Dell G3 15 3579 review – great performance at a reasonable price

Dell’s new G series is aimed at gamers and the G3 15 3579 is actually the company’s most affordable gaming solution. With a variety of available configurations, you can customize yours to be a truly affordable entry to the gaming world or a solid mid-range gaming notebook.

With the G3 15 3579, you will get to choose between the latest eight generation Intel CPUs including the six-core Core i7-8750H and a range of NVIDIA’s 10 series GPUs. However, there are some compromises made to keep the price low. You shouldn’t expect ASUS ROG or Alienware build quality and design from a notebook that barely crosses the $1000 mark when offered with its top specs.

You may want to take a look into our detailed review of its bigger brother – the Dell G5 15 5587.

You can check the prices and configurations in our Specs System: http://laptopmedia.com/series/dell-g3-15-3579-g3579/

Contents


Specs Sheet

Dell G3 15 3579 technical specifications table

Acer
Not available
Display
15.6”, Full HD (1920 x 1080), IPS
HDD/SSD
256GB SSD + 1TB HDD, 5400 rpm
RAM
16GB DDR4, 2666 MHz
Dimensions
380 x 258 x 22.7 mm (14.96" x 10.16" x 0.89")
Weight
2.53 kg (5.6 lbs)
Ports and connectivity
  • 1x USB Type-A 3.2 Gen 1 (5 Gbps)
  • 1x USB Type-A 3.2 Gen 1 (5 Gbps)
  • 1x USB Type-A 2.0
  • HDMI 2.0
  • Card reader SD, SDHC, SDXC
  • Ethernet lan Gigabit Ethernet
  • Wi-Fi 802.11ac
  • Bluetooth 5.0
  • Audio jack combo audio / microphone jack
Features
  • Web camera HD 720p
  • Backlit keyboard
  • Microphone Dual-Array Microphone
  • Speakers Waves MaxxAudio Pro stereo speakers
  • Optical drive
  • Security Lock slotNoble lock
  • Spill-resistant keyboard
  • 2x RAM slots

What’s in the box?

The unboxing experience of the G3 15 3579 is pretty straightforward. There are no fancy drawer-like compartments or anything special. Once you cut the seal, you will see the device nested in some cardboard cutouts for protection. Inside the box, you will also find the 130W power adapter and a few boring brochures.


Design and construction

As we mentioned earlier, there are some sacrifices made to keep the laptop’s cost low. This is mainly accomplished by choosing plastic for the entire build. All around, including the interior, of the G3 15 3579 is made of polycarbonate. However, it seems to be well built and feels rather sturdy.

The back cover does experience some flex when a certain amount of pressure is applied but it is not that noticeable. Dell’s has chosen a glossy finish for G3’s cover which does not catch too many fingerprints and smudges. There is also a glass-like (plastic) engraved logo.

The dimensions of the G3 15 3579 are just about average. Its 0.89″ (22.7mm) profile is neither thin nor thick. With a weight of around 5.57lbs (2.53kg) (depending on the configuration), the G3 is a little bit on the heavy side. Here is a quick comparison to a similar competitor:

WidthLengthHeightWeight
Dell G3 15 357914.96″ (380 mm)10.16″ (258 mm)0.89″ (22.7 mm)5.57 lbs (2.53 kg)
Lenovo Legion Y53014.17″ (360 mm)10.51″ (267 mm)0.94-0.98″ (23.9-24.9 mm) (+8%)5.1 lbs (2.30 kg) (-9%)

The big hinge that goes from nearly one end to the other of the screen feels sturdy. Opening the lid with one hand is almost possible – the bottom part of the laptop rises just before you have fully opened it. Once you have done that, you can see the 15.6-inch screen and its rather large bezels. The checkerboard-like pattern around the keyboard and touchpad add a nice touch to the looks of the device.

The chiclet keyboard is well spaced and easy to use, however, the arrow keys are small and the up and down arrows don’t have any space between them which could be uncomfortable for gaming. A two-level white backlight is present. There is a fingerprint scanner in the top right corner. The touchpad is fine and supports all the usual gestures although it is not the most precise one.

Ports

The G3 is equipped with all the basic ports. They are unevenly spaced between the two sides with a majority of them being on the left-hand side which is welcoming for right-handed users.

The left side makes home to two USB 3.1 ports, an HDMI 2.0 port, a headphone+mic combo jack, and a Gigabit Ethernet port. A USB Type-C (Thunderbolt 3) port is optional but our configuration doesn’t have it.

