Dell Inspiron 1564: Mobile i3/i5 for the Masses
by Dustin Sklavos on March 3, 2010 11:01 PM EST- Posted in
- Laptops
Dell Inspiron 15 3DMark Performance
The chip that powers the Inspiron 15's ATI Mobility Radeon HD 4330—the M92, the desktop RV710's mobile derivative—remains extremely common as a dedicated option in modern laptops, routinely appearing as the higher-clocked Mobility Radeon HD 4570. While it sports an anemic 80 stream processors, that's still twice the number found in AMD's top-end integrated graphics part, the Radeon HD 4200. The HD 4330 also benefits from a dedicated 512MB of GDDR3 in the Inspiron 15 clocked at an effective 1.2GHz. While most gamers would scoff at such an underpowered GPU, we only need enough power to game at the Inspiron 15's modest 1366x768 resolution.
We've got a second point of comparison with the HD 4330 just to make things interesting. The MSI X610 uses a single-core AMD Athlon Neo MV-40 running at 1.6GHz. Obviously, that's a much slower CPU than the i5-520M, but it will be interesting to see whether the bottleneck is the CPU or GPU in our 3D and gaming results.
It isn't ideal, but in 3DMark the Mobility Radeon HD 4330 at least puts in a decent showing against NVIDIA's competing lowest-common-denominator, the GeForce G 210M powered by 16 of NVIDIA's CUDA cores—though granted the G210M is handicapped somewhat by the slower SU7300 @ 1.73GHz CPU. The CPU also makes a huge difference when we compare the MSI X610 and the Inspiron 15, with each succeeding 3DMark version showing a larger gap. We'll see how things stack up in our gaming results next.
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autoboy - Friday, March 5, 2010 - link
I received my 1464 the day you reviewed the 1564. It's the same laptop but with a 14" screen.Mine has the Core i5 430.
I use an external monitor 95% of the time so the poor quality screen isn't a problem. It's actually better then my old HP. I don't mind the lack of expresscard since I've never used it. I use a usb hub for my peripherals so only 3 ports is fine. I actually didn't notice the 100mbit ethernet, but oh well. I'll eventually upgrade to N wireless but my router is G so the G doesn't bother me for now. I'm happy with the quality and features. All I wanted was a cheap 14" laptop with HDMI and the Core i5 without a graphics card. That's what I got.
BUT, the fan on my laptop is constantly turning on and off. It is SO annoying in a quiet room and it is driving me nuts. I'm sitting here in my office not working, and thinking of a way to build a stand for the laptop with a quiet 80mm fan that blows directly into the air inlet so the fan will never ramp up. I've studied the CPU and the fan turns on at 27C (why can't it go to 50 before turning on?) and turns off at 20C a minute later. Then it climbs to 27, the fan turns on, and then it turns off at 20C.
I can't find a fan control program that is able to control the fans. I can't find a program that is able to undervolt the processor. I just spent $30 on a laptop cooler with movable fans. If that doesn't work I'm building my own with some wood, a 5V wall wort, and some foam. Dell, it is UNACCEPTABLE to build a computer that changes the way it sounds just sitting there doing nothing. Learn how to program a fan control system. This is my last Dell. Every notebook from now on, I'll have to touch and wait around for the fan to stabilize before I buy it.
mikecel79 - Friday, March 5, 2010 - link
I'm looking at the new Studio 14 with the Core i3/i5 CPUs but haven't found a good review of it yet. It's got the same CPUs but can be had with a Radeon 4530 and 7200 RPM drives.Pirks - Friday, March 5, 2010 - link
"Dell's designers seem to understand the importance of user experience extending beyond simple metrics like system performance"So Dell's designers are much MUCH smarter than most of the DT readers :P
jabber - Thursday, March 4, 2010 - link
I've been using the similar equiped (ports wise) Inspiron 13Z for the past 5 months and to be honest I've havent missed having a PCMCIA/Express port or a fourth USB port at all.I think Dell have done some research on what parts most users need/use and found that (especially Express port) they just arent needed.
This range of Inspirons are really great.
Iketh - Thursday, March 4, 2010 - link
this article was hard to read... far too wordy... detailed, but not enjoyableezinner - Thursday, March 4, 2010 - link
No 7,200 RPM HDNo Gigabit Ethernet
4 Hour Battery
Sub $1,000 cost
If the ending price was $579, it would be a good deal.
Wadzii22 - Thursday, March 4, 2010 - link
I have had 2 of the older 1545's, one with the 768 screen and one with the 1600x900 screen... spring for the better screen, its well worth the price, and these things can be had for much cheaper through the outlet.T2k - Thursday, March 4, 2010 - link
...did Dell actually ask you to "review" this unit? Because if they did, they are not happy, I think. :DJoking aside please, take a look at this gem: http://www.jr.com/acer-computer/pe/ACE_AS5740G6979...">http://www.jr.com/acer-computer/pe/ACE_AS5740G6979...
Good brand, killer i5-based (2.26GHz) config including latest DX11 Mobility Radeon 5650 1GB, for $750 (faster 2.4GHz adds $100 more) - I'm pretty sure anyone interested in a decent laptop would love to see the results...
Crucial - Thursday, March 4, 2010 - link
Did Acer ask you to pimp this system? It's the second time you've linked to it in this post.T2k - Thursday, March 4, 2010 - link
Or perhaps simply because I THINK IT IS A GREAT DEAL and I want people to know about it?Stupid moron.