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

We thoroughly analyzed technical specifications for Dell Precision 5540 and Surface Go 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 See at Amazon	Compare With Please enter device name or part of it Surface Go 2 See at Amazon

Dell Precision 5540 Pros

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

Intel Core i9-9980HK inside Dell Precision 5540 has a 395% better multi-core CPU performance score than the Intel Core M3-8100Y inside Surface Go 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

Dell Precision 5540 - Intel Core i5-9400H

3,690

Surface Go 2 - Intel Core M3-8100Y

1,313

Surface Go 2 - Intel Pentium Gold 4425Y

922

Dell Precision 5540 supports a larger memory capacity than the Surface Go 2. It supports up to 64GB versus 8GB of system memory on the Surface Go 2.

Max system memory size

Dell Precision 5540

64 GB

Surface Go 2

8 GB

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

Memory type and speed

Dell Precision 5540 - DDR4

3,200 MHz

Surface Go 2 - LPDDR3

1,866 MHz

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 Go 2 since it has onboard memory.

Memory	Dell Precision 5540	Surface Go 2
Slots	x2	Onboard
Type	DDR4	LPDDR3

Configurable up to Nvidia Quadro T2000 4GB GDDR5 vs. integrated

Dell Precision 5540 comes with a single removable M.2 SSD slot that you can replace and upgrade in the future. On top of that, it also has a single SATA slot that users can use to install a 2.5-inch SATA SSD, SSHD, or a hard disk drive to add even more storage.

Slots	Dell Precision 5540	Surface Go 2
M.2	Yes x1	Onboard

Dell Precision 5540 has a 15.6-inch screen size 48% larger than the 10.5-inch Surface Go 2.

Display size

Dell Precision 5540

15.6-inch

Surface Go 2

10.5-inch

Dell Precision 5540 has more ports and slots count than the Surface Go 2. It has eight versus five amount of ports and slots on the Surface Go 2.

Ports	Dell Precision 5540	Surface Go 2
full-size SD card slot	Yes	No
HDMI	Yes	No
headphone jack	Yes	Yes
lock slot	Yes	No
microSD card slot	No	Yes
power port	Yes	No
Surface Connect	No	Yes
Surface Go Type Cover Connector	No	Yes
Thunderbolt 3	Yes	No
USB-A	Yes x2	No
USB-C	No	Yes
Total	8	5

Dell Precision 5540 has better versatile I/O connectivity than the Surface Go 2. It has six versus three commonly used ports and slots on the Surface Go 2.

Ports	Dell Precision 5540	Surface Go 2
headphone jack	Yes	Yes
full-size SD card slot	Yes	No
HDMI	Yes	No
microSD card slot	No	Yes
power port	Yes	No
Thunderbolt 3	Yes	No
USB-A	Yes	No
USB-C	No	Yes

Surface Go 2 Pros

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

2020 vs. 2019

Surface Go 2 weighed 1.2 pounds, 70% lighter than the 3.93 pounds Dell Precision 5540.

Weight	Dell Precision 5540	Surface Go 2
Pound	3.93 lbs.	1.2 lbs.
Kilogram	1.78 kg	0.54 kg

Prices

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

Dell Precision 5540 Price
	Dell Precision M5540 15.6 UHD Touchscreen Intel Core i7-9750H 2.60Ghz 32GB 1TB SSDR Windows 10 Professional (Renewed) By Dell $639.00	See at Amazon
	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 5540 15.6-inch FHD Laptop - Intel Core i9 9th Gen - i9-9880H - Eight Core 4.8Ghz - 512GB SSD - 32GB RAM - Nvidia Quadro T2000 - Windows 10 Pro (Renewed) By Dell $635.35 $699.99 9% OFF	See at Amazon
Surface Go 2 Price
	Microsoft Surface Go 2-10.5" Touch-Screen - Intel Pentium - 8GB Memory - 128GB SSD - WiFi - Platinum (Latest Model) (Renewed) By Microsoft $268.00	See at Amazon
	New Microsoft Surface Go 2 - 10.5" Touch-Screen - Intel Pentium - 4GB Memory - 64GB - Wifi - Platinum (Latest Model) By Microsoft $249.00	See at Amazon
	Microsoft Surface Go 2 10.5 inches Touch-Screen Intel Pentium 4GB RAM, 64gb STV-00001 (Renewed) By Microsoft $167.00	See at Amazon

Availability	Dell Precision 5540	Surface Go 2
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	Surface Go 2 for Consumer $399 - Intel Pentium \| 4 GB \| 64 GB \| WiFi $549 - Intel Pentium \| 8 GB \| 128 GB \| WiFi $629 - Intel Core M3 \| 8 GB \| 128 GB \| WiFi $729 - Intel Core M3 \| 8 GB \| 128 GB \| LTE Surface Go 2 for Commercial $449 - Intel Pentium \| 4 GB \| 64 GB \| WiFi $599 - Intel Pentium \| 8 GB \| 128 GB \| WiFi $679 - Intel Core M3 \| 8 GB \| 128 GB \| WiFi $779 - Intel Core M3 \| 8 GB \| 128 GB \| LTE
Generations	2022 Dell Precision 5570 2021 Dell Precision 5560 2020 Dell Precision 5550 2019 Dell Precision 5540	2021 Surface Go 3 2020 Surface Go 2 2018 Surface Go 2015 Surface 3 2013 Surface 2 2012 Surface RT

Exterior	Dell Precision 5540	Surface Go 2
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)	9.65” x 6.9” x 0.33” (245 mm x 175 mm x 8.3 mm) Width: 9.65” (245 mm) Height: 6.9” (175 mm) Thickness: 0.33” (8.3 mm)
Weight	3.93 lbs (1.78 kg)	Surface Go 2: 1.2 lbs (544 g) Surface Go 2 with LTE: 1.22 lbs. (553 g) Surface Go 2 Keyboard: 0.55 lbs (249 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.	Surface Go Type Cover Not included Keyboard: Full-size mechanical backlit keyset with 1 mm of key travel. Trackpad: Precision glass trackpad. Trackpad size: 101 mm x 56 mm Supports a five-finger multitouch gesture.