The right-hand side is populated by only a single USB 2.0 port, a 2-in-1 SD / MicroMedia card slot, and a Noble lock slot.


Disassembly, upgrade options and maintenance

Opening the Dell G3 15 3579 shouldn’t be a hassle for anyone. You just need to unscrew 10 Philips screws. Note that two of them – those placed under the hinge – should only be unscrewed, do not remove them.

Once the cover is removed, you become witness to a big 56 Wh battery unit, a duo of cooling fans and exhaust pipes, a 2.5-inch slot for an HDD/SSD, 2280 M.2 slot for PCIe 3.0 x4 NVMe SSD with a dedicated heat sink, and an M.2 Bluetooth / Wi-Fi module. You also get two SODIMM RAM slots that support DDR4 sticks up to 2666 MHz.


Display quality

Dell G3 15 3579’s screen has a 15.6-inch IPS panel with Full HD (1920 x 1080p) resolution manufactured by LG with a model number LGD053F (156WF6-4XK13). The pixel density is 142 ppi which become Retina when viewed from a distance greater than 60 cm (23.6”) (from this distance one’s eye stops differentiating the separate pixels, and it is normal for looking at a laptop). The screen ratio is 16:9 and the pixel pitch is 0.18 х 0.18 mm.

The viewing angles are comfortable. We offer images at 45° to evaluate image quality.

The maximum brightness we measured is 217 nits (cd/m2) in the center of the screen and 203 nits (cd/m2) average across the surface with a maximum deviation of 10%. The Correlated Color Temperature on a white screen and at maximum brightness is 7790K (average) – colder than the optimal 6504K temperature for the sRGB standard. The average color temperature through the grey scale before profiling is 7680K. In the illustration below you can see how the display performs from uniformity perspective. In other words the leakage of light from the light source.

The illustration below shows how matters are for operational brightness levels (approximately 140 nits) – in this particular case at 65% Brightness (White level = 143 cd/m2, Black level = 0.17 cd/m2).

Values of dE2000 over 4.0 should not occur, and this parameter is one of the first you should check if you intend to use the laptop for color sensitive work (a maximum tolerance of 2.0 ). The contrast ratio is okay – 840:1.

Color reproduction

To make sure we are on the same page, we would like to give you a little introduction of the sRGB color gamut and the Adobe RGB. To start, there’s the CIE 1976 Uniform Chromaticity Diagram that represents the visible specter of colors by the human eye, giving you a better perception of the color gamut coverage and the color accuracy.

Inside the black triangle, you will see the standard color gamut (sRGB) that is being used by millions of people in HDTV and on the web. As for the Adobe RGB, this is used in professional cameras, monitors etc for printing. Basically, colors inside the black triangle are used by everyone and this is the essential part of the color quality and color accuracy of a mainstream notebook.

Still, we’ve included other color spaces like the famous DCI-P3 standard used by movie studios, as well as the digital UHD Rec.2020 standard. Rec.2020, however, is still a thing of the future and it’s difficult for today’s displays to cover that well. We’ve also included the so-called Michael Pointer gamut, or Pointer’s gamut, which represents the colors that naturally occur around us every day.

The yellow dotted line shows Dell G3 15 3579’s color gamut coverage.

Its display covers 53% of the sRGB/ITU-R BT.709 (web/HDTV standard) in CIE1976.

Our “Design and Gaming” profile delivers optimal color temperature (6500K) at 140 cd/m2 luminance and sRGB gamma mode.

We tested the accuracy of the display with 24 commonly used colors like light and dark human skin, blue sky, green grass, orange etc. You can check out the results at factory condition and also, with the “Design and Gaming” profile.

Below you can compare the scores of Dell G3 15 3579 with the default settings (left), and with the “Gaming and Web design” profile (right).

The next figure shows how well the display is able to reproduce really dark parts of an image, which is essential when watching movies or playing games in low ambient light.

The left side of the image represents the display with stock settings, while the right one is with the “Gaming and Web Design” profile activated. On the horizontal axis, you will find the grayscale and on the vertical axis – the luminance of the display. On the two graphs below you can easily check for yourself how your display handles the darkest nuances but keep in mind that this also depends on the settings of your current display, the calibration, the viewing angle and the surrounding light conditions.

