Dell Precision 5540 vs. Surface Book 2: Full specs comparison

We thoroughly analyzed technical specifications for Dell Precision 5540 and Surface Book 2 models, including CPU, memory, storage, battery life, display quality, and other features.

Compare With
Please enter device name or part of it
Dell Precision 5540 image

Dell Precision 5540

See at Amazon
Compare With
Please enter device name or part of it
Surface Book 2 image

Surface Book 2

See at Amazon

Dell Precision 5540 Pros

Reasons that Dell Precision 5540 is better than Surface Book 2.

Newer manufacturing

2019 vs. 2017

Much faster CPU performance

Intel Core i9-9980HK inside Dell Precision 5540 has a 67% better multi-core CPU performance score than the Intel Core i7-8650U inside Surface Book 2.

Geekbench 5 multi-core score
Dell Precision 5540 - Intel Core i9-9980HK
6,504
Dell Precision 5540 - Intel Core i9-9880H
6,100
Dell Precision 5540 - Intel Xeon E-2276M
5,165
Dell Precision 5540 - Intel Core i7-9850H
4,914
Dell Precision 5540 - Intel Core i7-9750H
4,880
Surface Book 2 - Intel Core i7-8650U
3,879
Dell Precision 5540 - Intel Core i5-9400H
3,690
Surface Book 2 - Intel Core i5-8350U
2,982
Surface Book 2 - Intel Core i5-7300U
1,777
Supports larger memory

Dell Precision 5540 supports a larger memory capacity than the Surface Book 2. It supports up to 64GB versus 16GB of system memory on the Surface Book 2.

Max system memory size
Dell Precision 5540
64 GB
Surface Book 2
16 GB
Supports faster memory

Dell Precision 5540 supports a faster memory speed than the Surface Book 2. It supports up to 3200MHz versus 1866MHz of system memory on the Surface Book 2.

Memory type and speed
Dell Precision 5540 - DDR4
3,200 MHz
Surface Book 2 - LPDDR3
1,866 MHz
Upgradable memory

Dell Precision 5540 comes with two SODIMM slots that allow you to replace or upgrade when needed. On the flip side, you can't upgrade RAM on the Surface Book 2 since it has onboard memory.

MemoryDell Precision 5540Surface Book 2
Slots
x2
Onboard
TypeDDR4LPDDR3
15% larger display

Dell Precision 5540 has a 15.6-inch screen size 15% larger than the 13.5-inch Surface Book 2.

Display size
Dell Precision 5540
15.6-inch
Surface Book 2
13.5-inch

Surface Book 2 Pros

Reasons that Surface Book 2 is better than Dell Precision 5540.

About 14% lighter

Surface Book 2 weighed 3.38 pounds, 14% lighter than the 3.93 pounds Dell Precision 5540.

WeightDell Precision 5540Surface Book 2
Pound
3.93 lbs.
3.38 lbs.
Kilogram
1.78 kg
1.53 kg

Prices

Here are the latest price updates and offers for both devices.