Display	Dell Precision 5540	Surface Go 2
Size	15.6 Inches	10.5 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	Resolution: 1920 x 1280 (2.45M Pixels) Density: 220 PPI PixelSense™ Display Contrast ratio: 1500:1 Aspect ratio: 3:2 Inking: designed together with Surface Pen Touch: 10 points multi-touch Corning® Gorilla® Glass 3

Ports	Dell Precision 5540	Surface Go 2
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 Right (3) 1 x USB-C USB 3.1 Gen 1 (5 Gbps), DisplayPort, Power Delivery 1 x Surface Connect Charging, Docking 1 x headphone jack Headphone/Microphone Bottom (1) 1 x Surface Go Type Cover Connector Under Kickstand (1) 1 x microSD card slot

Internal Specs	Dell Precision 5540	Surface Go 2
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	8th Gen Intel® Pentium® Gold 4425Y 2 cores, 4 threads, 1.70 GHz, 2MB, 6W 8th Gen Intel® Core™ M3-8100Y 2 cores, 4 threads, 1.10 → 3.40 GHz, 4MB SmartCache, 5W
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	8th Gen Intel® Pentium® Gold 4425Y Intel® UHD Graphics 615 24 Execution Units, 300 → 850 MHz 8th Gen Intel® Core™ M3-8100Y Intel® UHD Graphics 615 24 Execution Units, 300 → 900 MHz
Memory	Memory Slots 2 x DDR4 SoDIMM Memory Configurations Minimum Memory: 8GB Maximum Memory: 64GB	4GB 8GB 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.	-
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	64GB eMMC 128GB 256GB SSD

Connectivity	Dell Precision 5540	Surface Go 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 6: IEEE 802.11 a/b/g/n/ac/ax compatible.
Bluetooth	Bluetooth 5.0	Bluetooth Wireless 5.0 technology
More	-	Optional LTE Nano SIM Tray 4G LTE Advanced (22 Bands: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 7, 8, 12, 13, 17, 19, 20, 25, 26, 28, 29, 30, 38, 39, 40, 41, 66) GPS/GLONASS: Standalone and Assiste GNSS, accuracy up to 3 meters

Battery	Dell Precision 5540	Surface Go 2
Size	56 Wh (3-cell lithium-ion) 97 Wh (6-cell lithium-ion)	26.81 Wh
Battery Life	-	WiFi: Up to 10 hours of typical device usage LTE Advanced: Up to 10 hours of typical device usage
Power Supply	130 W power adapter Power rated at 19.5VDC/6.67A.	24W proprietary Surface Connect power supply

Software	Dell Precision 5540	Surface Go 2
OS	Windows 10 Home Windows 10 Pro Ubuntu 18.04 LTS RedHat 7.5 Upgradable to Windows 11	For Consumer: Windows 10 Home in S-mode For Commercial: Windows 10 Pro Free upgrade to Windows 11
Built-in Apps	Microsoft Office 30-days trial McAfee® Small Business Security 30 Day Free Trial	For Consumer Microsoft 365 Family one month trial For Commercial 1 month trial for new Microsoft Office 365 customers

Camera & Audio	Dell Precision 5540	Surface Go 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 Skype HD video 8.0MP rear-facing autofocus camera with 1080p full HD video
Audio	Waves MaxxAudio Pro Two speakers dual-array microphones	Dual Studio Mics 2W stereo speakers with Dolby® Audio™

Misc	Dell Precision 5540	Surface Go 2
Inking	-	Supports Surface Pen 4096 levels of pressure Tilt sensing Best in class latency Paper feel magnetic storage
Sensors	Ambient light sensor Windows Hello compliant fingerprint reader in the power button (optional)	Ambient light sensor Accelerometer Gyroscope Magnetometer NFC
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 Go 2 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	-	Mechanical features: Signature unibody magnesium design with hidden perimeter venting Kickstand with a full-friction multiposition hinge to 165 degrees Magnetic attach for keyboard fold stability Physical buttons: volumes, power Casing: Magnesium

Key Features	Dell Precision 5540	Surface Go 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 Nvidia Quadro T2000 4GB GDDR5	Released in Mid 2020 3:2 FHD+ 10.5” 1280p 60Hz Weight 1.2 lb 0.54 kg Up to Intel Core M3-8100Y 2C/4T, 1.10 → 3.40 GHz Geekbench 5 660 Single Core Geekbench 5 1,313 Multi-Core With integrated Intel® UHD Graphics 615 24 Execution Units, 300 → 900 MHz Configurable up to 8GB 1866 MHz LPDDR3