaller is better
AIDA64: FP32 Ray-Trace | FPU Julia | CPU SHA3 | CPU Queen | FPU SinJulia | FPU Mandel | CPU AES | CPU ZLib | FP64 Ray-Trace | CPU PhotoWorxx
| Performance Rating | |
| Dell XPS 17 9730 RTX 4070 | |
| Average Intel Core i7-13700H | |
| MSI Creator Z17 A12UGST-054 | |
| Dell XPS 17 9720 RTX 3060 | |
| LG Gram 17 (2023) | |
| HP Envy 17-cr0079ng | |
| AIDA64 / FP32 Ray-Trace | |
| Dell XPS 17 9730 RTX 4070 | |
| Average Intel Core i7-13700H (4986 - 18908, n=27) | |
| LG Gram 17 (2023) | |
| MSI Creator Z17 A12UGST-054 | |
| HP Envy 17-cr0079ng | |
| Dell XPS 17 9720 RTX 3060 | |
| AIDA64 / FPU Julia | |
| Dell XPS 17 9730 RTX 4070 | |
| Average Intel Core i7-13700H (25360 - 92359, n=27) | |
| HP Envy 17-cr0079ng | |
| LG Gram 17 (2023) | |
| MSI Creator Z17 A12UGST-054 | |
| Dell XPS 17 9720 RTX 3060 | |
| AIDA64 / CPU SHA3 | |
| Dell XPS 17 9730 RTX 4070 | |
| Average Intel Core i7-13700H (1339 - 4224, n=27) | |
| MSI Creator Z17 A12UGST-054 | |
| Dell XPS 17 9720 RTX 3060 | |
| HP Envy 17-cr0079ng | |
| LG Gram 17 (2023) | |
| AIDA64 / CPU Queen | |
| MSI Creator Z17 A12UGST-054 | |
| Dell XPS 17 9720 RTX 3060 | |
| Average Intel Core i7-13700H (68763 - 107159, n=27) | |
| Dell XPS 17 9730 RTX 4070 | |
| LG Gram 17 (2023) | |
| HP Envy 17-cr0079ng | |
| AIDA64 / FPU SinJulia | |
| Dell XPS 17 9730 RTX 4070 | |
| MSI Creator Z17 A12UGST-054 | |
| Dell XPS 17 9720 RTX 3060 | |
| Average Intel Core i7-13700H (4800 - 11050, n=27) | |
| LG Gram 17 (2023) | |
| HP Envy 17-cr0079ng | |
| AIDA64 / FPU Mandel | |
| Dell XPS 17 9730 RTX 4070 | |
| Average Intel Core i7-13700H (12321 - 45118, n=27) | |
| MSI Creator Z17 A12UGST-054 | |
| LG Gram 17 (2023) | |
| Dell XPS 17 9720 RTX 3060 | |
| HP Envy 17-cr0079ng | |
| AIDA64 / CPU AES | |
| MSI Creator Z17 A12UGST-054 | |
| Dell XPS 17 9720 RTX 3060 | |
| Average Intel Core i7-13700H (28769 - 151254, n=27) | |
| Dell XPS 17 9730 RTX 4070 | |
| LG Gram 17 (2023) | |
| HP Envy 17-cr0079ng | |
| AIDA64 / CPU ZLib | |
| Dell XPS 17 9730 RTX 4070 | |
| MSI Creator Z17 A12UGST-054 | |
| Average Intel Core i7-13700H (389 - 1215, n=27) | |
| Dell XPS 17 9720 RTX 3060 | |
| HP Envy 17-cr0079ng | |
| LG Gram 17 (2023) | |
| AIDA64 / FP64 Ray-Trace | |
| Dell XPS 17 9730 RTX 4070 | |
| Average Intel Core i7-13700H (2540 - 10135, n=27) | |
| LG Gram 17 (2023) | |
| MSI Creator Z17 A12UGST-054 | |
| Dell XPS 17 9720 RTX 3060 | |
| HP Envy 17-cr0079ng | |
| AIDA64 / CPU PhotoWorxx | |
| LG Gram 17 (2023) | |
| Dell XPS 17 9730 RTX 4070 | |
| Average Intel Core i7-13700H (19552 - 52727, n=27) | |
| Dell XPS 17 9720 RTX 3060 | |
| MSI Creator Z17 A12UGST-054 | |
| HP Envy 17-cr0079ng | |
System Performance
PCMark scores are nearly identical to last year's XPS 17 9720 despite the year-over-year performance improvements. This suggests that day-to-day workloads and light office activities are not noticeably faster on the latest model. If your workloads consist mostly of web browsing, spreadsheets and word processing, then a lesser XPS 17 configuration with the RTX 4050 may be more appropriate than our RTX 4070 configuration.
