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This new Dell G7 15 gaming laptop features the latest Intel Core processors and Nvidia graphics in a budget-friendly package. This isn’t the first time we’ve been impressed by Dell’s G Series gaming laptops. The Dell G5 15 SE won our favor with its impressive performance while remaining unassuming to those around it. When it comes to the new G7 gaming laptops, Dell went for angular lines and a more aggressive design to distinguish them from the rest of the G Series.
Take a look at the top gaming PCs available right now! Take a look at the ultimate gaming and non-gaming displays in general. A good gaming laptop doesn’t have to cost a lot of money, and the Dell G7 15 is one of those.
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Dell G7 15 Design
When it came to the G7 15’s design, Dell played it safe, prioritizing relative sleekness over eye-catching hues and flourishes. There’s a colorful Dell logo on the lid that appears blue in some lights and green in others, which is my favorite part. Apart from that, the only thing you’ll see on the lids are your fingerprints, which are visible but hardly noticeable due to the “abyss grey” shade’s proximity to black. The hinge features a “G7” logo that identifies it as a Dell. At the very least, the font appears to be edgy.
Using less color can be more effective, as evidenced by the reflecting Dell logo on the bezel below the 15.6-inch screen and the plastic lid. The deck, which is plastic as well, isn’t slippery, so you may rest your wrists while typing on it without worry. Instead of a labeled power button, one that’s smoother and more reflective on top of the deck, centered below the screen.
If you look attentively, you can notice a touch of blue between the slats on the sides and rear, which are easy to overlook. More color is usually welcome, but the subtlety of these blue splotches makes them difficult to perceive.
The port labeling also uses the same shade of blue, giving it a more substantial visual effect than the vents. Thunderbolt 3, USB 3.1 Gen 1, and a headphone/mic jack are all found on the left side of the device. A USB 3.1 Gen 1 port and a dual-in-one SD card reader are located on the right side of the device. You can get to the power adapter, HDMI, another USB 3.1 Gen 1, Mini DisplayPort, Ethernet, and an excellent lock slot by flipping the G7 15 over. Even if the PC is not running, a device can be charged via any USB 3.1 Gen 1 connection.
Design Comparison
Considering its sleek design, the G7 15 is surprised by its weight (5.5 pounds). A quick look at the specs shows that it’s 14.4 x 10.8 x 0.8 inches tall. Acer Predator Triton 500, Lenovo Legion Y740, and Razer Blade 15 are all lighter and have similar dimensions and weights, but the Razer Blade 15 is larger and heavier than any of them.
Graphing Processor
Combined with an Intel Core i7-9750H CPU, the G5 15’s GeForce RTX 2060 (6GB) graphics card is capable of excellent gaming performance, especially at high resolutions. The game ran between 60 and 69 frames per second (fps) while I played Battlefield V, one of today’s most demanding games, with ray tracing turned off, but all other visual settings turned up. However, the fps ranged from 80 to 50 fps when I led Deme Cisse across 1944 Provence.
The G7 15 averaged 66 frames per second (fps) while playing Grand Theft Auto V at full 1080p resolution, above the average for mainstream gaming laptops and matching the Triton 500, which has the same graphics card but an older i7-8750H CPU. The Blade 15 (2070 Max-Q / Intel UHD Graphics 630 and i7-8750H) beat it by one frame per second, but the Legion Y740 (RTX 2070 Max-Q and i7-8750H) won it by ten frames per second.
Using the highest settings in Shadow of the Tomb Raider at 1080p, the G7 15 averaged 49 frames per second, beating the category average and matching the Predator Triton 500. The G7 15 was unable to beat the Legion Y740’s average frame rate.
In the Middle-earth: Shadow of War benchmark, the G7 15 managed a respectable 77 frames per second on ultra settings at 1080p, matching the performance of the Triton 500. Nevertheless, the fps of the Legion Y740 and the Blade 15 were 10 and 14 times better than each other.
The G7 15 managed 88 frames per second on the Hitman benchmark in 1080p with ultra settings and DirectX 12. This was much above the category average and just ahead of the Triton. Also, feel free to use your most impressive virtual reality headset. The G7 15 scored an 11 on the SteamVR test, the highest possible.