Dell Precision 5540 Price
Dell Precision 5000 5540 Workstation Laptop (2019) | 15.6'' FHD | Core i7 - 1TB SSD - 32GB RAM - Quadro T2000 | 6 Cores @ 4.6 GHz Win 10 Pro (Reed), Platinum Silver
 Dell Precision 5000 5540 Workstation Laptop (2019) | 15.6'' FHD | Core i7 - 1TB SSD - 32GB RAM - Quadro T2000 | 6 Cores @ 4.6 GHz Win 10 Pro (Reed), Platinum Silver
By Dell
$579.98
See at Amazon
Dell Precision M5540 15.6 UHD Touchscreen Intel Core i7-9750H 2.60Ghz 32GB 1TB SSDR Windows 10 Professional (Renewed)
 Dell Precision M5540 15.6 UHD Touchscreen Intel Core i7-9750H 2.60Ghz 32GB 1TB SSDR Windows 10 Professional (Renewed)
By Dell
$625.00
See at Amazon
Dell Precision 5540 15.6” UHD 4K Touchscreen Core i7-9850H 2.6GHz 6 Core, 32GB RAM, 1TB SSD, Windows 10 Pro NVIDIA Quadro T1000 4GB (Renewed)
 Dell Precision 5540 15.6” UHD 4K Touchscreen Core i7-9850H 2.6GHz 6 Core, 32GB RAM, 1TB SSD, Windows 10 Pro NVIDIA Quadro T1000 4GB (Renewed)
By Dell
$525.00
$599.00 12% OFF
See at Amazon
Surface Book 2 Price
Microsoft Surface Book 2 13.5"(Intel Core i5, 8GB RAM, 256 GB), silver
 Microsoft Surface Book 2 13.5"(Intel Core i5, 8GB RAM, 256 GB), silver
By Microsoft
$279.95
$599.99 53% OFF
See at Amazon
Microsoft Surface Book 2 (Intel Core i7, 16GB RAM, 512GB) - 13.5in (Renewed)
 Microsoft Surface Book 2 (Intel Core i7, 16GB RAM, 512GB) - 13.5in (Renewed)
By Microsoft
$498.95
See at Amazon
Microsoft Surface Book 2 (Intel Core i5, 8GB RAM, 256GB) - 13.5in (Renewed)
 Microsoft Surface Book 2 (Intel Core i5, 8GB RAM, 256GB) - 13.5in (Renewed)
By Microsoft
$328.95
See at Amazon

Specs Comparison

Availability

Dell Precision 5540Surface Book 2
Released20192017
Release Date
  • Announced at Computex 2019.
  • Available from early July 2019.
  • Introduced: October 17, 2017
  • Pre-ordered: November 9, 2017
  • Released: November 16, 2017
PricingStarting at $1,339
  • Surface Book 2 13.5”: Starting at 1,149$
  • Surface Book 2 15”: Starting at 1,999$
Generations-

Exterior

Dell Precision 5540Surface Book 2
Dimensions14.06 x 9.26 x 0.44 in (357 x 235 x 11.2 mm)
Width: 14.06” (357 mm)
Depth: 9.26” (235 mm)
Height: 0.44” (11.2 mm)
  • Surface Book 2 13.5” (Core i5)
    12.3” x 9.1” x 0.51”-0.90” (312 mm x 232 mm x 13 mm-23 mm).
  • Surface Book 2 13.5” (Core i7)
    12.3” x 9.14” x 0.59”-0.90” (312 mm x 232 mm x 15 mm-23 mm).
  • Surface Book 2 15”
    13.5” x 9.87” x 0.57”-0.90” (343 mm x 251 mm x 15 mm-23 mm).
Weight3.93 lbs (1.78 kg)
  • Surface Book 2 13.5” (Core i5)
    • Total: 3.38 lbs (1,533 g)
    • Tablet: 1.59 lbs (719 g)
  • Surface Book 2 13.5” (Core i7)
    • Total: 3.62 lbs (1,642 g)
    • Tablet: 1.59 lbs (719 g)
  • Surface Book 2 15”
    • Total: 4.20 lbs (1,905 g)
    • Tablet: 1.80 lbs (817 g)
Colors
  • Aluminum Platinum Silver LCD Cover
  • Aluminum Titan Gray LCD Cover
Platinum
Keyboard and Trackpad
  • Full-size backlit keyboard.
  • 4.03 x 2.45 in (102.40 mm x 62.40 mm) touchpad with 5 multi-touch gesture support.
  • Keyboard:
    • Full-size mechanical backlit keyset with 1.55mm travel.
    • Mechanical friction attaches the Clipboard to the keyboard.
  • Trackpad:
    • Larger size 105 mm x 70 mm, glass.
    • Supports up to Five-finger multitouch gesture.

