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Dell Precision 5540 vs. Surface Book 3 15”: Full specs comparison

We have comprehensively compared the specifications for the Dell Precision 5540 and Surface Book 3 15” models. The report includes detailed information regarding both models' CPU, memory, storage, battery life, display quality, and other features.

Compare With Please enter device name or part of it Dell Precision 5540 See at Amazon	Compare With Please enter device name or part of it Surface Book 3 15” See at Amazon

Dell Precision 5540 Pros

Reasons that Dell Precision 5540 is better than Surface Book 3 15”.

Intel Core i9-9980HK inside Dell Precision 5540 has a 74% better multi-core CPU performance score than the Intel Core i7-1065G7 inside Surface Book 3 15”.

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 3 15” - Intel Core i7-1065G7

3,722

Dell Precision 5540 - Intel Core i5-9400H

3,690

Dell Precision 5540 supports a larger memory capacity than the Surface Book 3 15”. It supports up to 64GB versus 32GB of system memory on the Surface Book 3 15”.

Max system memory size

Dell Precision 5540

64 GB

Surface Book 3 15”

32 GB

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 3 15” since it has onboard memory.

Memory	Dell Precision 5540	Surface Book 3 15”
Slots	x2	Onboard
Type	DDR4	LPDDR4X

Dell Precision 5540 weighed 3.93 pounds, 7% lighter than the 4.20 pounds Surface Book 3 15”.

Weight	Dell Precision 5540	Surface Book 3 15”
Pound	3.93 lbs.	4.20 lbs.
Kilogram	1.78 kg	1.91 kg

Dell Precision 5540 has more ports and slots count than the Surface Book 3 15”. It has eight versus seven amount of ports and slots on the Surface Book 3 15”.

Ports	Dell Precision 5540	Surface Book 3 15”
full-size SD card slot	Yes	Yes
HDMI	Yes	No
headphone jack	Yes	Yes
lock slot	Yes	No
power port	Yes	Yes x2
Thunderbolt 3	Yes	No
USB-A	Yes x2	Yes x2
USB-C	No	Yes
Total	8	7

Dell Precision 5540 has better versatile I/O connectivity than the Surface Book 3 15”. It has six versus five commonly used ports and slots on the Surface Book 3 15”.

Ports	Dell Precision 5540	Surface Book 3 15”
full-size SD card slot	Yes	Yes
headphone jack	Yes	Yes
power port	Yes	Yes
USB-A	Yes	Yes
HDMI	Yes	No
Thunderbolt 3	Yes	No
USB-C	No	Yes

Surface Book 3 15” Pros

Reasons that Surface Book 3 15” is better than Dell Precision 5540.

2020 vs. 2019

Surface Book 3 15” supports a faster memory speed than the Dell Precision 5540. It supports up to 3733MHz versus 3200MHz of system memory on the Dell Precision 5540.

Memory type and speed

Surface Book 3 15” - LPDDR4X

3,733 MHz

Dell Precision 5540 - DDR4

3,200 MHz

Prices

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

Dell Precision 5540 Price
	DELL Precision 5540 Workstation Intel Core i7-9850H 15.6-inch Full HD IPS Display 32GB RAM 512GB SSD NVIDIA Quadro 4GB Win 11 Pro (Renewed) By DELL $552.04	See at Amazon
	Dell Precision M5540 15.6 UHD Touchscreen Intel Core i7-9750H 2.60Ghz 32GB 1TB SSDR Windows 10 Professional (Renewed) By Dell $498.00 $597.00 17% OFF	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) By Dell $525.00 $599.00 12% OFF	See at Amazon
Surface Book 3 15” Price
	NEW Microsoft Surface Book 3 - 15" Touch-Screen - 10th Gen Intel Core i7 - 16GB Memory - 256GB SSD (Latest Model) - Platinum By Microsoft $1,299.00	See at Amazon
	Microsoft Surface Book 3-15" Touch-Screen - 10th Gen Intel Core i7-32GB Memory - 512GB SSD (Latest Model) - Platinum (Renewed) By Microsoft $1,373.64	See at Amazon
	Microsoft Surface Book 3 (SNK-00001) \| 15in (3240 x 2160) Touch-Screen \| Intel Core i7 Processor \| 32GB RAM \| 2TB SSD Storage \| Windows 10 Pro \| GeForce GTX 1660 GPU By Microsoft $2,999.99	See at Amazon

