Surface pro 3 i7 or surface pro 4 i5?

Guest · Oct 22, 2015

Hi guys, I'm looking at buying a surface pro for university next year, though I can't decide between the pro 3 and the pro 4. My budget is around $2000 AUD, which will get me a pro 3 with an i7 or a pro 4 with an i5.

From what all the reviews are saying, the significantly good improvement with the pro 4 is the keyboard, which I can use on a pro 3 anyway.

So really it comes down to the processor and the pen. Is the i7 in the pro 3 significantly faster/better than the i5 in the pro 4? Also would you expect the new surface pen + pixelsense to be a significant improvement?

Most of the work I will be doing with the surface is note taking and drawing with the pen.

Any help/advice would be greatly appreciated.

profoundnoah · Oct 22, 2015

Well, as with many generations its better to get the flagship version of the previous version rather than a lower-grade solution of a newer generation. Example: I'd rather have an i7 2600k than an i5 4690k. But for your needs it seems an i5 will be just fine. Also, since the newer generations have somewhat of a refined keyboard/pen interface, I'd recommend the surface 4 if its just for notetaking.

jaguarskx · Oct 22, 2015

Specs wise, the Surface Pro 4 has a better CPU and integrated graphics. The Haswell i7-4650u has a clock speed that ranges between 1.7GHz to 3.3GHz depending on CPU demand. The new Skylake i5-6300u has a clock speed of 2.4GHz to 3.0GHz. The i5 has a higher minimum clock speed than the i7; both can go much lower than that when idling. The i7 does have a higher maximum turbo boost clock speed, but only benefits you when the CPU is being stressed. Also, the Intel has increased with the new Skylake CPUs so a 3.0GHz Skylake CPU would be about equal to a Haswell CPU running at 3.2GHz so there is not much of a performance difference there.

Skylake CPUs also draws less power so you should get better battery assuming all other things remains equal.

The integrated GPU in the Skylake i5-6300k CPU is also a bit more powerful than what's in the Haswell i7-4650u CPU. But based on what you do, that should not really make much of a difference.

Regarding "Pixelsense" you will just have to read / watch reviews to find out that information. One Youtube channel that I watch is MobileTechReview. There is no review of the Surface Pro 4, but I am sure there will be. Of course you can always Google for reviews to find out that bit of info.

https

/www.youtube.com/channel/UCW6J17hZ_Vgr6cQgd_kHt5A

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Surface pro 3 i7 or surface pro 4 i5?

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