Dell XPS 17" 9710 Gray 2021

The 6TB SSD is the absolute best in its class, and the 17-inch 4K screen is a stunner in the 97th percentile. But you're lugging around a heavy chassis with an average CPU from 2021. This is a desktop replacement for storage fiends, not a performance leader.

The Core i7-11800H is a solid 8-core workhorse from Intel's 11th-gen lineup, but it's showing its age. In our database, it sits in the 64th percentile for CPU performance, which is about average. You can expect snappy day-to-day performance and competent multitasking with the 32GB of RAM, but it won't keep up with newer 13th or 14th-gen chips in heavy all-core workloads. The RTX 3060 is a well-above-average GPU, landing in the 75th percentile. It's got enough grunt for smooth 1080p gaming and will accelerate creative tasks in the Adobe suite, but don't expect to max out Cyberpunk at the native 4K resolution.

The real star of the show here is the storage. A 6TB NVMe SSD is an absurd amount of space for a laptop, putting it in the 100th percentile. You can store massive video projects, RAW photo libraries, and a huge game collection without ever thinking about an external drive. The 17-inch 4K display is another standout, ranking in the 97th percentile. It's bright, sharp, and color-accurate enough for professional creative work. The combination of that screen and the huge SSD makes this a compelling, if specialized, machine for content creators who prioritize local storage and visual fidelity over the absolute fastest processing.

Stacked against a modern powerhouse like the Lenovo Legion Pro 7i Gen 10, the XPS 9710 gets left in the dust for raw CPU and GPU performance, but the Legion can't touch this Dell's 6TB of storage or its superior 4K display. The ASUS ROG Zephyrus G14 is a much more portable and modern gaming machine, but again, its screen and storage are in a different league. The real competitor here is the Apple MacBook Pro M4 Max. The MacBook will obliterate the XPS in CPU and GPU tasks, has a phenomenal screen, and offers far better battery life, but you'd pay a similar premium for a 4TB or 8TB configuration. The Dell's only clear win is that massive 6TB SSD at this specific price point, making it a niche choice for storage-obsessed creators on Windows.

At $3,779, this refurbished XPS 9710 is a tough sell based on performance alone. You're paying a huge premium for that 6TB SSD and the 4K touchscreen. A brand-new laptop with a much faster current-gen CPU and a newer RTX 4060 or 4070 GPU can be had for less, but you'd be stuck with a 1TB or 2TB drive. The value proposition here is entirely about that storage. If you absolutely need 6TB of internal NVMe storage in a single, sleek package and don't want to mess with external drives, the price starts to make a strange kind of sense. For everyone else, it's an expensive way to get middling CPU performance.

The Dell XPS 9710 is a bit of a contradiction. It packs a massive 6TB SSD, which lands it in the absolute top tier of our database for storage, and pairs it with a stunning 17-inch 4K touchscreen that's among the best we've seen. But the CPU and GPU, while capable, are from a couple of generations ago, putting this machine in a weird spot where its best features are about capacity and display, not raw processing power. It's a creator-focused laptop that feels like it was built for someone who needs to carry their entire media library and look good doing it, but doesn't necessarily need the fastest render times on the block.

At 2.42kg, this is not a laptop you'll want to lug around every day. Its compact score is a rough 6th percentile, meaning it's one of the least portable machines in its class. But that size makes room for the glorious 3840x2400 display, which is a real treat for photo and video editing. The 97Wh battery is sizable, but pushing all those 4K pixels and an 11th-gen Intel chip means you'll be hunting for an outlet sooner than you'd like. This is a desktop replacement through and through, and it's best judged as one.

Anyone who values portability or raw CPU performance should look elsewhere. This machine is heavy and its 11th-gen processor is only average by today's standards. If you're a gamer, a video editor who needs fast render times, or someone who travels frequently, a newer laptop with a current-gen CPU and a higher-refresh-rate screen will serve you much better. The reliability scores are also a concern, sitting in the bottom third, which is something to consider for a refurbished unit that will be your daily driver.

The Dell XPS 9710 is a niche machine that does two things exceptionally well: it displays your content on a beautiful, top-tier screen, and it stores an almost comical amount of it on a 6TB drive. For a very specific type of user, a photographer or videographer who needs their entire active library locally available at all times, this is a unique and compelling package. For anyone else, the average CPU performance, poor portability, and questionable reliability make it hard to recommend over a newer, faster, and more portable laptop paired with a fast external SSD.