Testing Methodology
Comparison Laptops - Part One |
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|---|---|---|---|---|
| System Name | ||||
| Form Factor | 13.3in |
13.3in |
13.3in |
15.6in |
| CPU | Intel Core i5-7200U |
Intel Core m3-6Y30 |
Intel Core m5-6Y57 |
Intel Core i7-6700HQ |
| CPU Base Frequency | 2.5GHz |
0.9GHz |
1.1GHz |
2.6GHz |
| CPU Turbo Frequency | 3.1GHz |
2.2GHz |
2.8GHz |
3.5GHz |
| CPU Cores / Threads | 2 / 4 |
2 / 4 |
2 / 4 |
4 / 8 |
| CPU TDP / SDP | 15W TDP |
4.5W TDP |
4.5W TDP |
45W TDP |
| Integrated Graphics | Intel HD 620 |
Intel HD 515 |
Intel HD 515 |
Intel HD 530 |
| IGP Max Frequency | 1.05GHz |
0.85GHz |
0.9GHz |
1.05GHz |
| Discrete Graphics | - |
- |
- |
Nvidia GeForce GTX 960M 2GB |
| Memory | 8GB DDR3 (2x4GB) |
8GB DDR3 (2x4GB) |
8GB DDR3 (2x4GB) |
16GB DDR4 (2x8GB) |
| Memory Speed | 1,866MHz |
1,600MHz |
1,600MHz |
2,133MHz |
| Display | 13.3 FHD IPS (1,920x1,080) |
14in QHD+ IPS (3,200x1,800) |
13.3in FHD IPS (1,920x1,080) |
15.6in UHD IPS (3,840x2,160) |
| Touchscreen | No |
No |
No |
Yes |
| Battery Capacity | 43Wh |
44Wh |
34Wh |
84Wh |
| Wireless | Intel Dual Band Wireless-AC 8265 |
Intel Dual Band Wireless-AC 7265 |
Intel Dual Band Wireless-AC 8260 |
Dell Wireless 1830 802.11ac |
| Ethernet | - |
Realtek USB GbE |
- |
- |
| Storage | 256GB Phison S11 SSD |
128GB Lite-On CV1 M.2 SSD |
256GB Toshiba NVMe M.2 SSD |
512GB Samsung PM951 NVMe M.2 SSD |
| Power Supply | 45W External |
45W External |
45W External |
130W External |
| Operating System | Microsoft Windows 10 (64-bit) |
Microsoft Windows 10 (64-bit) |
Microsoft Windows 10 Pro (64-bit) |
Microsoft Windows 10 (64-bit) |
| Dimensions (W x D x H) | 320mm x 212mm x 17.5mm |
324mm x 226mm x 12.3mm |
305mm x 211mm x 14.3mm |
357mm x 235mm x 11-17mm |
| Weight | 1.3kg |
1.2kg |
1.12kg |
2.0kg |
| Warranty | 2 Year |
1 Year |
3 Year |
1 Year |
| Date Reviewed | November 2016 |
July 2016 |
July 2016 |
May 2016 |
| Price When Reviewed | £649 |
£560 |
£1,390 |
£1,649 |
Comparison Laptops - Part Two |
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|---|---|---|---|---|
| System Name | ||||
| Form Factor | 14.0in |
12.5in |
13.3in |
12.5in |
| CPU | Intel Core i7-5600U |
Intel Core i7-6500U |
Intel Core i7-6500U |
Intel Core i7-7500U |
| CPU Base Frequency | 2.6GHz |
2.5GHz |
2.5GHz |
2.7GHz |
| CPU Turbo Frequency | 3.2GHz |
3.1GHz |
3.1GHz |
3.5GHz |
| CPU Cores / Threads | 2 / 4 |
2 / 4 |
2 / 4 |
2 / 4 |
| CPU TDP / SDP | 15W TDP |
15W TDP |
15W TDP |
15W TDP |
| Integrated Graphics | Intel HD 5500 |
Intel HD 520 |
Intel HD 520 |
Intel HD 620 |
| IGP Max Frequency | 0.95GHz |
1.05GHz |
1.05GHz |
1.05GHz |
| Discrete Graphics | - |
- |
- |
- |
| Memory | 8GB DDR3 (2x4GB) |
8GB DDR4 (1x8GB) |
8GB DDR3 (1x8GB) |
16GB LP-DDR3 (2x8GB) |
| Memory Speed | 1,600MHz |
2,133MHz |
1,600MHz |
1,866MHz |
| Display | 14in QHD IPS (2,560x1,440) |
