Dell G15-5525 Gaming Laptop, AMD Ryzen 7-6800H, 16GB DDR5, 1TB SSD, NVIDIA RTX 3070 Ti (8GB GDDR6), 15.6″ (39.62Cm) FHD WVA AG, 165 Hz 300 nits,…

This is a good laptop. Though its appearance is very “barebones”, i.e. it does not have a fancy RGB keyboard, nor a fancy paint job; it has powerful hardware that does what it is supposed to: play games well.

This is my first relatively high end gaming laptop. For those like me who’ve never had a high end laptop before, a few things:

i.) The charging adaptor comes with a 16A plug. This means that you cannot plug it into your normal electrical sockets like you plug in ordinary non-gaming laptops. You have to plug it into the bigger sockets which are meant for your microwave etc. However, you can still safely use them on a normal socket (which is what I do) by using a 6A to 16A converter socket (they cost like Rs.150-300). So, if you’re buying this, buy one of those too. The charger is like a brick in terms of surface area (a third of the width of a brick of course). It’s a fair bit bigger than the charger of a normal laptop.

ii.) This laptop works well if you’re playing games at 1080p with everything set on high/ultra. However, turning on Ray Tracing can cause unplayable levels of stuttering in 𝘴𝘰𝘮𝘦 games (which are poorly optimised for PC). Well optimised games run well even with Ray Tracing. Remember, a laptop RTX3070Ti is similar in performance to a desktop 3060Ti. Don’t expect desktop RTX3070Ti performance. Apart from that, everything else is just fine. I have not faced any touchpad related issues like the other reviewer.

iii.) Dealing with power throttling to get the best performance from your system:

This is something that took me quite some time to figure out. Let me write it down so you don’t have to waste time.

By default, there is only one power plan in the system, “balanced”. This may lead to your GPU getting throttled to maximum 45W power consumption leading to lower framerates (you can check this by opening GeForce Experience, then selecting the Settings gear, and then enabling the In-Game Overlay option. From there, click Settings –> HUD Layout and choose what parameters like FPS, GPU Wattage etc. you want to see).

If you do not unlock the other power plans like “High Performance” and “Ultimate Performance”, you might get lower FPS due to power throttling. Google how to do this and select the appropriate power plan.

Also, in Nvidia Control Panel, in either Global or Program Settings (depending on what you want), set the “Power Management Mode” option to “Prefer Maximum Performance”.

Another thing is, when playing graphically demanding games, if you live in an area with high temps like I do, keeping the air conditioner on in the room prevents power/thermal throttling of the GPU. The thermal throttling temperature for the GPU is around 77-78C (this is done to prevent hardware degradation due to overheating). If the AC is on, you can play continuously for as long as you want at full GPU power (especially with a cooling fan, though it is not strictly required) without it reaching this temperature. This is because the laptop fans are able to suck in cooler air from the outside to cool the components inside. You can use GeForce experience to verify this (i.e. compare the GPU temps with the AC on and off). Otherwise, it will inevitably reach 77C and throttle to 45W and you will have to go into the BIOS over and over again to reset the power consumption when power throttling takes place and you can’t play at full power for a long duration in one go.

Even a 45W down-throttled GPU will give you acceptable framerates in most games (not all), but it just isn’t as smooth as the GPU running at full power. For some games, you definitely need the GPU at full power to get acceptable framerates at high settings (especially if you’re turning on Ray Tracing).

If you find your GPU power throttling to 45W for whatever reason, enable/disable Nvidia Optimus in the BIOS (if it’s enabled, disable it, if it’s disabled, enable it). This will reset your GPU power consumption back to normal (140W max). If it doesn’t reset on doing it once, do it again. Also, the FPS you get with Nvidia Optimus disabled is greater than the FPS you get with it enabled.

iv.) This laptop comes with something called Game Shift mode or G-mode. G-mode makes your fans run faster which lowers your GPU temperature. To enable/disable G-mode, press Fn+F9. You may need to keep Alienware Command Center open for G-mode to work.

You may not need G-mode if you’re in a cold area or even if you live in a hot area but turn on the air conditioner and use a cooling fan along with it. Monitor the GPU temperature and use it appropriately at your own convenience.

v.) If you’ve never used such a high-end gaming laptop before and the fans sound like a small jet plane when you turn on the system or play a game, don’t panic. It’s supposed to sound that way and it’s safe. G-mode might be on. Turn it off and it gets quiet. You will eventually get used to the sound of the fans when G-mode is on.

vi.) The only thing I’m disappointed by is the keyboard design choice. At least for this laptop, Dell could have given us full-sized arrow keys (or at least not kept “pg up” and “pg down” right above the left and right arrow keys). See attached pic for details.

It’s a good thing that this laptop comes with an FHD (1080p) screen instead of a QHD (1440p) screen. A laptop 3070Ti isn’t really powerful enough for QHD on modern titles and will be even less so as we go into the future and games require even more computing power. 1080p resolution on a QHD screen won’t look as good as it does on an FHD screen.

Overall, I’m satisfied.