Dell Brings 4K InfinityEdge Display To XPS 15 Line, GeForce GPU, Under 4 Pounds (hothardware.com)

MojoKid writes: There's no doubt that Dell's new XPS 13 notebook, when it debuted earlier this year, was very well received. Dell managed to cram a 13.3-inch 3200x1800 QHD+ display into a 12-inch carbon fiber composite frame. Dell has now brought that same InfinityEdge display technology to its larger XPS 15, which the company boasts has the same footprint as a 14-inch notebook. But Dell didn't just stay the course with the QHD+ resolution from the smaller XPS 13; the company instead is offering an optional UltraSharp 4K Ultra HD panel with 8 million pixels and 282 pixels per inch (PPI). The 350-nit display allows for 170-degree viewing angles and has 100 percent minimum Adobe RGB color. Dell also beefed up the XPS 15's internals, giving it sixth generation Intel Core processors (Skylake), support for up to 16GB of memory and storage options that top out with a 1TB SSD. Graphics duties are handled by either integrated Intel HD Graphics 530 or a powerful GeForce GTX 960M processor that is paired with 2GB GDDR5 memory. And all of this squeaks in at under 4 pounds.

Comments

Holy crap, under 4 pounds?

[Anonymous Coward]

This is an incredible achievement. That's like 6 USD! Where do I sign up?

Re:Holy crap, under 4 pounds?

[rmdingler]

Well payed, coward, well payed.

Re:Holy crap, under 4 pounds?

[bob_super]

Go three football fields, and wen you see the 150-olympic-swimming-pools lake, turn to port right behind the VW-bug size rock. There you will find that it's a typo and actually priced at 4 onces of gold.

Re:Holy crap, under 4 pounds?

[grimJester]

Moar liek four thousand pounds, I think

Wait a Minute!

[rmdingler]

Isn't this story supposed to be a different color on the front page?

4KXPS15GPU4

[turkeydance]

thanks for my new password.

Re:4KXPS15GPU4

[TeknoHog]

That's the hardware you need to crack the combination to my luggage!

Input devices

[dfsmith]

All it needs is a TrackPoint instead of a touch pad/screen and I'll have found my next laptop. A matte screen would be nice-to-have. Lenovo machines are not going in the right direction....

Re:Input devices

[imidan]

I like touchpads better than trackpoint, personally, but I've used both. For me, a glossy screen is a deal breaker. Matte finish or nothing!

Re:Input devices

[chrisvdb]

So, the 13" does have an AG (= anti-glare) version, but unfortunately this cannot be combined with i7, 16GB RAM or 1TB SSD. If you want these then they force you to take the high res glossy screen. Who thinks of these things??

I haven't seen the AG version yet, so cannot comment on how it compares with a real matte screen.

Re:Input devices

[fuzzyfuzzyfungus]

It'd be beautiful if you could get aftermarket keyboards with a trackpoint added. Probably not possible for most models(I would have expected the falling cost of silicon to make embedding the controller into the keyboard FRU and being able to use a lower pin-count USB/serial/i2C/whatever connection to the motherboard; rather than leaving the keyboard passive and running all the lines from the switch matrix more common; but most laptop keyboard connectors continue to be matrix-type with the actual keyboard controller on the motherboard, so you couldn't just add the pointing device without cooperation from the motherboard, unlike what the situation would be if the connector were just a USB port with a nonstandard connector).

Between Lenovo attempting to bring their own, inferior, ideas to the Thinkpad line's design, and their fuckery with assorted terrible preloaded crapware; it's a lot harder to get excited about a new Thinkpad; but going without a trackpoint would hurt.

In fairness, though, Dell appears to have really upped their game on design of late. These models aren't even Latitudes, and they are genuinely nice; rather than merely endurable and attractively priced(though the price isn't bad). Tempting.

Non-IPS panels

[Anonymous Coward]

Love the design of these but while they have lots of pixels, they're not very great displays. These are decent TN panels but they're not in the league of IPS displays in terms of uniformity (let alone color accuracy). Uniformity is super nice in a laptop display.

