Dell XPS 17 9700 vs. Dell Precision 5540: Which is better?

Here is a side by side comparison between Dell XPS 17 9700 and Dell Precision 5540 specs including CPU, RAM, storage, battery, display, and more.

Dell XPS 17 9700 Pros

Reasons that Dell XPS 17 9700 is better than Dell Precision 5540.

Newer manufacturing

2020 vs. 2019

8% larger display

Dell XPS 17 9700 has a 17-inch screen size 8% larger than the 15.6-inch Dell Precision 5540.

Display size
Dell XPS 17 9700
17-inch
Dell Precision 5540
15.6-inch

Dell Precision 5540 Pros

Reasons that Dell Precision 5540 is better than Dell XPS 17 9700.

Supports faster memory

Dell Precision 5540 supports a faster memory speed than the Dell XPS 17 9700. It supports up to 3200MHz versus 2933MHz of system memory on the Dell XPS 17 9700.

Memory type and speed
Dell Precision 5540 - DDR4
3,200 MHz
Dell XPS 17 9700 - DDR4
2,933 MHz
About 16% lighter

Dell Precision 5540 weighed 3.93 pounds, 16% lighter than the 4.65 pounds Dell XPS 17 9700.

WeightDell XPS 17 9700Dell Precision 5540
Pound
4.65 lbs.
3.93 lbs.
Kilogram
2.11 kg
1.78 kg
Has one more port and slot

Dell Precision 5540 has more ports and slots count than the Dell XPS 17 9700. It has eight versus seven amount of ports and slots on the Dell XPS 17 9700.

PortsDell XPS 17 9700Dell Precision 5540
full-size SD card slotYesYes
HDMINoYes
headphone jackYesYes
lock slotYesYes
power portNoYes
Thunderbolt 3Yes x4Yes
USB-ANoYes x2
Total78
More versatile connectivity

Dell Precision 5540 has better versatile I/O connectivity than the Dell XPS 17 9700. It has six versus three commonly used ports and slots on the Dell XPS 17 9700.

PortsDell XPS 17 9700Dell Precision 5540
full-size SD card slotYesYes
headphone jackYesYes
Thunderbolt 3YesYes
HDMINoYes
power portNoYes
USB-ANoYes

Key Similars

Similar characteristics share between Dell XPS 17 9700 and Dell Precision 5540.

Similar CPU performance

Both laptops has a similar multi-core CPU performance score.

Geekbench 5 multi-core score
Dell XPS 17 9700 - Intel Core i7-10875H
6,874
Dell XPS 17 9700 - Intel Core i9-10885H
6,788
Dell Precision 5540 - Intel Core i9-9980HK
6,504
Dell Precision 5540 - Intel Core i9-9880H
6,100
Dell XPS 17 9700 - Intel Core i7-10750H
5,412
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 XPS 17 9700 - Intel Core i5-10300H
3,747
Dell Precision 5540 - Intel Core i5-9400H
3,690
Supports the same maximum memory size of up to 64GB

Both laptops supports up to 64GB of system memory.

Max system memory size
Dell XPS 17 9700
64 GB
Dell Precision 5540
64 GB

Prices

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

Dell XPS 17 9700 Price
Dell XPS 17" 9700 FHD+ Laptop PC Intel Core i7-10750H Processor, 16GB Ram, 1TB NVMe SSD, Type C, Webcam, NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1050 Ti 4GB, Windows 11 Pro (Renewed)
Dell XPS 17" 9700 FHD+ Laptop PC Intel Core i7-10750H Processor, 16GB Ram, 1TB NVMe SSD, Type C, Webcam, NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1050 Ti 4GB, Windows 11 Pro (Renewed)
By Dell
$1,916.99
2020 Dell XPS 9700 Laptop 17 - Intel Core i7 10th Gen - i7-10750H - Six Core 5Ghz - 1TB SSD - 32GB RAM - Nvidia GeForce GTX 1650 Ti - 1920x1200 FHD+ - Windows 10 Home (Renewed)
2020 Dell XPS 9700 Laptop 17 - Intel Core i7 10th Gen - i7-10750H - Six Core 5Ghz - 1TB SSD - 32GB RAM - Nvidia GeForce GTX 1650 Ti - 1920x1200 FHD+ - Windows 10 Home (Renewed)
By Dell
$1,458.81
Dell New XPS 17 9700 17 inch UHD Plus Laptop, Intel i9-10885H 10th Gen, 32GB DDR4 RAM, 1TB SSD, NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2060 6GB GDDR6, Windows 10 Home, Silver
Dell New XPS 17 9700 17 inch UHD Plus Laptop, Intel i9-10885H 10th Gen, 32GB DDR4 RAM, 1TB SSD, NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2060 6GB GDDR6, Windows 10 Home, Silver
By Dell
$1,799.00
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)
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
$502.29
Dell Precision 5540 Workstation Laptop PC 15.6" FHD Intel Core i7-9850H Processor, 32GB Ram, 1TB NVMe SSD Drive, Web Camera HDMI NVIDIA Quadro T1000 4GB GDDR5 Windows 10 (Renewed)
Dell Precision 5540 Workstation Laptop PC 15.6" FHD Intel Core i7-9850H Processor, 32GB Ram, 1TB NVMe SSD Drive, Web Camera HDMI NVIDIA Quadro T1000 4GB GDDR5 Windows 10 (Renewed)
By Dell
$700.00
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
$639.00