Response time (Gaming capabilities)

We test the reaction time of the pixels with the usual “black-to-white” and “white-to-black” method from 10% to 90% and vice versa.

We recorded Fall Time + Rise Time =  22 ms.


PWM (Screen flickering)

Pulse-width modulation (PWM) is an easy way to control monitor brightness. When you lower the brightness, the light intensity of the backlight is not lowered, but instead turned off and on by the electronics with a frequency indistinguishable to the human eye. In these light impulses, the light/no-light time ratio varies, while brightness remains unchanged, which is harmful to your eyes. You can read more about that in our dedicated article on PWM.

Dell G3 15 3579 does not use PWM to control the brightness of the screen across all brightness levels which makes the laptop suitable for long-duration use.

Blue light emissions

Installing of our Health-Guard profile not only eliminates PWM but also reduces the harmful Blue Light emissions while keeping the colors of the screen perceptually accurate. If you’re not familiar with the Blue light, the TL;DR version is – emissions that negatively affect your eyes, skin and your whole body. You can find more information about that in our dedicated article on Blue Light.

You can see the levels of emitted blue light on the spectral power distribution (SPD) graph.

Conclusion

Dell G3 15 3579’s screen has a decent contrast, Full HD resolution, and comfortable viewing angles. An advantage is that the screen does not use PWM to control the brightness. Its main disadvantage is its poor color reproduction.

Buy our profiles

Since our profiles are tailored for each individual display model, this article and its respective profile package are meant for Dell G3 15 3579 configurations with 15.6″ LG LGD053F (156WF6-4XK13) (FHD, 1920 × 1080) IPS.

*Should you have problems with downloading the purchased file, try using a different browser to open the link you’ll receive via e-mail. If the download target is a .php file instead of an archive, change the file extension to .zip or contact us at [email protected].

Read more about the profiles HERE.

In addition to receiving efficient and health-friendly profiles, by buying LaptopMedia's products you also support the development of our labs, where we test devices in order to produce the most objective reviews possible.

Office Work

Office Work should be used mostly by users who spend most of the time looking at pieces of text, tables or just surfing. This profile aims to deliver better distinctness and clarity by keeping a flat gamma curve (2.20), native color temperature and perceptually accurate colors.

Design and Gaming

This profile is aimed at designers who work with colors professionally, and for games and movies as well. Design and Gaming takes display panels to their limits, making them as accurate as possible in the sRGB IEC61966-2-1 standard for Web and HDTV, at white point D65.

Health-Guard

Health-Guard eliminates the harmful Pulse-Width Modulation (PWM) and reduces the negative Blue Light which affects our eyes and body. Since it’s custom tailored for every panel, it manages to keep the colors perceptually accurate. Health-Guard simulates paper so the pressure on the eyes is greatly reduced.

Get all 3 profiles with 33% discount


Sound

Dell G3 15 3579 has very crisp and clear sound that goes loud without distortions in the low, mid, and high tones.


Drivers

In some countries, the Dell G3 15 3579 may come with Windows pre-installed but in others, it could be sold without an operating system or with a free one to reduce costs. You can get all the necessary drivers from Dell’s support page: https://www.dell.com/support/home/us/en/19/product-support/product/g-series-15-3579-laptop/drivers

Battery

The Dell G3 15 3579 is equipped with a 4-cell non-removable 56 Wh battery. It scores about average for its hardware. Video playback time is excellent.

As always, the battery tests were run with Windows power saving setting turned and Wi-Fi turned on, and the screen brightness adjusted to 120 nits.

In order to simulate real-life conditions, we used our own script for automatic web browsing through over 70 websites.

For every test like this, we use the same video in HD.

We use F1 2017’s built-in benchmark on loop in order to simulate real-life gaming.


Storage performance

Our configuration of the Dell G3 15 3579 comes with the top-end storage option – a 512GB M.2 PCIe NVMe 3.0 x4 SSD manufactured by LITE-ON. The exact model number is CA3-8D512-Q11.

Both read and write speeds outperform many competitors but it seems to have a rather high latency when reading.

