Inside Dell XPS 17 9710 – disassembly and upgrade options

It’s remarkable how Dell managed to put any upgrade options on a device this thin.

Check out all Dell XPS 17 9710 prices and configurations in our Specs System or read more in our In-Depth review.


1. Remove the bottom plate

To get inside of this device, you need to undo all 8 Torx-head screws. After that, pry the bottom panel, and be careful with the sharp aluminum edges.


2. Battery

The first thing we see inside is the 97Wh battery pack.


3. Мemory and storage

Thankfully, there are two RAM SODIMM slots, which support up to 64GB of DDR4 memory in total. In addition to that, there are two M.2 PCIe x4 slots, one of which can fit Gen 4 SSDs.


4. Cooling system

And perhaps the pinnacle of this device’s internals is the cooling solution. Dell utilizes a rather big vapor chamber to drive the heat away from the CPU, GPU, VRMs, and graphics memory.

Check out all Dell XPS 17 9710 prices and configurations in our Specs System or read more in our In-Depth review.

Dell XPS 17 9710 in-depth review

You know, if you are into premium notebooks, one that can do the job every day of the week, and look at a level, no one would expect them to be that powerful, you must have heard of the XPS brand. In fact, its name is synonymous with premium Windows devices. Unfortunately, last year we weren't able to properly put the 17-inch model through its paces. Now, however, we have one of the top-specs options.Speaking of specs, you can rely on a Tiger Lake CPU, starting from the Core i5-11400H, and going all the way up to the Core i9-11980HK. As for the graphics, the options are more limited with [...]

Pros

  • Strong body build of carbon fiber and aluminum
  • Virtually bezel-less screen
  • 467 nits maximum brightness, 100% sRGB coverage (100% Adobe RGB) (Sharp 5KKRM-LQ170R1 (SHP1517))
  • Thin and light
  • Boasts up to Core i9-11980HK processor
  • Easy upgrade and maintenance
  • Great keyboard, touchpad, and speakers
  • Fingerprint reader embedded in the power button and optional IR face recognition system
  • Four Thunderbolt 4 connectors, USB Type-C charging, and an SD card reader (+ tiny dongle inside the box)
  • Doesn't use PWM to adjust its brightness (Sharp 5KKRM-LQ170R1 (SHP1517))

Cons

  • Can't handle top trim CPUs
  • Pricey
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John C Swaringen
2 years ago

Just to let everybody know. The torque wrench on the outside cover is T-5.