Performance

Modern PCs have a lot of power for various everyday tasks. It’s no secret that most users never use PCs to their maximum potential, unless they are running intensive computing tasks nonstop, which would eventually result in high electricity bill, increased room temperature, and other adverse effects. How do you really compare one PC to another, when just about anything you purchase today is enough for the daily office work?

That’s where benchmarks come into play. They allow us to determine where the limit lies for a specific PC, and compare it to other PCs that run the same benchmarks. While they rarely carry a real world meaning – it almost always mean that a PC faster in a benchmark will usually perform tasks faster, even though the user may never notice it.
This section is aims to give consumers an idea of how the XPS One performs at its limits, and to offer comparison data for those who are interested in raw performance.

Processor and Memory Performance – SuperPi

SuperPi is a popular synthetic benchmark commonly used on the internet to test a how fast the processor and memory is. The idea behind it is to determine how fast a PC can calculate up to 1 million decimal numbers of a commonly used number pi, not exactly your everyday task. High performance in this benchmark, however, usually means that your computer will be able to easily run an antivirus in the background protecting your computer, and at the same time will allow you to watch HDTV or a movie, read this blog post, and check email at the same time.

The SuperPi result indicates that processor and memory are performing on par when compared to other configurations using the same processor and memory.

Hard Drive Performance – HD Tune

As technology moves forward, hard drives remain one of the slowest internal components of a computer and usually considered one of the main components that hold back overall performance. Benchmarks tests such as HD Tune can accurately measure how fast a specific drive is, and help compare different brands, models, and sizes of drives between each other. Faster performance in this benchmark usually means that you will enjoy quicker times when copying files, opening and saving complex office documents, working with large lists of Outlook contacts, large email files, and just about anything else that stores and reads data on your disk.

The HD Tune result shows that the hard drive in the current XPS One is on par with the other hard drives in the market when it comes to transfer speeds. We do see an unusually high access time of 25.3 milliseconds. Most modern 7200 RPM drives have access time of 15 milliseconds or less. For most users, this should not be an area of concern because while apparent in testing, this difference will be hardly noticeable and may be just a result of HD Tune improperly testing the access time.

Graphics Performance – 3D Mark 06′

3D Mark 06 is widely regarded as a synthetic de-facto standard when measuring gaming performance of a PC. It heavily relies on a powerful CPU, as well as graphics subsystem and presents the results as a single score, which can be compared to other users’ results either directly or using product’s vast test result database, containing submissions from around the world. Higher scores in this benchmark usually translate into ability to run 3D games at higher resolutions and with higher image quality settings.

While Dell now offers XPS One models with dedicated graphics card (currently ATI Radeon HD2400), the model we received contains a basic integrated solution, based on Intel X3000 graphics chip. Unfortunately, this is probably the weakest component of this computer. It’s sad to see a PC that starts at $1,299 (before discounts and coupons) for the lowest end model use this as its graphics solution.

To make matters worse, even the recently reviewed Dell Inspiron 1525 laptop has more power in its video subsystem – truly a disappointment, considering that Inspiron 1525 costs less. With all that, it is no surprise to see this computer scoring 289 points in 3D Mark 06. For comparison, an entry level nVidia 7200GS desktop graphics card has no problem scoring above 1,000 points.

With such a low score , the selection of 3D games you can play well or even at all will be limited. Furthermore, given no ability to upgrade the graphics card option, other than ordering a new XPS One system, there isn’t much a user can do about this.

System Performance – PC Mark 05′

PC Mark 05′ is an all around benchmark that tests overall system performance from graphics to hard drive to processor. Produced by the same company as 3DMark 06, it’s geared towards estimating synthetic peak computer performance while performing daily tasks, such as manipulating photos, encoding music from CDs into compressed formats, office work simulation, etc. Higher score in this benchmark generally means faster performance during everyday use, especially when using multiple applications at once.

This XPS One scored 4123 points, which puts it slightly behind the Inspiron 1525 laptop. Since PC Mark 05 tests total system performance, its poor graphics performance brought down the overall score. On the other hand, its fast processor and fast hard drive help boost its score to a more respectable level. What this means, is that the XPS One is more than capable of performing most daily tasks with decent speed.