Availability	Dell Precision 5540	Surface Book 3 15”
Released	2019	2020
Release Date	Announced at Computex 2019. Available from early July 2019.	Introduced: May 6, 2020 Pre-ordered: May 6, 2020 Released: May 12, 2020
Pricing	Starting at $1,339	For Consumer $2,299 - i7 \| 16GB \| 256GB \| GTX 1660 Ti $2,799 - i7 \| 32GB \| 512GB \| GTX 1660 Ti $2,999 - i7 \| 32GB \| 1TB \| GTX 1660 Ti $3,399 - i7 \| 32GB \| 2TB \| GTX 1660 Ti For Commercial $2,399 - i7 \| 16GB \| 256GB \| GTX 1660 Ti $2,899 - i7 \| 32GB \| 512GB \| GTX 1660 Ti $3,099 - i7 \| 32GB \| 1TB \| GTX 1660 Ti $3,499 - i7 \| 32GB \| 2TB \| GTX 1660 Ti $3,499 - i7 \| 32GB \| 512GB \| RTX 3000 $3,699 - i7 \| 32GB \| 1TB \| RTX 3000
Generations	2022 Dell Precision 5570 2021 Dell Precision 5560 2020 Dell Precision 5550 2019 Dell Precision 5540	2020 Surface Book 3 15” 2020 Surface Book 3 13.5” 2017 Surface Book 2 15” 2017 Surface Book 2 13.5” 2016 Surface Book i7 2015 Surface Book

Exterior	Dell Precision 5540	Surface Book 3 15”
Dimensions	14.06 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)	13.5” x 9.87” x 0.568-0.90” (343 mm x 251 mm x 15 mm-23 mm)
Weight	3.93 lbs (1.78 kg)	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 5540	Surface Book 3 15”
Size	15.6 Inches	15 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	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 5540	Surface Book 3 15”
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	Image Source: Microsoft Left (3) 2 x USB-A USB 3.1 Gen 2 (10 Gbps) 1 x full-size SD card slot UHS-II performance Right (3) 1 x power port Charging, Docking 1 x USB-C USB 3.1 Gen 2 (10 Gbps), DisplayPort, Power Delivery 1 x headphone jack Headphone/Microphone, On the tablet Bottom (1) 1 x power port Charging, Docking, On the tablet

