The Microsoft Surface Book Review
by Brett Howse on November 10, 2015 8:00 AM ESTCompute with the Surface Book
When discussing Ultrabooks, the word Compute doesn’t get thrown around very often, and for good reason. Even the MacBook Pro 13 only comes with Intel Iris graphics (no GT3e yet) and although Intel’s GPUs have been a priority over the last couple of generations, just like in gaming there is only so much you can do when your TDP is shared with the processor.
With Surface Book, there is more of an opportunity here. If you opt for the model with the NVIDIA GPU, you gain access to CUDA, which is NVIDIA’s parallel computing platform. Quite a few applications that need strong parallel processing have CUDA available as an option. Adobe, for instance, has CUDA support in many of their professional products like Photoshop, After Effects, Premier Pro, and more. NVIDIA lists hundreds of applications on their site which can benefit from GPU compute power, and there are also OpenCL applications as well which would benefit from the more powerful dGPU.
Expectations need to be put in check of course, because the GPU available in the Surface Book is not a workstation class GPU, so we shall see how it compares on these types of tasks. This is not an area where we have an extensive database of other devices, and normally compute is not a heavy focus for Ultrabook reviews, but I feel the Surface Book may find a niche with content creators so it’s worth examining.
Compubench
From the makers of GFXBench is Compubench, and like GFXBench, there are a number of tests which can be completed with either the CPU only, or by choosing a GPU.
The results are a bit mixed. Some of the tests respond very well to having the NVIDIA GPU, but some of the others don’t get as much of a benefit. But where the GPU helps, it can help a lot. Several of the tasks are 50% faster, and the Video Composition sub-test is 212% faster on the discrete GPU.
Agisoft Photscan
This software performs photogrammetric processing of images, and it has an option to use the GPU or just standalone with the CPU. Of the entire benchmark, only one section actually leverages the GPU functions so that test has been highlighted.
Even the one accelerated test still only shows a 5% decrease in time with the GPU being used. This highlights that even though a task may be accelerated with the GPU, the overall impact may not always be what you are expecting, since not all tasks can be done in parallel.
Using the Surface Book NVIDIA GPU for Compute
There is no doubt that if you are performing work that supports CUDA, the NVIDIA option on the Surface Book is going to make an impact. The question of course is how much. Applications such as those from Adobe do leverage CUDA, but it’s not for all tasks. This is kind of the issue with considering the GPU for compute. If you are someone who uses Adobe Premiere on the go, and need something smaller than a typical workstation class notebook, the GPU is going to help out, but since it doesn’t get leveraged for all tasks, it is very dependent on the exact task that you are performing.
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s.yu - Sunday, November 15, 2015 - link
Many ultrabook displays cover the same color gamut with just as good color and greyscale Delta E They're calibrated, they just don't advertise it so much. You're fooled by MS. As for 13.5" 3:2, 14" 16:9 is similar and you could get more done on the new XPS15's 15.6" screen, with more screen and less bezel.450nits, yeah that's unique, however quite useless. It's like Xperia Z4's ~800nits panel, nobody needs that much and sunlight visibility ends up slightly worse than S6's panel which topped at ~600nits. I just got a new panel for my notebook because the old one leaked liquid crystal. It's much brighter and sometimes seemed too vibrant (I admit it's 95% AdobeRGB) when displaying some saturated colors, which reminded me how much the old one's backlight aged in 3 years, but when I calibrated it, Spyder showed that it was only 194nits, I couldn't believe it as I was almost sure it's over 250nits just looking at it with my bare eyes, so I'm positive that I'll never need anything past 250nits on a notebook.
The narrow gamut on the MSB however, couldn't be made up for.
ninjacut - Tuesday, November 10, 2015 - link
After coming from Dell, Lenovo, HP I always wanted Microsoft to build their own laptop. So the Surface Book announcement was very exciting.The good technical part was covered well by Anandtech, with some gaps around pen, etc. with some obvious Apple bias creeping. But I don't agree with the conclusion. After the Nov 2 update, I have no issues with the unit. On the contrary, having used the device last 2 weeks made me realize how productive this device is.
I am impressed with the keyboard, touchpad, pen very superior to any earlier experience. The display is awesome in size and richness. Biggest surprise was how light is the display unit in tablet mode, hard to realize it has a Core i7 running with 8GB and 256 SSD.
In one of my recent meetings, I just removed the display and handed over to the client to go through some dashboards and he was flabbergasted. The meeting turned out very positive.
This unit is a keeper, and if the updates come in regularly I never will buy any other OEM laptop for sure
Cobalt Wraith - Tuesday, November 10, 2015 - link
Dito, in the same book and have not encountered any of the allegedly prevalent problems.s.yu - Wednesday, November 11, 2015 - link
Go on Amazon to read the amazing number of 1 star reviews. Some complained a great deal but gave 3-4 stars out of decency.solipsism - Tuesday, November 10, 2015 - link
1) I'm glad to see that the trackpad feel and firmware is decent.2) I don't know if it comes to down to a lack of volume or a lack of expertise, but MS's horrible use of space on their logic boards repeatedly wastes a shitload of space that could reduce the device volume, reduce the weight, and/or allow for a larger battery.
nikon133 - Tuesday, November 10, 2015 - link
Leaving space for next gen improvements? :)nerd1 - Tuesday, November 10, 2015 - link
Returning mine soon. May get thinkpad 460 instead.Teknobug - Tuesday, November 10, 2015 - link
Got my eye on HP Spectre x360 or Dell 13 7000, but saw the Yoga 3 Pro too.nerd1 - Tuesday, November 10, 2015 - link
x360 is a really nice device. Good build, nice screen (even 1080p), good keyboard and big battery. I don't like the weird trackpad (still usable though) and garbage synaptics pen though.It will be great if HP release a new x360 with 3:2 screen and wacom AES pen. I'd gladly pay $1500 if they make one.
GeorgeH - Tuesday, November 10, 2015 - link
I'm going to be "that guy".1) Not putting any information about the competing laptops (esp. CPU) makes the performance comparisons almost completely worthless, especially when you consider how sensitive U-series CPUs can be to their thermal solution and firmware configuration. I could of course assume that they are specced as tested in previous AT reviews, but why should I be doing that work?
2) A “bunch of battery” doesn't just disappear (conclusions). Either the battery life indication is bad or you’re not properly conducting/controlling the test. The fact that the Book’s fans became audible and very hot when closed makes me guess that Windows detected an idle state and was doing background tasks. That further tells me that the tests probably weren’t properly controlled and have significant margins of error.
3) I understand you no longer have review models in house, but there’s absolutely no mention of different Windows versions (or CPU/hardware differences) in your battery life tests (I know Win8/10 are almost identical, but still). Could the Book’s superior life be due to Windows 10, OS optimization work Microsoft did specifically for the Book, generational CPU improvements, or something else? Any of those could have been addressed and/or tested for, but instead we get an insipid “dunno, GDDR5?” statement. When we consider the fact that the GPU is undockable and that this device is therefore uniquely capable of a rough analysis of how adding a discrete GPU affects laptop battery life, that kind of “hell if I know” statement is even more ludicrous.
This was an OK review when compared to the raft of “long forum post” reviews available elsewhere, but very disappointing in relation to what I expect from an AT review.