Dell - G7 15.6" Gaming Laptop - Intel Core i7 - 8GB Memory - NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1060 - 256GB Solid State Drive - Licorice Black

The Dell G7 is the successor to the Inspiron 15 7000 series and does an excellent job at improving upon the previous design aesthetic while also delivering outstanding performance for the price. BUILD: In terms of the build and construction, the G7’s housing is primarily plastic, but has a rigidity that prevents it from feeling cheap. In terms of the aesthetic, Dell is going for a simpler, more elegant design that is unlike their Alienware series laptops. There’s very little about this laptop that screams “gamer”, and I certainly like that about it, as I’m not only just a gamer, but a software engineer. Laptops that one can use in professional situations as well as for gaming are becoming more popular nowadays, and Dell’s G7 is a solid response to that demand. But like any other laptop, I wouldn’t dare let this suffer a drop, as the build materials likely won’t prove to be resilient to abuse. DISPLAY: The 15” 1080p IPS display is quite good on the G7. My unit has the AUO63ED panel which people online have overclocked to 100Hz and beyond (albeit at risk of warranty). Other units have had an LG display which did not achieve such overclocks. The display is matte, so you won’t suffer from tons of reflectivity, and it gets decently bright for most situations. For gamers and typical users, you will enjoy using this display. KEYBOARD: The keyboard is one of the things about this laptop that is taking some getting used to. I’m personally accustomed to mechanical keyboards as well as chiclet keyboards. However, both other high-end laptops that I own have better key travel in my opinion, and that’s largely due to the wider spacing between the keys on the G7 as well as the minimal height on the keys. It’s not as though the G7’s keyboard is bad, but my fingers are certainly more accustomed to keys with closer travel and a slightly larger key height. The ones on the G7 are just a bit more recessed compared to what I’m used to. I do want to emphasize that these are observations and my opinions; your experience my differ from mine. Additionally, the keyboard is backlit (blue); I do wish it was white instead, as blue can be fatiguing over time, but I’m not sure if this minimal amount will result in any noticeable impact. When the backlight is on, it has two brightness modes, but there isn’t too much difference between them. The WASD keys also have blue squares around them when the keyboard is backlit, but it’s not something I noticed until just now. If they wanted it to stand out more, they should have opted for a different color like white. Another interesting note is that the keyboard backlight turns off after a minute, but will turn back on once a key is pressed. As far as I’ve seen, I don’t think there’s a way to configure this. If there was, I’d expect it to be in the UEFI/BIOS (F2 upon boot). TOUCHPAD: The G7 has a Precision Touchpad which is decently large and has good palm rejection, as well. From my usage, it’s quite responsive to gestures as well as general usage, otherwise. One thing that I don’t like as much is that there are no separate mouse left-click/right-click buttons. It’s not a big deal, but I came from another gaming laptop that had them. The G7, in contrast, has very clicky touchpad mouse buttons which some may enjoy, and others may not. If you have to work in a quiet environment, you will tapping to click instead of pressing in the integrated buttons. Other than these nitpicks, I do enjoy using the trackpad and the gestures within Windows 10. I/O: The G7 is equipped with some pretty standard I/O compared to most laptops in this price bracket and demographic. It has 3x USB-A 3.1, 1x USB-C 3.1 (with Thunderbolt), HDMI 2.0, a 3.5mm Headphone/Microphone combo jack, a full-size SD card slot, and an RJ45 gigabit ethernet port. I do wish some of these ports were located on the back, just below the hinge, but that kind of design hasn’t hit the mainstream yet. STORAGE: The model I have came equipped with a Toshiba KSG60ZM 256GB NVMe SSD which claims to