Microsoft Surface Pro 3 Review
by Anand Lal Shimpi on June 23, 2014 3:55 AM ESTLaptop Performance
Just like with battery life, we need to evaluate the performance of Surface Pro 3 as both a laptop and a tablet. As a laptop, Surface Pro 3 delivers performance comparable to other Ultrabooks of similar specs - assuming we're talking about short bursts of performance. In prolonged workloads you'll see a bit of a gap, and even a slight regression vs. Surface Pro 2 due to the thermal design targets for the new chassis.
With the exception of the Work suite in PCMark 8 v2, we're mostly looking at performance in the range of a 13-inch MacBook Air - the prototypical Haswell ULT notebook. Surface Pro 3 is definitely in good performance company. In the Work suite however the MacBook Air (running Windows) is able to deliver around 16% better performance than Surface Pro 3. I'm guessing this has to do with thermals more than anything else.
We see a similar story if we look at GPU performance:
In terms of playable games, with some tweaking to detail settings you should be able to average 30 fps in titles like Dota 2. Running at the panel's native resolution is generally out of the question but for lighter titles on Steam like Transistor, you can have a reasonable experience. The higher end Core i7 Surface Pro 3 does ship with Intel's HD 5000 graphics instead of HD 4400 in the Core i5 review sample I tested. It's entirely possible that we see better gaming performance or thermal management (more EUs at lower voltage) in that design.
Just like in previous designs, Surface Pro 3 integrates a SATA SSD (likely M.2 this time). In this case Microsoft uses an OEM version of Samsung's SSD 840 EVO, a 3-bit-per-cell MLC design that we've found to be a pretty good value. I am disappointed we didn't see a move to PCIe storage but for general use I doubt there's much value in it. PCMark 8 v2's storage test isn't particularly stressful but it does show that Surface Pro 3's SSD is at least competitive with its predecessor and the MBA despite moving to TLC NAND.
Facebook
Twitter
RSS
274 Comments
View All Comments
MarcSP - Tuesday, June 24, 2014 - link
http://images.anandtech.com/reviews/tablets/micros...kedesh83 - Tuesday, June 24, 2014 - link
I picked mine up last Friday and I am loving it. I took it to class and used OneNote to write all my notes for the day. It worked really well. I was also able to install sketchbook pro 6 and sketchup and do some quick design work. I have the 8GB/256GB model. I was coming from an Asus T300-LA which was too cumbersome, and an iPad 3 which was too limited.vision33r - Tuesday, June 24, 2014 - link
That's a pricey notebook you have there. My $2 yellow notepad is jealous but still works well.bkydcmpr - Tuesday, June 24, 2014 - link
do you know what "sketchbook pro 6" he was talking about is?Razzy76 - Wednesday, June 25, 2014 - link
But your yellow notepad can't turn into a laptop like Surface Pro 3 can ;) Yes Surface Pro 3 works just as good as a laptop.. I have one. No one can tell me it's not a laptop. And it's great as a tablet as well. I really love the Surface Pro 3. /advertisingruthan - Tuesday, June 24, 2014 - link
It looks that it is still without 3G version, i need to be mobile.. so im not interested in.bkydcmpr - Tuesday, June 24, 2014 - link
I think microsoft didn't do that because macbook air doesn't have 3g or lte either. I wish microsoft could have done better but they are so scared to move ahead of apple too much.ymcpa - Tuesday, June 24, 2014 - link
Or more likely they found that the vast majority of tablets and laptops sold don't have built in mobile broadband. Most people don't want to pay monthly for another data connection. Plus they would have to make another SKU that will require the wireless carriers to sell. We already see that salespeople at the carriers stores don't push devices that are not android or Apple. I personally find that tethering to my phone works well and is free.joaoasousa - Tuesday, June 24, 2014 - link
Bluetooth tethering?..... I would never pay for another subscription when I can use my phone's 4G.skiboysteve - Tuesday, June 24, 2014 - link
Get a USB 3g / 4g / lte stick and you are good