SSD model (480-512GB variants)Max.Seq.Read (GB/s)Max.Seq.Write (GB/s)IOPS 4K ReadIOPS 4K WriteLatency Read (ms)Latency Write (ms)
LITE-ON CA3-8D512-Q113.181.669864251360.1710.041
Intel 600p Series (512GB, PCIe NVMe 3.0 x4)1.630.558480349600.0500.027
SK Hynix SC308 (512GB, SATA)0.500.455468188520.0530.199
Toshiba XG5 KXG50ZNV512G (512GB, PCIe 3.1 x4 NVMe)3.130.468452296610.0550.046

CrystalDiskMark – Max.Seq.Read/Write; AS SSD – IOPS 4K Read/Write, Latency Read/Write

CPU options

The CPU options for the G3 15 3579 are the quad-core Core i5-8300H and six-core Core i7-8750H. The configuration that we are reviewing is equipped with the latter. We can say that the performance is more than satisfying. Below you can see how it stacks against other notebooks.

You can get more information about the Core i7-8750H and other processors from our Top Laptop CPU Ranking.


GPU options

Dell G3 15 3579 can be configured with one of the following GPUs: NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1050 (4GB GDDR5), 1050 Ti (4GB GDDR5), or 1060 Max-Q (6GB GDDR5).

Our configuration is equipped with the GTX 1050 Ti. Below you can see its performance in various benchmarks and a comparison to other notebook running the same GPU.

You can get more information about the GTX 1050 Ti and other GPUs from our Top Laptop Graphics Ranking.


Gaming tests

Our configuration of the Dell G3 15 3579 is equipped with an NVIDIA GTX 1050 Ti (4GB GDRR5). It scores just about average compared to other notebooks carrying the same GPU.

GTA-V-benchmarks

Grand Theft Auto V (GTA 5)Full HD, Normal (Check settings)Full HD, High (Check settings)Full HD, Very High (Check settings)
Average FPS164 fps78 fps41 fps

Far Cry PrimalFull HD, Normal (Check settings)Full HD, High (Check settings)Full HD, Very High (Check settings)
Average FPS58 fps52 fps43 fps

Far Cry 5Full HD, Normal (Check settings)Full HD, High (Check settings)Full HD, Ultra (Check settings)
Average FPS48 fps44 fps41 fps

rise-of-the-tomb-raider

Rise of the Tomb Raider (2016)Full HD, Lowest (Check settings)Full HD, Medium (Check settings)Full HD, Very High (Check settings)
Average FPS95 fps61 fps28 fps

Tom Clancy’s Ghost Recon WildlandsFull HD, Medium (Check settings)Full HD, High (Check settings)Full HD, Very High (Check settings)
Average FPS44 fps41 fps36 fps

Temperatures and comfort

We have a new way of torturing laptops, and for gaming machines, it comprises of 100% CPU load plus real gameplay test (Rise of the Tomb Raider).

Max CPU load

In this test we use 100% on the CPU cores, monitoring their frequencies and chip temperature. The first column shows a computer’s reaction to a short load (2-10 seconds), the second column simulates a serious task (between 15 and 30 seconds), and the third column is a good indicator of how good the laptop is for long loads such as video rendering.

Average core temperature (base frequency + X); CPU temp.

Core i7-8750H (45W TDP)0:02 – 0:10 sec0:15 – 0:30 sec10:00 – 15:00 min
Dell G3 15 35792.88 GHz (B+31%)@ 86°C2.81 GHz (B+28%)@ 87°C2.53 GHz (B+15%)@ 76°C
Lenovo Legion Y530 [Sample]3.24 GHz (B+47%) @ 94°C3.20 GHz (B+45%)@ 94°C2.97 GHz (B+35%)@ 94°C
ASUS ROG GL5043.29 GHz (B+50%) @ 95°C3.12 GHz (B+42%) @ 95°C2.56 GHz (B+16%) @ 80°C

It seems that the Dell G3 15 3579 can’t keep a high clock but it runs at fairly low temperatures during the whole test. The Lenovo Y530 can boast almost 3.00 GHz even after 15 minutes of torturing but at temperatures near the critical 100 degrees mark (note it is a sample unit).

Fan noise is rather high when the laptop is loaded.

Real gameplay

The test here is longer. The GPU is engaged at its max performance, trying to process as many frames per second as possible.

GPU frequency/ Core temp (after 2 min)GPU frequency/ Core temp (after 30 min)
Dell G3 15 35791696 MHz @ 75°C 1670 MHz @ 83°C

The cooling system is good as it manages to keep a frequency close to the maximum 1708 MHz at fairly low temperatures. It would be better if it didn’t exceed 80°C but that is nitpicking.