support 1500 MB/s read and 760 MB/s write. If you’re used to hard drives, this will be a lovely change, but if you’re used to absolute top-tier NVMe SSD’s like I am, you may consider swapping it out. It does support both an m.2 SSD (SATA or PCIe NVMe), as well as a standard SATA 2.5” HDD/SSD. By default, this the G7 has RAID enabled in the BIOS to use the Intel Rapid Storage Technology NVMe controller drivers. If you decide to swap out this drive and use manufacturer drivers over AHCI mode, do a google search on "SOLUTION: Switch Windows 10 from RAID/IDE to AHCI operation". This will let you switch to AHCI without reinstalling windows. RAM: My unit came with 8GB of RAM in total (2x4GB DIMM). This is a bit underwhelming, especially given the horsepower this machine has, otherwise. I would have liked to see 16GB. But if this product is focused on gamers, then the 2x4GB dual-channel memory configuration may have a sizeable enough impact on framerate to justify this decision. Even so, I do think 16GB is a much better choice for individuals like myself who would like to use this computer as a mobile workstation for professional purposes. In the end, I may have to shell out the additional high cost and max this machine out with 2x16GB for a total of 32GB. CPU: The i7-8750H is overkill for most people, but I’m not most people. As a software engineer, I’ve been dying to have more cores in a laptop at this price and configuration. With a total of 12 logical threads, this laptop can do heavy multitasking like running a full suite of docker containers for an enterprise environment (assuming you have the RAM to match). If you’re a game streamer using OBS or similar software that relies on CPU, you may appreciate the extra cores; however, most games won’t benefit a whole lot from the additional cores. That may change in the future, but the majority of today’s titles won’t see improvement from the increase in core count. In general, expect solid multitasking performance. That being said, this CPU runs hot, and undervolting -0.125V using ThrottleStop or Intel XTU can achieve lower thermals—especially considering that the CPU and GPU expel hot air through the same heat pipe. Just keep in mind that undervolting is done at your own risk and is not supported by the manufacturer. GAMING: The G7 is equipped with an Nvidia GTX 1060 Max Q. This puts it between the performance of the GTX 1050 Ti and the GTX 1060. As someone who has a custom-built desktop that is much faster than the Dell G7 (but cost way more money to do so), The G7 is really an excellent value and delivers a gaming experience that I am very satisfied with. The Rise of the Tomb Raider benchmark was able to pull 60+ fps while set to the Very High preset under DX12 with exclusive fullscreen, FXAA and Vsync off at 1080p. That being said, a more stable framerate with fewer skips can be easily obtained under the “High” preset or by making your own fine-tuned adjustments. Competitive eSports games will also hit well over the 60fps mark. When pushing the graphical limits, this laptop can get loud and can take some time to cooldown after a gaming session. Proper airflow/ventilation will be important in obtaining reasonable temperatures, and undervolting the CPU can also help improve this. SOUND: As far as the speakers are concerned, they’re decent. Definitely wish they had a subwoofer bass port to improve frequencies in that range, but that’s a sacrifice Dell chose to make in this design. That being said, I have used cheaper gaming laptops from 2017 which did have better bass response and got louder than the G7 while also maintaining clarity. I don’t think the G7 is disappointing on this front, but I'm also not wowed by their solution. Regardless, I'm happy enough with the solution. CONCLUSION: The G7 is an excellent deal with few compromises compared to other laptops in a similar price bracket. I’ve mostly nitpicked in this review, but despite its few minor flaws, it’s an excellent laptop; one that I’m glad to be using and wouldn’t have issues recommending for the price. In fact, I have just ordered an even faster NVMe SSD and 32GB to make the G7 my primary mobile workstation.

