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

The following is a comprehensive comparison of the Surface Book 2 and Dell Precision 5540 specifications, including details on CPU, memory, storage, battery life, display quality, and other features.

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Surface Book 2 image

Surface Book 2

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Dell Precision 5540 image

Dell Precision 5540

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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.

WeightSurface Book 2Dell Precision 5540
Pound
3.38 lbs.
3.93 lbs.
Kilogram
1.53 kg
1.78 kg

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.

MemorySurface Book 2Dell Precision 5540
Slots
Onboard
x2
TypeLPDDR3DDR4
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

Prices

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

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
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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
$599.93
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
Dell Precision 5540 Price
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
See at Amazon
Dell Precision 5540 Workstation 15.6-inch Full HD IPS Display Intel Core i7-9850H 32GB RAM 1TB SSD NVIDIA Quadro 4GB Win 10 Pro (Renewed)
 Dell Precision 5540 Workstation 15.6-inch Full HD IPS Display Intel Core i7-9850H 32GB RAM 1TB SSD NVIDIA Quadro 4GB Win 10 Pro (Renewed)
By Dell
$555.66
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)
 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

Specs Comparison

Availability

Surface Book 2Dell Precision 5540
Released20172019
Release Date
  • Introduced: October 17, 2017
  • Pre-ordered: November 9, 2017
  • Released: November 16, 2017
  • Announced at Computex 2019.
  • Available from early July 2019.
Pricing
  • Surface Book 2 13.5”: Starting at 1,149$
  • Surface Book 2 15”: Starting at 1,999$
Starting at $1,339
Generations-

Exterior

Surface Book 2Dell Precision 5540
Dimensions
  • 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).
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
  • 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)
3.93 lbs (1.78 kg)
Colors
Platinum
  • Aluminum Platinum Silver LCD Cover
  • Aluminum Titan Gray LCD Cover
Keyboard and Trackpad
  • 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.
  • 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

Surface Book 2Dell Precision 5540
Size13.5 Inches15.6 Inches
Info
  • 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
  • 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

Surface Book 2Dell Precision 5540
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
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

Surface Book 2Dell Precision 5540
Processor
  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
  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. 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
  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
8GB 16GB
1866 MHz LPDDR3 RAM
  • Memory Slots
    • 2 x DDR4 SoDIMM
  • Memory Configurations
    • Minimum Memory: 8GB
    • Maximum Memory: 64GB
Discrete Graphics
  • 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.
  • 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
128 GB 256 GB 512 GB 1 TB
PCIe SSD
  • 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

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

Battery

Surface Book 2Dell Precision 5540
Size
  • 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
  • 56 Wh (3-cell lithium-ion)
  • 97 Wh (6-cell lithium-ion)
Battery Life
  • Up to 17 hours of video playback
  • Up to 5 hours in tablet mode
-
Power Supply
  • 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.
130 W power adapter
Power rated at 19.5VDC/6.67A.

Software

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

Camera & Audio

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

Misc

Surface Book 2Dell Precision 5540
InkingSupports Surface Pen
4096 levels of pressure
Tilt sensing
Best in class latency
Paper feel
0.1mm precision
-
Sensors
  • Ambient light sensor
  • Proximity sensor
  • Accelerometer
  • Gyroscope
  • Magnetometer
  • Ambient light sensor
  • Windows Hello compliant fingerprint reader in the power button (optional)
Security
  • HW TPM 2.0 chip for enterprise security
  • Enterprise-grade protection with Windows Hello face sign-in
  • 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)
In the box
  • Surface Book 2
  • Power supply
  • Quick Start Guide
  • Safety and warranty documents
-
WarrantyOne-year limited hardware warranty1 Year Hardware Service with Onsite/In-Home Service After Remote Diagnosis
MoreSupports Surface Dial
Supports both on-screen and off-screen interaction.
-

Key Features

Surface Book 2Dell Precision 5540
At Glance
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
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

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