Availability

Dell XPS 17 9700Dell Precision 5540
Released20202019
Release DateAnnounced Date: May 13, 2020
  • Announced at Computex 2019.
  • Available from early July 2019.
Pricing-Starting at $1,339
Generations

Exterior

Dell XPS 17 9700Dell Precision 5540
Dimensions
  • 14.74 x 9.76 x 0.77 in (374.45 x 248.05 x 19.5 mm)
    • Width: 14.74” (374.45 mm)
    • Depth: 9.76” (248.05 mm)
    • Height: 0.77” (19.5 mm)
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)
Weight
  • Non-touch with 56Wh: 4.65 lbs (2.11 kg)
  • Touch screen with 97Wh: 5.53 lbs (2.51 kg)
3.93 lbs (1.78 kg)
Colors
  • CNC machined aluminum in platinum silver with carbon fiber composite palm rest in black
  • Edge-to-edge Corning® Gorilla® Glass 6 on touch panel
  • Aluminum Platinum Silver LCD Cover
  • Aluminum Titan Gray LCD Cover
Keyboard and Trackpad
  • Full size, backlit chiclet keyboard with larger keycaps.
  • Larger touchpad with multi-touch gesture support.
  • Full-size backlit keyboard.
  • 4.03 x 2.45 in (102.40 mm x 62.40 mm) touchpad with 5 multi-touch gesture support.

Display

Dell XPS 17 9700Dell Precision 5540
Size17 Inches15.6 Inches
Info
  • 17-inch FHD+ non-touchscreen
    • 1920 x 1200, IPS, 145 PPI, 500-nits brightness, 1650:1 contrast ratio, 100% sRGB, InfinityEdge Anti-Glare, Non-touch support.
  • 17-inch UHD+ IPS touchscreen
    • 3840 x 2400, IPS, 290 PPI, 500-nit brightness, 1600:1 contrast ratio, 100% AdobeRGB, InfinityEdge, Anti-Reflective, Touch support.
  • 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

Ports

Dell XPS 17 9700Dell Precision 5540
Dell XPS 17 9700 Ports
Image Source: Dell
Left (3)
  • 2 x Thunderbolt 3
    40 Gpbs, USB 3.2 Gen 2 (10 Gbps), DisplayPort 1.4, Power Delivery
  • 1 x lock slot
Right (4)
  • 2 x Thunderbolt 3
    40 Gpbs, USB 3.2 Gen 2 (10 Gbps), DisplayPort 1.4, Power Delivery
  • 1 x full-size SD card slot
    v6.0
  • 1 x headphone jack
    Headphone/Microphone
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

