Dell XPS 13 9380 – Part 3 – Performance

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Some early benchmarks done using the XPS 13 9380 using CrystalDiskMark, Cinebench 15, and PCMark 8. Generally, the results at least about expected one would expect from a laptop using a i7-8565U processor, and at times, the 9380 also well exceeded benchmarked averages too.

Firstly, the unit came with Hynix 256GB PC401 NVMe SSD, so a quick test using CrystalDiskMark to see storage performance levels. Pretty OK sequential reads but goodness me slow write speeds.

Hynix 256GB PC401 NVMe SSD that Dell XPS 13 9380 came with.

It took just a couple of days for the Samsung Evo 970 1TB NVMe SSD to arrive from Amazon, courtesy of expedited delivery. A quick OS migration followed next using EaseUS Partition Master, and when done, I removed the Hynix SSD from the 9380. The Samsung Evo 970 fitted into the 9380’s NVMe slot nicely and I was also able to mount the 9380’s heat dissipation gel plate back onto the Samsung. Fingers crossed during the first boot-up with the new SSD, and it worked perfectly.

A second benchmark using CrystalDiskMark and this time, for the Samsung Evo 970 1TB NVMe:

The Samsung Evo 970 1TB Nvme SSD I replaced the Hynix with. No contest really: screaming fast.
The Samsung Evo 970 1TB NVMe fitted into the XPS. Looks like a recently manufactured unit, with a month stamp of Dec 2019.

The Cinebench R15 results of the 9380 are pretty good too. Using the typical scores for a similar processor that’s posted below here, the 9380 scored roughly the same for the single core test, and significantly better in the multicore tests. The 9380 in this Dell XPS 13 has a faster clock speed of 2Ghz than the 1.8Ghz in the comparison, so that’s probably why.

Indicative scores for Single and Multi-Core tests, and from https://www.cgdirector.com/cinebench-scores-updated/
How this 9380 did.

Two benchmarks using PCMark 8 that simulate the kind of use I’m putting this 9380 through. Notebookcheck reports category averages of similar laptops using the i7-8565U/Intel UHD Graphics 620 of 3528 for Home Score Accelerated 3528 and 4733 for Work Score Accelerated. The 9380 surpassed averages significantly in both benchmarks with scores of 3988 and 5171 respectively:

And finally, a quick copying of a 11GB file using a UGreen NVME SSD enclosure with a 1TB Intel 660SSD connected to the 9380 using a Red Monster USB-C 3.1 Gen 2 cable. Transfer speeds are between 550 to 620 MB/s:

So in all, going with early impressions, the 9380 seems to be a real all-rounder: brisk performance, lovely and well-designed build, and good battery life – all at a good bargain considering the price I paid for it. I might do a follow-up post a few more months down to road to report how the notebook fares after more extensive daily use.