This could just be luck of the draw with my model, software/drivers, or the ambient temperatures here in Thailand.

Undervolting with Throttlestop (-80 core/cache, -70 GPU) yielded a slightly improved score of 1049, which was still not the performance I expected.

My model is the Core i7-6560U/8GB RAM/256GB SSD edition.

My first impression of the new XPS 13 while I was setting it up and copying my files was how hot it ran.

The question we are trying to answer today is whether or not these specifications translate into real-world performance, making the XPS 13 Core i7-6560U configuration worth its premium over the Core i7-6500U, or even the Core i5-6200U.

As I don’t have access to another XPS 13, this article will compare my benchmarks with reference ones from notebookcheck.

This is better—a 39% improvement compared to the XPS 13 i7-6500U’s score, and better than the score out of the box.

As a result, the CPU will run at about 1.5GHz while the GPU goes for 600-750MHz during typical gaming loads. The bars in the GT: Package-level PL2/3 graph show the time period where the chip is operating at its temporarily higher TDP of 20W.

Update: For a more detailed review of the Dell XPS 13 9350 check out this post, and Andrei’s opinion on the series is available over here.

As you can see, on paper the Iris 540 has a healthy advantage over the HD 520.

The rest of the time, as demonstrated in the GT: Package-level PL1 graph of the standard 15W TDP the XPS 13 operates under, the CPU and GPU will only run at about half their maximum speeds.

Next I decided to see if I could decrease the temperatures even more using thermal pads.