To put the G7 15 through its paces, I played Metro Exodus 15 times on the RTX preset, which incorporates ray tracing, for a total of around 30 minutes. It averaged 44.3 frames per second for the first run, slipping only once to the 43 fps range. The CPU worked at an average speed of 3.99 GHz and 64.7 degrees Celsius during the test (148.5 degrees Fahrenheit). In general, the GPU got to a maximum temperature of 52.3 degrees Celsius on average (120.7 degrees Fahrenheit).
Productivity
The G7’s CPU was an Intel Core i7-9750H, a six-core, 12-thread model clocked at 2.6 GHz with a turbo boost speed of 4.5 GHz. With 16GB of RAM, most gamers should be OK; with a 256GB M.2 PCIe-NVMe SSD and a 1TB SATA hard drive for storage, you have plenty of options.
It had no problem operating 26 Google Chrome tabs simultaneously, including one streaming The Office from Netflix (while I still can) and the Slack program. There was no lag or delay even while switching between tabs quickly, and I could hear “Date Mike’s” cringe-inducing antics play without stuttering. However, when tested against other gaming laptops in this price range, the Dell gaming laptop consistently performed above average but not always better than the competition.
Performance
The Dell G7 15 Best Gaming Laptop With Solid Specs scored 23,863 on Geekbench 4.3, above the category average of 20,199 points and our test sample. The G7 15’s SSD copied 4.97GB of mixed media files at 221.3 MBps in our file transfer test, taking 23 seconds. That’s significantly slower than the Triton 500, Legion Y740, and Blade 15 gaming laptops. USING THE HANDBRAKE BENCHMARK, the G7 15 took 8 minutes and 5 seconds to transcode a 4K movie to a 1080p quality. More than twice as fast as the typical laptop, at 2:15, and nearly five times as fast as the Razer Blade 15. There was a 1:18 time difference between the Triton 500 and the Legion Y740.
Display
The G7 15’s screen has a 144 Hz refresh rate, so you won’t notice any lag even when gaming at high speeds. Because the screen is an IPS panel, I expected vibrant colors and clear images even when seen from the side. Terminator: Dark Fate’s teaser left me unsatisfied because of how little Arnold Schwarzenegger appeared and because of the difficulty in detecting fine details in darker scenes when watching. It was easy to see what was happening in a brightly lit hotel room or a daytime fight scene, but I had difficulty seeing what was happening in a dark hotel room or at night. In terms of providing a visible vision when seen from a perpendicular angle, the IPS, on the other hand, is provided.
Colors such as orange vegetation, explosions and fire reflections in a puddle, scarlet blood drips on my gun’s barrel, and green moss was prominent throughout a sunny level in Battlefield V set in Provence. The G7 15 screen reproduced 114 percent of the sRGB color space, which is in line with the category average and slightly more vibrant than the Legion Y740. While the Blade 15 has a far more vivid display, the Triton 500 has a little more vibrant one.
Keyboard and Touchscreen
However, there are no macro keys on the G7 15’s four-zone RGB keyboard with a Numpad. The Alienware Command Center software has RGB lighting controls. There are seven other themes to choose from, but one of them is just plain dull: Static Blue. Depending on the theme, you can choose between low, medium, or high speed for cycling themes such as Rainbow Wave and Spectrum.
The brightness of the lighting can also be altered, but I always left it at its highest setting. Specific lighting makes the keys appear faint; the colors illuminate through the white text but not under the shallow keys, as shown in the image above (left).
The keys have an apparent shallowness of 1.38mm. However, this is not a deal-breaker because of the clickiness of the keys. The 76g force required to operate the keys isn’t for long typing sessions; however, adding extra spring would be even better. On the 10fastfingers.com typing test, I averaged 109 words per minute with 97 percent accuracy. This is a lot faster than usual, but the accuracy isn’t as good as it usually is for me.
With its matte finish and soft but firm feel, the unified touchpad measures 4.1 x 2.5 inches. Three- and four-finger motions worked perfectly on the first try with Windows precision drivers.
