The majority of you may already know that for over 10 years Alienware has been owned by Dell, so the American company has long been a serious player in the highest-end gaming world. Up until now, however, it seemed as if there weren’t enough versatile solutions for the more budget part of the market. Dell has now changed this by launching its G-lineup laptops to try and fill all the gaps in its gaming department.
The G-lineup has three members – G3 (15 / 17), G5, and G7, which divide it into three price ranges. Dell’s most popular model so far, Inspiron 7577 has transformed into G5 5587 and due to the fact that it will draw the most attention to itself, we chose it for the purposes of our first Dell G review.
Dell G5 15 5587 ships with a GTX 1050 / 1050 Ti / 1060 Max-Q GPU and Core i5 / i7 / i9 processor so this combo should meet the needs of most users when it comes to performance. However, this is far from being the only thing we are going to pay attention to, so let’s get it started with our tests.
You can check the prices and configurations in our Specs System: http://laptopmedia.com/series/dell-g5-15-5587-g5587/
Contents
Specs Sheet
Dell G5 15 technical specifications table
Not available
What’s in the package?
In the Dell G5 15 package, we found nothing but the laptop + its power adapter. The latter has a capacity of 180 or 130W depending on whether it should power a GTX 1050 / GTX 1050 Ti / GTX 1060 Max-Q configuration or an Intel HD Graphics UHD 630 one.
Design and construction
After the ASUS ROG GL504 (SCAR II / Hero II) and Lenovo Legion Y530 reviews, we have to admit that we are slightly disappointed by the thick bezels around the 15.6-inch screen of Dell G5. This is definitely not something that would turn us off from purchasing it in case we are happy with the overall performance of the model but we encountered a small issue with our review due to the retro appearance. This is because Dell G5 5587 is not only successor to Inspiron 7577 but it is also based on the same chassis.
In the image below, we have placed a G5 configuration with a fingerprint reader (on the right) next to 7577 without one (on the left), but otherwise they look identical.
Thankfully, their names can be seen on the stickers.
In terms of inheritance, Dell G5 comes with another disadvantage from Inspiron 7577 – despite being designed for gaming, the keyboard is definitely not made by gamers. The keys have short travel, while the arrows can make even NFS: Underground 2 look like an unpleasant and annoying game. On the other hand, we have a big and comfortable NumPad sector – good news for all game… accountants.
Here is a nice pro – the chassis is solid and rigid with no creaky sounds or gaps – good build quality. However, the model is neither the smallest nor the lightest. Here is a comparison with two of its rivals.
| Width | Length | Height | Weight | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Dell G5 5587 | 389 mm | 275 mm | 25 mm | 2.70 kg |
| Lenovo Legion Y530 | 360 mm | 267 mm | 23.9 – 24.9 mm | 2.30 kg |
| ASUS ROG GL504 (SCAR II / Hero II) | 361 mm | 262 mm | 26.1 mm | 2.40 kg |
Ports
If you are acquainted with Inspiron 7577, there is nothing to surprise you here. Just like its predecessor, G5 5587 is equipped with a Noble lock slot, charging plug, EthernetLAN, USB 3.0 Type-A with PowerShare, and memory card reader (on the left) + mic/headphone jack, another two USB 3.0 Type-A ports, Thunderbolt 3 and full-sized HDMI (on the right).
The presence of Thunderbolt 3 is commendable. For comparison, neither ROG GL504 nor Legion Y530 is equipped with one.
Display quality
Dell G5 15 5587 has a Full HD screen with an IPS panel, model number LG LGD053F (156WF6-4XK13). Its diagonal is 15.6″ (39.62 cm), and the resolution 1920 х 1080 pixels. The screen ratio is 16:9, and we are looking at a pixel density of 142 ppi, and a pitch of 0.18 х 0.18 mm. The screen turns into Retina when viewed at а distance equal to or greater than 60 cm (from this distance one’s eye stops differentiating the separate pixels, and it is normal for looking at a laptop).
The viewing angles are comfortable. We offer images at 45° to evaluate image quality.
The measured maximum brightness of 230 nits in the middle of the screen and 215 nits as an average for the whole area, with a maximum deviation of 14%. The Correlated Color Temperature on a white screen is 7100 K – a tad colder compared to the optimal for the sRGB standard of 6500K. The average color temperature through the grey scale before profiling is 6970K.
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.
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. The contrast ratio is okay – 910:1.
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’s G5 15 5587 color gamut coverage.
Its display covers 52% 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 G5 15 5587 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 = 20 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 G5 15 5587 does not use PWM to control monitor brightness which means it can be used for long periods of time without causing any negative effects such as eye strain or fatigue.
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’s G5 15 5587 display boasts a decent contrast ratio, Full HD resolution, comfortable viewing angles. The limited color range happens to be a drawback.