And honestly at 15" 1440p would be plenty sharp. This just seems like more stats for the sake of stats. A 1440p display would likely be kinder to the battery anyway.

Re:Non-IPS panels

[vivek7006]

These are decent TN panels but they're not in the league of IPS displays in terms of uniformity

Where does it say that this is TN display? I checked the article and also Dell website but couldn't find any mention of non-IPS display. Dell XPS has always been their premium line and used IPS display

Re:Non-IPS panels

[Overzeetop]

Well, attfa, if you opt for the HD panel (presumably 1080p), you get 17 hours of battery life. And that definitely wouldn't suck.

Re:Non-IPS panels

[pushing-robot]

Windows DPI scaling still sucks at non-integer multiples. 3840x2160 means you can run 1920x1080 @ 2x, while 3200x1800 and 2560x1440 mean you have to have things unreasonably small at 1x, annoyingly large at 2x, or blurry somewhere in between.

Re:Non-IPS panels

[jtownatpunk.net]

If it was an IPS (or PLS or some other equivalently premium panel type), I would expect them to say so in the specs and/or product overview. It seems unlikely that they'd fail to brag if their tiny 4k panel was IPS.

Re:Non-IPS panels

[fuzzyfuzzyfungus]

'4k' is glorious; but unless you have truly impressive eyes, it's hard to justify on any laptop you'd be willing to carry. Going from 2560 x 1440 to 3840 X 2160 on the desktop was even better than I expected; but that was on a 27-28ish inch display; and if details were any smaller they'd be actively uncomfortable.

On a display of half the diagonal size, in a situation where GPU and battery power are at a premium, it just seems a tad excessive.

Re:Non-IPS panels

[fuzzyfuzzyfungus]

In fairness to Windows, non-integer multiple resizing simply isn't possible to do well unless all your graphics are vector(and even then, the designer's care and attention can have a strong influence on whether the result actually looks good to people at different scales; but at least there is a mathematically 'correct' answer).

If you have bitmap elements, integer-multiple resizing is both relatively trivial and possible to do 'correctly'. Non-integer multiple, like lossy compression, can be done in surprisingly non-annoying ways; but it cannot be done without some violence to the original. Bicubic interpolation will look a whole hell of a lot better than nearest-neighbor; but there simply is no 'correct' way of mapping N pixels into some non-integer multiple of N pixels.

Windows tends to work even less well than the ideal case would suggest; but even if you completely discard all issues of legacy widget sets, horrible retro UI designs, etc. and sit down with a bitmap image in photoshop, resizing it by a non-integer multiple is going to be a matter of compromise.

Re:Non-IPS panels

[Blaskowicz]

1920x1080 at 15" is arguably small, though. I find a 15.6" 1080p laptop to be painful. Same at 4K and scaling is likely easier to read but there's that trend of makes pushing the higher res number they can regardless of the end user experience. Or maybe some people only use emacs and xterms, know to configure a web browser for a default zoom level or use Metro apps.
  3200x1800 would give an equivalent 1600x900 which in my opinion feels right (Apple uses equivalent 1440x900).

Betting we'll see thermal issues.

[Chas]

Maybe not with Intel graphics. But, if Dell's previous problems with mating NV graphics are anything to go on, this machine, while looking pretty and sporting phenomenal stats, will probably also have massive thermal issues resulting in instant system shutdowns.

As sexy as this sucker is, I'd prefer not to be the guinea pig.

Still, 10 hours of battery life? SEXAH! Oh no! A display with a ridiculous resolution doesn't give me 17 hours of battery life! DARN!

Re:Betting we'll see thermal issues.

[pushing-robot]

At least nVidia has significantly improved their heat/power troubles with Maxwell, and the 960m isn't that powerful.

I've said it before, but thin and powerful notebooks like this and the MBPs make me wish for reasonably priced Thunderbolt GPUs. This model even has the shiny 40Gbps TB3 port for one.

