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.
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Shadowmaster625 - Tuesday, June 24, 2014 - link
Here's an idea. Dont spend millions trying to push this product through the "hollywood backchannel", and then try to pay for all that spending by charging $300 for $22 worth of NAND and $34 worth of RAM and calling it an upgrade. Only a fool agrees to be raped like that. So the only way you can judge the value of this product is by the base model. And the base model is extremely underpowered for $800. But dont worry, after it flops it will be on sale for $500 and at that price it is not bad.damianrobertjones - Tuesday, June 24, 2014 - link
I hope you posted your words in every apple product review page everymcpa - Tuesday, June 24, 2014 - link
Now please show me the laptop with an ssd and hi-res display that sells for $500. History shows that Microsoft isn't discounting these tablets. When a new one comes out, they discount the previous one by $100 and stop making it. Within a few months they are not on sale anymore. Microsoft made a mistake with the original surface and made too many of them. They didn't make that mistake with the second version and won't make it with this latest one.kyuu - Wednesday, June 25, 2014 - link
I'm sorry, but even going from the base 64GB to the 128GB model, we're talking about a 64GB SSD. Please show me where you can get a 64GB SSD for $22, or where the difference between an SSD's 64GB and 128GB models is $22. We're talking about full-blown SSDs here, not cheap eMMC NAND that you find in Apple and Android tablets.Yes, you are paying a bit of a premium, but *nobody* sells upgraded internals at cost. It's certainly way less gouging than Apple, who charges $100 *just* for 32GB of cheap eMMC NAND. If you're paying $300 more for an upgraded SP3, you're not only getting a bigger SSD and more RAM, but also an upgraded processor.
maliaobama - Tuesday, June 24, 2014 - link
Really bummed about the lack of a touch cover. What no one really understands about the touch cover is that it's a paradigm shift. It required a learning curve, but the lack of keys and the lack of a need to depress them makes it extremely ergonomic. I wrote my last novel on the Surface Touch keyboard and I have terrible RSI and the Touch keyboard has eliminated that. It's incredible. Microsoft needed to tout both this benefit and the notion that the learning curve was worth it. I've owned a Pro 1 and a Pro 2. A Pro 3 is a non-buy for me without the Touch cover.beggerking@yahoo.com - Tuesday, June 24, 2014 - link
excellent review, this is the best ultrabook tablet out there, bar none, will be getting one to replace my SP1.the only con is: still can't charge via Micro usb...
kyuu - Wednesday, June 25, 2014 - link
MicroUSB simply doesn't provide enough current to charge the battery fast enough. You'd be talking 6+ hours to get to 90% charge at the very least, instead of getting to 100% in about 2.5 hours. It's a necessary trade-off.Chakkra - Tuesday, June 24, 2014 - link
Do Surface Pro 3 come with MS Office ?joaoasousa - Tuesday, June 24, 2014 - link
No.basroil - Thursday, June 26, 2014 - link
Yes, in Japan (where the price is $200 more after tax is included)