Audio
Two tiny speakers can be seen peeking out from between the deck’s slats. When turned up all the way, they made enough noise to fill my living room and kitchen. When I was playing Battlefield V, the sound of gunfire was a roar, and I longed for it to stop. It was loud enough to fill my living room/kitchen combo at this intensity, and I could even get my fix in my neighbor’s bedroom without feeling the need to turn it up any louder myself. However, despite the sound’s strength, it lacked fullness. Even with Alienware Command Center’s “shooting” audio profile selected, gunshots in Battlefield V sounded hollow. ABBA’s melodic voices, which are typically rich and full, sounded thin and piercing.
When it comes to fine-tuning, Alienware Command Center makes use of Nahimic technologies. For example, it offers a profile called “Music,” which includes bass and treble adjustments and switches to enable surround sound and vice clarity and smart loudness. The sound can be redirected using the audio recon section.
Upgradeability
Because the RAM and hard drive on the Dell G7 15 are labeled with upgrading directions, it’s not just upgrade-friendly; it’s upgrade-encouraging. I had to remove 9 Phillips head screws to get into the G7 15, but only 7 of them came out (the other two only loosened). As soon as I removed the laptop’s back cover, I noticed an appealing shade of blue, thanks to the dark blue PCB and the blue-dyed heat pipes that protruded from the spine’s ventilation holes.
A single Philips screw can be removed to upgrade the Wi-Fi module. The aluminum shroud that protected my M.2 SSD was easily removed using two Phillips screws. Replace the SSD by dragging the final Phillips screw (you can adjust the screw for the more common 2280 M.2 SSD form factor). My favorite feature of the power connector is that a metal bracket holds it firmly in place.
Battery Timing
Even for a gaming laptop, the Dell G7 15’s 60WHr battery lasts only a few hours before needing to be replaced. With the screen at 125 nits brightness, we ran our battery test to see how long it would last while continuously browsing the web, streaming videos, and running OpenGL benchmarks over Wi-Fi. There was a 52-minute difference in battery life between the Dell laptop and the average gaming laptop in this price range, indicating the Dell was significantly less powerful. The Legion Y740, on the other hand, will have you reaching for a charger an hour and a half earlier.
Software Warranty
For example, Dell preinstalls My Dell, Dell Customer Connect, Digital Delivery, Mobile Connect, Power Manager, and Update and SmartByte Diagnostics on the G7 15 that you may choose to ignore. Aside from Candy Crush Friends and Candy Crush Saga, Windows 10 comes preloaded with the usual bloatware, such as a shortcut to LinkedIn, Skype, a Dropbox promotion, and Netflix.
Control network usage with Thunderbolt Control Center or Killer Control Center. Dell’s Alienware Command Center, on the other hand, is particularly noteworthy. With an optional dark mode, the Alienware Command Center makes it easy on the eyes. More importantly, it provides a place to monitor CPU, GPU, and RAM utilization, modify keyboard RGB lighting, sleep settings, and customize sound profiles and audio recon…
Configurations
It has an i7-9750H processor, an RTX 2060 graphics card with six gigabytes of memory, and 16GB of RAM. It also has a large M.2 SSD storage drive and a large 1TB hard drive, and a fast 144Hz refresh rate display.
For an additional $50, you can upgrade to a 240 Hz monitor. It costs $2,599.99 for the most costly G5 15 configuration, including a 60 Hz anti-glare OLED screen. The CPU and RAM are the same, but the graphics card is an Nvidia GeForce RTX 2080 (8GB), and the storage is a 512GB SSD.
The most affordable model starts at $999.99 and has an Intel Core i5-9300H processor and an Nvidia GeForce GTX 1650 graphics card (4GB). A 128GB SSD and 1TB hard drive are included in this configuration, which reduces RAM from 16GB to 8GB. It also has a 60 Hz screen and blue backlighting on the keyboard instead of RGB lighting.
Conclusion
The Dell G7 15 is a powerful gaming laptop with an RTX 2060 graphics card and an Intel 9th Gen Core i5 CPU. Compared to comparable gaming laptops of a similar price range, our setup came out on top in gaming and productivity benchmarks at $1,399.99. When compared to the more expensive Acer Predator Triton 500, it typically came up short. For more information about gaming laptops keep visiting guidebits