Actually, what I really want is for Microsoft to stick a TB port on their next Xbox and let me use it as a GPU.

Re:Betting we'll see thermal issues.

[ADRA]

My GF plays games like skyrim for hours on my couple year old XPS 15 and though the fan is certainly in full swing, there's essentially never a BSOD / hard crash. Hell, I used to play games on my yet older and far larger 2011 XPS15 and though it was heavy and hot as lava, I never got the stability issues you claim. I can't talk about other categories or other vendors, but I've generally been very happy with my XPS15's, even at the high price point they sell for. Oh, and touchscreen is full functional but a gimmic. If given the cheaper option, ignore touch!

Re:Betting we'll see thermal issues.

[fuzzyfuzzyfungus]

I have yet to hear any clear explanation for why Intel appears less than cooperative about the idea of Thunderbolt being used for GPU purposes. There have been a few, heavily integrated and close to model-specific, releases; but the "Here is a box with an x16(mechanical) PCIe slot inside, and a thunderbolt port" market is pretty slim, with the exception of some very, very, expensive cardcages from outfits like Magma, clearly aimed at audiences with expansion cards that make gamer toys look disposably cheap.

Most of the tinkering you see skips Thunderbolt entirely and uses the PCIe 1x->16x adapters that became popular when GPU cryptocurrency mining became a craze; and connect those either to the 1x PCIe lane provided by an Expresscard slot; or the one provided by a mini-PCIe slot.

either integrated Intel HD Graphics 530 or a power

[Ark42]

What "either integrated Intel HD Graphics 530 or a powerful GeForce GTX 960M" means is that the nVidia driver will make regular windows, and apps like Firefox/Chrome use the slow Intel card for all your regular stuff. Google maps or anything that uses WebGL will slow to a crawl. Only games are "allowed" to run on the real GPU.
At least, that's how the last laptop I got a year ago with a setup like that worked...
I have a Core i7-4500U, 16GB RAM, and a GT735M, and it is absolutely painful to use certain things like Google Maps.

Bring back WUXGA+ 1920x1200

[Anonymous Coward]

The best laptop screen resolution ever is 1920x1200.

Of course 3840x2400 would also be accepted :)

It's all about the ratio: 16:10.

Excellent for real work - not just video!

Re:Bring back WUXGA+ 1920x1200

[MancunianMaskMan]

I had 2 old Dell Precision M4300 with 1920x1200 displays - those were beautiful. One is now dead but the other still serving my daughter. An 18yo's eyesight allows for really small font sizes being used, so the number of facebook posts being shown at once is incredible (she does lots of work on the laptop too, to give her credit she deserves)

Re:Bring back WUXGA+ 1920x1200

[willy_me]

Yes... Going 16:9 is fine on a 27" screen but 16:10 is much better for laptops.

Still loaded with shovelware

[andymadigan]

And yet all of this will be covered with crap in the form of McAfee and a hundred other apps you don't want, but take hours to remove. Or, you can try installing Windows from scratch, which also takes hours, and then your fancy new hardware won't work until you find Dell's special drivers for each device.

My company's purchases are too small for a business account, so we end up buying consumer hardware. We were only buying from the Microsoft Store, since that at least is junkware free. Now, the Microsoft Store has very little in stock, so the last time we had to buy a new PC we wound up with a Macbook Air. That was to replace a 2013 Dell XPS 13 that somehow is still broken after 2 motherboard replacements, and is now at Dell's repair center.

Dell really should have their own version of the Microsoft Signature program, the cost of the time it takes to clean a "new" machine makes a $900 PC cost more than an $1100 Mac. (For those of you thinking "you can get a PC for $500!", time = money, including time spent waiting for a 5400RPM spinning disk. My minimum specs are Core i5/8GB RAM/128GB SSD/13 inch screen.)

