Dell Precision 7540 Review: High-end laptop workstation, vivid 4K display

Dell Precision 7540 is the latest in Dell's premium mobile workstation lineup. Intel Xeon CPUs, Nvidia Quadro RTX 5000 and the best 4K HDR display in the segment are really 'worth the money'. The Precision 7540 workstation is an especially good option if you have serious work to complete.

Let's take a closer look at this workstation through the following article!

Pricing and configuration of Dell Precision 7540

There are 6 default configurations for the Precision 7540, with countless ways for you to enhance and upgrade everything from processor, monitor, to memory. Priced at $ 1269, the base model has an Intel Core i5-9400H processor, 8GB of RAM, a 500GB hard drive and Intel UHD630 graphics. The most powerful model with Intel Xeon 2276M, 32GB of DDR4 RAM and 512GB M.2 SSD, sold for $ 3339 (VND 76.8 million).

Dell Precision 7540 Review: High-end laptop workstation, vivid 4K display Picture 1 Dell Precision 7540

For maximum power, you can add an Intel Xeon E2286M processor and Nvidia Quadro RTX 5000 graphics card. Dell Precision 7540 supports up to 3 M.2 or 2 M.2 drives and a SATA 2.5 drive, Each drive can add up to 2TB SSD and DDR4 128GB. In addition to the core specifications, you can add a 4K HDR screen (3840 x 2160), a fingerprint scanner, NFC security, mobile broadband (high-speed internet access service from a computer via public). data transmission technology on mobile network), etc.

Design

The Precision 7540's aesthetics are identical to most Dell PCs. The aluminum case with the Dell logo is dark gray, great for a laptop designed to work.

Inside, you'll find a full-size LED backlit keyboard and a standard touchpad. The machine reviewed in this article does not include an optional Windows Hello fingerprint scanner (if available, it will be integrated into the upper right).

This Dell laptop is a workstation so it is quite heavy, difficult to use and probably not suitable for moving too often. Measuring 35.9 x 32.6 x 2.19cm and weighing 1.87 kg, the Precision 7540 is slightly lighter than the previous 17-inch version, the Precision 7730.

Gate

As a workstation, the Precision 7540 has all the necessary ports. On the left side, you have two Thunderbolt 3 ports, an SD card reader and a Dell Smart Card slot.

On the right, you have a lock slot, 2 USB 3.1 Gen 1 ports and an old-style headphone jack.

Since this is a workstation, it is thick enough to have a port on the back. The back of the Dell Precision 7540 has an HDMI port, Mini DisplayPort, Ethernet port and power cable connector on the left.

Security and durability

According to Dell, the Precision 7540 has passed 15 MIL-STD 810G endurance tests. The Precision 7540 comes with many additional layers of security. The Dell Smart Card adds physical tokens for two-factor authentication when logging into the machine. There are also two optional ways to add biometric security with Windows Hello: The built-in fingerprint scanner and facial recognition using the webcam.

Screen

The 15.6-inch 4K HDR display is an advantage of the Precision 7540. The color of this monitor is comparable to other products of the same type. Everything from watching Netflix to playing games and editing photos, is very clear.

Dell Precision 7540 Review: High-end laptop workstation, vivid 4K display Picture 4 The 15.6-inch 4K HDR display is an advantage of the Precision 7540

During our testing, the Precision 7540 produced a 227% color gamut, which is higher than the workstation average (122%) as well as the ThinkPad P72 (123%) and StudioBook Pro (162%), but lower than the MSI WS65 9TM. (251%).

On the other hand, the brightness of the Precision 7540 is truly unbeatable. At 462 nit, this is one of the best HDR displays you can find on any laptop. It's brighter than average (358 nit), WS65 (393 nit), ThinkPad (311 nit) and StudioBook (292 nit).

Keyboard, touchpad and pointing stick

The Precision 7540 has a full-size keyboard, with some dedicated media keys (play, skip, rewind). Typing on the Precision 7540's keyboard feels more comfortable than other average laptops, but requires a bit more force. The Precision 7540's touchpad measures 10 x 5cm, keeping pace with the trend of the times.

