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Surprisingly Bad Gaming Performance

For anyone considering a Pro 3 for gaming, Anandtech say Pro 3 only has half the gaming performance of the Pro 2, which isn't amazing for gaming anyway.
 
Does that apply to the SP3 i7 as well since it has hd5000 graphics?

Yes, it's because of throttling. The SP3 is so thin that it reaches a high temperature very quickly, and then the CPU and GPU throttle (reduce performance) to keep the SP3 within operating temperatures.

i7 could be a bit better or a bit worse than i5, but they will both be very similar for gaming due to the throttling.
 
Yeah, I know about the throttling problems (I'm the OP of this thread). After seeing how bad the throttling was I took my SP 3 back. Since then though there was a throttling related firmware. I'd be willing to live with worse performance as as long as league of legends was at less playable.

has anyone played league of legends after the firmware in July?
 
I can vouch the i7 w/HD5000 isn't any better in graphics performance. Gaming is still half the performance of the SP2 unfortunately.
 
Disappointing :( Have been considering the upgrade to the SP3 just for the lighter weight and screen and accepting the performance would be the same, but not going to take a hit on the very limited gaming I sometimes do on it because of the throttling.
 
Disappointing :( Have been considering the upgrade to the SP3 just for the lighter weight and screen and accepting the performance would be the same, but not going to take a hit on the very limited gaming I sometimes do on it because of the throttling.
That summarizes EXACTLY what I was expecting as well... not better, but similar performance to my SP2. Unfortunately, that is not the case.

But, the lighter weight and new screen size are great improvements.

The SP4 with Broadwell will be the one to get!
 
My fear is that MS will be tempted to go with a fanless design thus seriously limiting the performance.
Some think the fan that runs at a barely audible 30-40 DB is too loud. :)
My decibel meter says 30 is a whisper and 40 is a quiet library.
The ambient noise reading in this space is 20-25 DB.
By comparison another computer I use has an annoying fan that's 70-75 DB.
 
My fear is that MS will be tempted to go with a fanless design thus seriously limiting the performance.
Please don't put that horrible thought in my head!!!! That's why I'm so vocal across the board regarding throttling... it's not that I don't still love the Surface line, I just HATE a new version that is SLOWER THAN THE LAST!!!

MICROSOFT pay attention! You call it the Surface PRO for a reason! :)
 
I think if you are buying a portable device to run games, maybe you should look at a different device. I play Civ V sometimes on my SP2, and it kills the battery, and it gets very hot.

Surface isn't really aimed at gaming.
 
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