Windows 10 made it worse, now that you have to uninstall the "Get Skype" and "Get Office" apps. Plus switch the privacy settings to prevent Microsoft giving away the Wi-Fi password. I doubt we'll buy any PCs going forward.

Re:Still loaded with shovelware

[Anonymous Coward]

Getting rid of a "Get Skype" button and a "Get Office" button adds $200 to the cost of your laptop?

While I agree that all the pre-installed stuff is annoying, it takes less than 5 minutes to clean bloatware off a standard Windows 10 install. And surely there's some program to automate the process.

Having a McAfee program available to pre-install doesn't really slow down the computer, anyway.

Re:Still loaded with shovelware

[andymadigan]

"Available to pre-install" is not the same as "pre-installed". Unless something major has changed recently, Dells come with McAfee actually installed. Under Windows 8.1, removing it was a multi-step process (run the uninstaller, run MCPR, then repair Windows Update which McAfee somehow breaks). That's not even counting all the other junk, like say Wild Tangent.

Re:Still loaded with shovelware

[fuzzyfuzzyfungus]

You don't get the "Browbeat your rep" option; but I'm pretty sure that Dell will sell you Optiplex and Latitude systems in quantity 1, if you have a credit card. I think even Precisions and at least the more boring Poweredge stuff should be available as well.

You obviously don't have to go with Dell; but unless they've changed something recently; buying small quantities of business class machines should be no more difficult than buying consumer grade.

Re:Still loaded with shovelware

[andymadigan]

Many of the Latitude series also come with McAfee pre-installed.

But you're right, there's actually exactly one Latitude that falls near the requirements, the Latitude 14 5000. It has a 14" screen, and costs $1000, making it $100 less than a Macbook Air. Of course, it still comes with an Office "trial", which would likely have to be uninstalled before I could install Office through our subscription. I'm not sure what else would be pre-installed.

As for alternate vendors: Lenovo's obviously out. I generally assume all other PC vendors pre-install junk, not that they'll tell you before you buy it. If there's a vendor that doesn't pre-install, I'd love to know about them.

Thunderbolt GPUs limted

[Joe_Dragon]

Thunderbolt GPUs are limited to only X4 pci-e 2.0 or 3.0

Re:Thunderbolt GPUs limted

[pushing-robot]

Yes, and that's not a big deal for most games and applications.

Re:Thunderbolt GPUs limted

[Joe_Dragon]

x4 2.0, where the performance drop becomes noticeable with around 15%.

Also x4 is the max of TB let's say base case 3.5-4.0

Re:Thunderbolt GPUs limted

[willy_me]

No need to infer a base case for TB. Unlike most other protocols, the specified speed is the actual throughput and not the speed of the physical layer. So when they claim a bandwidth of 20Gb/s you actually get 20Gb/s - same as if you were using an internal port.

Put a 17" version in a Precision

[rlk]

and then it will be a *real* beast.

XPS 9530

[labnet]

The XPS 9530 is my main machine (predecessor to this update) which also runs a 3200x1800 IGZO display.
So it seems the main change is making the bezel smaller. Meh.

The great thing about these latest XPS's, is the high res display and support for external 4k displays. It was sad the PC industry got stuck for 10 years 1920 x 1200 ( then 1920 x 1080); and it was only the tablet/phone industry that dragged them into the high res age.

I do a lot of CAD and some programming, and have a 4k 27" sitting above the dell 15" are able to use both displays at 100% scaling with no problems.
It's a great productivity improver; if your eyes are good enough. I find a lot of people who look at my displays say they couldn't deal with the text size.

The one thing I dislike about the XPS15, is a lack of native Ethernet port and it uses a different size power plug to what dell have used over the last 10 years.

16:9 makes me cry

[Overzeetop]

A laptop you can do real work on, with a display aspect ratio that's only meant for watching movies.

Bring back 4:3, make it 3:2 or - hey, how about 1.41:1 to match ISO 216/DIN476 sizing (and just call it an even 5k at 16:11.33)?