Dell Precision 7540 Review: High-end laptop workstation, vivid 4K display Picture 5 The Precision 7540 has a full size keyboard

Besides, the Precision 7540 also has a relatively nice pointing stick (pointer control device). It is only slightly higher than the keys G, Hand B, allows you to use to keep control.

Sound

The Precision 7540 has two speakers located on the front edge at the bottom. In general, the sound is very clear and crisp, especially the mids and highs.

However, these speakers still do not replace a good pair of computer speakers or headphones.

Efficiency

Unsurprisingly, the biggest power of this high-powered workstation is its ability to get the job done. For the real test, I opened a lot of tabs in Google Chrome, including a few videos running in YouTube or Twitch and the TweetDeck feed, to test the performance. During the regular testing process, there wasn't any slowness.

On Geekbench 4.1, a benchmark tool that tests overall performance, the Precision 7540 outperforms the competition, with a performance score of 29,658, almost double the average for high-end laptops (15,995).

The Precision 7540 only takes 7 minutes and 50 seconds to encode 4K video using the Handbrake app. In the file transfer test, the Precision 7540 copied 4.97GB in just 3 seconds, equivalent to a speed of 2035.7 MBps, twice as fast as the 613.8 MBps average.

Graphics

Precision 7540 is equipped with Nvidia Quadro RTX 5000 graphics card with 16GB of VRAM, which excels at image processing.

When running 3DMark Fire Strike, a graphics performance test, the Precision 7540 reached 16,390, beating the workstation average (6,135).

This laptop is not really designed for gaming, but can still handle games well. This laptop offers a frame rate of 256 fps on Dirt 3, beating out the 61 fps average.

Battery life

The Precision 7540 boasts a Lithium Ion Battery, which lasts 7 hours and 24 minutes on the Laptop Mag Battery test, far ahead of other 4K workstations like the MSI WS65 9TM (6 hours 57 minutes) and Lenovo Thinkpad P72 (4 hours 19 minutes) , enough to spend a day working on a full charge.

Webcam

The Precision 7540's webcam is not great. The 720p webcam is centrally located at the front of the top bezel and has a smooth sliding security cover. Although the webcam works without technical issues, the quality of photos and videos captured with the camera is blurred and generally uncomfortable to look at. Ideally, you should invest in an external webcam.

Heat

Dell Precision 7540 Review: High-end laptop workstation, vivid 4K display Picture 6 When considering the processing power of the Precision 7540, you are impressed with its ability to reduce heat under heavy loads

When considering the processing power of the Precision 7540, you are impressed with its ability to reduce heat under heavy loads. Even after playing DOOM (2016) in 4K for 15 minutes, you won't feel any heat coming out.

The bottom is where the radiator fan is located. However, the metal mesh covering the fans is very painful to touch the bare skin so it is best not to put it in your lap.

Another minus point is noise. When the Precision 7540 fans spin at full power, they will be loud enough to obstruct the speaker, even when the music is playing at maximum volume.

Software and warranty

Dell offers an optional program, Dell Precision Optimizer, which provides users with presets to optimize certain tasks and programs, such as Rendering in Maya and numerous applications in Adobe Creative Suite, including including Illustrator, Premiere and Photoshop.

There is also a Dell software suite, including a system update tool, Dell Command and a color gamut adjustment program, Dell PremierColor.

Dell also offers a free 30-day trial subscription for Microsoft Office and McAfee Small Business Security.

Dell offers 3 levels of warranty and service for the Precision 7540. The most basic package, which comes with both the basic model, provides 3 years of on-site support and repair services.

Conclude

The Dell Precision 7540 is a high-end, powerful and efficient laptop workstation with a vivid 4K display. With great battery life and strong upgrade capabilities to improve security, the Precision 7540 is a versatile computer, perfect for those who need a portable device, but don't necessarily need to carry it. daily.

Although the price of this product is quite expensive, but if you are looking for a high-power workstation that can do everything, then the Dell Precision 7540 is the first choice.