CrossMark: Overall | Productivity | Creativity | Responsiveness
| PCMark 10 / Score | |
| Average Intel Core i7-13700H, NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4070 Laptop GPU (7158 - 7956, n=8) | |
| Dell XPS 17 9720 RTX 3060 | |
| Dell XPS 17 9730 RTX 4070 | |
| MSI Creator Z17 A12UGST-054 | |
| HP Envy 17-cr0079ng | |
| LG Gram 17 (2023) | |
| PCMark 10 / Essentials | |
| LG Gram 17 (2023) | |
| Dell XPS 17 9720 RTX 3060 | |
| Average Intel Core i7-13700H, NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4070 Laptop GPU (10252 - 11449, n=8) | |
| HP Envy 17-cr0079ng | |
| MSI Creator Z17 A12UGST-054 | |
| Dell XPS 17 9730 RTX 4070 | |
| PCMark 10 / Productivity | |
| Average Intel Core i7-13700H, NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4070 Laptop GPU (8501 - 10769, n=8) | |
| MSI Creator Z17 A12UGST-054 | |
| Dell XPS 17 9720 RTX 3060 | |
| Dell XPS 17 9730 RTX 4070 | |
| HP Envy 17-cr0079ng | |
| LG Gram 17 (2023) | |
| PCMark 10 / Digital Content Creation | |
| Average Intel Core i7-13700H, NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4070 Laptop GPU (10358 - 12908, n=8) | |
| Dell XPS 17 9730 RTX 4070 | |
| Dell XPS 17 9720 RTX 3060 | |
| MSI Creator Z17 A12UGST-054 | |
| HP Envy 17-cr0079ng | |
| LG Gram 17 (2023) | |
| CrossMark / Overall | |
| MSI Creator Z17 A12UGST-054 | |
| Apple MacBook Pro 16 2023 M2 Max | |
| Average Intel Core i7-13700H, NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4070 Laptop GPU (1768 - 2073, n=6) | |
| Dell XPS 17 9720 RTX 3060 | |
| Dell XPS 17 9730 RTX 4070 | |
| LG Gram 17 (2023) | |
| HP Envy 17-cr0079ng | |
| CrossMark / Productivity | |
| MSI Creator Z17 A12UGST-054 | |
| Average Intel Core i7-13700H, NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4070 Laptop GPU (1645 - 2006, n=6) | |
| Dell XPS 17 9720 RTX 3060 | |
| Dell XPS 17 9730 RTX 4070 | |
| Apple MacBook Pro 16 2023 M2 Max | |
| LG Gram 17 (2023) | |
| HP Envy 17-cr0079ng | |
| CrossMark / Creativity | |
| Apple MacBook Pro 16 2023 M2 Max | |
| MSI Creator Z17 A12UGST-054 | |
| Dell XPS 17 9720 RTX 3060 | |
| Average Intel Core i7-13700H, NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4070 Laptop GPU (1936 - 2137, n=6) | |
| Dell XPS 17 9730 RTX 4070 | |
| LG Gram 17 (2023) | |
| HP Envy 17-cr0079ng | |
| CrossMark / Responsiveness | |
| MSI Creator Z17 A12UGST-054 | |
| Average Intel Core i7-13700H, NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4070 Laptop GPU (1451 - 2202, n=6) | |
| Dell XPS 17 9720 RTX 3060 | |
| Dell XPS 17 9730 RTX 4070 | |
| LG Gram 17 (2023) | |
| Apple MacBook Pro 16 2023 M2 Max | |
| HP Envy 17-cr0079ng | |
| PCMark 10 Score | 7165 points | |
Help | ||
| AIDA64 / Memory Copy | |
| LG Gram 17 (2023) | |
| Dell XPS 17 9730 RTX 4070 | |
| Average Intel Core i7-13700H (40018 - 78081, n=27) | |
| Dell XPS 17 9720 RTX 3060 | |
| MSI Creator Z17 A12UGST-054 | |
| HP Envy 17-cr0079ng | |
| AIDA64 / Memory Read | |
| Dell XPS 17 9730 RTX 4070 | |
| Dell XPS 17 9720 RTX 3060 | |
| Average Intel Core i7-13700H (44583 - 79656, n=27) | |
