Dell G16 7620 laptop review: Thick build for fast performance

[Redaktion]

Dell's latest midrange gaming laptop isn't afraid to be bigger and heavier than others in order to squeeze more performance from the Intel 12th gen CPU and GeForce RTX 3060 GPU. Nonetheless, core temperatures could still be a little cooler across the board.

https://www.notebookcheck.net/Dell-G16-7620-laptop-review-Thick-build-for-fast-performance.660859.0.html

[PHVM_BR]

Did not activate G mode (fn+F9)? It left behind performance and/or lower temperatures, in addition to higher noise...
Notebookcheck should follow a pattern for the tests. In some reviews certain models use balanced mode and in others they use "turbo" mode.
In my opinion all models should be tested in balanced mode, as they come out of the box, and in maximum performance mode for benchmarks and games and in economy mode for battery tests.

[RobertJasiek]

Availability:

In Germany, the G16 is still unavailable and keyboard layout is unknown. In the USA, it took a long time until some 3070TI model has become available. However, at least thus far, 3070TI can only be combined with the too hot, too expensive, insufficiently cooled 12900H instead of 12700H. 3060 cannot be combined with 32GB but the user can upgrade to 32GB on his own.

Overall product concept:

16:10 display ratio, no PWM, matte IPS, ordinarily sized arrow keys and not exaggerated thinness allowing at least some cooling are, or promise to be, all good and let me consider the product at all.

Keyboard:

Judging from the US keyboard and hoping something similar for a German keyboard, I like the good accessibility of the keys (unlike Lenovo Legion's shape edges around keys), dust protection, pleasant key shape, ordinarily sized and very well accessible arrow keys, dedicated Home / End keys and large left Shift key. I do not need the media keys; instead dedicated Page Up / Page Down keys would have been better and Home / End could have been ordinarily sized. At least, dedicated Home / End instead of dedicated Page Up / Page Down is better than vice versa according to frequency of my use. In summary, the keyboard is acceptable but could have been better. Num block keys in ordinary size would have required a significantly larger chassis, which I would prefer; however, given the current chassis, omitting the num block is reasonable to allow for the mostly reasonable keyboard layout. Marked WASD keys are for 3D gamers - not for me; at least the marking is decent so that it can be tolerated. All in all, the keyboard layout is a compomise between gaming, media and creativity and as such as good as possible for the chassis dimensions.

Display:

Not bright enough for pleasant outdoor use in indirect sunlight but considering the low battery life under load outdoor use without power cable is unrealistic anyway. The other key display parameters are reasonable: matte, no PWM and reasonable response times.

Speed:

The 100.6 ns RAM latency is improper. The CPU is fast enough and the SSD 4K times are good. The GPU speed is good enough for what it is - a 3060. I would prefer a 3070TI though.

Maintenance:

I cannot see or clearly identify screws that would enable fan maintenance. Either it is impossible or it is not obvious which they are.

TDP and Noise:

The CPU is 12700H with 87W PL1 and 124W PL2, the GPU is 3060 speficied with up to 130W. The resulting noise is 45.7 dB or 48.3 dB for Witcher 3 and apparently similar for stress test on Balanced or Performance modes. While not too bad compared to many other "gaming" notebooks, this is too loud for me. I want at most 43 dB or better less at least in Balanced mode under maximum load. An important cause must be the Intel CPU with its too high TDPs. Instead or alternatively, the G16 ought to use an AMD CPU, such as 6800U (8 cores!), with at most 45W. A larger and somewhat thicker chassis would enable better cooling. The notebook is too much of a compromise. Dell missed a chance to make this a "silent" notebook under maximum load.

@PHVM_BR:

NBC should test noise and GPU speed under every relevant fan mode!

[NikoB]

Well, Dell finally ruined the G series - a defective keyboard without a numpad (which used to be lousy in terms of tactile response compared to competitors), an increased noise level in office mode and surfing, which is very bad (the weight is significantly reduced compared to the G5 5587) . There is plenty of room in the back, but no 2 additional USB-A Gen2 ports and a second usb-c with TB4.0, why? They could also bring miniDP directly to the rear, from a discrete card. Even autonomy has plummeted.

RIP G series as a versatile laptop for work and play.

However, their G series has already ceased to be in demand in my country for 3 years already due to the wrong pricing policy. Before that, it was very popular, especially in 2018.

[LL]

Solid performer but looses since it do not bring any advantage and brings some inconvenience over the well established  solid performer Lenovo Legion series.

[NikoB]

I want at most 43 dB or better less at least in Balanced mode under maximum load.

The G5 5587 from 2018 actually have noise no more than 40dB with the i7+1060 (see NB review). That is why I am writing that the entire IT industry is rapidly degrading in terms of consumption and noise. Which simply leads to the complete destruction of the ergonomics of both the working and playing places.

