We're editing our video review for the latest Dell XPS 15 (9570), and while a lot of the hype is around the Core i9 model with a GTX 1050Ti, I bought the Core i5 one with a GTX 1050. The reason? As my benchmarks will reveal, this year's 8th Gen Core i5 is more powerful than last year's 7th Gen Core i7 7700HQ.
Combined with the refreshed 4K Sharp IGZO panel and upgradable RAM and SSD the mid-range XPS 15 is the way to go. You get better thermals, battery life, and still a mighty PC.
Even better is Microsoft has just put the XPS 15 (9570) Signature Edition on sale for $1,499 – a savings of $150. For that price you're getting:
- 15.6" 4K touch display with pen support (Dell pen extra).
- Intel Core i5-8300H up to 4.00 GHz.
- 8GB of DDR4-2666MHz RAM.
- 256GB PCIe SSD.
- NVIDIA GTX 1050 GPU.
- Fingerprint reader.
- 97WHr battery.
- Thunderbolt 3 (4x PCIe).
That's a lot of PC for $1,500. Toss in a student (or parents, teachers or military) discount, and you can get it for $1,484.
If, however, you have deeper pockets the Core i7 model with GTX 1050Ti is now just $1,799 (16GB, 512GB SSD) and the big kahuna Core i7 with 32GB of RAM and 1TB SSD is $2,199 – a savings of $300.
While the Surface Book 2 can't go to 32GB of RAM and is a different PC in many ways, the 1TB model is $2,999 for reference.
No telling how long the XPS 15 (9570) will be on sale from Microsoft, but if you're looking for a best-in-class powerhouse laptop I recommend that Core i5 model. Once you see that sweet 4K touch display, you do not go back to anything else.
Daniel Rubino is the Executive Editor of Windows Central, head reviewer, podcast co-host, and analyst. He has been covering Microsoft here since 2007, back when this site was called WMExperts (and later Windows Phone Central). His interests include Windows, Microsoft Surface, laptops, next-gen computing, and arguing with people on the internet.