| MSI Creator Z17 A12UGST-054 | |
| LG Gram 17 (2023) | |
| HP Envy 17-cr0079ng | |
| AIDA64 / Memory Write | |
| LG Gram 17 (2023) | |
| Average Intel Core i7-13700H (42710 - 99898, n=27) | |
| Dell XPS 17 9730 RTX 4070 | |
| MSI Creator Z17 A12UGST-054 | |
| Dell XPS 17 9720 RTX 3060 | |
| HP Envy 17-cr0079ng | |
| AIDA64 / Memory Latency | |
| LG Gram 17 (2023) | |
| MSI Creator Z17 A12UGST-054 | |
| Dell XPS 17 9730 RTX 4070 | |
| Average Intel Core i7-13700H (82.4 - 136.8, n=27) | |
| Dell XPS 17 9720 RTX 3060 | |
| HP Envy 17-cr0079ng | |
* ... smaller is better
DPC Latency
LatencyMon reveals DPC issues when opening multiple browser tabs of our homepage even after multiple retries. The results are disappointing considering that we didn't run into any issues on the recent XPS 15 9530 or on last year's XPS 17 9720.
4K video playback at 60 FPS is perfect except for the beginning where it would always drop 4 frames. Interestingly, this same issue would appear on the XPS 15 9530 as well.
| DPC Latencies / LatencyMon - interrupt to process latency (max), Web, Youtube, Prime95 | |
| HP Envy 17-cr0079ng | |
| Dell XPS 17 9730 RTX 4070 | |
| LG Gram 17 (2023) | |
| MSI Creator Z17 A12UGST-054 | |
| Dell XPS 15 9530 RTX 4070 | |
| Dell XPS 17 9720 RTX 3060 | |
* ... smaller is better
Storage Devices
XPS units may ship with SSDs from Samsung, Micron, Western Digital, or SK Hynix. In our particular case, our test unit comes with the SK Hynix PC801 PCIe4 x4 NVMe SSD. Performance is excellent and comparable to the Samsung PM9A1 with no dips in transfer rates when stressed.
A second M.2 SSD can be installed if needed. Each of the two M.2 slots comes with a heat spreader to aid in cooling the drives.
| Drive Performance Rating - Percent | |
| LG Gram 17 (2023) | |
| MSI Creator Z17 A12UGST-054 | |
| Dell XPS 17 9730 RTX 4070 | |
| Dell XPS 17 9720 RTX 3060 | |
| HP Envy 17-cr0079ng | |
* ... smaller is better
Disk Throttling: DiskSpd Read Loop, Queue Depth 8
GPU Performance — Much Faster Than The XPS 15 9530
The mobile GeForce RTX 4070 in the XPS 17 targets a TGP of 60 W to 70 W whereas the same GPU in the smaller XPS 15 targets 40 W. This seemingly small change makes a world of difference as 3DMark scores for both DirectX and ray tracing benchmarks are 50 to 60 percent faster on the XPS 17 9730 when compared to the XPS 15. The performance boost is so great that the RTX 4070 in the XPS 17 is only just 10 to 15 percent behind the average gaming laptop equipped with the same GPU. This is the performance range we were hoping to see from the XPS 15 9530.
Blender GPU acceleration also gets a boost when compared to the same GPU in the XPS 15. Its a smaller 20 percent increase in performance to bring the XPS 17 in line with most other RTX 4070 laptops.
Dell offers an even higher RTX 4080 option for the XPS 17, but we fully expect it to underperform when compared to most other RTX 4080 laptops due to the limited 130 W USB-C power supply. The MSI Stealth 17 Studio, for example, offers the RTX 4080 albeit with a much more capable 240 W AC adapter.
