We compare the Dell XPS 15 9570 Core i5, Core i7, and Core i9. Which is the better buy?

The 2018 XPS 15 9570 may be visually identical to the 2017 XPS 15 9560, but it has new GTX 1050 Ti Max-Q and Core i9 options not found on last year's model. The faster specifications look awesome on paper and they offer a compelling reason to purchase a newer 9570 SKU over the 9560 SKU.

In practice, however, the story is a bit more complicated. Jumping from the hexa-core Core i7-8750H to the hexa-core Core i9-8950HK brings a significantly smaller performance boost than jumping from the quad-core Core i5-8300H to the Core i7. The marginal return hits hard for users who want to go the Core i9 route.

Our graph below compares the stock CPU performance over time of the latest i9 XPS 15, i7 XPS 15, and i5 XPS 15 SKUs. The i7 SKU offers 45 to 50 percent faster multi-thread performance over the i5 SKU while the i9 SKU is essentially on par with the i7 SKU. It's not until after long periods of sustained processing stress that the i9 SKU begins to outperform the i7 SKU, but the delta is still only about 10 percent at best. In other words, the Core i9 in the XPS 15 is just slightly better at sustaining faster Turbo Boost clock rates than the Core i7 version.

We also experienced more system instability on our i9 XPS 15 test unit. When attempting to run Intel XTU, for example, the system would crash each time whereas we had no such issues on the i7 XPS 15. In fact, undervolting our i7 configuration can even boost Turbo Boost performance to be above that of the stock Core i9.

So, what about GPU performance? The new GTX 1050 Ti Max-Q option is about 20 percent faster than the GTX 1050. It's overkill for streaming, browsing, and word processing purposes where the Nvidia GPU could actually be detrimental to battery life over the baseline integrated Intel UHD option, but heavy editors or gamers may welcome the extra graphics power.

Users who want the best performance that the XPS 15 9570 series can offer might find a lot to like about the Core i9 and GTX 1050 Ti Max-Q SKU. For significantly better performance-per-dollar, however, we recommend going with the Core i7 option. The Core i9 advantage is relatively minor for most scenarios.

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