Re:16:9 makes me cry

[Tomahawk]

I've gotten used to 16:9 monitors in work, to the point that 4:3 looks wrong to me now.

My monitor at home is 16:10 (1920x1200). I don't really notice the difference, but at times those extra few lines do help.

that said, I don't code much any more. When I do, though, the 16:9 or 16:10 monitors just don't cut it. Evening turning them sideways means they are too narrow (I'm not an 80-character-per-line type). So I understand where you are coming from.

But, for most of what I do day to day, whether in work or home, 16:9 or 16:10 is fine for me.
And I'm sure, then, that the "normal" user is also happy with this ratio. And manufacturers will always go with what sells the most.

Re:16:9 makes me cry

[Overzeetop]

"it is like having two screens"

Yes. It's two 7:8 screens, not too far off from 4:3, really. Unfortunately, in a lappable screen (10-14"), having two 7-8" screens isn't really all that useful.

I'm moving to a 16:9 screen soon. But it'll be 4k and 40" on the diagonal. And I'm getting two. I still would prefer a ratio closer to square on a laptop/tablet, though.

Re:either integrated Intel HD Graphics 530 or a po

[msobkow]

I read that as being a choice between two video options, not as an active split between the two at the same time.

Re:either integrated Intel HD Graphics 530 or a po

[0100010001010011]

Can you not disable the Intel chip in BIOS? It's the only way I could get FreeBSD to recognize my nVidia card.

My last Dell laptop sounded like hair dryer

[melted]

My last Dell laptop sounded like hair dryer. Never again.

Re:either integrated Intel HD Graphics 530 or a po

[wonkey_monkey]

Only games are "allowed" to run on the real GPU.

Anything you tell it to will run on the GPU.

100 percent minimum Adobe RGB color

[Tomahawk]

For those, like me, that don't know what this means, here's a nicely written article explaining it: http://www.eizoglobal.com/libr...

Wikipedia also cover the topic: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/...

Re:3200 != 4K

[Tomahawk]

The 4K monitor is optional. The default one is 3200...

Re:either integrated Intel HD Graphics 530 or a po

[iserlohn]

It should be both active, just Nvidia Optimus as usual.

Re:either integrated Intel HD Graphics 530 or a po

[willy_me]

Will depend on the OS. The MacBook Pros have had this for some time and MacOS will use the dedicated GPU in certain situations. Depends on many factors - what the application requires, is the computer plugged in, how much battery life is available... Apple has more control of software and hardware so implementing this sort of solution is easier for them. I've heard some complaints but not too many. Do not know how Windows manages this. And Linux? Without capable hardware in the hands of developers one can not expect much progress. And considering the perpetual state of video drivers on Linux.....

But as far as the hardware goes, the integrated GPU is going to be available even if when the external GPU is present. It is likely Dell uses the same motherboard for both laptops - they just neglect to install the external GPU in certain models. This is how manufacturers typically approach this problem.

Re:Pushes 4k but no displayport?

[iserlohn]

That's what the USB type C connector (and Thunderbolt 3) is for. Read up on it. It can replace a whole variety of ports.

Re:Beware of Dell Support - Worst I've seen

[fuzzyfuzzyfungus]

What he told you was true. From a certain point of view: Dell's 'consumer' support has traditionally been somewhere between 'as empty and pitiless as the dark spaces between the stars' and 'actively insulting'; but they've always recognized the value of treating enterprise customers properly(and the warranties cost more, to compensate). There have been some ignoble incidents(their handling of Optiplex GX270 capacitor-plague failures was so egregious it resulted in litigation; ironically the IT guys at the law firm defending Dell were fighting to get their own GX270s replaced with ones that worked at the same time the lawyers were making the case that Dell's handling of the matter was just fine...); but in general their Poweredge, Optiplex, Latitude, and Vostro lines all have pretty decent support; and offer excellent support as an option if you are willing to pay for it.