Display

Dell Precision 5540Surface Book 2
Size15.6 Inches13.5 Inches
Info
  • 15.6" UltraSharp FHD IGZO4
    • 1920x1080, AG, NT, w/Prem Panel Guar, 100% sRGB.
  • 15.6" Ultrasharp UHD IGZO4
    • 3840x2160, Touch, w/Prem Panel Guar, 100% Adobe,
  • 15.6" Ultrasharp OLED UHD
    • 3840x2160, Non-Touch,w/Prem Panel Guar, 100% DCI-P3
  • Surface Book 2 13.5”
    • Display Resolution: 3000 x 2000 (6M Pixels)
    • Display Density: 267 PPI
  • Surface Book 2 15”
    • Display Resolution: 3240 x 2160 (7M Pixels)
    • Display Density: 260 PPI
  • PixelSense™ Display
  • Aspect ratio: 3:2
  • Contrast ratio: 1600:1
  • Inking: designed together with Surface Pen
  • Touch: 10 points multi-touch

Ports

Dell Precision 5540Surface Book 2
Dell Precision 5540 Ports
Image Source: Dell
Left (5)
  • 1 x power port
  • 1 x USB-A
    USB 3.1 Gen 1 (5 Gbps), PowerShare
  • 1 x HDMI
    v2.0
  • 1 x Thunderbolt 3
    40 Gpbs, DisplayPort, Power Delivery
  • 1 x headphone jack
    Headphone/Microphone
Right (3)
  • 1 x full-size SD card slot
  • 1 x USB-A
    USB 3.1 Gen 1 (5 Gbps), PowerShare
  • 1 x lock slot
Surface Book 2 Ports
Image Source: Microsoft
  • 2 x Full-size USB 3.1 Gen 1
  • 1 x USB Type-C 3.1 Gen 1
    Supports Power Delivery and DisplayPort.
  • 2 x Surface Connect™
    1 in tablet, 1 in keyboard base, both supports charging and docking.
  • 1 x Headset jack
  • 1 x Full-size SDXC card reader
    UHS-II Performance

