Which surface pro 3 do I get confused

[Ms.Dos]

You want the Surface Pro 3 with the i5 and either the 128 or 256 GB drive (depending, basically on your budget). Here's why:

• The other models won't be released until August.
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• While the Core i3 processor would be adequate for the work you are doing - the 64 GB drive is too small. Remember, it has a recovery partition and the whole Windows operating system on it. So your usable space on the drive will be less than half that size.
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• The Core i3 processor is the "Y" power-saving version of the chip. While most Intel processors "turbo boost" to give you extra speed when you need it, the Y chips do the almost the opposite. They concentrate on slowing down the system and saving battery power whenever possible.
  .
• The Core i5 processor is a U (which I believe refers to Ultra-low Voltage) chip, the same kind found in many ultrabooks and the MacBook Air. It also has a better integrated graphics chip than the i3.
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• The Core i7 is what you want if you are going to run Photoshop, video or audio editing, or want high-resolution games. It adds additional virtual cores (called Hyperthreading), a even better graphics chip, and maxes the RAM to 8GB - all of that comes in to play in those media-based apps.
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• But none of that helps with web browsing, spreadsheets, e-mail, or word processing - which sounds like it is the bulk of what you do.

So save your money, and pick out one of the available models and you should be fine! :wink:

 

[Saul]

+1 N.B.

i5 (4300U) is also available with 8GB RAM...
Also, GPU perf. of the 4650U is only marginally better than the 4300U (~10%), whilst being more power-hungry (even with the same usage).
CPU perf/watt is slightly more notable, but it's a shame it's not quad (that's asking for too much at this point sadly).

For me personally August time-frame is irrelevant, as in my part of the world (Oz) ALL models won't be available till 31/08, possibly later!

 

[RottenMutt]

ARK | Intel® Core? i3-4020Y Processor (3M Cache, 1.50 GHz)

ARK | Intel® Core? i5-4300U Processor (3M Cache, up to 2.90 GHz)

ARK | Intel® Core? i7-4650U Processor (4M Cache, up to 3.30 GHz)

 

[ctitanic]

The best answer is get the best one you can afford.

Totally agree. It's a balance between functionality and affordability.i7 is overkilling power for most of us.

 

[Knuck]

If you don't need the bigger screen save your money and get a used SP2. Same performance, less issues.

 

[be77solo]

If you don't need the bigger screen save your money and get a used SP2. Same performance, less issues.

Ironically, these words ring true! I've got a SP2 and on a whim bought a SP3, and the SP2 is actually FASTER! Not sure what is going on, but the SP3 is slower across the board on everything I compare. I do like the new size, but struggling with "upgrading" to a slower device..... grrrrr

Plus, Microsoft finally got around to solving the issues with the SP2 last month. SP3 has all the new release gremlins.

 

[ctitanic]

Ironically, these words ring true! I've got a SP2 and on a whim bought a SP3, and the SP2 is actually FASTER! Not sure what is going on, but the SP3 is slower across the board on everything I compare. I do like the new size, but struggling with "upgrading" to a slower device..... grrrrr

Plus, Microsoft finally got around to solving the issues with the SP2 last month. SP3 has all the new release gremlins.

Wow! Well, eventually Microsoft will fix the little software glitches that some users have found. The SP2 is not a bad device but it's smaller, heavier, the Wacom does not work well around the display borders and the screen can't just compete against the one in the SP3. The SP3 is the device that made me sell my S2. And for the record, I'm a hard to die fan of Windows on Arm.

 

[be77solo]

Wow! Well, eventually Microsoft will fix the little software glitches that some users have found. The SP2 is not a bad device but it's smaller, heavier, the Wacom does not work well around the display borders and the screen can't just compete against the one in the SP3. The SP3 is the device that made me sell my S2. And for the record, I'm a hard to die fan of Windows on Arm.

I agree, they will eventually fix the bugs, but honestly, I don't know how they managed to make a slower device... I'd usually say they can fix with a firmware update similar to SP1, but temps on the SP3 are already at 90C, compared to the SP2's 81C (all while the SP2 is performing FASTER!!)..... they don't have any more headroom, seems the slimmer build has crippled performance.

Maybe Broadwell will help, but I am quickly losing faith in this version.

 

[ctitanic]

I agree, they will eventually fix the bugs, but honestly, I don't know how they managed to make a slower device... I'd usually say they can fix with a firmware update similar to SP1, but temps on the SP3 are already at 90C, compared to the SP2's 81C (all while the SP2 is performing FASTER!!)..... they don't have any more headroom, seems the slimmer build has crippled performance.

Maybe Broadwell will help, but I am quickly losing faith in this version.

Can you backup your claims with some member? Benchmarks perhaps.

The benchmarks that I have seen put both devices at the same level.

 

[ctitanic]

BTW, it seems that the latest update changed the SP3 to get more battery life and that may have changed it performance. But those are configuration changes that can be reverted or optimized.

 

[be77solo]

Can you backup your claims with some member? Benchmarks perhaps.

The benchmarks that I have seen put both devices at the same level.

Yep, already shared over on forum.tabletpcreview.com that my SP3 is 20% slower than my SP2 with benchmark links, all while running 9C hotter while in the same room.

Further tests have shown the same or worse.

BTW, it seems that the latest update changed the SP3 to get more battery life and that may have changed it performance. But those are configuration changes that can be reverted or optimized.

Maybe, but my fear is that even when I enabled "High Performance" profile, nothing got better performance wise, simply the screen got brighter and the core clock bumped to 26x at idle.

 

[IlbeRevolution]

After toying with the machine for couple of days, I'm starting to think that the i3 model will be the most successful model.

I know the biggest selling point of the SP3 over the baytrail counter-parts is that it's got a cull core-i series CPU inside, but upon much testing and finding benchmark results from others, I'm starting to doubt the power of i5s on SP3.

In gaming, it's got inferior performance to the SP2, and the fan on SP3 was not designed for heavy load scenerio.

If you're looking to buy SP3 because you want to run programs that the baytraill counterpart cannot run, think again before purchasing.

SP3 was never ever deisnged for gaming, extreme media editing, and gerneral power users. It's a portable work horse that can get your school work, spread sheets, simple programming, job work.

Ultimately, if you want to purchase SP3 for gaming or power uses, at best, it's going to be a burning hot, noisy brick with 2-3hr battery life.