Dell has been in the PC market for years. And they tend to make good quality desktop and laptop PCs without needing to be overly flashy. I guess that makes them more suitable to people who prefer the utilitarian style. But because Dell has been in the PC market for so long, it’s difficult to figure out what exact type and model you’re getting. The model being reviewed here is a G7 Series 15 7588. It features an Intel Core i7 8750H processor that has 6 cores capable of 12 threads of execution. In layman terms, it means it can do more without bogging down your system. It has 8GB of RAM which should allow you to run several softwares at once. However, when it comes to gaming, more is usually better. 8GB is enough for most games today. Going forward, that may change. The 8GB of RAM is rated at DDR4 2666 or PC4 21300 and is preinstalled in 2x4GB. Upgrading the memory will mean purchasing a new set (in a pair) rather than a single. For storage, a 256GB SSD is installed using a M.2 interface. Dell’s support documentation list procedures for both M.2 and SATA drives but confusingly labels the 2.5” drive as hard drive and the M.2 as “Solid State Drive.” (Note: SSD can come in either 2.5” drive form factor using SATA interface or M.2 form factor.) The laptop features a 15.6 inch display with a 1920x1080 resolution on a IPS panel. That display is powered by both Intel’s integrated graphics and NVIDIA’s GeForce GTX 1060 “Max-Q” GPU. There is a dedicated 6GB of video memory which will allow the GPU to perform better without relying on system memory and its limited bandwidth. The performance review of the 1060 GPU will come shortly. On the audio side, it is powered by RealTek and has stereo speakers on the front side of the laptop. However, the laptop design itself is angled so the speakers are aimed downwards. Unfortunately, the speakers aren’t all that good and doesn’t have good range on them. They’re more on the high side and the bass/lows are very lacking. (Tested using a few Beatles songs and Luv(sic) Part 2 by Nujabes) The only way to potentially get a better audio experience will be to use your own headphones, either through Bluetooth or the 3.5mm headphone jack. Moving on, the keyboard is backlit and dims after a period of inactivity. The A, S, D, W keys have additional backlit design to let users easily find these movement keys. There is a number pad to the right. But given that this is supposed to be a gaming laptop, I wonder if this is a good design decision to include it. I suppose some MOBA players can use these for shortcuts. On the top of the keyboards are your usual function keys as well as special keys. By default, the special keys are enabled by default. To use the F1 through F12, one has to press and hold down the “Fn” key first. I’m fairly certain this behavior can be changed within the laptop’s BIOS/firmware. On the connectivity front, there is a Gigabit Ethernet port, 3 USB 3.x ports, a USB3 Type-C port with Thunderbolt, a HDMI port, and a SD Card reader. Unfortunately, I do not have any Thunderbolt devices to plug into the Type-C port to test its capability. But it is comforting to know that one can plug one to the laptop for a variety of things. The Gigabit Ethernet port worked as expected and I was able to transfer about 36GB of data from my desktop over to the laptop. The bandwidth was saturated close to its maximum speed and made transferring the entire Guild Wars 2 data file very fast. The laptop’s wireless capability is powered by Intel Wireless AC-9560, which can handle 802.11ac standards. According to the product documents on Intel’s website, it also can handle Bluetooth 5.0. For wireless networking, observed speeds topped off at around 100mbit/s. The laptop comes preinstalled with Windows 10 Home edition. This is the lowest full edition Windows 10 one can get. But at the same time, it’s a bit disappointing. While the feature differences between Home and Pro is fairly small, one feature that could be a plus for gamers is being able to defer and delay Windows Update through Group Policy. Group Policy editing is not included in WIndows 10 Home which could have helped in managing some of the other minor annoyances in Windows 10. As expected of any laptops and pre-made desktops, it comes with some additional software preinstalled. McAfee Security is also preinstalled but I have personally opted to not set it up or removed it entirely. The very thought of needing to pay after the free subscription expires bothers me. On the gaming department, I ran around in Guild Wars 2 on battery power. With that alone powering the GPU, it barely handles 30fps in crowded areas. Unfortunately, Guild Wars 2 is one of those games where you won’t get better framerate with a faster video card. Instead, it’s heavily reliant on how fast your processor is. Other games tested within the limited time I’ve spent with the laptop are “Ikaruga,” “Mark of the Ninja,” and “Dust: An Elysian Tail.” All of them performed great as expected due to the abundance of processing power of the NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1060. In terms of battery life, the laptop can get by on normal operations for 4-5 hours. In gaming, and depending on the game itself, that will knock it down even further. On the other hand, if you’re going to be gaming, your best bet is to simply plug the laptop to the AC. On battery, I was able to run Guild Wars 2 for about 30-45 minutes, plus around 30 minutes of Dust: An Elysian Tail, and a little of Mark of the Ninja and Ikaruga. This is all before the battery level got down to around 21-22%. There are negative aspects to this gaming laptop. The built-in speakers leaves a lot to be desired. Because of this, you may end up using headphones for better audio listening. The use of Windows 10 Home instead of Windows 10 Pro restricts the user’s ability to fine tune how Windows operates, especially in the update department. And then there’s the fan. With a powerhouse graphics processor like the 1060, heat is going to be a constant issue. And to cool this GPU down, fans are necessary. There are times when it can get audibly loud. This comes as no surprise for a laptop geared for gaming. Overall, this is a pretty decent gaming laptop. Granted, I do not have the latest games to push the limit of the laptop. But I am certain it can run most games at decent level. On the other hand, if top performance is what you need, then a laptop should not be the option to take. This is a mid-range gaming laptop. Also consider that this is more of a portable gaming PC than a laptop. At over 5lbs, this is probably better suited at LAN parties instead of sitting at a Starbucks.

