Dell Precision 5680 WorkStation Review

The Dell Precision 5680 is a 16-inch mobile workstation that fills the gap left by the absence of an XPS 16 model. It’s a top-tier professional-grade workstation, equipped with a stunning 16-inch OLED display sporting a UHD Plus resolution of 3840×2400. Adding to its allure is the touch-sensitive layer on the screen, enhancing its overall appeal. In terms of power, it doesn’t disappoint; featuring the formidable combination of a Core i9 13900H CPU and Nvidia RTX 5000 Ada Lovelace Graphics, it’s more than capable of tackling demanding tasks.

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Design and Build

When you unbox the Precision 5680, you’ll find everything neatly organized inside. This includes essential items like documentation, a power cord, and a compact 165-watt power adapter, which conveniently uses USB Type-C. You’ll also find a USB-A to USB Type-C adapter included. Now, let’s discuss the Precision 5680 itself. While it might not grab your attention with flashy aesthetics, its graphite color gives it a sleek and attractive look. The build quality is solid, featuring a sturdy all-metal design. The Dell logo is prominently displayed, and opening the laptop with just one finger is effortless.

Ports and Connections

When examining the port selection of the Dell Precision 5680, you’ll discover a range of options available. On the left side, there’s an HDMI 2.0 port, a 3.5mm combo headphone and microphone jack, two USB Type-C Thunderbolt 4 ports supporting data transfer, charging, and display output, and a smart card reader.

On the right side, you’ll find a full-size SD card reader although the cards protrude slightly about a quarter of an inch. There’s also a standard USB Type-C port (not Thunderbolt 4) and a Kensington Lockport for workstation security.

It’s important to note that Dell includes a USB Type-A dongle in the box since there’s no native Type-A port on the Precision 5680. While the port selection is decent, it would have been more convenient to have a full-size USB-A port, and Ethernet would have been a nice addition. However, Dell prioritized keeping the laptop thin and lightweight, which explains these omissions.

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User Upgradeability

Upon opening the Dell Precision 5680, you’ll immediately notice two cooling fans, crucial for efficient thermal management. Further inspection reveals Vapor Chamber Cooling, ensuring temperature control. Notably, the laptop boasts a sizable 99.5 watt-hour battery, promising extended usage.

Regarding memory, options range from 16GB to a massive 64GB of DDR5 6000MHz RAM in Quad Channel mode. My unit has 32GB, performing admirably. Notably, there are no visible SODIMM slots, indicating soldered RAM, prioritizing slimness and weight reduction.

For storage, my unit features two SSD slots in RAID 0 configuration, delivering impressive speeds. Wireless connectivity includes Wi-Fi 6E and Bluetooth 5.3, soldered onto the motherboard for compactness. Both Wi-Fi and Bluetooth perform excellently.

Display and Speakers

When it comes to display options, the Dell Precision 5680 offers a variety, including a 16-inch OLED display with UHD+ resolution, measuring 3840 by 2400 pixels. With a 16:10 aspect ratio, it’s ideal for productivity, supporting multi-touch for tasks like content creation. The display boasts a brightness of 389 nits, slightly below Dell’s claim of 400 nits, but still impressive. Thanks to its OLED technology, it delivers deep blacks, vibrant colors, and high contrast, perfect for content creators and video editors.

For entertainment, the display excels, supporting HDR content for a spectacular viewing experience. However, it has a fixed 60Hz refresh rate, prioritizing battery life over gaming performance, which may not suit gamers. On the audio front, the Precision 5680 features a quad-speaker setup, delivering rich sound with decent volume levels and some bass presence, enhancing the overall audio experience.

Webcam and Mics

The camera on the 2023 Dell Precision 5680 mobile workstation is impressive, offering 1080p video at 30 frames per second. It comes with features like Auto framing, ensuring you’re always in the frame during video calls, and eye contact, enhancing the video conferencing experience. Additionally, the background blur effect works smoothly. Whether you’re on Zoom calls or engaging in hybrid work scenarios from home, this camera is highly usable. Its color science is accurate and pleasing, which I appreciate. Moreover, it doubles as an IR camera, allowing facial recognition login using Windows Hello, adding a convenient layer of security.

Performance

PCMARK 10	7,904
GEEKBENCH 6 Single-Core	2,678
GEEKBENCH 6 Multi-Core	14,507
CINEBENCH R23 Single-Core	1,988
CINEBENCH R23 Multi-Core	15,435
3DMARK – Fire Strike	27,361
3DMARK – Time Spy	13,677

The Dell Precision 5680 runs on the Intel Core i9-3900H, a 45-watt CPU with 14 cores – eight efficient and six high-performance cores. As shown in the benchmark results, this CPU excels in both single-core and multi-core tasks, providing outstanding performance. Whether you’re using it for Microsoft Office, email, web browsing, or everyday tasks, it effortlessly handles everything, consistently delivering excellent results.

