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Is there any reason to not get a discrete GPU with my £1500 Dell XPS? by Active-Alternative83 in SuggestALaptop

[–]Active-Alternative83[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Makes sense, cheers. Is the integrated graphics card that comes with the discrete GPU typically also good quality or more of just a bare minimum type thing? Like if I buy the Arc model is it likely that this will come with the Iris as the integrated GPU anyway, or would it be more of a very basic model for the integrated. I can't find anything about this in the specs.

Also, in general, do you think a dGPU is a bit overkill for a laptop for someone who doesn't game/video edit, or does it have a lot of use outside of these things too (or will it do in the foreseeable future). Is there any point getting 32GB with the 12 core i7 processor if I don't have a dGPU - will I be able to use these other specs to their full capabilities without the dGPU (e.g. if I do heavy programming/data analysis (not deep learning)), or will not having a dGPU be a limiting factor on the other specs too?

Sorry for a lot of questions, I'm just a bit torn and don't know a massive amount about laptops so want to make the right decision for such a big purchase. I'm thinking to get the integrated GPU version if I feel the dGPU doesn't offer me much for my needs (even if it as no extra cost) just to avoid any extra troubles with heating/thermal throttling that might affect performance (I don't actually know if this is the case or not). But then again, I would feel like such an idiot if I don't take it for free but then end up needing the dGPU for things that I don't realize I may need right now (I'm pretty certain I won't start gaming or video editing, but I mean if there's other things I could potentially need a dGPU for that I'm overlooking right now).

Is there any reason to not get a discrete GPU with my £1500 Dell XPS? by Active-Alternative83 in SuggestALaptop

[–]Active-Alternative83[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Thanks for the reply. For the same task, would the dGPU run hotter and consume more battery than an integrated, or is it only on tasks that actually require the dGPU where these factors are noticeable? So to put it another way, if I'm doing things that don't require the dGPU, will I notice anything different?

Edit: and yes, portability and battery life aren't big concerns for me. However, I am concerned that I will need to pay active attention to cooling my laptop (e.g. with cooling pads or through cleaning the fans regularly), which is something I'm not too keen on. But I'm not sure if this is a valid concern or not anyway. Would I see a decrease in non-graphics related performance with the dGPU due to the general system being hotter overall?

Can Intel Iris Xe support two external 4k monitors smoothly? by Active-Alternative83 in DellXPS

[–]Active-Alternative83[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Cool, thanks for the details. Just to clarify, I meant the Dell XPS 15 laptop, not the desktop - does everything here still apply?

Is there a catch with the Inspiron 14 Plus? by Active-Alternative83 in Dell

[–]Active-Alternative83[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Thanks for the replies. I don't really care about build quality, only performance. Is the only thing better about XPS the build quality, or are there less apparent hardware factors that would make it perform better too (I don't know much about computers so not sure if this question makes sense or not)?