SP 4 Core M3 vs SP3 Core i5?

[GreyFox7]

What is with the clock speed of that core m?

Clock speed is not a good indicator of overall performance. It's is only moderately useful if you are comparing the same exact CPUs however even then it's not a linear result. Obviously Intel has designed in efficient power usage and speed in this package the likes of which have heretofore been unseen anywhere on any planet. I checked with Panos on that as he has the inside track as to the goings on of other planets.

 

[hughlle]

Clock speed is not a good indicator of overall performance. It's is only moderately useful if you are comparing the same exact CPUs however even then it's not a linear result. Obviously Intel has designed in efficient power usage and speed in this package the likes of which have heretofore been unseen anywhere on any planet. I checked with Panos on that as he has the inside track as to the goings on of other planets.

What I meant twas that that benchmark shows it as a 1.5ghz cpu running at 900mhz.

 

[Deltido]

If it really does perform this well, I think I may have to get this over the i5 version of the SP4. Especially if it gets an extra 2-3 hours battery life.

 

[daniielrp]

I shouldn't imagine the difference would be too much - however I did notice my i3 SP3 felt noticeably slower than my i5 SP2.

 

[GreyFox7]

Found another run of 3Dmark Cloud Gate on the Core m3-6y30 with even better results... with grain of salt.
I hope these results are consistent with the SP4.

 

[Zippy0n]

So basically that table states that the M3 is more 'powerful' than the SP3 i5?

 

[GreyFox7]

So basically that table states that the M3 is more 'powerful' than the SP3 i5?

Yes, for Graphics oriented work which is mainly what 3DMark tests. There are 5 main areas of concern for performance in a modern system. CPU, Graphics, Memory, Disk, Network.
This test does exercise CPU and Memory as well so it not bad for a look across those areas.

 

[Ms.Dos]

Ultimately, you are the only one who can judge the performance / battery life ratio. Buy one and if you don't like it then return it and get something else.

 

[mva5580]

I do wonder if the m3 version gets noticeably better battery life. Because if it does I would probably find it worth it to get that version. If it doesn't though, I'd probably just spend the extra $100 and get the i5.

 

[MattL]

So some SP4 m3 owners have uploaded geekbench results, here are the SP3 i5 vs SP4 m3 results:
Microsoft Corporation Surface Pro 3 vs Microsoft Corporation Surface Pro 4 - Geekbench Browser

SP4 i5 vs SP4 m3:
Microsoft Corporation Surface Pro 4 vs Microsoft Corporation Surface Pro 4 - Geekbench Browser

It stands up pretty well considering the TDP difference
TDP
SP3 i5 = 15w
SP4 m3 = 4.5 W (configurable down = 3.8W - configurable up = 7W)
SP4 i5 = 15w (configurable down 7.5W)

Geekbench 3 Score
SP3 i5 = 2701
SP4 m3 = 2420
SP4 i5 = 3082

Geekbench 3 Multicore Score
SP3 i5 = 5160
SP4 m3 = 4652
SP4 i5 = 6372


The previous results probably show the difference between the Integrated GPUs ... the SP3 i5 = Intel® HD Graphics 4400 vs the Intel HD 515 in the Sp4 m3. As you can see the SP4 i5 has a nice boost in performance over the last gen, especially in multi-core. I'd say the m3 stacks up quite well, the power to performance ratio is pretty phenomenal, will be very interesting to see gaming benchmarks as well as battery life results.

 

[GreyFox7]

So some SP4 m3 owners have uploaded geekbench results, here are the SP3 i5 vs SP4 m3 results:
Microsoft Corporation Surface Pro 3 vs Microsoft Corporation Surface Pro 4 - Geekbench Browser

SP4 i5 vs SP4 m3:
Microsoft Corporation Surface Pro 4 vs Microsoft Corporation Surface Pro 4 - Geekbench Browser

It stands up pretty well considering the TDP difference
TDP
SP3 i5 = 15w
SP4 m3 = 4.5 W (configurable down = 3.8W - configurable up = 7W)
SP4 i5 = 15w (configurable down 7.5W)

Geekbench 3 Score
SP3 i5 = 2701
SP4 m3 = 2420
SP4 i5 = 3082

Geekbench 3 Multicore Score
SP3 i5 = 5160
SP4 m3 = 4652
SP4 i5 = 6372


The previous results probably show the difference between the Integrated GPUs ... the SP3 i5 = Intel® HD Graphics 4400 vs the Intel HD 515 in the Sp4 m3. As you can see the SP4 i5 has a nice boost in performance over the last gen, especially in multi-core. I'd say the m3 stacks up quite well, the power to performance ratio is pretty phenomenal, will be very interesting to see gaming benchmarks as well as battery life results.

Not surprising on the Geekbench results. SP3 I5 CPU a little better than Core m3 but not as good on Memory Access as the m3. Geekbench is CPU integer, floating-point and memory benchmarks.

The SP4 Core m3 vs. SP3 i5 is better on Memory, and Graphics, and the SP4 has the better PCIe SSD. Network as far as we know is unchanged Marvell Wireless so there probably wont be any difference there.

 

[mva5580]

Thanks for the benchmarks, my frame of mind right now is that I have an iPad Air 2 as a tablet and while I would like to have something like a Surface Pro as a "regular" tablet, I'm just wondering if the performance is good enough for a full PC, coinciding with battery life good enough to use as a tablet.

I tried an Atom Surface 3 and I just came away from it pretty disappointed, so I would hope that the m3 is noticeably better. And I wonder if that 9 hour battery life is realistic with the m3 model as the i5 reviews seem to be showing around 7.