Internal Specs

Dell Precision 5540Surface Book 2
Processor
  1. 9th Gen Intel® Core™ i5-9400H
    4 cores, 8 threads, 2.50 → 4.30 GHz, 8MB SmartCache, 45W
  2. 9th Gen Intel® Core™ i7-9750H
    6 cores, 12 threads, 2.60 → 4.50 GHz, 12MB SmartCache, 45W
  3. 9th Gen Intel® Core™ i7-9850H
    6 cores, 12 threads, 2.60 → 4.60 GHz, 12MB SmartCache, 45W
  4. Intel Xeon E-2276M
    6 cores, 12 threads, 2.80 → 4.70 GHz, 12MB SmartCache, 45W
  5. 9th Gen Intel® Core™ i9-9880H
    8 cores, 16 threads, 2.30 → 4.80 GHz, 16MB SmartCache, 45W
  6. 9th Gen Intel® Core™ i9-9980HK
    8 cores, 16 threads, 2.40 → 5.00 GHz, 16MB SmartCache, 45W
  1. 7th Gen Intel® Core™ i5-7300U
    2 cores, 4 threads, 2.60 → 3.50 GHz, 3MB SmartCache, 15W
  2. 8th Gen Intel® Core™ i5-8350U
    4 cores, 8 threads, 1.70 → 3.60 GHz, 6MB SmartCache, 15W
  3. 8th Gen Intel® Core™ i7-8650U
    4 cores, 8 threads, 1.90 → 4.20 GHz, 8MB SmartCache, 15W
Integrated Graphics
  1. 9th Gen Intel® Core™ i5-9400H
    Intel® UHD Graphics 630
    24 Execution Units, 350 → 1100 MHz
  2. 9th Gen Intel® Core™ i7-9750H
    Intel® UHD Graphics 630
    24 Execution Units, 350 → 1150 MHz
  3. 9th Gen Intel® Core™ i7-9850H
    Intel® UHD Graphics 630
    24 Execution Units, 350 → 1150 MHz
  4. Intel Xeon E-2276M
    Intel® UHD Graphics P630
    24 Execution Units, 350 → 1200 MHz
  5. 9th Gen Intel® Core™ i9-9880H
    Intel® UHD Graphics 630
    24 Execution Units, 350 → 1200 MHz
  6. 9th Gen Intel® Core™ i9-9980HK
    Intel® UHD Graphics 630
    24 Execution Units, 350 → 1250 MHz
  1. 7th Gen Intel® Core™ i5-7300U
    Intel® HD Graphics 620
    24 Execution Units, 300 → 1100 MHz
  2. 8th Gen Intel® Core™ i5-8350U
    Intel® UHD Graphics 620
    24 Execution Units, 300 → 1100 MHz
  3. 8th Gen Intel® Core™ i7-8650U
    Intel® UHD Graphics 620
    24 Execution Units, 300 → 1150 MHz
Memory
  • Memory Slots
    • 2 x DDR4 SoDIMM
  • Memory Configurations
    • Minimum Memory: 8GB
    • Maximum Memory: 64GB
8GB 16GB
1866 MHz LPDDR3 RAM
Discrete Graphics
  • NVIDIA Quadro T1000 (Optional)
    Turning Architecture, 4GB GDDR5 128-bit, 1395 → 1455 MHz, 768 CUDA Cores.
  • NVIDIA Quadro T2000 (Optional)
    Turning Architecture, 4GB GDDR5 128-bit, 1575 → 1785 MHz, 1,024 CUDA Cores.
  • Surface Book 2 13.5”
    • NVIDIA® GeForce® GTX 1050
      Pascal Architecture, 2GB GDDR5 128-bit, 1354 → 1493 MHz, 640 CUDA Cores.
  • Surface Book 2 15”
    • NVIDIA® GeForce® GTX 1060
      Pascal Architecture, 6GB GDDR5 192-bit, 1404 → 1670 MHz, 1280 CUDA Cores.
Storage
  • Hard Drive Slots
    • 1 x M.2 PCIe SSD slot
    • 1 x 2.5 inches hard drive slot
      Available only on a 3-cell 56Wh battery model.
  • Hard Drive Configurations
    • Up to 2TB M.2 NVMe PCIe SSD
    • Up to 2TB SATA Hard Drive
128 GB 256 GB 512 GB 1 TB
PCIe SSD

Connectivity

Dell Precision 5540Surface Book 2
Wi-Fi
  • Intel Wi-Fi 6 AX200 2x2 802.11ax 160MHz
  • Intel Wireless-AC 9260 2x2 802.11ac
  • Qualcomm QCA6174A 2x2 802.11ac
  • Wi-Fi 5: IEEE 802.11 a/b/g/n/ac compatible.
Bluetooth
  • Bluetooth 5.0
  • Bluetooth Wireless 4.1 technology
More-
  • Surface Book 2 15” Only: Xbox Wireless built-in

Battery

Dell Precision 5540Surface Book 2
Size
  • 56 Wh (3-cell lithium-ion)
  • 97 Wh (6-cell lithium-ion)
  • Surface Book 2 13.5” (Core i5)
    Total: 69Wh
    Clipboard: 18Wh
    Base: 51Wh
  • Surface Book 2 13.5” (Core i7)
    Total: 75.3Wh
    Clipboard: 18Wh
    Base: 57.3Wh
  • Surface Book 2 15”
    Total: 90Wh
    Clipboard: 23Wh
    Base: 67Wh
Battery Life-
  • Up to 17 hours of video playback
  • Up to 5 hours in tablet mode
Power Supply130 W power adapter
Power rated at 19.5VDC/6.67A.
  • Surface Book 2 13.5” (Core i5)
    44W power supply with USB-A (5W) charging port.
  • Surface Book 2 13.5” (Core i7)
    100W power supply with USB-A (5W) charging port.
  • Surface Book 2 15”
    102W power supply with USB-A 7.5W) charging port.