This is a great laptop for a good price. Built quality is top notch, lots of plastic but its all very sturdy, with no flex. It uses the latest 8th gen 6 cores/12 threads intel cpu and a discrete nvidia geforce gtx 1060 Q. I can play all moderm games at 1080p at high settings (some can even at ultra settings, but with some effects dialed down). I didn't have any problems setting up windows and installing steam with some games. It comes with a minimum amount of crapware from factory, most are apps that will help you keep your laptop bios and drivers up to date. Only thing I deleted was McAfee antivirus (windows 10 solution is more than enough). ++PROS++ +Well built and sturdy. +Fast, can play most moderm games at 1080p at high settings. +Fast 256 Nvme SSD boot drive. +Ready to install an extra 2.5' Hard drive (I added a 2.5" Western digital blue hard drive with no problems). +More than enough usb 3.0 ports, hdmi port for gaming on a large TV. +Quiet fans when non gaming, not that loud when gaming. Laptop's cooling solution is very good. --CONS-- -New cpu is known to be a hot chip, may throttle sometimes *(check my tips below). -Gtx 1060 is Q design, meaning its a full blown 6gb desktop version, however with lower clockspeeds than a regular 1060 to save on battery. *(check my tips below). Some tips: * You can use the program Throttlestop to underclock the CPU so it would not throttle down that much, check youtuber bob of all trades for a guide on how to use it. * I was able to overclock the GPU to +200mhz core and mem, reaching higher than regular gtx 1060 speeds, temps were good. * Download program HWinfo64 and check what monitor panel you have. If you are lucky as me, you may get an AUO panel, which can be overclocked to 120 hz, with custom resolution utility. If you get a LG panel, your'e SOL.

Let me jut say that I rarely game on a laptop but like the option when out of town. It's very hard to design a portable machine that can take on gaming. There are much more powerful gaming laptop option but you are going to pay a lot more. This machine has a good balance of value and power and plays any game with moderate to high settings, depending on what titles, of course. At the retail price, it's a good deal. Pick one up used today and it's still a good gaming and work machine at a better deal. The i7 CPU is fast, even though it's a mobile version of the chip. My home power house computer is an i7-8700K and this thing actually competes with it in benchmark scores. The 1060 Max-Q GPU doesn't compare with my desktop variant but that is to be expected. Like I said, it plays any game with adjusted settings but not like you have turn all the settings down. I'm used to 1440p gaming at home (on max settings) but still visually satisfied with gaming out on the road. I've had this new since my 2018 purchase from BestBuy and have never had any issues (you really have to be abusing the keyboard to cause damage to the fan underneath it, like some other reviewer stated). Funny how his complain starts with "what Dell doesn't tell you" Haha like it's a hidden secret that they should be legally bound to disclose. I've typed on this for work and gamed for over two years and fans are working great. This is especially impressive since they have to work so hard and thankfully there are two. One for the CPU and a dedicated one for the GPU. Something that is only in a gaming laptop. Another gripe was that it did not come with an HHD (only a cable for this). How is this a gripe?? And why would you want an HDD. This was a sub $1000 gaming laptop that included and faster m.2 SATA SSD card that outperforms any spinning hard drive. Then they give you the option to add your own HDD or SDD 2.5" product (cable included), when you wish to. I eventually added an OCZ 500GB SSD and have never needed more (and that is mainly due to large work file storage. Some people are fine with the 250GB since for mobile gaming, you don't pack it with every game you play. It has more than enough USB ports (3) for mobile use as well as a USB-C (1) that is also a Thunder port. This is great for docking stations versus a USB 3.0 docking station, plus being able to charge USB-C Phones and power other devices. The power brick is 180W which is the very high end of power bricks for laptops. It's also a