Do I need a GPU

[Pendragon]

58 minutes ago, CerberusLabrat said:

Also of note is that for a 5480 with a 930MX you're looking at a minimum of $1,528.30, because you have to upgrade from a 2.5" drive to an M.2, you have to switch to the dual pointer palmrest and keyboard with thunderbolt, and you have to go the 90W power adapter.  Then that configuration has 4GB of RAM and a 128GB SATA SSD. 

 

Who is buying the 5480 at MSRP????????? LOL. And literally a second ago you didn't even know this existed LOL. You can pick these things up for like 900-1000 a pop on dell outlet or ebay refurbished. literally look at the e5470 link. it's like 700 bucks. and that was a random selection. they have hella good deals on it. 

 

And the build is far better. It's TB3 has 4 lanes. It's CPU has unlocked turbo bins. It has business support. And it's cheaper if you know how to buy things. 

 

[MercuryRain]

The E7470 is like $700 yes, but it has intel onboard. No discrete.  The 5480 you linked also doesn't have the 930MX.

 

And on that note, if you know how to buy things you can get the same kind of deal on an XPS 15 as you could get on the 5480.  

 

The XPS 15 is also a business class laptop from Dell.

 

I'm not entirely sure what your argument is here.  You're putting forth prices for a very barebones, very CPU heavy Latitude with an i7-7820HQ (not HK, mind you, HQ), 4GB of RAM, a 128GB SATA SSD, and INTEGRATED graphics (not the 930MX) and claiming it beats a well-rounded XPS 15 with a 7700HQ, 8GB of RAM, a 256GB PCIe SSD, and a 1050 for basically the same amount of money.

[Pendragon]

39 minutes ago, CerberusLabrat said:

The XPS 15 is also a business class laptop from Dell.

 

No. it's actually not. It's a premium laptop converted for 1 specific business laptop. 

 

39 minutes ago, CerberusLabrat said:

I'm not entirely sure what your argument is here.  You're putting forth prices for a very barebones, very CPU heavy Latitude with an i7-7820HQ (not HK, mind you, HQ), 4GB of RAM, a 128GB SATA SSD, and INTEGRATED graphics (not the 930MX) and claiming it beats a well-rounded XPS 15 with a 7700HQ, 8GB of RAM, a 256GB PCIe SSD, and a 1050 for basically the same amount of money.

The 7820HQ can have it's turbo bins adjusted upwards as I've already said. 

 

If OP has 0 use for a GPU, there is no reason to get an XPS15. The 5480 is better built and has a usable 4 lane tb3 lane. Also, I literally said I picked those out in the random. I don't have time to find a perfectly priced 5480. 

 

I would prefer a 5480 for tasks that are CPU bound only. And you get business support, doesn't break, doesn't have qc issues (which yes the xps15 does have some), don't have to deal with consumer care, don't have to deal with bad software updates from dell. And is a better eGPU companion than the XPS15. 

 

If the OP has any use for a GPU, he should not be considering the XPS15 if he's budget conscious. He should be looking at Dell 7567s or N850HP6s for performance. XPS15 fits the niche of people who don't need max performance but have money to spend on build. 

[MercuryRain]

Then what about the Precision 3520? Xeon and Thunderbolt, business laptop, still cheaper than the Latitude.

[Pendragon]

33 minutes ago, CerberusLabrat said:

Precision 3520

That's a 5580 with different specs. Dell rebrands a bunch of their stuff. Also it's more expensive. 

 

But there are times when that laptop is hella cheap. No idea why. Dell had no idea how to price consistently. And vice versa. There are times when the 5580 is far cheaper. Both are much larger and heavier. I had a E5570. Didn't like the shit gpu in it and got my zbook instead. Still a shit gpu, but I like the design.