- Joined
- Aug 20, 2003
A while back I posted a "review" on the XPS 9570 where I ran some benchmarks and looked at the cooling. I just picked up a Lenovo X1 Extreme so I figured I'd do a little comparison.
Those of you who check the Dell XPS forums know that I have had a couple of XPS systems (multiple from every model) and have done some benchmark/temp mini-reviews on them. I received the X1 Extreme a few days ago and decided to do the same for this. This is a "live" review as I will be updating it over the next couple of days. I welcome any benchmark requests (as long as I have it or it is free that is, lol).
Specs of my X1 Extreme:
CPU: i7-8750H
GPU: 1050 Ti Max-Q
Ram: 16GB DDR4 2666MHz (single stick)
SSD: 512GB Intel 7600P (SSDPEKKF512G8L)
Screen: FHD
Stock Benchmarks with windows power slider at "better peformance" and Lenovo Vantage left on "enable intelligent cooling"
Time Spy - 2402
Time Spy Extreme - 1106
Fire Strike - 6549
Fire Strike Extreme - 3324
Fire Strike Ultra - 1694
Sky Diver - 19280
Cloud Gate - 24046
Ice Storm - 79560
Ice Storm Unlimited - 160401
3DMark 11 Performance - 8661
3DMark 11 Extreme - 3262
Unigine Heaven Extreme -1113
RealBench System Score - 91,862
CPU-Z Multi Score - 2611.3
Cinebench R15 - Open GL 96.16FPS, CPU 915 cb, Single 174 cb
Corona - 4:08
7-Zip Total Rating - 32880 MIPS
PCMark 10 - 4892
PCMark 8 Home Accelerated - 3672
PCMark 8 Creative Accelerated - 3516
PCMark 8 Work Accelerated - 5294
Y-Cruncher 25M (sec) - 27.068
Y-Cruncher 1B (sec) - 133.006
Super Pi 1M (sec) - 9.248s
Super Pi 32M (min:sec) - 8m 48.422s
Prime95 64k Bench (iter/sec) - 20068.76
Prime95 2048k Bench (iter/sec) - 210.53
Thermals
Testing for the thermal section is done with a variety of tools. I am using Prime95 29.4B7 to test the CPU, RTHDRIBL as a light GPU load, and RealBench 2.56 as a heavy workload on both the CPU and GPU.
Undervolting
The CPU in my little X1 seems to be pretty decent quality wise. I was able to undervolt it by 165mv and it is 4 hour RealBench, 10 hour Prime95 Small FFT, and 8 hour AIDA64 system stress test stable. I am not concentrating on a how to for this but can add more detail if anyone requests it.
Repasting
Some how Lenovo managed to apply more paste to the X1 Extreme than Dell did their XPS 9570, no small feat mind you. Removing the stock paste and applying some Kryonaut yielded the results above. Not a huge decrease, but worth it in my opinion. I may try something different like ICDiamond to see if it helps because the dual tripod design of the heatsink doesn't apply much pressure.
Modifications
So I think I've arrived at a point where I am fairly happy with my results finally. Here is a list of everything that was done before I re-ran all of the benchmarks.
1. Undervolted the CPU and CPU cache by 165mv - by far the best "bang for the buck" so to speak.
2. Repasted the CPU and GPU with Kryonaut - worth it if you're comfortable with repasting and already have the supplies
3. Set the Thinkpad Vantage Program to optimize for performance - seems to increase the long and short turbo boost to a higher wattage. Causes the system to run hotter but not out of hand.
4. Removed the fan grill "sticker" from the bottom of the case - very much worth it to me as the noise these fans put out were beyond annoying prior to doing this.
5. Overclocked the GPU by 200MHz and the vram by 350MHz - not only do I get a big performance boost, it actually runs at a much lower VID.
Benchmarks with the above mods:
Time Spy - 2549
Time Spy Extreme - 1184
Fire Strike - 6942
Fire Strike Extreme - 3522
Fire Strike Ultra - 1795
Sky Diver - 20829
Cloud Gate - 27566
Ice Storm - 76172
Ice Storm Unlimited - 161975
3DMark 11 Performance - 9242
https://www.3dmark.com/3dm11/130691973DMark 11 Extreme - 3455
Unigine Heaven Extreme - 1191
RealBench System Score - 114,708
CPU-Z Multi Score - 3428.2
Cinebench R15 - OpenGL 101.61FPS, CPU 1206 cb, Single 171 cb
Corona - 3:07
7-Zip Total Rating - 38846
PCMark 10 - 5224
PCMark 8 Home Accelerated - 3524
PCMark 8 Creative Accelerated - 3492
PCMark 8 Work Accelerated - 5191
Y-Cruncher 25M (sec) - 25.041
Y-Cruncher 1B (sec) - 121.208
Super Pi 1M (sec) - 9.264
Super Pi 32M (min:sec) - 8:45.5
Prime95 64k Bench (iter/sec) - 27908.59
Prime95 2048k Bench (iter/sec) - 241.88
To make things easier to read here is a before and after:
Here is a quick and dirty against my Dell XPS 9570 benchmarks and temps both stock and modified:
Obviously there are pros/cons to each laptop. I would say the X1 feels much lighter and easier to carry around, has a better keyboard, has a spare NVMe slot, and doesn't have the GPU throttling that the Dell does. The XPS feels better built to me, the screen is much better, much better battery life, and is much faster at CPU related tasks than the X1.