Buy our profiles
Since our profiles are tailored for each individual display model, this article and its respective profile package are meant for Dell G5 15 5587 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.
Sound
The laptop provides a good listening experience with enough clarity in the low, mid, and high frequencies.
Drivers
In case your Dell G5 doesn’t come with a pre-installed OS, the best option is to download drivers from the official page: http://www.dell.com/support/home/us/en/04
Battery
Now, we conduct the battery tests with Windows Better performance setting turned on, screen brightness adjusted to 120 nits and all other programs turned off except for the one we are testing the notebook with.
Dell’s G5 battery has a capacity of 56Wh which is not that impressive given the hardware of the notebook. The results are not remarkable.
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.
CPU
Dell G5 5587 comes in configurations with Intel Core i5-8300H, i7-8750H and… surprise – a Core i9-8950HK processor. All of them are part of the Intel’s Coffee Lake generation and their consumption is rated at 45W. The Core i7 and Core i9 models feature 6 physical / 12 logical cores, while i5-8300H – 4 physical / 8 logical ones. It is the “weakest” chip we advise you to choose if you intend to use the computer mainly for gaming. Core i5-8300H is fully capable of effortlessly handling any title that has come out so far and there is no prospect of another outcome in the next few years. The rest of the budget can be invested in a more powerful GPU, for example.
Results are from the Cinebench 20 CPU test (the higher the score, the better)
Results are from the Fritz chess benchmark (the higher the score, the better)
Results are from our Photoshop benchmark test (the lower the score, the better)
Dell G5 15 5587 (G5587) CPU variants
Here you can see an approximate comparison between the CPUs that can be found in the Dell G5 15 5587 (G5587) models on the market. This way you can decide for yourself which Dell G5 15 5587 (G5587) model is the best bang for your buck.
Note: The chart shows the cheapest different CPU configurations so you should check what the other specifications of these laptops are by clicking on the laptop’s name / CPU.
Results are from the Cinebench 20 CPU test (the higher the score, the better)
Results are from the Fritz chess benchmark (the higher the score, the better)
Results are from our Photoshop benchmark test (the lower the score, the better)
GPU
The choice here is broader. The option to purchase a G5 without a GPU with dedicated memory indicates that the machine is not 100% targeted only at gamers. If you need a notebook for work, the configuration featuring UHD Graphics 630 will do the job pretty well.
Still, if you are gamers, the options you are faced with so far include GTX 1050, GTX 1050 Ti and GTX 1060 Max-Q. The difference in the raw performance can be seen below followed by our gaming tests.
Results are from the 3DMark: Fire Strike (Graphics) benchmark (higher the score, the better)
Results are from the Unigine Heaven 3.0 benchmark (higher the score, the better)
Results are from the Unigine Heaven 4.0 benchmark (higher the score, the better)
Results are from the Unigine Superposition benchmark (higher the score, the better)
Dell G5 15 5587 (G5587) GPU variants
Here you can see an approximate comparison between the GPUs that can be found in the Dell G5 15 5587 (G5587) models on the market. This way you can decide for yourself which Dell G5 15 5587 (G5587) model is the best bang for your buck.
Note: The chart shows the cheapest different GPU configurations so you should check what the other specifications of these laptops are by clicking on the laptop’s name / GPU.
Results are from the 3DMark: Fire Strike (Graphics) benchmark (higher the score, the better)
Results are from the Unigine Heaven 3.0 benchmark (higher the score, the better)
Results are from the Unigine Heaven 4.0 benchmark (higher the score, the better)
Results are from the Unigine Superposition benchmark (higher the score, the better)
Gaming tests
| Grand Theft Auto V (GTA 5) | Full HD, High (Check settings) | Full HD, Very High (Check settings) | Full HD, MAX (Check settings) |
|---|---|---|---|
| GeForce GTX 1050 (~) | 62 fps | 38 fps | – |
| GeForce GTX 1050 Ti (~) | 81 fps | 42 fps | – |
| GeForce GTX 1060 Max-Q | 113 fps | 62 fps | 36 fps |
| Far Cry Primal | Full HD, High (Check settings) | Full HD, Very High (Check settings) | Full HD, MAX (Check settings) |
|---|---|---|---|
| GeForce GTX 1050 (~) | 44 fps | 35 fps | – |
| GeForce GTX 1050 Ti (~) | 54 fps | 44 fps | – |
| GeForce GTX 1060 Max-Q | 77 fps | 64 fps | 58 fps |
| Rise of the Tomb Raider (2016) | Full HD, Medium (Check settings) | Full HD, Very High (Check settings) | Full HD, MAX (Check settings) |
|---|---|---|---|
| GeForce GTX 1050 (~) | 52 fps | 24 fps | – |
| GeForce GTX 1050 Ti (~) | 64 fps | 32 fps | – |
| GeForce GTX 1060 Max-Q | 93 fps | 48 fps | 32 fps |
Temperatures and comfort
Max CPU load
In this test we use a 100% load 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 | 0:02 – 0:10 sec | 0:15 – 0:30 sec | 10:00 – 15:00 min |
|---|---|---|---|
| Dell G5 15 5587 | 2.94 GHz (B+34)@ 85°C | 2.76 GHz (B+25%)@ 82°C | 2.60 GHz (B+18%)@ 74°C |
| ASUS ROG GL504 | 3.29 GHz (B+50%)@ 95°C | 3.12 GHz (B+42%)@ 95°C | 2.56 GHz (B+16%)@ 80°C |
| Lenovo Legion Y530 | 3.24 GHz (B+47%)@ 94°C | 3.20 GHz (B+45%)@ 94°C | 2.97 GHz (B+35%)@ 94°C |
Here GL504 and Y530 overload their processors, maintain high temperatures and reach high frequencies. However, if we compared the results in the last column, Dell G5 impresses with low temperatures and not bad at all clock speed.
