The Dell G3 15 is one of Dell’s newest laptops that are designed for gamers. There are many features that make this laptop stand out from the competition, and in this article, we will go over some of them. Dell has never been a company to disappoint. So if you’re looking for a high-powered gaming machine at an affordable price, then the Dell G3 15 might be just what you need!
The $800 Dell G3 15 is back and better than ever, with its 9th Gen Core i5 processor combined with a GTX 1650 graphics card. It’s earned itself a place on our best gaming laptops page for under 1000 dollars – so check it out.
SPECIFICATIONS
- CPU: Intel Core i7-10750H
- RAM: 16 GB DDR4
- Display: 15.6 Inches 1920 x 1080 Pixels
- Hard Drive: 512 GB SSD
- Weight: 5.18 pounds
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Dell G3 15 price and configuration options
The Dell G3 15 is a great laptop for gamers on the go. With its Intel Core i5 processor and GeForce GTX 1650 graphics card. You can get it now starting at around $800-$850 depending on where you shop online or in-store near you.
The $800 Dell G3 15 is one of the best cheap gaming laptops around. It has an Intel Core i5 processor. 8GB RAM and a 128 GB SSD for your games, movies, or music files.
If you’ve been lusting after the most powerful gaming laptop, but can’t afford it or just don’t like how bulky they are then check out our list of top overall best laptops. We also have an extensive guide on what to look for in a good one.
Dell G3 15 Design
The G3 15 laptop’s sleek, race car-inspired design is a nice change of pace from the boxy plastic models that have been dominating this market. It features an all-black hood with blue Dell branding at the center and curves smoothly into silver hinges which match its grille accents perfectly.
The blue font on the keyboard and accent around the touchpad give this system a cheap gaming look. The bezels could use a trim, but it is slimmer than previous models from Dell G3 15 (2022).
I was concerned when I first opened the lid and heard a crackling noise, but then there’s no bend at all. Dell says this can happen because of how tight it is in their manufacturing facility which shouldn’t be much trouble as long as we get another one soon.
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Ports
The G5 15 has more than enough ports to keep you connected, whether on the go or at home. On one side are power and USB type C display port along with HDMI 2.0 slots. While on another there’s RJ45 Ethernet port headphone jack as well as two USB2 slots for external storage devices. An SD card reader is also accessible through a separate door closer examination will reveal.
Display
The G3 15’s display is a little too dull for its own good. The blue muscle car with an orange and red flames decal didn’t really stand out in the latest trailer for Charlie’s Angels. However, when we saw one city at night there were enough details on buildings that it was easy to make them out. Such as Patrick Stewart’s suit which revealed stitching holding up his jacket sleeves.
The detailed hair on Lara’s head is one of the best features in Shadow Of The Tomb Raider. It was difficult to see any details when I played underwater, but her wavy locks looked just like they did with G3 15 monitor screens.
The G3 15’s panel only covered 63% of the sRGB color gamut, falling short of the cheap gaming laptop average and catching up with some higher-end laptops. The Nitro 5 managed an excellent 154%, while also scoring well in grayscale accuracy for less than $500.
Dell G3 15 Keyboard and touchpad
The G3 15’s keyboard is nothing special. But it was comfortable to type on and the keys were a decent size. I did better than usual with my typing speed of 71 words per minute. So that helped make this laptop more enjoyable for gaming as well.
The touchpad is a little stiffer than its predecessor. But, it has Windows Precision drivers that make gestures like two-finger scrolling and three-finger tabbing work well.
The splashes I made while swimming in the lake were a little higher-pitched than natural, but Lara’s voice was still clear and crisp. After making some finicky adjustments to my Nahimic audio settings using Alienware Command Center, she sounded even more authentic with deep bass when firing an arrow into innocent rocks or trees.
The Alienware Command Center is where you can find all of your audio settings in one place. You’ll be able to adjust the sound with bass boost and treble enhancement, as well as choose from several presets like Movie or Music for when it’s just not enough that loud.
I set the Shadow of the Tomb Raider audio settings to Role Play, but I turned off Reverb and Treble Enhancer. Then bass was increased to the 10th notch in order for it to be more balanced while listening to music as well.
Gaming, graphics, and VR
The G3 15 packs an NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1650 GPU with 4GB of VRAM, which rips through Middle-earth. Shadow Of War at 44 frames per second as I leap from tall buildings and crash into waves upon waves of Orcs below. For those who find adjusting settings difficult there’s also a discrete “G” key that when pressed will turn on high-performance mode.
Luckily, the G3 15’s performance increased when it came to running CRT-based benchmarks. On our charts and its straight 30 fps matched that of a Nitro 5 card and even topped out competitors like gaming laptops with GTX 1060s.
