Dell XPS 15 2-In-1 Partial Teardown: Going Under The Hood

[@kazansky22]

Finally!!! I've been searching all the youtube for a video like this for this particular laptop. Do you think you could do a 2nd video showing how to gained access to the CPU/GPU/HMB to replace the thermal paste?

[@TheDearRecorded]

yes!!! a video on thermal paste replacement please! This heats up quite a bit and replacing the worn out thermal paste works better than all the other alternative cooling options

[@kanehi]

Awesome. Thermal pad is a great idea.

[@TheDearRecorded]

Great explanation and very coherent. I just wish you placed the cam from the other side so we can see how you execute the more delicate steps of removing tiny components. Now we just see your meaty paws in the way saying 'carefully do this' while we can't see anything :) Or/and just use the spudger to point out what you're about to do/which part/screw/etc is which (just had to find an excuse to say `spudger`)

[@ChristopherDucasse]

One question: what's on the right side exactly? I have one and that parts get really hot more than the rest of the machine.

[@sekharmenonk8462]

Great videos keep it up !!

[@Hothardware]

You got it. Thanks!

[@onlyy823]

Nice tear down bro!

[@Hothardware]

Thanks! Didn't want to rip it completely apart but this is pretty much as far as 99% of users will want to go anyway.

[@blueckaym]

Great video! I would love if this model had a 2nd m.2 slot, but for a thin convertible device like that it's normal

[@samloh5954]

Could you please run Warframe on Ultra (Free to play game), as well as Vermintide 2 (Max settings?) on this device? I'm thinking of getting this instead of the Aero 15x if the Dell XPS 15 2-in-1 can handle both games perfectly at ultra. Thank you and great content!

[@asdanjer]

Sam Loh the Aero 15x has a GTX 1070 this one has a Vega m gl and is Note compatabil to a 1050ti so it ist slower than the normal aero15

[@samloh5954]

Yes i know, but i'd like to see how this Vega M performs in those two games :)

[@galeanoandres]

they don't perform that well you can look at the review of the new intel nuc. Performance wise there not the best and plus amd just rebranded the name of it to vega , the gpu is an old architecture .

[@CarlosRodriguez-ly1ec]

i want this laptop so hard is what i always wanted usb c, acurate display, 2 in 1 the only thing i want to know if i can charge it with a powerbank :'( just for keep it charge not for full charge and maybe see if i can buy an anker cable and a 60 watt wall charger in case of emergency thanks

[@willx2018]

Do you know what the total TDP of the laptop is? I want to hook it up to a dock with 85w charging, I know the CPU/GPU uses 65W but idk about the rest

[@aidanmoran3881]

Would you be willing to do a comprehensive gaming review across a bunch of games since this chip has really yet to have been benchmarked.

[@Hothardware]

Semi-comprehensive, right here: hothardware.com/reviews/dell-xps-15-2-in-1-review :)

[@aidanmoran3881]

HotHardware thanks

[@Hothardware]

My pleasure. We may run a few more games on this machine for testing. What would you like to see? Thinking more of games that have built in benchmarks. Maybe Far Cry 5, or the latest Final Fantasy?

[@aidanmoran3881]

HotHardware I would like to see some lighter titles like fortnite and overwatch to see if the device can handle 1080p at ultra and consistently hit 60fps

[@samloh5954]

Could you please run Warframe on Ultra (Free to play game), as well as Vermintide 2 (Max settings?) I'm thinking of getting this instead of the Aero 15x if the Dell XPS 2 in 1 can handle both games perfectly at ultra. Thank you and great content!

[@skepticalmechanic]

Waiting for the Coffee Lake H to come out... this is the dumb down processor

[@Robin2win14]

Damn, would have been perfect opportunity to re-paste that thing and come back with results...

[@Hothardware]

Robin2win14 not sure I follow

[@Robin2win14]

HotHardware a lot of people with this laptop report high temperatures and throttling during instensive tasks. Re-pasting the CPU and GPU to the heatsink often yields good improvements since during production they use low-quality paste and/or rush the application, often using too much of too little. It would have also been interesting to see what the VRM cooling looks like since you had the laptop open. Maybe in a other vid? :)

[@Hothardware]

Ahh, I see. Are you sure it's this model people are reporting this issue with? First, because it hasn't even really started shipping in market yet because it's so new. And also Dell specifically made claims to us about the engineering that went into the cooling solution of the machine that allows it to maintain performance over time and extended loads. That said, we probably will be looking at this area more closely in the weeks ahead.

[@Robin2win14]

It's the new Dell XPS 15 2-1 9575 right? If you check the Dell subreddit, people do complain about very high temps. Re-pasting and undervolting helps control the temperatures. One guy mentioned that disabling Intel Turbo-boost under the BIOS really helped, because since the GPU and CPU share the same TDP package, under heavy load they both try to outperform each other, resulting in ups and downs in performance. Disabling Turbo-Boost results in much more stable performance. Anyway, this is just from a handful of people. It would have still been interesting to see what re-pasting could do (with proper before/after benchmarks). I don't mind those things because I am confident that with updates, these things will improve.

[@benci456]

Can you tell me reason why does not chipset have heatsink as ordinary? But all heatsinks concentrate on GPU

[@Hothardware]

The heatsink solutions actually are built to cool both the CPU and GPU which are on one chip in this machine. The chipset for most modern mobile platforms doesn't need a cooling solution really and runs fine at ambient temps.

[@XxCrazyKamikazexX]

So it's safe to replace the SSD?

[@cardboards]

Any idea of the wifi chip is replaceable?

[@Hothardware]

Most modern notebooks designs these days follow a typical mezzanine style Mini PCIe Card spec, although I didn't see it when I opened up the machine. Will look again. It may be on the top side of the motherboard and I didn't tear down that far to pull it out.

[@passgar]

I'd be interested in this answer too! I was watching the whole video for this purpose but didn't hear it. haha.

[@Togra2o2]

Sadly it's soldered on board to the top left of where the fans are as i was looking to replace it with a Killer 1550 Chip or Intel 9200 before finding out that it can't be done

[@skepticalmechanic]

If you have a soldering Iron it’s replaceable! lol 😂

[@skepticalmechanic]

Spuger... lol 😂

[@ikra]

So sad to find out that the Wireless card is soldered onto the IO PCB! Wtf Dell?! The killer card that comes with this laptop is pure garbage, the wireless is intermittent and the bluetooth just doesn't work at all. Sticking to Microsoft Surface laptops in the future!

[@frankfeng2701]

3rd.