The 'Inspiron' line, for home peons, has traditionally been pretty atrocious. XPS tacks somewhere between the two; it's a bit more annoying if you are trying to operate at scale(unlike the business/enterprise support guys, they tend not to let you do the "I've already run the diagnostics, here are the error codes, now send me a new whatever" thing); but unlike the low-end home user guys, they don't treat you like a filthy cost center who should fuck off and die.

Re:either integrated Intel HD Graphics 530 or a po

[fuzzyfuzzyfungus]

There have been several different flavors of Intel Integrated/Nvidia combinations on the market; with slightly different requirements and options depending on the details of how they are implemented.

My memory is a little fuzzy; but I think that the earliest implementations had actual 'video out' from both the IGP and the GPU, with switching silicon on the motherboard that sent one or the other to the LCD. Those offered the most visible control over which graphics device was in use(the one that wasn't was more or less fully shut down); but I think you had to at least log out, possibly reboot, to switch between them; that era definitely had BIOS options for permanently setting one or the other.

OEMs didn't like the cost of the added switching silicon, and users didn't like the clunkiness of switching between GPUs, so subsequent generations refined the process, with increasingly seamless cooperation(I think that the standard now has only the intel IGP connected to the LCD and any video outs; but the Nvidia GPU can write to its framebuffer if it is taking care of a given graphical task, so it isn't actually possible for the IGP to ever be fully idle, though the Nvidia GPU can be); but a corresponding increase in unhelpfulness if you are trying to force a configuration that non Optimus aware drivers can recognize and work with.

My Linux and BSD systems don't do much in the way of graphics, so I don't know what the current state of support is.

Re:Dell mathematics

[serviscope_minor]

Seriously a downmod? Looks like we have the rabid defender of the kibi-as-kilo brigade active here.

Re:Beware of Dell Support - Worst I've seen

[RogueyWon]

It's also not fantastic in the top-end home user Alienware line. And by "not fantastic", I mean "terrible unless you fork out a fortune for the top-end package, on top of a PC price which already has a huge mark-up". Plus they make it as difficult as possible to fix certain hardware issues with their machines yourself.

Helped with a friend's Aurora R4 which had a dodgy PSU. In most cases, you'd expect replacing a PSU to be a bit of a pain, but not a show-stopper. Except (for the R4 at least), Alienware use a bespoke PSU which is pretty much integral to the case and whose dimensions mean that most off-the-shelf third-party PSUs won't fit. If you don't have the top-end support package, good luck trying to get them to do anything about it.

Replacing the thing requires going to Ebay for an allegedly-working second-hand like-for-like replacement PSU, followed by a very challenging replacement job. Ended up wishing I'd just bought a replacement case and transplanted the PC guts over.

Re:Beware of Dell Support - Worst I've seen

[queequeg1]

Replacement case? Presumably you would then find out that the stand off spacing is completely non-standard.

First hand experience with the XPS 15 9530

[reverend schmuley]

I've been using my XPS 15 9530 for about a year now and it was one of the best gifts I've ever given myself. Someone was concerned about thermal issues. Between the keyboard and the display hinge is a vent that runs almost the entire width of the chassis. The vent is split into three sections, so I am guessing it is two inlets and an outlet or vice versa. The laptop can get warm when playing Fallout or synthesizing a large FPGA design. I can hear the fans kick in when it warms up, but they aren't overly loud. It has never gotten hot or uncomfortable to touch. It certainly has never shut off unexpectedly. Someone asked about only being able to use the NVidia card for games. That's not true. Right clicking any program gives you the option to run with a specific graphics card. For the person interested in a Precision version, the Precision M3800 was the exact same laptop except for the use of a Quadro instead of a GTX750M. Hopefully, that will get a refresh as well. Ubuntu is officially supported, at least on the Precision variant. Linux Mint has run fine for me as well since day one. You just have to disable Secure Boot while you are actually installing. You can enable Secure Boot again once the install is complete.

