Product Listing

Dell XPS M1330 (Intel Santa Rosa)

By Zachary Chan - 5 Sep 2007

Performance Benchmarking

Performance Benchmarking

Like most notebook reviews, getting matching configurations for benchmarking purposes is a rare thing to come by. We've reviewed a few Santa Rosa based notebooks in the past, but the Dell XPS M1330 is unique in its configuration and category that we do not have anything to compare it with 1:1. As such, we will benchmark the M1330 with different notebooks in relation to their specific subsystem and categories that are the closest match to the M1330 that we can find on hand.

Notebook Comparison Table
Processor Name Intel Core 2 Duo / Pentium Dual Core (Allendale) Intel Core 2 Duo (Conroe) AMD Atlhon 64 X2 / Athlon X2 (Brisbane) AMD Athlon 64 X2 (Windsor)
Processor Model
  • E4300, E4400, E4500
  • E2140, E2160
E6320, E6420, E6550, E6750, E6850
  • 3600+ - 5000+
  • BE-2300 - BE-2400
3600+ - 6000+
Processor Frequency
  • 1.8GHz - 2.2GHz
  • 1.6GHz - 1.8GHz
1.86GHz - 3.0GHz
  • 1.9GHz - 2.6GHz
  • 1.9GHz - 2.3GHz
2.0GHz - 3.0GHz
No. of Cores 2 2 2 2
Front Side Bus (MHz) 800 1066 / 1333 - -
HyperTransport Bus - - 1GHz (2000MT/s) 1GHz (2000MT/s)
L1 Cache (data + instruction) (32KB + 32KB) x 2 (32KB + 32KB) x 2 (64KB + 64KB) x 2 (64KB + 64KB) x 2
L2 Cache 1MB / 2MB (shared) 4MB 512KB x 2 (256KB / 512KB / 1MB) x 2
Memory Controller External Dual Channel (up to DDR2-800) External Dual Channel (up to DDR2-800) Integrated Dual Channel (up to DDR2-800) Integrated Dual Channel (up to DDR2-800)
VID (V) 0.85 - 1.5 0.85 - 1.3625 1.15 - 1.25 1.35 - 1.40
TDP (W) 65 65 45 / 65 35 / 65 / 89 / 125
Execute Disable Bit Yes Yes Yes Yes
Intel EM64T / AMD64 Yes Yes Yes Yes
Enhanced Intel SpeedStep Technology (EIST) / AMD Cool 'n' Quiet Yes Yes Yes Yes
Virtualization Technology No Yes Yes Yes
Packaging LGA775 LGA775 AM2 AM2
Process Technology 65nm 65nm 65nm SOI 90nm SOI
Processor Codename Allendale Conroe Brisbane Windsor
Die Size 111mm² 143mm² 118 - 126mm² 183 - 218mm²
No. of Transistors 167 million 291 million 154 - 221 million 154 - 227.4 million

For overall platform performance, we will reuse the BenQ Joybook S41, MSI PR200 and the original Santa Rosa engineering sample we had the pleasure of playing around with a few months ago. These three notebooks carry the necessary processor stepping to show where the M1330 might stand. For graphics performance testing, the BenQ Joybook S41 and Toshiba G40-P730 will be used instead as they also carry the GeForce 8 family of mobile processors. Do note the hardware differences between the M1330 and the rest of the notebooks and take them into consideration when reviewing our benchmark results below.

The M1330 scores very impressively in Vista's Windows Experience Index due to its high-performance CPU and HDD. Surprisingly, the GeForce 8400M GS scored lower for Desktop Graphics than Gaming Graphics, but we'll find out soon enough.

System Benchmarking

PCMark05 still remains one of the only major system benchmarking too that is compatible with Vista at the moment and one that we have been steadily building a database for. The Dell XPS M1330 comes off as the clear winner in every test scenario in PCMark05 with an impressive 15% lead over its nearest competitor in the System workloads and a huge 27% jump in HDD performance. If you look at individual comparisons, the XPS M1330 loses out in graphics performance to the BenQ Joybook S41. However, it more than makes up for it with raw processing power and a much faster HDD. The Intel Santa Rosa sample however, should have been able to compete as it also came with a Core 2 Duo T7700, but its performance was dragged down by its lower maximum memory and GMA X3100 graphics.

Graphics Benchmarking

Unlike PCMark05, the CPU and platform prowess of the XPS M1330 did not help out too much in gaming performance. Here, the raw strength of the GPU really shines. The GeForce 8600M series in both the BenQ and Toshiba outclass the GeForce 8400M in the Dell, but don't take the weak 3DMark06 scores as an indication that to brush it aside. The GeForce 8400M GS is still a capable performer in real world games as you can see from our Quake 4 benchmarks. The M1330 is able to run Quake 4 at 1024x768 resolution with a decent 45fps average frame rate, sufficient for smooth game play.

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