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.
The GTX 1060 Max-Q maintains high frequency and that’s why the gaming tests results are so good. In addition, the temperatures are also within the normal.
| GTX 1060 Max-Q | GPU frequency/ Core temp (after 2 min) | GPU frequency/ Core temp (after 30 min) |
|---|---|---|
| Dell G5 15 5587 | 1486 MHz @ 72°C | 1484 MHz @ 79°C |
| HP Omen 2017 | 1367 MHz @ 73°C | 1362 MHz @ 76°C |
Gaming comfort
After continuous gaming, you will find the hottest point of G5 5587 to be 58°C, which can be felt but doesn’t cause discomfort during use.
Verdict
Although G5 5587 is just a rebranded Inspiron 7577, the model is definitely not a bad choice. Actually, if you have no complaints about the appearance and the slightly higher weight doesn’t bother you either, then the only drawbacks you will have to deal with are the short battery life, the uncomfortable keyboard, and inaccurate display colors. The first issue is unlikely to scare real gamers as they will hardly ever use the laptop away from a plug. In addition, Dell should take into consideration the reasonable remark as regards the keyboard design, though only racing fans will be more affected. On the other hand, we managed to improve the inaccurate display colors with the help of our Design and Gaming profile.
In our opinion, the pros are far more significant than the cons – firstly, the performance is high thanks to the efficient cooling and this is the most important thing for a laptop in this class. In addition, the chassis is stable and reliable, and the same applies to the cooling system. Furthermore, the screen doesn’t use the eye-harming PWM and you can protect yourself from the blue light emissions with the help of our Health-Guard profile.
If you are on the lookout for a laptop that can be used not only for gaming but also for tough work, the Core i9-8950HK option in Dell G5 5587 will definitely appeal to you. In addition, you could also make use of the Thunderbolt port for super fast data transfer.
As alternatives to G5 5587, you could pay attention to ASUS ROG GL504, Lenovo Legion Y530, HP Pavilion 15 (2018), as well as the smaller sibling of G5, of course – G3 3579 and the bigger G7 7588.
You can check the prices and configurations in our Specs System: http://laptopmedia.com/series/dell-g5-15-5587-g5587/
Pros
- Stable chassis
- Lack of PWM (LG LGD053F)
- Thunderbolt port
- Available configuration with the super powerful Core i9-8950HK
- Low internal temperatures
- GTX 1060 Max-Q GPU performs amazing (great cooling)
Cons
- Thick screen bezels
- Relatively high weight
- Short battery life
- Low sRGB coverage – 52% (LG LGD053F)
Looks like a steal for $899!
Thanks for this guys! Wal-Mart currently has a crazy deal: this model with a 1060 GPU _and_ 16GB of RAM for $849. I think between the price/specs and your review, I’m going to get it.
Owner here:
Thermal throttles like crazy on normal game loads.
please elaborate
Another owner here, having the same issue here. It gets to 95’C with ease performing not-so-advanced tasks. Keeping an eye on these threads:
https://www.dell.com/community/Inspiron/Temperature-of-over-90C-while-playing-games/td-p/6127558
https://www.reddit.com/r/Dell/comments/8t8nqe/my_dell_g5_runs_at_100c/
Currently investigating further. Feel free to reach out by replying in those threads – I’ll post if I will have any tested solutions.
I turn the CPU down to 95% in the power management tab. don’t get any real hit to frames and the heat only goes up to 75c.. also you must elevatethe back of the laptop so the fans have room to breath. you must do this with any laptop.