Internal Specs

Dell XPS 17 9700Dell Precision 5540
Processor
  1. 10th Gen Intel® Core™ i5-10300H
    4 cores, 8 threads, 2.50 → 4.50 GHz, 8MB SmartCache, 45W
  2. 10th Gen Intel® Core™ i7-10750H
    6 cores, 12 threads, 2.60 → 5.00 GHz, 12MB SmartCache, 45W
  3. 10th Gen Intel® Core™ i7-10875H
    8 cores, 16 threads, 2.30 → 5.10 GHz, 16MB SmartCache, 45W
  4. 10th Gen Intel® Core™ i9-10885H
    8 cores, 16 threads, 2.40 → 5.30 GHz, 16MB SmartCache, 45W
  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
Integrated Graphics
  1. 10th Gen Intel® Core™ i5-10300H
    Intel® UHD Graphics 630
    24 Execution Units, 350 → 1050 MHz
  2. 10th Gen Intel® Core™ i7-10750H
    Intel® UHD Graphics 630
    24 Execution Units, 350 → 1150 MHz
  3. 10th Gen Intel® Core™ i7-10875H
    Intel® UHD Graphics 630
    24 Execution Units, 350 → 1200 MHz
  4. 10th Gen Intel® Core™ i9-10885H
    Intel® UHD Graphics 630
    24 Execution Units, 350 → 1250 MHz
  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
Memory
  • 8 GB 16 GB 32 GB 64 GB
    2933 MHz Dual-channel DDR4 RAM.
  • Memory Slots
    • 2 x DDR4 SoDIMM
  • Memory Configurations
    • Minimum Memory: 8GB
    • Maximum Memory: 64GB
Discrete Graphics
  • NVIDIA® GeForce® GTX 1650 Ti with Max-Q (Optional)
    • Turning Architecture, 4GB GDDR6 128-bit, 1035 → 1200 MHz, 1024 CUDA Cores.
  • NVIDIA® GeForce® RTX 2060 with Max-Q (Optional)
    • Turning Architecture, 6GB GDDR6 192-bit, 975 → 1185 MHz, 1920 CUDA Cores.
  • 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
  • 256 GB 512 GB 1 TB 2TB 4TB
    • 2 x Removable M.2 2230/2280 PCIe® 3x4 NVMe™ SSD, Up to 32 Gbps.
  • 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

Connectivity

Dell XPS 17 9700Dell Precision 5540
Wi-Fi
  • Rivet Killer AX1650w
    Up to 2400 Mbps, Dual band 2.4 GHz/5 GHz, WiFi 802.11 a/b/g, WiFi-4 (802.11n), WiFi-5 (802.11ac), WiFi-6 (802.11ax)
  • Rivet Killer AX500s DBS
    Up to 1774.50 Mbps, Dual band 2.4 GHz/5 GHz, WiFi 802.11 a/b/g, WiFi-4 (802.11n), WiFi-5 (802.11ac), WiFi-6 (802.11ax)
  • Intel Wi-Fi 6 AX200 2x2 802.11ax 160MHz
  • Intel Wireless-AC 9260 2x2 802.11ac
  • Qualcomm QCA6174A 2x2 802.11ac
Bluetooth
  • Rivet Killer AX1650w › Bluetooth 5.1
  • Rivet Killer AX500s DBS › Bluetooth 5.2
  • Bluetooth 5.0

Battery

Dell XPS 17 9700Dell Precision 5540
Size
  • 3-cell smart lithium-ion 56 Wh
  • 6-cell smart lithium-ion 97 Wh
  • 56 Wh (3-cell lithium-ion)
  • 97 Wh (6-cell lithium-ion)
Power Supply
  • 90 W USB Type-C power adapter
    Power rated at 5VDC/3A, 9VDc/3A, 15VDC/3A, 20VDC/4.5A.
  • 130 W USB Type-C power adapter
    Power rated at 5VDC/1A, 20VDC/6.5A.
130 W power adapter
Power rated at 19.5VDC/6.67A.

Software

Dell XPS 17 9700Dell Precision 5540
OS
Windows 10 Home Windows 10 Pro
Upgradable to Windows 11
Windows 10 Home Windows 10 Pro Ubuntu 18.04 LTS RedHat 7.5
Upgradable to Windows 11
Built-in Apps
  • Microsoft Office 30-days trial
  • McAfee LiveSafe™ 12 Month Subscription
  • Microsoft Office 30-days trial
  • McAfee® Small Business Security 30 Day Free Trial

Camera & Audio

Dell XPS 17 9700Dell Precision 5540
Camera
  • Front-facing camera
    Top-mount front camera with fixed focus lens, 0.92 Megapixels (1280 x 720 HD) at 30 fps.
  • Infrared camera
    576 x 360 (VGA) at 30 fps for Windows Hello Facial Recognition.
  • Front-facing camera
    Top-mount front camera with fixed focus lens, 0.92 Megapixels (1280 x 720 HD) at 30 fps.
Audio
  • Studio quality tuning with Waves MaxxAudio® Pro and Waves Nx® 3D audio
  • Quad-speaker design
  • Dual microphone array optimized with Waves MaxxVoice supporting VoIP - Microsoft Cortana capable
  • Waves MaxxAudio Pro
  • Two speakers
  •  dual-array microphones

Misc

Dell XPS 17 9700Dell Precision 5540
Sensors
  • Ambient light sensor
  • Windows Hello compliant fingerprint reader in the power button
  • Ambient light sensor
  • Windows Hello compliant fingerprint reader in the power button (optional)
Security
  • Windows Hello with Fingerprint Sign in
  • Enterprise-grade protection with Windows Hello face sign-in
  • Wedge-shaped lock
  • 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)
Warranty-1 Year Hardware Service with Onsite/In-Home Service After Remote Diagnosis