large power adapter but my ACER AIO computer at home has a larger one, even though it's also 180w. You can use other power bricks (smaller wattage and size) to reduce footprint on certain trips. Although, if it's not a Dell original rated for the 180w, it will let you know when you first boot the machine. It warns that there maybe throttling down times if the original power supply is not used. I found this out when using a temporary power supply when I forgot mine and when using a generic vehicle cigarette lighter adapter power supply. I did not notice any performance issues but I was not attempting to game, only work. The display is great. Antiglare, unlike those very glary ones that have so much reflection you can use it as a mirror when off. This is a trick to make a display look pretty and gloss coat your image but it's just a gimmick. This display is very bright and great from wide viewing angles. It's 1080p AND runs at 60hz like it should, The WebCam is your basic 720p cam that does fine for Zoom meetings and all, not great at low light. The speakers sound good and have decent volume, for a mobile device, especially for meeting. Although, headphones are best for gaming. The mouse track pad is multifinger, so gestures like pinch to zoom work well. It has integrated buttons into the trackpad (instead of separate right and left buttons) and this is something to get used to. I actually rarely use it as I have a Logitech trackball that I prefer over any mouse type. The keyboard feels great, not clunky or chiclet and lights up! This was a big selling point, as when on the road, I find myself working in dimly lit areas at times. It's also a full keyboard with numeric keypad that is also a necessity for work. Battery life is typical for a gaming laptop (not much at full power) but this is expected for any gaming laptop, where you really should be plugged in to be gaming. Since it is geared for performance, you should go into the power settings and make it more for battery life than power, if you want to maximize the battery life. If not, just normal use, like for business or web browsing, will eat up your battery too quick. The CPU will only run in low MHz and power consumption, if you change the power profile. This is a windows power profile issue. If Windows had Artificial intelligence, it would understand you are not power using and step down you CPU and other hardware. All in all, I am very happy with this Laptop. If you learn to deal with laptop limitations and constraints and don't abuse it , then you can have a great mobile experience.

I’ve never had a gaming computer before. I’ve always been “buy a computer that can play games from 5 years ago” guy. With this laptop, I went onto several “will this work” sites, and was shocked! ALL the games, including games that just barely released, were not only playable, but playable at high or ultra settings! Usually, I’d be playing on bare minimum requirements. Games like Doom or GTA would have lower resolution than a PlayStation One game. Now, all games are mine for the playing! So far, I’ve mainly concentrated on two games... Sims 4 and my longtime guilty pleasure, GuildWars 2. Sims moves without choppy frame rates, and looks stunning. Guildwars 2 I’ve played since Beta on an old Windows 8 laptop with integrated graphics, on lowest settings. This laptop played it on ultra. The game looks totally different! Static trees and pixelated grasses have been replaced by wind rustled leaves and gently swaying grasses. I loaded a Doom demo and can’t wait to add that game to my collection! For the first time, I actually signed up for a Steam account! My next purchase will be a 2nd harddrive for the laptop to store games. I never realized modern games were all in the 60 to 90GB size! Besides amazing graphics, this computer is insanely fast. Apps and programs load in seconds, and bootup time is around 8 to 10 seconds. It gets warm but heat is vented towards the back and never feels too hot. My only complaint is the AC plug. It only works in one plug in my house, and I have to jiggle it to charge when I plug it in at work. I’m not sure why it’s so picky. Everything else from the Nintendo Switch, iPhone, iPad, Bluetooth speakers, etc charge with no problem. Small price to pay to play every pc game I can think of!