Gaming comfort

The hottest part after more than half an hour of gaming is around the O, L, and P keys. In this area, the temperatures reach around 60°C which is a bit beyond the comfort level but the WASD keys and palm rest areas are considerably cooler so it should not be a problem.


Verdict

Overall, there isn’t much to be said about the Dell G3 15 3579. It didn’t surprise us with anything special, however, it also didn’t let us down on any occasion. It has a decent cooling system thus good performance. Battery life is excellent providing 5-6 hours of browsing and watching videos and almost two hours of gaming, although we would recommend carrying the charger when gaming.

The display isn’t suitable for color-accurate work as it has a poor sRGB coverage but it doesn’t use PWM to control the brightness and has good contrast. Our custom-tailored profiles help resolving some issues.

The build quality of the Dell G3 15 3579 is not the best with its all plastic body but that is the sacrifice you have to make to get such great performance at an affordable price.

To sum up, we can say that the Dell G3 15 3579 is a great device. It leaves something to be desired but considering the price, you can’t get much better. The notebook performs great and can be upgraded. These two aspects – good price and good performance – makes the Dell G3 15 3579 a solid all-rounder suitable for many purposes.

If Dell G3 15 3579 is not the right notebook for you, you can check out the Lenovo Legion Y530 or the ASUS ROG GL503GE.

You can check the prices and configurations in our Specs System: http://laptopmedia.com/series/dell-g3-15-3579-g3579/

Pros

  • Good battery life
  • Good cooling system
  • No PWM to control screen brightness (LGD053F)
  • Comfortable port position
  • M.2 slot for PCIe 3.0 x4 NVMe SSD


Cons

  • Low sRGB coverage (LGD053F)
  • All plastic build

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Piter
5 years ago

thanks for this review, i thinking to buy g3

Brian
Brian
5 years ago

I picked up the i5 version with only the HDD not SSD at bestbuy and found it sluggish so returned. May look again if adding the SSD would give much of a speed boost?

Angel Alvarez Ochoa
5 years ago

hey! i bought the version with the i5 processor with only 1tb hard drive disc, and i think the laptop is slow when i turn it on. can i add an ssd without removing the hdd that is in the laptop?

Boban
Boban
5 years ago

Is there a way to lock/disable the Win button dorung gaming via FN key?

Pls respond, thanks

Mazen A Taha
5 years ago

Great review, I am currently choosing between one of those two laptops, they are almost same price which one should I choose: I am a 3D modeler and consider myself as hardcore gamer Dell_G3_3579 – Intel® Core™i7-8750H UPTO 4.1GHz , 9M cach – Nvidia Gforce GTX 1050TI 4 GB DDR5 – RAM: 16 GB DDR4 2666MHz – Storage: 1 TB +256 GB SSD Screen Size: 15.6 ” FHD 1920×1080 OR Lenovo_Y520 – Intel® Core™i7-7700HQ 2.8GHz , 6M Cash – Nvidia Gforce GTX 1050TI 6 GB DDR5 – RAM: 16 GB DDR4 2666MHz – Storage: 1 TB +256 GB SSD Screen… Read more »

Mazen A Taha
5 years ago

Thanks for the advice,I use Maya , Blender and sometimes 3D max so most of them require CPU power I think.
I run most games on High or even medium sometimes , I really focus on the story and the game-play but i still need a laptop that would run all the new games, Would the Dell G33579
do the trick ?!

sajal
sajal
5 years ago

which one you suggest compare to hp 15 dc0084tx or Dell G3 15 3579 ?

Mark
Mark
5 years ago

Great review! Thank you for your work!

May I ask where the M2 slot is? Can you label it on your picture? I could not find it.

Simeon Nikolov
Admin
5 years ago
Reply to  Mark

Thank you 🙂 Here it is:comment image

George G
George G
5 years ago
Reply to  Simeon Nikolov

hello, is that a cooling pad on your m2 ssd? Thank you in advance

Gabriel
Gabriel
5 years ago

Hi! I´ve just bought a Dell G3 15, I’m worried about the battery, I’ve only used Autocad, Sketchup pro (no renders at the momentt) and some pages in Google and the battery life only lasts 4 hours aprox, is there something wrong with this laptop or is just me?
Thanks in advance!

Kshitij Bhragudev
Kshitij Bhragudev
2 years ago

Hi,
I would like to know which one is GPU Fan and which one is the CPU fan since one of them has stopped working and I have to order a part online.

Thanks in advance.