The highest GPU option for the XPS 17 series prior to the XPS 17 9730 was the RTX 3060. When compared to that configuration, our RTX 4070 can offer 20 percent and 30 percent faster content creation and graphics performance, respectively.
| 3DMark 11 Performance | 29589 points | |
| 3DMark Fire Strike Score | 22011 points | |
| 3DMark Time Spy Score | 9714 points | |
Help | ||
* ... smaller is better
Gaming Performance
The system works well as a secondary gaming machine. Since the 70 W RTX 4070 isn't nearly as underpowered as the 40 W version in the XPS 15, the XPS 17 is able to run the latest games at QHD resolution and 60 FPS on medium to medium-high settings. 4K UHD is still out of reach for the most part, but the GPU would pair well with external FHD or QHD monitors for gaming purposes.
Perhaps the two notable factors holding back the XPS 17 from being a "proper" gaming laptop is its relatively slow display response times and lack of G-Sync support for the internal display. Dropped frames, screen tearing, and ghosting are thus more prevalent when gaming on the XPS 17. Of course, much of this can be avoided by simply gaming on an external monitor.
| Returnal | |
| 1280x720 Low Preset | |
| Aorus 17X AZF | |
| Average NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4070 Laptop GPU (126 - 150, n=4) | |
| 1920x1080 Low Preset | |
| Aorus 17X AZF | |
| Average NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4070 Laptop GPU (65 - 119, n=10) | |
| Dell XPS 17 9730 RTX 4070 | |
| 1920x1080 Medium Preset | |
| Aorus 17X AZF | |
| Average NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4070 Laptop GPU (69 - 117, n=11) | |
| Dell XPS 17 9730 RTX 4070 | |
| 1920x1080 High Preset | |
| Aorus 17X AZF | |
| Average NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4070 Laptop GPU (64 - 106, n=11) | |
| Dell XPS 17 9730 RTX 4070 | |
| 1920x1080 Epic Preset | |
| Aorus 17X AZF | |
| Average NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4070 Laptop GPU (54 - 90, n=11) | |
| Dell XPS 17 9730 RTX 4070 | |
| 2560x1440 Epic Preset | |
| Aorus 17X AZF | |
| Average NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4070 Laptop GPU (39 - 66, n=11) | |
| Dell XPS 17 9730 RTX 4070 | |
| 3840x2160 Epic Preset | |
| Aorus 17X AZF | |
| Average NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4070 Laptop GPU (21 - 39, n=7) | |
| Dell XPS 17 9730 RTX 4070 | |
| Tiny Tina's Wonderlands | |
| 1920x1080 Low Preset (DX12) | |
| Aorus 17X AZF | |
| Average NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4070 Laptop GPU (98.1 - 283, n=10) | |
| Dell XPS 17 9730 RTX 4070 | |
| 1920x1080 Medium Preset (DX12) | |
| Aorus 17X AZF | |
| Average NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4070 Laptop GPU (92.5 - 231, n=10) | |
| Dell XPS 17 9730 RTX 4070 | |
| 1920x1080 High Preset (DX12) | |
| Aorus 17X AZF | |
| Average NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4070 Laptop GPU (74.3 - 151.4, n=10) | |
| Dell XPS 17 9730 RTX 4070 | |
| 1920x1080 Badass Preset (DX12) | |
| Aorus 17X AZF | |
| Average NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4070 Laptop GPU (58.6 - 115.9, n=13) | |
| Dell XPS 17 9730 RTX 4070 | |
| 2560x1440 Badass Preset (DX12) | |
| Aorus 17X AZF | |
| Average NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4070 Laptop GPU (49.8 - 79.5, n=13) | |
| Dell XPS 17 9730 RTX 4070 | |
| 3840x2160 Badass Preset (DX12) | |
| Aorus 17X AZF | |
| Average NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4070 Laptop GPU (28.3 - 39.7, n=10) | |
| Dell XPS 17 9730 RTX 4070 | |
Witcher 3 FPS Chart
| low | med. | high | ultra | QHD | 4K | |
| GTA V (2015) | 186.6 | 182.5 | 167.9 | 102.7 | 75.5 | 76.9 |
| The Witcher 3 (2015) | 415.2 | 297.6 | 181.4 | 96.2 | 59 | |
| Dota 2 Reborn (2015) | 193.5 | 174.5 | 165.9 | 156.9 | 108 | |
| Final Fantasy XV Benchmark (2018) | 174.8 | 128.3 | 94.7 | 69.9 | 38.2 | |
| X-Plane 11.11 (2018) | 154.6 | 133.1 | 106.4 | 90 | ||
| Strange Brigade (2018) | 431 | 238 | 192 | 165.4 | 113.6 | 61.7 |
| Cyberpunk 2077 1.6 (2022) | 102.1 | 99.4 | 85.6 | 71 | 43 | 18.7 |
| Tiny Tina's Wonderlands (2022) | 183.5 | 153.3 | 104.9 | 82.4 | 55.7 | 28.3 |
| F1 22 (2022) | 206 | 196.4 | 158.2 | 60.7 | 39.4 | 18.8 |
| Returnal (2023) | 72 | 71 | 67 | 59 | 41 | 21 |
Emissions
System Noise — Loud Only When It Needs To Be
Fan noise has not drastically changed despite the improvements to performance. The XPS 17 typically hovers around a barely audible 25.6 dB(A) against a silent background of 22.7 dB(A) when browsing the web or streaming video. If running very demanding loads like games, however, fan noise would begin approaching the level of some gaming laptops at up to 50 dB(A). The XPS model offers gaming-level specifications, after all.