This is the first dedicated gaming computer I've owned, and it is like a whole new experience! Every single aspect of using it is better than any computer before. The quick and solid response from the keys, the backlit keyboard, the speed with which programs open, the graphics quality, the sleek case, the number of peripheral ports, and on, and on, and on. I am so impressed with it, that I don't even know where to begin. I suppose the keyboard is a good place, since that is the first interaction you have with it. The individual keys have a very low profile, smoothly beveled edges, and a stronger spring than I'm used to encountering on a laptop. This helps avoid accidental keystrokes and provides great positive feedback when a key is pressed. The adjustable backlight is a very soothing blue which allows for gameplay at night without washing out the screen. It is engineered to maximize heat dissipation, as evidenced by how infrequently the fan kicks in, and when the fan does come on, it is exponentially quieter than any laptop fan I've heard before. Graphics and speed are what you'd expect from the components used - crisp and fast - but it is the overall build quality that stays with you once you step away, and demands your attention each time you return. I would grab this computer for any type of use, not just gaming, because it performs like you always hope a computer will, even though most of them don’t.

The folks at Dell have done a great job selecting the components for this gaming laptop while at the same time keeping it affordable. This laptop’s performance really shows thanks to the latest 8th generation Intel i7 processor with 8GB of DDR4 RAM, a 6 GB DDR5 NVIDIA GeForce 1060 graphics card and a M2 SSD with an expandable 2.5” slot for an optional HD/SSD. It does not have a DVD/CD drive however with today’s industry I don’t feel it’s necessary and there’s always an option for an external one if you need it. It handles several active programs with ease and I was able to run current quality games at a high frame rate with virtually no lag and incredible detail. I will definitely be adding another hard drive for game and file storage and possibly upgrading the RAM to 16 or 32 gigs, however I don’t feel it’s necessary or a priority for the casual gamer like myself. Games looked great on the full HD IPS display and having the HDMI port to expand to a better or second monitor is always an option. If you’re not a gamer and are in the market for a decent laptop, this should definitely be taken into consideration; the laptop is lightweight, has a very comfortable keyboard and trackpad and has more options than you’ll ever need. I read some reviews by other owners complaining of the sound of the fan and I didn’t notice it was much louder than any other gaming laptops nor have I experienced any overheating issues. A few things I didn’t care for were the fact that it doesn’t have the sporty look of a gaming laptop, which could also be a good thing depending on your view, and the sharp corners on the front end of the keyboard which can catch you on the wrist. With it’s above average specs, this laptop should hold its ground against the competition and be considered if you’re in the market for a gaming laptop or a laptop that will outperform most others at this price point.

This is a great gaming laptop at a reasonable price point. I’ve used Dell laptops at the office for over 10 years and this is the first “gaming” laptop I’ve had a chance to use. As with all my previous Dell computers, the quality of the system from the build to the components are top-notch. This laptop performs well thanks to the newest 8th generation Intel Core i7 processor with 8GB of DDR4 RAM (6 Cores/12 Threads), a 6 GB DDR5 NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1060 Max-Q graphics card and 256GB SSD with an expansion slot for an additional 2.5” HD/SSD. It was easy to setup and get started. Windows 10 is pre-installed and I had it up and running within minutes. As this is a gaming-only laptop for me, I did not add many of my usual applications to this machine and have focused on using it for playing Fortnite and Overwatch. There have been no lag issues and the HD display really shines through. Keyboard is laid out well and includes a numeric keypad. Instead of the usual red graphics, Dell decided to go with blue backlighting on the keyboard and blue graphics on the lid and fan grills…pretty slick! PROS: - Well built machine from the build to components – Dell does not disappoint - Fast booting with SSD drive - Support most modern games at 1080p and on high settings - Built in speakers sound great – headphone jack included - Fast SSD drive with expansion slot for additional 2.5” drive - Multiple USB 3.0 ports, HDMI port to connect to external displays or TVs - Fans work well to keep machine cool while gaming or general use – not too loud either CONS: - System is a bit on the heavier side - Boxy build, although this seems to be the new normal for gaming laptops - Need to replace both RAM memory sticks if upgrading RAM Overall this is a great gaming laptop at a great price point that will be suitable for all but the most discerning gamers. It’s well built and has all the latest components. This is certainly a laptop that I would recommend to friends and family.