The G3 15 hit a steady 62 fps on the Hitman benchmark. Which is higher than most gaming notebooks within its class. The Nitro 5 and G5 both had a performance that was comparable. But, couldn’t quite beat it at 54fps each with their respective screens powered by Nvidia Turing GPUs as well.
The G3 15 had an average FPS of 38 on the Grand Theft Auto V benchmark which is slightly better than its counterparts but still trails behind in frame rate. The laptop gets 34 fps when compared to other gaming laptops like the Nitro 5 and G5 SE that both achieved 40 fps scores.
The G3 15 managed to come out on top of the SteamVR Performance Test with a score that just barely beat its own category average, but was still less than what the Nitro 5 or SE models scored.
Dell G3 15 Performance
The powerful Intel Core i5-9300H processor with 8GB of RAM means you can seamlessly juggle 40 Google Chrome tabs and five 1080p YouTube videos while running Shadow Of War at the same time without any problems.
In the overall performance test on Geekbench 4, MSI’s G3 15 with its Intel Core i7-8750H processor topped all other laptops and smartphones by scoring 16,650. The Nitro 5 (14 432) fell short while still doing well for itself in comparison to some competitors like Apple Whoops 13 inch MacBook Pro which posted an average rating of around 14k.
On our HandBrake benchmark, the G3 15 transcoded a 4K video to 1080p in 14 minutes and 1 second, outpacing its two closest competitors: The Nitro 5 (15:33) and SE model with Intel’s seventh-generation Core i5 processor.
The difference in speed between various solid-state drives is often stark, with some brands providing drastically higher rates than others. The Dell 128GB SSD copied 4.97GB of data in 17 seconds – that’s an average bit rate for laptops! However, the G5 15 SE’s 256 GB drive recorded 130 MBps which was rather slow compared to other models we’ve tested so far this year.”
| Features | Specifications |
|---|---|
| Display size | 15.6 Inches |
| Resolution | 1920 x 1080 Pixels |
| Brand | Dell |
| Series | I3500-7722BLK-PUS |
| RAM | 16 GB DDR4 |
| Hard Drive | 512 GB SSD |
| Chipset Brand | NVIDIA |
| Operating System | Windows 10 Home |
| Weight | 5.18 pounds |
| Battery | 6 Hours |
Battery life
It is quite impressive how long the battery lasts on a gaming laptop. After continuously surfing the web over Wi-Fi at 150 nits of brightness with Medium screen settings and Windows 10 Home installed on it for 6 hours 41 minutes, I was able to play games until my computer ran out of juice! The G3 15 lasted longer than its the Nitro 5, but couldn’t keep up with Dell’s model which still managed an incredible 6 hrs 53 min during testing sessions.
Webcam
The Dell 720p shooter is not going to do you any favors if you plan to start a streaming channel. In the test shots, my face was fuzzy and I couldn’t make out any sharp details; however, at least one thing accurately captured how red our sweater looks.
Heat
The G3 15 was never too hot for use, but it did get a little louder with the high-performance mode turned on. After playing Shadow of the Tomb Raider for 15 minutes and measuring at 115 degrees Fahrenheit under our 95-degree comfort threshold. We crossed that same line again by flanking both sides within 1 degree each time as well this includes keyboard center, touchpad upper right corner, and left vent below chest level.
We were impressed by how well the laptop kept cool on our test run. The screen reached 98 degrees while streaming a 15-minute 1080p video. But other than that it hit 91 and 81 respectively for keyboard/touchpad temperatures.
Software and warranty
With the Alienware Command Center, you can monitor your system and adjust accordingly. You’ll be able to see the temperature readings of both processor cores. As well as RAM usage in real-time so that if anything seems off or out of the ordinary. It will immediately catch anyone’s attention with its graphics-heavy interface which showcases all critical information at once.
The Dell software library is extensive. Beyond that, there are a plethora of different ways to use your computer: from calling friends with the included phone app (or mirroring what you see on screen) all the way up to monitoring battery health and thermal management in order not to burn out those components.
I can’t complain about the amount of bloatware on my computer. I mean, there’s Farm Heroes Saga and Hulu but at least they’re not games.
Find out how Dell performed on our Tech Support Showdown, Best and Worst Laptop Brands ranking.
Bottom Line
The G3 15 is an affordable, powerful gaming laptop that offers great refresh rates and long battery life for highly immersive gameplay. However, it does have one downside: a dim display screen.
If you’re looking for a cheaper gaming laptop but still want to get the best display, consider purchasing the Dell G5 15 SE ($1,068). This model offers good performance and slightly longer battery life along with an upgraded screen.
The G3 15 is the best gaming laptop on a tight budget if you’re looking to get in touch with your inner gamer.