Noise Level
| Idle |
| 22.8 / 22.8 / 22.8 dB(A) |
| Load |
| 38.9 / 50.2 dB(A) |
 | ||
30 dB silent 40 dB(A) audible 50 dB(A) loud |
||
min:  , med:  , max:  Earthworks M23R, Arta (15 cm distance) environment noise: 22.7 dB(A) | ||
| Dell XPS 17 9730 RTX 4070 NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4070 Laptop GPU, i7-13700H, SK hynix PC801 HFS001TEJ9X101N | Dell XPS 17 9720 RTX 3060 GeForce RTX 3060 Laptop GPU, i7-12700H, Samsung PM9A1 MZVL21T0HCLR | LG Gram 17 (2023) Iris Xe G7 96EUs, i7-1360P, Samsung PM9A1 MZVL21T0HCLR | HP Envy 17-cr0079ng GeForce RTX 2050 Mobile, i7-1255U, Samsung PM991a MZVLQ1T0HBLB | MSI Creator Z17 A12UGST-054 GeForce RTX 3070 Ti Laptop GPU, i9-12900H, Micron 3400 1TB MTFDKBA1T0TFH | Apple MacBook Pro 16 2023 M2 Max M2 Max 38-Core GPU, M2 Max, Apple SSD AP2048Z | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Noise | -4% | -11% | -16% | -28% | 4% | |
| off / environment * | 22.7 | 23.8 -5% | 25.2 -11% | 26.5 -17% | 26 -15% | 23.9 -5% |
| Idle Minimum * | 22.8 | 24.1 -6% | 25.2 -11% | 28.5 -25% | 31.8 -39% | 23.9 -5% |
| Idle Average * | 22.8 | 24.1 -6% | 25.7 -13% | 28.5 -25% | 31.8 -39% | 23.9 -5% |
| Idle Maximum * | 22.8 | 24.1 -6% | 29.3 -29% | 29.7 -30% | 31.8 -39% | 23.9 -5% |
| Load Average * | 38.9 | 43.2 -11% | 44.4 -14% | 39.5 -2% | 53.9 -39% | 36.6 6% |
| Witcher 3 ultra * | 47.4 | 48 -1% | 53.9 -14% | 35.1 26% | ||
| Load Maximum * | 50.2 | 48 4% | 45.2 10% | 48 4% | 54.9 -9% | 43.2 14% |
* ... smaller is better
Temperature
Surface temperatures are cooler than expected when compared to other laptops powered by similar Core H-series CPUs and GeForce RTX GPUs. The competing MSI Creator Z17, for example, would have hot spots as warm as 60+ C whereas our Dell would only be at 43 C when running similar heavy loads. The lower surface temperatures on the Dell can be attributed to the vapor chamber cooler, GORE thermal insulation, and generally lower power envelope.
(±) The maximum temperature on the upper side is 43.2 °C / 110 F, compared to the average of 36.9 °C / 98 F, ranging from 21.1 to 71 °C for the class Multimedia.