Asus ZENBOOK Pro 16X OLED Core i9-13905H, RTX 4080	……1:32
Dell Precision 5680 Core i9-13900H RTX 5000 Ada	………1:39
Dell XPS 17 9730 Core i7-13700H, RTX 4070	…………1:47
HP ENVY 16 (2023) Core i9-13900H, RTX 4060	……………1:55
Apple Mac Studio M1 Max	………………1:57

for content creation, a primary focus for professionals considering the Precision 5680. Whether you’re using Photoshop, Lightroom, Premiere Pro for video editing, or DaVinci Resolve, this workstation excels. For instance, in DaVinci Resolve, rendering a three-minute h.264 4K video took just one minute and 39 seconds. While slightly slower than the Asus ZenBook Pro 16x OLED, it outperformed the Dell XPS 17, HP Envy 16, and Apple Mac Studio M1 Max. Overall, the Precision 5680 is more than capable for high-end 4K video editing, taking just one minute and 35 seconds to render an h.265 video from the same clip.

Now, let’s discuss gaming. Although the Dell Precision 5680 isn’t a gaming laptop but a professional mobile workstation, its powerful CPU-GPU combination, featuring the RTX 5080 graphics, allows for enjoyable gaming during downtime. The provided table demonstrates playable frame rates in popular titles. While not dedicated solely to gaming, it can deliver a satisfactory gaming experience.

Surface Temps and Fan Noise

Dell’s engineers have done an impressive job with the internal design, particularly with the implementation of vapor chamber cooling to manage thermals. The excellent thermal performance is evident from its impressive score of 97.7 percent on the Time Spy stress test, indicating minimal to no thermal throttling even under heavy load.

What impressed me the most was how cool the Precision 5680 remained during intensive benchmarks; it never reached excessively high temperatures. In fact, it only reached a lukewarm temperature under heavy load, which is quite impressive.

In ultra-performance mode under heavy load, it reached a noticeable 51.52 decibels, making the fan noise audible. However, in balanced mode during everyday tasks, the fans don’t spin up too often, and when they do, they’re not overly distracting.

Battery Performance

Laptops	PCMARK10 Modern Office	PCMARK 10 Video PlayBack	PCMARK 10 Gaming
Dell XPS 17 9730 97Wh	8 hours 44 minutes	9 hours 07 minutes	1 hours 07 minutes
Dell Precision 5680 99.5Wh	9 hours 42 minutes	9 hours 53 minutes	1 hours 40 minutes

The Dell Precision 5680 workstation features a 99.5-watt-hour battery, just below the 100-watt-hour legal limit for airplane travel. It performed impressively in the PCMARK 10 modern office test, lasting 9 hours and 42 minutes, approximately an hour more than the Dell XPS 17 9730, which had a slightly smaller 97-watt-hour battery. The PCMARK 10 video playback test also yielded similar results, with the Dell XPS 17 lasting 9 hours and 53 minutes compared to the 9 hours and 7 minutes of the XPS 17. Overall, the Precision 5680 offers pretty decent battery life, especially considering its powerful performance. Charging with the 165-watt USB Type-C power adapter takes approximately 90 minutes to reach a full charge.

Keyboard and Touchpad

The hinge on the Precision 5680 allows you to effortlessly open the lid with just one finger, and it tilts back quite far. It’s sturdy, with minimal screen wobble even during typing, which impressed me. Moving on to the keyboard, it provides a comfortable typing experience, especially for lengthy tasks like document writing or emailing. The keybed feels just right, with adequate feedback and key travel. The multi-stage backlight proves useful in low-light environments. Additionally, the touchpad is exceptionally well-implemented, offering precise scrolling and gestures with excellent feedback. Overall, Dell has done a fantastic job with both the keyboard and touchpad on the Precision 5680.

Conclusion

The Dell Precision 5680 mobile workstation for 2023 is truly remarkable. It features a stunning 16-inch UHD+ OLED display, excellent battery life, robust performance with no signs of throttling, and versatile Thunderbolt 4 ports. The inclusion of a super-fast RAID 0 SSD configuration is noteworthy. The responsive haptic touchpad and comfortable keyboard enhance the user experience. The full HD IR camera and internal microphones perform exceptionally well.

However, there’s no option for a high-refresh-rate display, which may not be a significant concern for the target audience. While noticeable fan noise under heavy load is worth mentioning, it’s not a major issue. Despite its relatively high price for the average consumer, it aligns with other workstations in its category and represents a reasonable investment for businesses buying in bulk.

Overall, the Dell Precision 5680 meets all expectations, making it a highly recommended mobile workstation for 2023.

93%

93%

Workstation for Professional Video Editors and Developers

The Dell Precision 5680 is a standout mobile workstation, featuring a stunning OLED display, robust performance, and excellent battery life. However, it lacks a high-refresh-rate display and has noticeable fan noise under heavy load.

Pros

1. Stunning 16-inch OLED display
2. Robust performance with no throttling
3. Excellent battery life
4. Versatile Thunderbolt 4 ports
5. Responsive haptic touchpad and comfortable keyboard
6. Responsive haptic touchpad and comfortable keyboard

Cons

1. No option for a high-refresh-rate display
2. Noticeable fan noise under heavy load
3. Relatively high price for average consumers

• Design

  10
• Hardware

  10
• Ports

  9
• Display

  10
• Performance

  10
• Keyboard

  9
• Touchpad

  10
• Thermals / Fan Noise

  9
• Webcam

  10
• Audio

  9
• Battery Life

  9
• Price Value

  6