Internal Specs	Dell Precision 5540	Surface Book 3 15”
Processor	9th Gen Intel® Core™ i5-9400H 4 cores, 8 threads, 2.50 → 4.30 GHz, 8MB SmartCache, 45W 9th Gen Intel® Core™ i7-9750H 6 cores, 12 threads, 2.60 → 4.50 GHz, 12MB SmartCache, 45W 9th Gen Intel® Core™ i7-9850H 6 cores, 12 threads, 2.60 → 4.60 GHz, 12MB SmartCache, 45W Intel Xeon E-2276M 6 cores, 12 threads, 2.80 → 4.70 GHz, 12MB SmartCache, 45W 9th Gen Intel® Core™ i9-9880H 8 cores, 16 threads, 2.30 → 4.80 GHz, 16MB SmartCache, 45W 9th Gen Intel® Core™ i9-9980HK 8 cores, 16 threads, 2.40 → 5.00 GHz, 16MB SmartCache, 45W	10th Gen Intel® Core™ i7-1065G7 4 cores, 8 threads, 1.30 → 3.90 GHz, 8MB SmartCache, 15W
Integrated Graphics	9th Gen Intel® Core™ i5-9400H Intel® UHD Graphics 630 24 Execution Units, 350 → 1100 MHz 9th Gen Intel® Core™ i7-9750H Intel® UHD Graphics 630 24 Execution Units, 350 → 1150 MHz 9th Gen Intel® Core™ i7-9850H Intel® UHD Graphics 630 24 Execution Units, 350 → 1150 MHz Intel Xeon E-2276M Intel® UHD Graphics P630 24 Execution Units, 350 → 1200 MHz 9th Gen Intel® Core™ i9-9880H Intel® UHD Graphics 630 24 Execution Units, 350 → 1200 MHz 9th Gen Intel® Core™ i9-9980HK Intel® UHD Graphics 630 24 Execution Units, 350 → 1250 MHz	10th Gen Intel® Core™ i7-1065G7 Intel® Iris® Plus Graphics 64 Execution Units, 300 → 1100 MHz
Memory	Memory Slots 2 x DDR4 SoDIMM Memory Configurations Minimum Memory: 8GB Maximum Memory: 64GB	16GB 32GB 3733 MHz LPDDR4x
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.	NVIDIA® GeForce® GTX 1660 Ti with Max-Q Turning Architecture, 6GB GDDR6, 192-bit, 1245 → 1425 MHz, 1536 CUDA Cores. NVIDIA® Quadro® RTX™ 3000 with Max-Q Turning Architecture, 6GB GDDR6, 192-bit, 765 → 1305 MHz, 1920 CUDA Cores, 240 Tensor Cores, 30 RT Cores, Real-time ray tracing, AI hardware acceleration, ODE, QNF,
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	256 GB 512 GB 1 TB 2TB PCIe SSD

Connectivity	Dell Precision 5540	Surface Book 3 15”
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 6: IEEE 802.11 a/b/g/n/ac/ax compatible.
Bluetooth	Bluetooth 5.0	Bluetooth Wireless 5.0 technology
More	-	Xbox Wireless built-in

Battery	Dell Precision 5540	Surface Book 3 15”
Size	56 Wh (3-cell lithium-ion) 97 Wh (6-cell lithium-ion)	Total: 90Wh Clipboard: 23Wh Base: 67Wh
Battery Life	-	Up to 17.5 hours of typical device usage
Power Supply	130 W power adapter Power rated at 19.5VDC/6.67A.	127W Surface Power Supply with USB-A (7W) charging port.

Software	Dell Precision 5540	Surface Book 3 15”
OS	Windows 10 Home Windows 10 Pro Ubuntu 18.04 LTS RedHat 7.5 Upgradable to Windows 11	For Consumer: Windows 10 Home 64-bit For Commercial: Windows 10 Pro 64-bit 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 5540	Surface Book 3 15”
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 far-field Studio Mics Front-facing stereo speakers with Dolby Atmos® Support for Windows Sonic for Headphones Support for Dolby® Atmos for Headphones

Misc	Dell Precision 5540	Surface Book 3 15”
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 3 15” Power supply Quick Start Guide Safety and warranty documents
Warranty	1 Year Hardware Service with Onsite/In-Home Service After Remote Diagnosis	One-year limited hardware warranty
More	-	Supports Surface Dial Supports both on-screen and off-screen interaction.

Key Features	Dell Precision 5540	Surface Book 3 15”
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 Nvidia Quadro T2000 4GB GDDR5	Released in Mid 2020 3:2 3.2K 15” 2160p 60Hz Weight 4.20 lb 1.91 kg Powered By Intel Core i7-1065G7 4C/8T, 1.30 → 3.90 GHz Geekbench 5 1,088 Single Core Geekbench 5 3,722 Multi-Core With integrated Intel® Iris® Plus Graphics 64 Execution Units, 300 → 1100 MHz Configurable up to 32GB 3733 MHz LPDDR4X Nvidia GeForce RTX 3000 6GB GDDR6 with Max-Q