(+) The bottom heats up to a maximum of 31.8 °C / 89 F, compared to the average of 39.1 °C / 102 F
(+) In idle usage, the average temperature for the upper side is 28.2 °C / 83 F, compared to the device average of 31.2 °C / 88 F.
(±) Playing The Witcher 3, the average temperature for the upper side is 33.7 °C / 93 F, compared to the device average of 31.2 °C / 88 F.
(+) The palmrests and touchpad are cooler than skin temperature with a maximum of 31 °C / 87.8 F and are therefore cool to the touch.
(-) The average temperature of the palmrest area of similar devices was 28.8 °C / 83.8 F (-2.2 °C / -4 F).
| Dell XPS 17 9730 RTX 4070 Intel Core i7-13700H, NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4070 Laptop GPU | Dell XPS 17 9720 RTX 3060 Intel Core i7-12700H, NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3060 Laptop GPU | LG Gram 17 (2023) Intel Core i7-1360P, Intel Iris Xe Graphics G7 96EUs | HP Envy 17-cr0079ng Intel Core i7-1255U, NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2050 Mobile | MSI Creator Z17 A12UGST-054 Intel Core i9-12900H, NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3070 Ti Laptop GPU | Apple MacBook Pro 16 2023 M2 Max Apple M2 Max, Apple M2 Max 38-Core GPU | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Heat | -19% | -7% | -3% | -37% | 5% | |
| Maximum Upper Side * | 43.2 | 51.8 -20% | 43.9 -2% | 47.1 -9% | 63.9 -48% | 44.2 -2% |
| Maximum Bottom * | 31.8 | 44.2 -39% | 45.5 -43% | 43.8 -38% | 68 -114% | 42.9 -35% |
| Idle Upper Side * | 32.8 | 34.8 -6% | 28.4 13% | 25.2 23% | 28.3 14% | 22.4 32% |
| Idle Bottom * | 29.8 | 33.2 -11% | 28.2 5% | 25.9 13% | 30.2 -1% | 22.3 25% |
* ... smaller is better
Stress Test
When running Prime95 to stress the CPU, clock rates and package power would spike to 4.1 GHz and 122 W, respectively, lasting for just a few seconds. The processor would then steadily fall to 3.4 GHz and 80 W and then finally to 2.6 GHz and 55 W a few short minutes later. The final stable power draw of 55 W matches what we observed on last year's XPS 19 9720 which would explain their similar processor performances after accounting for throttling as mentioned above. Core temperature would be very high at 95 C to 100 C during the first few minutes of the test when Turbo Boost is most active before falling and stabilizing at 74 C.
GPU clock rates and temperature when running Witcher 3 would stabilize at 2115 MHz and 67 C, respectively, the latter of which matches what we observed on last year's RTX 3060-powered XPS 17 9720. Interestingly, GPU-Z would report a lower board power draw of 52 W while HWiNFO would report 70 W as shown by our screenshot below. Both values appear to be stable nonetheless.
Running on battery power limits performance. A Fire Strike test on batteries would return Physics and Graphics scores of 24847 and 21172 points, respectively, compared to 27094 and 24612 points when on mains.
