Funny comment about the avatar.
Most likely coming from someone bald with a beer-gut (not that there's anything wrong with that).
 
Wow!
Tell me again about disabling WiFi, Bluetooth, etc... and the importance of a quality audio interface.
What were those "audio guru" tweaks?  Did you get those off the Sweetwater site?
Man... I just had no idea about those things.  Thanks!
 
 
To the XPS-15's credit, it's one of the *few* off-the-shelf laptops that has BIOS parameters for disabling SpeedStep, C-states, etc.  Most don't even expose those parameters. 
Also to it's credit, it's a sleek looking machine.
On to the bad, it had a defective Bluetooth controller (to be fair, a rare issue)... and in no way could it playback The Grandeur completely glitch-free under the circumstances I've outlined.  Not even close...
 
Show a video of your Dell playing The Grandeur under the circumstances I've mentioned.
In fact, show a video of of that... and zoom-in on the RME control-panel... where it lists errors (dropped samples). 
Show the number of errors after running this test for an hour.
Never mind that.  Make it easier on yourself.
Do the same with the Ableton Live onboard stress-test.  You don't even have to be present while it's testing.
Let the sine wave run... with the RME set to a 48-sample ASIO buffer size... CPU load at 80%.
After an hour, zoom-in on the errors that have accumulated in the RME control panel.
 
Dropped samples may not matter to you.
They matter to me... and many of our clients.
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

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Bunch of fluff...
Show the video like I outlined... and show the RME control panel errors.
Otherwise.... Pffft!
 
I could care less if you post a video playing three note chords and a little 4-voice drum pattern.
Show your Dell playing Rachmaninoff (or any busy piano part that's sustain pedal heavy) on a quality piano library at a 48-sample ASIO buffer size... and show us the zoom-in on the RME control panel errors.  
If you can't do that... then this conversation is done.

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And yes, my stress-test example is extreme... and intentionally so...
 
When you're out with your band playing Sweet Home Alabama...
Channeling your best Billy Powell...
Here comes the piano solo... and you decide to lay on the sustain pedal and really dig in.
That's when you don't want your piano library to glitch.
 
If your machine can playback the type of torture test I describe, you'll never give it a second thought.
Precisely because it can handle the absolute worst... with zero glitches.
That, Hugh... is the whole point. 

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Technical debates are acceptable and encouraged. Personal insults are not. Please stay on topic and keep it civil.

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Lol I remember having the exact same debates a few years ago, fact is off shelf PC's are fine if specs are good enough and software/OS is correctly tuned. Overclocking should be left to gamers, it's an unnecessary obsession unless you perhaps need to run 100 synths over 600 tracks for no reason.

Back to my Dell XPS 8100 from 2010 which has worked great with a few upgrades over the years (SSD, 16GB, 1070 graphics card and power supply). When Intel fix that bug I'll be finally looking for an upgrade (next black Friday?).

Hugh Mann
but some of these claims are pretty exaggerated. And while it may not confuse those with experience and knowledge,  it could cause someone to needlessly over spend on a computer when they don't need to.  Its a bit of a public service.  :)

Absolutely right.