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Just before the release of Intel's Core 2 Duo processors for mobile PCs, we received a Dell Precision Mobile Workstation M65 with one of the new dual-core processors inside (price as tested, $3288). The notebook, aimed at professionals who need desktop workstation-class performance in a mobile form factor, is used by engineers, architects, video editors and those who want to do compositing using Adobe After Effects. Keeping that in mind, we ran our suite of Adobe After Effects benchmarks on the test unit, comparing it to a Dell laptop with Intel's older mobile processor, the Intel Core Duo.
When we took this Dell Precision Mobile Workstation M65 out of the box, it was immediately apparent that we were holding a quality piece of equipment in our hands. Yes, "precision mobile workstation" is an appropriate name for this 6.2-pound laptop, whose two-tone black appearance with steely gray trim feels substantial, yet light. The $3288 machine came to us fully-equipped, with 2 GB of DDR2-667MHz RAM (it's capable of holding 4GB of RAM), a 100GB 7200 RPM SATA hard disk, the potent NVIDIA Quadro FX350M graphics card with 512MB of memory, a Dell Wireless 5700 CDMA EV-DO MiniCard, and the star of the show, the 2.33GHz Intel Core2 Duo T7600, intel's fastest mobile Core 2 Duo processor affectionately codenamed Merom.
This notebook is identical to its Intel Core Duo-toting predecessor, and all Dell had to do was drop in the new dual-core Merom chip, which is pin-compatible with the previous generation of Intel's mobile processors. They're the first 64-bit chips designed specifically for mobile platforms, and are quite similar the other Core 2 Duo processors Intel shipped last month, otherwise known as Conroe. Both are based on Intel's Core 2 architecture, but the Merom chips depart slightly from the Conroes because they emphasize low power consumption, enabling laptop batteries to last longer. Intel claims these processors have 20% faster performance with the same battery life as the same machine running a Core Duo processor. Widely reported MobileMark benchmarks have shown similar but not the same battery life, with a Core Duo 2.16 processor holding out for 115 minutes while this Core 2 Duo 2.33GHz processor fizzled out sooner, at just under 100 minutes.
Taking a closer look at the notebook itself, its wide screen is certainly its finest point. The 15.2-inch 1920x1200 display looked the same as other same-size displays we've tested from Dell. And like the others, it's simply the sharpest notebook screen we've seen. Putting it through our battery of DisplayMate multimedia obstacle course tests, the screen was perfectly free of distortion, had no stuck pixels, and didn't suffer any of the light leakage problems we noticed on a 17-inch panel on a preproduction model of Dell's Mobile Precision Workstation M90. Overall, this LCD was simply exquisite. After working closely with it for a few days, the only problem we could see was a slight dimness on its left and right edges, but this was so subtle that the only time it was even noticeable was when we had a 100% white test graphic displayed. Nevertheless, the screen gets a near-perfect 9.99 out of 10 stars.
Although some users are loathe to type on a notebook's keyboard or trackpad, we found the M65's keyboard to be quite pleasant to use. It had just the right amount of key travel, and felt more substantial than other Dell Precision Mobile notebooks we've tested. Plus, the trackpad had just the right amount of sensitivity, and even includes a fingerprint reader for those concerned with security. On either side of the keyboard are improved speakers, and despite their tiny size sound remarkably good. They're also in a better position than earlier Precision Mobile Workstation speakers, which were on either side of the laptop's front edge.
An unusual component that we haven't tested before was the Dell Wireless 5700 CDMA EV-DO MiniCard, which amounts to a cellphone modem mounted inside the chassis. Dell graciously had the service set up and ready to go when we received it here at the Midwest Test Facility, and a quick click on the included software controller connected us immediately with the Verizon Wireless EV-DO service. We were surprised to see how well it worked, and its performance, although slightly slower than our 802.11g WiFi network here, was still quite usable. Even though unlimited EV-DO service is not cheap (around $45/month), we think it's a great idea to include it in any mobile platform.
Next it was time to run our Adobe After Effects benchmarks. The suite of comps use a variety of techniques that really give the processor a workout. After Effects is tuned for dual processors, so Merom's dual cores are really put to the test. These speed tests also show how well this notebook will work for video editing, a task that's increasingly being done on laptops, especially since they can now so easily handle nonlinear editing applications such as Adobe Premiere Pro.
| Results in minutes: seconds Boldface indicates winner. After Effects Version used: 7.0 | Dell Precision Mobile Workstation M70 Intel Pentium M 2.13GHz 2GB RAM | Apple MacBook Pro 2.16GHz Core Duo T2600 running Windows XP, 2GB RAM | Apple MacBook Pro 2.16GHz Core Duo T2600 running Mac OS X, 2GB RAM | Dell Precision Mobile Workstation M90 Intel Core Duo T2600 2.16GHz, 2GB RAM | Dell Precision Mobile Workstation M65 Intel Core 2 Duo T7600 2.33GHz, 2GB RAM |
| 1. After Effects: Animation | :08 | :03 | :11 | :02 | :02 |
| 2. After Effects : Video Composite (After Effects 6.5) | 1:07 | -- | -- | :26 | :27 |
| 3. After Effects : Data Project | 2:43 | 1:07 | 3:53 | 1:08 | :53 |
| 4. After Effects : Gambler | :31 | :25 | :54 | :16 | :16 |
| 5. After Effects : Source Shapes | 5:33 | 2:14 | 7:29 | 2:21 | 1:46 |
| 6. After Effects : Virtual Set | 5:54 | 1:58 | 8:01 | 1:59 | 1:35 |
| Maxon CineBench 2003 Rendering (CB-CPU score -- higher is better) | 227 | -- | 611 | 591 | 694 |
| TotalBenchmark comp 1 | 152 sec. | -- | -- | 69 sec. | 63 sec. |
| TotalBenchmark comp 2 | 1956 sec. | -- | -- | 1081 sec. | 1050 sec. |
| Night Flight | -- | 1:07:00 | 53:03 | -- | 1:04:02 |
| Hard Disk Speed | Read: 130MB/sec. Write: 133MB/sec. | -- | -- | Read: 52MB/sec. Write: 66MB/sec. | Read: 34MB/sec. Write: 34MB/sec. |
(Some of these results are missing because the benchmarks were not available to reviewers at the time of testing.)
Taking a look at the benchmark table above, we compare the performance of the Dell Precision Mobile Workstation M65 with some of its brandmates, along with the Apple MacBook Pro running both Mac OS X and Windows. Included in the table of benchmark results is a similar Dell laptop from a year ago, a Dell Precision Mobile Workstation M70 which was running an Intel Pentium M processor at 2.13GHz. The speed differences between the Core 2 Duo processors and the Pentium M were significant, but we were slightly disappointed that these Merom chips weren't much faster than their Core Duo predecessors. In some of our After Effects benchmarks, such as tests 2 and 4, it was a dead heat between the two, where both processors finished rendering the composite in exactly the same time. However, on most of the other benchmarks, the Core 2 Duo won handily. In fact, this Core 2 Duo laptop is the fastest we've ever tested here, although we wouldn't go so far as to call it 20% faster than its Core Duo-packing predecessor.
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