| CPU Clock (GHz) | GPU Clock (MHz) | Average CPU Temperature (°C) | Average GPU Temperature (°C) | |
| System Idle | -- | -- | 43 | 40 |
| Prime95 Stress | 2.6 | -- | 74 | 54 |
| Prime95 + FurMark Stress | 1.6 | 1590 | 71 | 65 |
| Witcher 3 Stress | 0.8 | 2115 | 72 | 67 |
Speakers
Dell XPS 17 9730 RTX 4070 audio analysis
(+) | speakers can play relatively loud (87.1 dB)
Bass 100 - 315 Hz
(±) | reduced bass - on average 7.2% lower than median
(+) | bass is linear (5.9% delta to prev. frequency)
Mids 400 - 2000 Hz
(+) | balanced mids - only 3.3% away from median
(+) | mids are linear (5.1% delta to prev. frequency)
Highs 2 - 16 kHz
(+) | balanced highs - only 1.9% away from median
(+) | highs are linear (3.4% delta to prev. frequency)
Overall 100 - 16.000 Hz
(+) | overall sound is linear (7% difference to median)
Compared to same class
» 3% of all tested devices in this class were better, 1% similar, 96% worse
» The best had a delta of 5%, average was 18%, worst was 45%
Compared to all devices tested
» 1% of all tested devices were better, 0% similar, 99% worse
» The best had a delta of 4%, average was 25%, worst was 134%
Apple MacBook Pro 16 2021 M1 Pro audio analysis
(+) | speakers can play relatively loud (84.7 dB)
Bass 100 - 315 Hz
(+) | good bass - only 3.8% away from median
(+) | bass is linear (5.2% delta to prev. frequency)
Mids 400 - 2000 Hz
(+) | balanced mids - only 1.3% away from median
(+) | mids are linear (2.1% delta to prev. frequency)
Highs 2 - 16 kHz
(+) | balanced highs - only 1.9% away from median
(+) | highs are linear (2.7% delta to prev. frequency)
Overall 100 - 16.000 Hz
(+) | overall sound is linear (4.6% difference to median)
Compared to same class
» 0% of all tested devices in this class were better, 0% similar, 100% worse
» The best had a delta of 5%, average was 18%, worst was 45%
Compared to all devices tested
» 0% of all tested devices were better, 0% similar, 100% worse
» The best had a delta of 4%, average was 25%, worst was 134%
Energy Management — USB-C Putting In Work
Power Consumption — Is 130 W Enough?
Power consumption has not changed drastically from the older XPS 17 9720 since all XPS 17 models thus far ship with the same 130 W USB-C AC adapter. When compared to other laptops with H-series CPUs and GeForce RTX GPUs, the 130 W Dell adapter is one of the smallest in both size and output. The small adapter trades away higher performance and faster charging in favor of portability.
Even so, the higher performance-per-watt of Ada Lovelace versus Ampere still allows the XPS 17 9730 to perform better than last year's model when under the same power envelope. Running Witcher 3, for example, consumes around 114 W on both the XPS 17 9720 and 9730 despite the latter offering 30 percent faster graphics performance. CPU power consumption would be steadier as well with its longer Turbo Boost sustainability over the Core i7-12700H as mentioned above. Dell have definitely been optimizing the CPU and GPU the best they can to fit within the constraining power budget.
| Off / Standby | 0.57 / 0.94 Watt |
| Idle | 15 / 23.6 / 24.3 Watt |
| Load |
80 / 135.4 Watt |
   
| |
| Dell XPS 17 9730 RTX 4070 i7-13700H, NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4070 Laptop GPU, SK hynix PC801 HFS001TEJ9X101N, Sharp LQ170R1, 3840x2400, 17.00 | Dell XPS 17 9720 RTX 3060 i7-12700H, GeForce RTX 3060 Laptop GPU, Samsung PM9A1 MZVL21T0HCLR, IPS, 3840x2400, 17.00 | LG Gram 17 (2023) i7-1360P, Iris Xe G7 96EUs, Samsung PM9A1 MZVL21T0HCLR, IPS, 2560x1600, 17.00 | HP Envy 17-cr0079ng i7-1255U, GeForce RTX 2050 Mobile, Samsung PM991a MZVLQ1T0HBLB, IPS, 3840x2160, 17.30 | MSI Creator Z17 A12UGST-054 i9-12900H, GeForce RTX 3070 Ti Laptop GPU, Micron 3400 1TB MTFDKBA1T0TFH, IPS, 2560x1600, 17.00 | Apple MacBook Pro 16 2023 M2 Max M2 Max, M2 Max 38-Core GPU, Apple SSD AP2048Z, Mini-LED, 3456x2234, 16.20 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Power Consumption | 6% | 59% | 34% | -79% | 16% | |
| Idle Minimum * | 15 | 5.9 61% | 2.2 85% | 5.8 61% | 34.6 -131% | 5.2 65% |
| Idle Average * | 23.6 | 15.8 33% | 8.9 62% | 14.3 39% | 43 -82% | 16.5 30% |
| Idle Maximum * | 24.3 | 26.7 -10% | 11 55% | 18.4 24% | 44.9 -85% | 16.8 31% |
| Load Average * | 80 | 117.4 -47% | 53 34% | 70 12% | 145 -81% | 113 -41% |
| Witcher 3 ultra * | 113.7 | 114.8 -1% | 42.5 63% | 69.4 39% | 152.4 -34% | 92 19% |
| Load Maximum * | 135.4 | 136.6 -1% | 64 53% | 93 31% | 220 -62% | 145 -7% |
* ... smaller is better
Power Consumption Witcher 3 / Stresstest
Power Consumption external Monitor
Battery Life — Long Life, Slow Charging
WLAN runtime is about an hour longer than on last year's XPS 17 9720 for a total of 10 hours of real-world browsing usage. It's good to see that battery life hasn't taken a hit despite the yearly increases to overall performance.