12.5in FHD IPS (1,920x1,080) |
13.3in FHD IPS (1,920x1,080) |
12.5in QHD IPS (2,560x1440) |
| Touchscreen | Yes |
Yes |
No |
Yes |
| Battery Capacity | 50Wh |
44Wh |
45Wh |
53.6Wh |
| Wireless | Intel Dual Band Wireless-AC 7265 |
Intel Dual Band Wireless-AC 8260 |
Intel Dual Band Wireless-AC 8260 |
Killer Wireless-AC |
| Ethernet | - |
Intel Gigabit Ethernet |
- |
- |
| Storage | 256GB Samsung PM871 M.2 SSD |
256GB Samsung PM871 M.2 SSD |
250GB Samsung 850 Evo SSD |
256GB Samsung MZVLV256 PCIe M.2 |
| Power Supply | 65W External |
45W External |
40W External |
45W External |
| Operating System | Microsoft Windows 10 (64-bit) |
Microsoft Windows 10 Pro (64-bit) |
Microsoft Windows 10 (64-bit) |
Microsoft Windows 10 (64-bit) |
| Dimensions (W x D x H) | 331mm x 227mm x 17.7mm |
310mm x 220mm x 17.8mm |
325mm x 219mm x 18mm |
321mm x 206mm x 13.1mm |
| Weight | 1.3kg |
1.3kg |
1.4kg |
1.29kg |
| Warranty | 3 Year |
3 Year |
3 Year |
1 Year |
| Date Reviewed | September 2015 |
February 2016 |
November 2015 |
November 2016 |
| Price When Reviewed | £1,955 |
£1,165 |
£599 |
£1,249 |
CPU Benchmarks |
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|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| HEXUS PiFast | Our number-crunching PiFast test is used to benchmark the computational power of each system's CPU. | |||||||||||
| Cinebench | Using Cinebench's multi-CPU render, this cross-platform benchmark stresses as many cores as possible. | |||||||||||
| HandBrake | Free-to-use video encoder that stresses all CPU cores. | |||||||||||
Memory and Storage Benchmarks |
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| AIDA64 | Benchmark that analyses memory bandwidth and latency. | |||||||||||
| CrystalDiskMark | Popular free-to-use storage benchmark, used to gauge sequential performance and aggregated 4K QD32 speeds. | |||||||||||
System Benchmarks |
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| PCMark 8 | System-wide examination run using the Home and/or Creative presets with OpenCL acceleration. | |||||||||||
| 3DMark | Graphics benchmark run using the Sky Diver DX11 preset. | |||||||||||
| Gaming | Where applicable, a selection of modern titles are tested at various resolutions. | |||||||||||
Miscellaneous Benchmarks |
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| Display | Datacolor's Spyder 4 Elite professional monitor analyser is used to return a quantitative assessment of display quality. | |||||||||||
| Power Consumption | Noted for system-wide power draw while running the HandBrake video-transcoding test. | |||||||||||
| Temperature | Average CPU temperature taken across all cores from the last five minutes of the HandBrake video-transcoding test. | |||||||||||
| Battery Life | Measured while looping a high-definition movie clip with 50 per cent screen brightness and flight mode enabled. | |||||||||||