The XPS 9700 is an ultra premium notebook. The 17 inch screen is stunning and it’s amazing how it fits into a 15 inch chassis. Graphics card handles video editing with ease and you can even play AAA games. It has 17.0″ UHD+ (3840 x 2400) InfinityEdge Touch Anti-Reflecitve 500-Nit Display. It comes with 10th Generation Intel; Core; i7-10875H (16MB Cache, up to 5.1 GHz, 8 cores) and 32GB DDR4-2666MHz, 2x16G system memory Upgrade for intense multitasking and gaming. Find details here Dell XPS 17 9700 RAM upgrade compatibility for Dell laptop.
Pricing and Dell XPS 17 9700 RAM upgrade compatibility for Dell laptop
You can get the base model of the XPS 17 for $1,449 with a 2.5-GHz Intel Core i5-10300H processor with 8GB of RAM, a 256GB M.2 PCIe NVMe SSD, an Intel UHD Graphics GPU and a 17-inch 1920 x 1200 non-touch display. For $2,349, you get a more powerful 2.3-GHz Intel Core i7-10875 CPU, double the RAM and storage, as well as an Nvidia GeForce RTX 2060 Max-Q GPU with 6GB of RAM.
My $3,049 review unit is a bit pricey, but it kicks things up a notch with a 2.3-GHz Intel Core i7-10875H CPU, 32GB of RAM, a 1TB M.2 PCIe NVMe SSD, an Intel UHD Graphics GPU, an Nvidia GeForce RTX 2060 Max-Q GPU with 6GB of VRAM and a 17-inch 3840 x 2400 touchscreen. Want even more bells and whistles? The $3,649 model bumps the RAM and storage up to 64GB and 2TB, respectively
Can you do Dell XPS 17 9700 RAM upgrade? What is Dell XPS 17 9700 RAM upgrade compatibility for Dell laptop? Those in need of even more graphics muscle can check out the $2,792 configuration, which ups the GPU to an Nvidia GeForce RTX 2060 Max-Q while doubling the RAM and storage to 16GB and 1TB respectively. We reviewed a tricked-out $2,939 version of the XPS 17, which packs a Core i7-10875H CPU, 32GB of RAM, a 1TB SSD and RTX 2060 graphics.
If you still need more RAM or storage, you can upgrade to 64GB of RAM and 2TB of storage for an extra $294 for each add-on (Dell XPS 17 9700 RAM upgrade compatibility for Dell laptop).
Compare Dell XPS 17 9700 vs New Dell XPS 15 9500 vs Dell XPS 15 7590
| New XPS 17 9700 17″ Laptop 10th Gen Core i7-10875H | New Dell XPS 15 9500 15.6 inch UHD+ | Dell XPS 15 7590 Laptop 15.6 inch, 4K UHD OLED | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Computer Memory Size | 32 GB | 16 GB | 16 GB |
| CPU Model Manufacturer | 10th Gen Intel Comet Lake i7-10875H | Intel | Intel |
| CPU Speed | 5.10 GHz | 5 GHz | 4.5 GHz |
| Display Resolution Maximum | 3840 x 2160 pixels | 3840×2400 pixels | 4K UHD (3840 x 2160) |
| Screen Size | 17 inches | 15 inches | 15.6 inches |
| Hard Disk Size | 1 TB | 1 TB | 256 GB |
| Item Dimensions | 9.76 x 14.74 x 0.77 inches | 13.57 x 9.06 x 0.71 inches | 9.27 x 14.06 x 0.66 inches |
| Item Weight | 4.20 lbs | — | 5.51 lbs |
| Operating System | Windows 10 Pro | Windows 10 Pro | Windows 10 |
| Processor Count | 8 | 6 | 1 |
| RAM Type | SODIMM (Dell XPS 17 9700 RAM upgrade compatibility) | — | DDR4 SDRAM |
| Wireless Communication Standard | Bluetooth | — | 802.11bgn |
Dell XPS 17 9700 review
Build
With a razor-sharp construction that borrows the design of its smaller XPS 13 and XPS 15 siblings, the Dell XPS 17 is one of the most elegant 17-inch laptops I’ve laid my eyes on.
Everything that makes the XPS series stand out is preserved on Dell’s biggest laptop, including its attractive silver aluminum exterior, comfortable soft-touch deck and nearly bezel-less InfinityEdge display. While the XPS 17’s interior looks great in black, I do wish it would also offer the same stunning Arctic White color option as its smaller XPS 13 sibling.