Re:either integrated Intel HD Graphics 530 or a po

[Ark42]

On my laptop, no. You CAN disable the nVidia GPU though.

Re:either integrated Intel HD Graphics 530 or a po

[Ark42]

The nVidia driver actually greyed out and prevents you from selecting the nVidia GPU for apps in it's known-list. Firefox and Chrome are on the list of programs that can only use the Intel GPU. You can always copy Firefox.exe to Firefox2.exe and then it's not on the known-list. You can browse to it from the nVidia control panel thing, then set that to use the nVidia GPU. Unfortunately, it tends to crash the whole OS a lot if you do that, which seems pretty ridiculous. I tried both Firefox and Chrome and eventually gave up and left them on the Intel GPU.

Re:either integrated Intel HD Graphics 530 or a po

[Blaskowicz]

Google Maps is really awful, since the "let's make it 10x slower" update. Maybe WebGL itself isn't ready for wide consumption except in contrieved set ups, but how much GPU power do you need for a 2D application? Google Earth runs fine on 10-year-old integrated graphics, and butter smooth on old low end graphics card.

The "right" solution would be for Google Maps to improve through Intel driver updates, browser updates and Google writing code that works better.

Re:Dell mathematics

[Blaskowicz]

Windows seemed fond of displaying things in KB (that are KiB), e.g. a 720,043 KB file. Was another source of failed CD-R burning, if you failed to account for the difference between a file size in MB (MiB) and thousands of KB (KiB).

Network speed and hard disk size are arbitrary, like wise e.g. a sound file. But I'm still partial to K = 1024 as even then buffer sizes and sectors size are in "binary" K.

Re:either integrated Intel HD Graphics 530 or a po

[wonkey_monkey]

Mine's never greyed anything out.

Unfortunately, it tends to crash the whole OS a lot if you do that.

That's probably why it's greyed out then...

I've had the same experience though - not the whole OS, but instability when running Firefox on the GPU.

Re:either integrated Intel HD Graphics 530 or a po

[Ark42]

Basically, the end result is that I paid extra for an nVidia card when I bought this, thinking it would *replace* the Intel one, but it did not. Several desktop computers I built from parts all work just fine with nVidia cards, and don't have an Intel GPU or funny Optimus drivers getting in the way of things. Google maps always runs super fast and smooth, and nothing ever crashes. Next time I buy a laptop, I'm going to pay extra attention, and if you can't entirely 100% disable the Intel GPU, then there is zero point to having the nVidia GPU added on.

Re:either integrated Intel HD Graphics 530 or a po

[Ark42]

Even with the crummy update that Google didn't need to do, Google Maps runs significantly faster and smoother on way older, slower hardware (custom built desktops) where there is not a hybrid GPU setup. Having a 100% dedicated nVidia card that everything always uses is great. Having an Intel GPU that is used for anything at all makes having the nVidia GPU a pointless waste of money when buying a laptop.

Re:either integrated Intel HD Graphics 530 or a po

[wonkey_monkey]

You should be able to disable Optimus in the BIOS, and I think that leaves you with just the nVidia GPU. Or your BIOS might give the choice of which to use exclusively.

I tried it once, briefly, to see if it gave me smoother 60fps YouTube video - it didn't, but it could have been any number of things beyond that, and it involved reinstalling drivers (of which nVidia gives me a confusing number to choose from)), so I might have got things into a mess. I haven't reinstalled since, and I'm still slightly suspicious of my drivers...

Re:either integrated Intel HD Graphics 530 or a po

[Blaskowicz]

I get it but I'm a bit surprised. I think of Haswell graphics as powerful, though 15W Haswell surely is significantly slower than 15W Broadwell or Skylake, or 37W Haswell.

Re:either integrated Intel HD Graphics 530 or a po

[Ark42]

I looked into this before, and in the newer setups like my laptop, it seems common that your choices for GPU in the BIOS are Intel-only, or Hybrid. You cannot select just the nVidia one. There is probably some reason in the hardware that it's not possible now.