Those of you who check the Dell XPS forums know that I have had a couple of XPS systems (multiple from every model) and have done some benchmark/temp mini-reviews on them. I received the X1 Extreme a few days ago and decided to do the same for this. This is a "live" review as I will be updating it over the next couple of days. I welcome any benchmark requests (as long as I have it or it is free that is, lol).
Specs of my X1 Extreme:
CPU: i7-8750H
GPU: 1050 Ti Max-Q
Ram: 16GB DDR4 2666MHz (single stick)
SSD: 512GB Intel 7600P (SSDPEKKF512G8L)
Screen: FHD
Stock Benchmarks with windows power slider at "better peformance" and Lenovo Vantage left on "enable intelligent cooling"
Time Spy - 2402
Time Spy Extreme - 1106
Fire Strike - 6549
Fire Strike Extreme - 3324
Fire Strike Ultra - 1694
Sky Diver - 19280
Cloud Gate - 24046
Ice Storm - 79560
Ice Storm Unlimited - 160401
3DMark 11 Performance - 8661
3DMark 11 Extreme - 3262
Unigine Heaven Extreme -1113
RealBench System Score - 91,862
CPU-Z Multi Score - 2611.3
Cinebench R15 - Open GL 96.16FPS, CPU 915 cb, Single 174 cb
Corona - 4:08
7-Zip Total Rating - 32880 MIPS
PCMark 10 - 4892
PCMark 8 Home Accelerated - 3672
PCMark 8 Creative Accelerated - 3516
PCMark 8 Work Accelerated - 5294
Y-Cruncher 25M (sec) - 27.068
Y-Cruncher 1B (sec) - 133.006
Super Pi 1M (sec) - 9.248s
Super Pi 32M (min:sec) - 8m 48.422s
Prime95 64k Bench (iter/sec) - 20068.76
Prime95 2048k Bench (iter/sec) - 210.53
Thermals
Testing for the thermal section is done with a variety of tools. I am using Prime95 29.4B7 to test the CPU, RTHDRIBL as a light GPU load, and RealBench 2.56 as a heavy workload on both the CPU and GPU.
Undervolting
The CPU in my little X1 seems to be pretty decent quality wise. I was able to undervolt it by 165mv and it is 4 hour RealBench, 10 hour Prime95 Small FFT, and 8 hour AIDA64 system stress test stable. I am not concentrating on a how to for this but can add more detail if anyone requests it.
Repasting
Some how Lenovo managed to apply more paste to the X1 Extreme than Dell did their XPS 9570, no small feat mind you. Removing the stock paste and applying some Kryonaut yielded the results above. Not a huge decrease, but worth it in my opinion. I may try something different like ICDiamond to see if it helps because the dual tripod design of the heatsink doesn't apply much pressure.
Modifications
So I think I've arrived at a point where I am fairly happy with my results finally. Here is a list of everything that was done before I re-ran all of the benchmarks.
1. Undervolted the CPU and CPU cache by 165mv - by far the best "bang for the buck" so to speak.
2. Repasted the CPU and GPU with Kryonaut - worth it if you're comfortable with repasting and already have the supplies
3. Set the Thinkpad Vantage Program to optimize for performance - seems to increase the long and short turbo boost to a higher wattage. Causes the system to run hotter but not out of hand.
4. Removed the fan grill "sticker" from the bottom of the case - very much worth it to me as the noise these fans put out were beyond annoying prior to doing this.
5. Overclocked the GPU by 200MHz and the vram by 350MHz - not only do I get a big performance boost, it actually runs at a much lower VID.
Benchmarks with the above mods:
Time Spy - 2549
Time Spy Extreme - 1184
Fire Strike - 6942
Fire Strike Extreme - 3522
Fire Strike Ultra - 1795
Sky Diver - 20829
Cloud Gate - 27566
Ice Storm - 76172
Ice Storm Unlimited - 161975
3DMark 11 Performance - 9242
https://www.3dmark.com/3dm11/130691973DMark 11 Extreme - 3455
Unigine Heaven Extreme - 1191
RealBench System Score - 114,708
CPU-Z Multi Score - 3428.2
Cinebench R15 - OpenGL 101.61FPS, CPU 1206 cb, Single 171 cb
Corona - 3:07
7-Zip Total Rating - 38846
PCMark 10 - 5224
PCMark 8 Home Accelerated - 3524
PCMark 8 Creative Accelerated - 3492
PCMark 8 Work Accelerated - 5191
Y-Cruncher 25M (sec) - 25.041
Y-Cruncher 1B (sec) - 121.208
Super Pi 1M (sec) - 9.264
Super Pi 32M (min:sec) - 8:45.5
Prime95 64k Bench (iter/sec) - 27908.59
Prime95 2048k Bench (iter/sec) - 241.88
To make things easier to read here is a before and after:
Here is a quick and dirty against my Dell XPS 9570 benchmarks and temps both stock and modified:
Obviously there are pros/cons to each laptop. I would say the X1 feels much lighter and easier to carry around, has a better keyboard, has a spare NVMe slot, and doesn't have the GPU throttling that the Dell does. The XPS feels better built to me, the screen is much better, much better battery life, and is much faster at CPU related tasks than the X1.
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