Design
Typically, 17-inch laptops are relegated to the home as they’re rather bulky. Not so with the XPS 17. At 5.5 pounds, I’d have no problem taking this 14.7 x 9.8 x 0.8-inch notebook on a commute. It’s a bit heavier than the 16-inch MacBook Pro (4.3 pounds, 14.1 x 9.7 x 0.6 inches), but lighter than the HP Envy 17t (6 pounds, 15.7 x 10.2 x 0.8 inches).
Using its design know-how, Dell managed to create the smallest 17-inch laptops on the market. In fact, the notebook is 48% smaller than most 15-inch laptops.
Display
Whew, this screen is vivid! Measuring for color reproduction, the XPS 17 hit 172% of the sRGB color gamut, matching the Envy 17t. Both systems were more vivid than the MacBook Pro (114%) and the premium laptop category average (121%). If the display is too vivid or not vivid enough, you can adjust the color temperature, gamut and brightness with Dell Premier Color. And in case you’re worried about eye strain, the laptop also has Dell CinemaColor with a relaxing Evening setting as well as, Movie, Sports and Animation options.
Disney’s The Lion King reboot looked absolutely stunning on the XPS 17’s display, which allowed me to make out the smallest creases on Rafiki’s face as well as the incredibly realistic computer-generated hairs on Mufasa and Simba. The film looked quite colorful to boot, with the baby blue skies contrasting nicely with the grassy plains and brown rock structures.
The XPS 17’s benchmark scores backed up its impressive real world performance, as the laptop reproduced an impressive 171.6% of the sRGB color gamut (anything above 100% is ideal). It also gets very bright, measuring an average 504 nits of brightness on our light meter. Both of those numbers top what we saw on the 16-inch MacBook Pro, which covered 113.9% of the sRGB gamut and turned in 429 nits of brightness.
The 10-finger capacitive touchscreen offers seamless, agile response, keeping pace with me as I scribbled Laptop Mag across the panel in cursive.
Ports
The Dell XPS 17 packs a total of four Thunderbolt 3 USB-C ports, each of which double as charging ports and feature DisplayPort compatibility. You’ll also get a full size SD Card reader, as well as a 3.5mm headphone jack. That compares pretty favorably with the MacBook Pro 16-inch, which also packs four USB-C ports but lacks an SD card slot.Advertisement
If you need to use legacy peripherals, the XPS 17 ships with a USB-C to USB-A adapter in the box in addition to an HDMI 2.0 adapter. While power users will likely need a USB hub handy to use all of their peripherals and monitors together, the XPS 17’s port selection and included adapters offer a good compromise between functionality and design.
Performance
The XPS 17 scored an impressive 7,740 on the Geekbench 5 general performance test, topping the 7,250 we saw from our 16-inch MacBook Pro (Intel Core i9 CPU, 32GB RAM). Dell’s machine took a fairly brisk 8 minutes and 41 seconds to transcode a 4K video to 1080p on our Handbrake test, coming up just a bit behind the MacBook Pro’s 8 minutes.
The 1TB SSD in our XPS 17 proved speedy, copying about 26GB of files in just 34 seconds for a transfer rate of 789.6 MBps. While it’s not quite an apples-to-apples comparison, the MacBook Pro’s best-in-class SSD turned in a blistering write speed of 2,805 on the Blackmagic Disk Speed Test.
Graphics
With its 2.3-GHz Intel Core i7-10875H processor, 32GB of RAM and a 1TB M.2 PCIe SSD, the XPS 17 is an undeniable powerhouse. The laptop ripped through nearly every test we threw at it, starting with our real-world test. I launched my typical 40 tabs in Google Chrome, but loaded it up with a couple of Twitch streams and YouTube videos. The XPS 17 took it all in stride with no signs of slowing down.
The XPS 17 has one big advantage over its smaller brethren: discrete Nvidia 20-series graphics. Armed with an Nvidia GeForce RTX 2060 Max-Q GPU capable of ray tracing, the XPS 17 turned in strong results on our graphics tests — and can even double as a solid gaming laptop. This distinction makes the XPS 17 certified as part of Dell’s XPS Creator Edition line as well as Nvidia’s RTX Studio series, making it suitable for basic graphic design, photography and music production.
To that end, the XPS 17 scored a strong 848.6 on the Pugetbench Photoshop test, which measures how well a system can open a large image and perform various modifications to it. That’s notably better than the 786.5 result we got from our XPS 15, which packs a weaker GeForce GTX 1650 Ti GPU.
Dell’s laptop handled a range of big AAA titles in 1080p at impressive framerates, including Assassin’s Creed Odyssey (42 fps), Borderlands 3 (47 fps) and Shadow of the Tomb Raider (48 fps). The MacBook Pro is a bit more limited when it comes to game compatibility, and its Radeon 5500M GPU turned in a lower 27.2 fps on the older Rise of the Tomb Raider title.