Therefore, the "gaming" series will make me laugh, except for using them as office/working machines.

Who wants to play really in silence - assembles a system unit with water cooling of the video card and processor.

Therefore, the "gaming" series will make me laugh, except for using them as office-working machines.

Who wants to play really in silence - assembles a system unit with water cooling of the video card and processor. Or as an option - moving the system unit to the back room of the house, and this just requires long optical cables, which is why the transition to optical cables for eGPU cards or system unit and usb has long been extremely necessary, but the industry ignores all this ...

[RobertJasiek]

Watercooling with radiators on the PC results in about 39dB, aircooling with CPU 65W and GPU 320W results in 37dB. To become really silent except for coil whining, use custom built passive cooling but this is hard. External radiators are a hard compromise. Maybe one should build a server, put it in the basement and use a silent terminal.

The Dell G5 15 5587 had a reasonable cooling but a 4 core CPU (its TDP 45W is ok) and 1060 GPU (TDP up to 70W is good for relative silence) are too slow for me, the display is dark and the arrow keys tiny.

[NikoB]

Watercooling with radiators on the PC results in about 39dB, aircooling with CPU 65W and GPU 320W results in 37dB. To become really silent except for coil whining, use custom built passive cooling but this is hard.

I have an overclocked processor with a consumption in the region of 130-135W and silent at 100% load, in fact, air-cooled. Heavy heatsink+big cooler at low revs. The temperature does not exceed 75C.

130-150W per processor is more than enough today, except for i9 maniacs. Those. making a silent processor is NOT a problem today. The problem is in the video card - and here everything depends on the quality of the water pump. It's just a certain amount of money. But this is solvable. In any case, "gaming" laptops cause me only Homeric laughter.

And that is why I will write 100500 times - there is no progress on the planet, but regression in IT, because hardware consumption is only growing, but should fall or, in the worst case, be the same as before.

The second thing that can cheaply solve the problem of noise from the system unit with cheap, but sufficient cooling in terms of temperature is the removal of the system unit to the utility room. And all the peripherals on your desktop communicate with it via optical links. And this already depends on the industry, which, for some reason, deliberately delays their introduction.

[NikoB]

The Dell G5 15 5587 had a reasonable cooling but a 4 core CPU (its TDP 45W is ok) and 1060

No. It has i7 with 6 cores.

[RobertJasiek]

I have an overclocked processor with a consumption in the region of 130-135W and silent at 100% load, in fact, air-cooled. Heavy heatsink+big cooler at low revs.

Desktop? What GPU at what TDP? What are your case fans, at which RPMs and how is their noise? It is the case fans / radiators that are the loudest if the other components are chosen well.

[VEGGIM]

Incorrect, thats the 5590. and that even gets near to 50db.

[NikoB]

Desktop? What GPU at what TDP? What are your case fans, at which RPMs and how is their noise? It is the case fans / radiators that are the loudest if the other components are chosen well.

It was only about the processor. I prove with my own experience that a processor with a TDP of 130-150W can be made almost silent even under constant full load, even with air cooling, with a very massive heatsink and a large low-speed cooler.

With a video card, such a number will no longer work, especially with a modern one with a consumption above 200W. Here you need water cooling, very high quality in terms of efficiency and noise.

Therefore, many would be saved if the industry long ago introduced optical cables for eGPUs. There is no problem to pass even a stream for pci-e 5.0 x16 over an optical cable at a distance of 50-100m from the workplace. Well, or the entire system unit in the utility room, away from the living room, again with an optical hub for the entire periphery at the work / gaming place. But alas, while it is almost unrealistic in practice. In principle, there are usb expanders, but all this is still at the "get it and do it yourself" level, and not industrial mass solutions. Yes, and many simply do not have the opportunity to take out a noisy PC in the back room away - it simply does not exist. Therefore, I emphasize - the vile trend of deprogress in hardware consumption, its growth, should eventually be stopped, like bans and restrictions for damn miners in EU/China. Moreover, "green tasks" directly contradict this trend.

[RobertJasiek]

With a video card, such a number will no longer work, especially with a modern one with a consumption above 200W. Here you need water cooling, very high quality in terms of efficiency and noise.

I do not think so. Up to 320W for the right GPU models, air cooling at 37dB is possible, e.g. with P14 case fans. What radiators for water cooling reach lower noise?

Therefore, many would be saved if the industry long ago introduced optical cables

Ok.

[NikoB]

air cooling at 37dB is possible

37 is too loud for me. Not higher than 32 in the game.

[RobertJasiek]

37 is too loud for me. Not higher than 32 in the game.

But how?