Key Features

Dell XPS 17 9700Dell Precision 5540
At Glance
Released in Mid
2020
16:10 4K UHD+
17”
2400p 60Hz
Weight
4.65 lb
2.11 kg
Up to
Intel Core i9-10885H
8C/16T, 2.40 → 5.30 GHz
Geekbench 5
1,196
Single Core
Geekbench 5
6,788
Multi-Core
With integrated
Intel® UHD Graphics 630
24 Execution Units, 350 → 1250 MHz
Up to
64GB
2933 MHz DDR4
Dell XPS 17 9700 Ports
NVIDIA GeForce
RTX 2060
6GB GDDR6 with Max-Q
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

Comparison Summary

Dell XPS 17 9700 vs. Dell Precision 5540

Dell has released the XPS 17 9700, a 17-inch machine, in mid-2020. It is powered by up to an octa-core Intel Core i9-10885H with a boost clock speed up to 5.30 GHz. The laptop has a dedicated GPU option up to NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2060 with 6GB GDDR6 with Max-Q.

On the other hand, we have the 15.6-inch Precision 5540 was introduced by Dell about a year earlier in 2019. It comes with up to an octa-core Intel Core i9-9980HK with a boost clock speed up to 5.00 GHz. It has a dedicated GPU option up to Nvidia Quadro T2000 with 4GB GDDR5.

Geekbench 5 Single Core

Dell XPS 17 97001
10th Gen Intel® Core™ i5-10300H1,06188.71%
2
10th Gen Intel® Core™ i7-10750H1,13494.82%
3
10th Gen Intel® Core™ i7-10875H1,19299.67%
4
10th Gen Intel® Core™ i9-10885H1,196100.00%
Dell Precision 55401
9th Gen Intel® Core™ i5-9400H98482.27%
2
9th Gen Intel® Core™ i7-9750H1,04487.29%
3
9th Gen Intel® Core™ i7-9850H1,08090.30%
4
Intel Xeon E-2276M1,12093.65%
5
9th Gen Intel® Core™ i9-9880H1,06689.13%
6
9th Gen Intel® Core™ i9-9980HK1,11493.14%
01,196

Geekbench 5 Multi Core

Dell XPS 17 97001
10th Gen Intel® Core™ i5-10300H3,74754.51%
2
10th Gen Intel® Core™ i7-10750H5,41278.73%
3
10th Gen Intel® Core™ i7-10875H6,874100.00%
4
10th Gen Intel® Core™ i9-10885H6,78898.75%
Dell Precision 55401
9th Gen Intel® Core™ i5-9400H3,69053.68%
2
9th Gen Intel® Core™ i7-9750H4,88070.99%
3
9th Gen Intel® Core™ i7-9850H4,91471.49%
4
Intel Xeon E-2276M5,16575.14%
5
9th Gen Intel® Core™ i9-9880H6,10088.74%
6
9th Gen Intel® Core™ i9-9980HK6,50494.62%
06,874

The Dell XPS 17 9700 has a 17-inch display which is slightly larger than the 15.6-inch Dell Precision 5540. In addition, the Dell XPS 17 9700 weighs 4.65 lbs. about 18% heavier than the 3.93 lbs. Dell Precision 5540. Moreover, measured at 14.74” x 9.76” x 0.77”, the Dell XPS 17 9700 is much bulkier than the Dell Precision 5540 at 14.06” x 9.26” x 0.44”.

Dell XPS 17 9700Dell Precision 5540

There are a toal number of 7 ports and slots available on Dell XPS 17 9700. That includes three Thunderbolt 3 ports, a lock slot, a full-size SD card slot, and a headphone jack. With that said, it has a port or slot fewer than the Dell Precision 5540 that has a power port, two USB-A ports, an HDMI port, a Thunderbolt 3 port, a headphone jack, a full-size SD card slot, and a lock slot.

Moving over to upgradability, Dell claims that the Dell XPS 17 9700 supports up to 64GB 2933 MHz DDR4 memory. It also comes with two M.2 slots that users can easily upgrade and install an additional SSD to expand the storage on the device.

For Dell Precision 5540, it supports up to 64GB 3200 MHz DDR4 memory that you can upgrade with two memory module slots on the motherboard. It also has a single removable M.2 SSD slot that users can replace or upgrade when needed. Besides that, it also comes with a SATA slot where you can install an additional 2.5-inch SATA-based SSD, SSHD, or a hard disk drive.

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