Dell Studio XPS 16 Review

Name: Dell Studio XPS 16 Review - Page 7
Brand: Dell

by Shawn Oliver — Monday, September 14, 2009, 12:00 PM EDT

Futuremark PCMark Vantage (cont'd)

Futuremark PCMark Vantage

Productivity, Music, TV and Movies, and Overall

Futuremark PCMark Vantage 'Productivity' Test Description:
Productivity Test 1 - Two simultaneous tasks. 1. Text editing 2. HDD – application loading
Productivity Test 2 - Two simultaneous tasks. 1. Windows Contacts – searching - search 2. HDD – Windows Defender
Productivity Test 3 - HDD – Windows Vista start up
Productivity Test 4 - 1. Windows Contacts – searching - Searches contacts. 2. Windows Mail – copying - Runs Message Rules. 3. Web page rendering – favorites group parallel - Opens various news pages from IE 7 Favorites in separate tabs and closes them one by one.

In the Productivity Test, we see the Studio XPS 16 take the lead, but it's not as commanding as one might imagine when comparing a gaming desktop/desktop replacement to what most would consider a powerful ultraportable.

Futuremark PCMark Vantage 'Music' Test Description:
Music 1 - Three simultaneous tasks: Web page rendering – music shop - Opens music shop kind of content; Audio transcoding – WAV to WMA lossless; HDD – adding music to Windows Media Player
Music 2 - Audio transcoding – WAV to WMA lossless
Music 3 - Audio transcoding – MP3 to WMA
Music 4 - Two simultaneous tasks. Audio transcoding – WMA to WMA. HDD – adding music to Windows Media Player

The Music test relies heavily on HDD, Memory, and CPU resources as used in encoding and decoding. The Studio XPS 16 falls behind the XPS 13, confirming our feelings that this machine really does feel more sluggish when multitasking and handling day-to-day tasks. It may sound crazy, but it's true.

Futuremark PCMark Vantage 'TV and Movies' Test Description:
TV and Movies Test 1 - Two simultaneous tasks. 1. Video transcoding – VC-1 to VC-1 - Transcoding from HD DVD (HD VC-1 1920x1080p 28 Mbps) to the media server archive (HD VC-1 1280x720p 11 Mbps). Uses two cores if available. 2. Video playback – VC-1 HD DVD with HD content - Playing HD DVD (VC-1 1920x1080p 28 Mbps) with HD (VC-1 1280x720p 7 Mbps) content.
TV and Movies Test 2 - Two simultaneous tasks. 1. Video transcoding – VC-1 to VC-1 - Transcoding from HD DVD (HD VC-1 1920x1080p 28 Mbps) to the media server archive (HD VC-1 1280x720p 11 Mbps). Uses two cores if available. 2. Video playback – MPEG-2 HDTV - Playing terrestrial HDTV (HD MPEG-2 1920x1080i 19.39 Mbps).
TV and Movies Test 3 - HDD – Windows Media Center
TV and Movies Test 4 - Two simultaneous tasks. 1. Video transcoding – VC-1 to WMV9 - Transcoding from the media server archive (HD VC-1 1280x720p 11 Mbps) to a portable player (SD WMV9 320x240p 1.0 Mbps). Uses two cores if available. 2. Video playback – MPEG-2 Blu-ray - Playing Blu-ray (HD MPEG-2 1920x1080p 48 Mbps).

The Studio XPS just barely edged out the XPS 13. And by barely, we mean by one lousy point. You'd think a $2000+ machine could easily out-do its 13" sibling, but alas, the numbers show otherwise.

Futuremark PCMark Vantage Overall Score Test Description:
The PCMark Suite is a collection of various single- and multi-threaded CPU, Graphics and HDD tests with the focus on Windows Vista application tests. Tests have been selected to represent a subset of the individual Windows Consumer Scenarios. The PCMark Suite includes a subset of Consumer Suite tests.

In the overall PCMark Vantage test, the Studio XPS 16 takes its rightful place atop the pile, but the bulk of the score comes from the unit's impressive GPU. The other factors are either par for the course or lackluster, leaving us to caution you about how you interpret these results. This machine is fit for gaming and handling GPU-intensive tasks, but you can do much better for much less in the generic multitasking category.