Speaking of gaming, the laptop turned in some respectable results. When we ran the Dirt 3 test, the XPS 17 produced 112 frames per second at 3840 x 2400. That was enough to surpass the 65-fps premium laptop average. The Envy 17t wasn’t too far behind (GeForce GTX MX330 GPU) hitting 105 fps.
Audio
Thanks to its large stereo speakers and integrated Waves MaxxAudioPro software, the XPS 17 filled my apartment with booming, rich sound. The energetic pop-punk of New Found Glory’s “Shook by Your Shaved Head” proved just as impressive on the XPS 17, which brought the track’s chunky distorted guitars, bouncy bass and snappy drums front and center. The vocals again sounded a little low in the mix, but not enough to be completely lost to the instruments. When I switched to the melancholy indie rock of Phoebe Bridgers’ “Chinese Satellite,” the singer’s airy vocals sounded incredibly clear, and the guitars and drums clashed nicely during the track’s rocking outro.
Keyboard and touchpad
I blazed through the 10fastfingers typing test at a faster-than-usual 102 words per minute with a near-perfect accuracy rate, and my fingers bounced comfortably around Dell’s keyboard the whole time. Every keyboard in Dell’s latest XPS series feels great, but the XPS 17’s just might be my favorite of them all. Thanks to their deep 1.3mm travel, soft-touch coating and snappy feedback, the XPS 17’s keys remained a delight to type on throughout hours of hammering away on work documents and emails.
The XPS 17’s massive 6 x 3.5 touchpad was similarly comfortable, allowing me to pinch to zoom and perform multi-finger gestures without any resistance.
Dell XPS 17: Webcam
The XPS 17’s webcam is perfectly serviceable, and I admire how Dell has managed to cram a full camera into the tiny top bezel of its latest laptops. But in an age of constant video conferencing, I’d really like to see Dell and other top laptop makers step things up in this department. My face looked blotchy, pixelated and washed out in the photos I took — this camera will still get the job done for quick calls,.
Dell XPS 17: Battery life
While you’ll get more than a workday of juice out of the XPS 17, the 16-inch MacBook Pro lasted even longer at 10 hours and 55 minutes. On the plus side, the XPS 17 does beat out the 4K version of its smaller XPS 15 sibling, which lasted just over 8 hours on our test.
For a massive, powerful laptop with a 4K display, the XPS 17 lasts impressively long on a charge. Dell’s notebook endured for a long 9 hours and 4 minutes on our battery test, which consists of continuous web surfing over Wi-Fi.
Dell XPS 17 9700 RAM upgrade compatibility for Dell laptop
Faster/slower RAM should theoretically work, though RAM must all operate at the same speed. Additionally, if you put in, say, one 32 GB DDR4 stick but leave an existing 8GB stick installed, that will give you 40 GB RAM, but you will cut memory bandwidth in half because the RAM must run in single channel mode.
I’m actually planning to do just that myself in my XPS 17 (32GB + 4 GB preinstalled) for the time being until I decide I actually need 64GB RAM. Memory bandwidth isn’t a big driver in system performance as long as you aren’t 3D gaming on an IGP.
Unless you are doing professional video editing or graphics related development, I would stay at 32gb or below. 16 is more than enough for everyday computing, including gaming. 32 should be good for some development, data science and serious video editing. I guess that if you do not know that you need 64 you do not need it.
Kingston has a hyperx 64 gb kit. I got a 32gb kit but have not received my XPS. I’m planning to use that money for a second drive for system backups, a dock to have good cable management at home/work, or even an external GPU case.
Is there any better alternative – Dell XPS 17 9700 RAM upgrade compatibility?
Dell XPS 17 vs MacBook Pro 16-inch
The most obvious rival to the Dell XPS 17 is the 16-inch MacBook Pro. There are other 17-inch laptops, but the XPS 17 and the largest MacBook Pro are both targeted at premium laptop users who want a blend of power, portability, and high-ned design.
Both are fantastic laptops, and the MacBook Pro offers one of the best ways to experience macOS in all its glory, But the Apple machine doesn’t have the latest 10th Gen Intel Core processors, nor does it have a 4K touchscreen display option.
These might not matter to passionate Mac fans, but to for people who want the best specs, the Dell XPS 17 is the winner here. And in terms of aesthetics, it’s arguably the better machine as well, given the InfinityEdge display is almost bezel-less. But there’s still an argument that the MacBook Pro has an ‘Apple appeal’ that’s hard to ignore.
You can’t really go wrong with either laptop. But as the 16-inch MacBook is getting close to being a year old, it might be worth holding out for a refreshed version sometime in the fall. But you can go out and buy an XPS 17 right now and be satisfied that you’ll have a machine that will last you a good while.