Software

Dell Precision 5540Surface Book 2
OS
Windows 10 Home Windows 10 Pro Ubuntu 18.04 LTS RedHat 7.5
Upgradable to Windows 11
Windows 10 Pro (Creators Update)
Free upgrade to Windows 11
Built-in Apps
  • Microsoft Office 30-days trial
  • McAfee® Small Business Security 30 Day Free Trial
Microsoft Office 365 30-days trial

Camera & Audio

Dell Precision 5540Surface Book 2
Camera
  • Front-facing camera
    Top-mount front camera with fixed focus lens, 0.92 Megapixels (1280 x 720 HD) at 30 fps.
  • Windows Hello face authentication camera (front-facing)
  • 5.0MP front-facing camera with 1080p HD video
  • 8.0MP rear-facing autofocus camera with 1080p HD video
Audio
  • Waves MaxxAudio Pro
  • Two speakers
  •  dual-array microphones
  • Dual microphones
  • Front-facing stereo speakers with Dolby® Audio™ Premium
  • Support for Windows Sonic for Headphones
  • Support for Dolby® Atmos for Headphones

Misc

Dell Precision 5540Surface Book 2
Inking-Supports Surface Pen
4096 levels of pressure
Tilt sensing
Best in class latency
Paper feel
0.1mm precision
Sensors
  • Ambient light sensor
  • Windows Hello compliant fingerprint reader in the power button (optional)
  • Ambient light sensor
  • Proximity sensor
  • Accelerometer
  • Gyroscope
  • Magnetometer
Security
  • Intel® vPro™ Technology (iAMT 12) (optional, requires Intel WiFi® Link WLAN and a vPro compatible processor), Dell Client Command Suite available (dell.com/command), Factory Installed Dell Client Command | Update, Dell Command | Power Manager
  • Intel® Platform Trust Technology
  • Trusted Platform Module (TPM) 2.0
  • Chassis wedge-shaped security lock
  • Support for Computrace and SmartCard Reader
  • Touch Fingerprint Reader with Control Vault 3.0 (Advanced Authentication with FIPS 140-2 Level 3 Certification)
  • HW TPM 2.0 chip for enterprise security
  • Enterprise-grade protection with Windows Hello face sign-in
In the box-
  • Surface Book 2
  • Power supply
  • Quick Start Guide
  • Safety and warranty documents
Warranty1 Year Hardware Service with Onsite/In-Home Service After Remote DiagnosisOne-year limited hardware warranty
More-Supports Surface Dial
Supports both on-screen and off-screen interaction.

Key Features

Dell Precision 5540Surface Book 2
At Glance
Released in
2019
16:9 4K UHD
15.6”
2160p OLED
Weight
3.93 lb
1.78 kg
Up to
Intel Core i9-9980HK
8C/16T, 2.40 → 5.00 GHz
Geekbench 5
1,114
Single Core
Geekbench 5
6,504
Multi-Core
With integrated
Intel® UHD Graphics 630
24 Execution Units, 350 → 1250 MHz
Upgradable up to
64GB
3200 MHz DDR4
Dell Precision 5540 Ports
Nvidia Quadro
T2000
4GB GDDR5
Released in
2017
3:2 3.2K
13.5”
2160p 60Hz
Weight
3.38 lb
1.53 kg
Up to
Intel Core i7-8650U
4C/8T, 1.90 → 4.20 GHz
Geekbench 5
1,106
Single Core
Geekbench 5
3,879
Multi-Core
With integrated
Intel® UHD Graphics 620
24 Execution Units, 300 → 1150 MHz
Configurable up to
16GB
1866 MHz LPDDR3
Surface Book 2 Ports
Nvidia GeForce
GTX 1060
6GB GDDR5

Comments

Ask questions or share your thought and experience about the comparison between Dell Precision 5540 and Surface Book 2.

Loading Comments...