Charging from empty to full capacity is slow at about 2 to 2.5 hours compared to 1.5 hours on most other laptops. Keep in mind that charging would slow even more if running demanding loads like games due to the limited 130 W AC adapter.
It's worth noting that the battery will not slowly drain when connected to mains and running games or other demanding loads. This issue was specific to the original XPS 9700 and it was resolved starting from the XPS 17 9710.
| Dell XPS 17 9730 RTX 4070 i7-13700H, NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4070 Laptop GPU, 97 Wh | Dell XPS 17 9720 RTX 3060 i7-12700H, GeForce RTX 3060 Laptop GPU, 97 Wh | LG Gram 17 (2023) i7-1360P, Iris Xe G7 96EUs, 80 Wh | HP Envy 17-cr0079ng i7-1255U, GeForce RTX 2050 Mobile, 55 Wh | MSI Creator Z17 A12UGST-054 i9-12900H, GeForce RTX 3070 Ti Laptop GPU, 90 Wh | Apple MacBook Pro 16 2023 M2 Max M2 Max, M2 Max 38-Core GPU, 99.6 Wh | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Battery Runtime | -13% | 61% | -6% | 26% | 24% | |
| Reader / Idle | 1147 | 1543 35% | ||||
| WiFi v1.3 | 600 | 524 -13% | 770 28% | 279 -53% | 332 -45% | 887 48% |
| Load | 67 | 58 -13% | 148 121% | 95 42% | 132 97% | 66 -1% |
| H.264 | 869 | 332 | 329 | 1124 |
Pros
Cons
Verdict — Balanced And Optimized
There's a saying that you shouldn't jump in on a first generation product or design because of potential problems or kinks that need to be ironed out. The original XPS 17 9700, for example, had battery draining problems, frame rate stability problems, and weak CPU Turbo Boost performance. After three full years of constant optimizations, the latest XPS 17 9730 has directly addressed all of these shortcomings to be a much easier recommendation. Power consumption is no longer an issue, frame rates are stable, and Turbo Boost is longer-lasting and more consistent.
The XPS 17 9730 balances high performance with a limited 130 W power budget much better than on the XPS 15 9530. When equipped with the exact same Core i7 CPU and GeForce RTX 4070 GPU, our XPS 17 would outperform its smaller sibling by 10 to 15 percent and 50 to 60 percent, respectively. The GPU boost in particular is enormous simply due to the higher TGP target of the XPS 17. If you're on the fence between the XPS 15 and XPS 17 and graphics performance is of utmost importance, then the XPS 17 is the clear winner.
The XPS 17 9730 has the performance, portability, display, and gaming potential to satisfy most home and office users. Nonetheless, certain aspects of the three-year old design are becoming outdated.
The disadvantages of the model can't be ignored. For a $3000+ laptop, the measly 1 MP webcam with no privacy shutter and no Wi-Fi 6E support are embarrassing at this price range. The 60 Hz IPS display is becoming stale as well when OLED and higher refresh rate panels are now commonplace. The 130 W AC adapter is feeling more like a brick wall preventing the XPS 17 series from achieving both faster charging rates and higher TGP targets. There's a lot that can be improved no doubt, but at least the performance side of things is at a comfortable level considering the thin design.
Price and Availability
The XPS 17 9730 is not yet widely available through resellers. For the most configurable options and immediate shipment, we recommend purchasing directly from Dell. Prices start at $2450 USD for the lowest-end SKU up to $4300 to $5100 if fully configured.
Dell XPS 17 9730 RTX 4070
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05/27/2023 v7
Allen Ngo
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Transparency
The present review sample was made available to the author as a loan by the manufacturer or a shop for the purposes of review. The lender had no influence on this review, nor did the manufacturer receive a copy of this review before publication. There was no obligation to publish this review.
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