OCTOBER 2019 • TECH ADVISOR 73BUYING GUIDETheDellXPS 139380 anditsWhiskeyLakeU
comein firstplace,buttheolderXPS 139360 with
itsKaby Lake R chip isn’t that far behind. The larger
14inLenovoYoga 920 is about 12 percentslower
thanthenewXPS 13 9380,andtheRazerBlade
Stealthis 16 percent slower. Again, much of what you
seehereis representedbytheavailablecooling,how
muchspacethere is for that cooling, and what the
laptop maker opts to prioritize.
The last to cross the finish line is the HP Spectre 13,
which finishes a whopping 39 percent slower than the
new XPS 13 9380. The reason is simple: HP touted the
Spectre 13 as the “thinnest laptop” in the world at just
over 10mm thick. Well, you don’t get there without
compromises. In fact, the Spectre 13 isn’t the thinnest
in the world anymore as Acer’s Swift 7 now claims that
at8.98mmthick,andwithitsCorei7-7Y75CPUit’s
evenslower than the Spectre 13.
Graphics performance
While Dell’s new XPS 13 9380 is technically faster
than its predecessors in overall 3DMark Sky Diver
performance, it’s really a tie, isn’t it? As you can see,
they’re almost all the same except for small differences
due to thermals and run-to-run variances. The fastest
is Huawei’s MateBook X Pro but it features a discrete
GeForce MX150 GPU.
But can you game on the Dell XPS 13 9380? Sort of.
Intel’s integrated graphics have become steadily better
over the years, but to play games you’ll need to play
at 720p resolution at Low graphics settings, or possibly
Medium settings in older games. To really get your