Surface 3 powered by cherry trail

Vapor chambers are probably heavy for a 600g device, and they'd take away precious battery space.
 
Manufacturers like MS (or Apple) could just put a vapor chamber on the inside of the metal enclosure that makes contact with the SoC, and thermal throttling would basically be a thing of the past. You could ratchet up the performance quite a bit further still with the improved cooling as well. A vapor chamber is dirt simple in its construction as well and very effective (Mac Pro uses three of them around its "thermal core" to dissipate upwards of 500W using a single fan/sink combo...)

I don't mind fanless on the surface 3 as long as the pro line keeps the fan. I have the first surface and even with the fan all the way up I can barely hear it. If the speakers on the pro weren't so horrible I prob would never hear it.

On a $500 surface 3 I certainly don't mind the lack of a fan. But I think it will limit what you can do with it.


Anyway MS had a AMA at reddit . Lot of garbage but here is some choice answers that gaf pulled out

Q7 Does the Surface 3 have a thermal threshold for CPU cutoff like the SP3? I enjoy playing Dota 2 for a couple of hours and this was the one thing I did not want happening, at the already low settings required to play it.Yes we do thermally throttle the CPU on the Surface 3. DOTA2 not specifically tested. We did test Civilization 5 with 4GB SKU at 25+ FPS. Another reference point is 3D Mark Cloud Gate, which shows Surface 3 at ~70% performance of the i3 Surface Pro 3.

Q10 Does the Surface 3 support 4K displays at 60Hz?4K at 30Hz with the Intel X7 Gen8 engine.

Q11 Will the Surface 3 support two 1440p displays via daisy-chained DisplayPort connections?The Surface 3 does not support daisy chaining monitors over DisplayPort. The Pro line is great for folks who need this.

Q12 How is the eMMC performance in comparison to the SP3 SSD? Is it a significant difference?Surface 3 eMMC is about 50% of SP3 SSD. If your workload involves heavy file transfers (like video editing), our recommendation is the SP3.

Q15 Can we convert the charging micro-USB port to a full-size USB port with an adapter, and then plug in any USB device to it?Yes! The micro-USB port charging port also handles USB data.

Q18 Is there a reason why Microsoft only releases locked LTE models?We are doing an unlocked LTE version. Can't say where it will be available yet, but we hear you and in many markets we will have it available. Stay tuned for more!
On software:

Q8 Could I use the Surface 3 for video editing? I don't need to edit videos all the time, but if I do, I'd like to know if the Surface 3 is a good, affordable option to do it without having problems. Thanks
Yes. x86 machine, so apps will run. Best reference point is PC Mark 8 Creative Benchmark which includes video editing performance that is 85% of SP3 i3.

Q13 How would you say the Surface 3 holds up to Photoshop and do you still run the Wacom tech inside for those of us who want to do some drawing? I'm on the fence.Photoshop - Given variety of content and scenarios, best answer is relative to SP3 i3. For PC Mark 8 Creative Tests S3 performance is 80% of SP3 i3. As for the pen - S3 and SP3 both use n-trig technology.
 
Understandable why they use eMMC, but still a shame. 50% of SSD speed isn't bad though. Certainly a LOT better than the eMMC performance in my current tablet which is from ~2012. :D

Can't wait to see reviews of it. After using a 16:9 tablet for so long, I can't wait to get rid of it. Such a horrible aspect ratio for a handheld device if you want to do more than just watch movies.

And 3:2 while not as good as 4:3, IMO, will certainly be an improvement there. I suppose it's the compromise they had to make between offering something to watch movies on and something you can actually use to get work done.

Regards,
SB
 
I want a Surface phone. The 5inch phone in my pocket that I connect a USB keyboard and an MHL monitor to so that it becomes my x86 Cherry Trail desktop.
 
You won't see Cherry Trail in smartphones. That's where something like Moorefield or SoFIA comes into play. Which should be able to handle desktop Office in a smartphone package. You just wouldn't want to run it on the smartphone screen, but on a desktop monitor hooked up to your smartphone.

It'll be interesting to see what Microsoft does with their Lumia line once Windows 10 arrives. I'm sure we'll have the usual ARM SOCs for them, but I'm wondering if they'll consider the Intel SOCs good enough to put into one or two Lumia phones.

Regards,
SB
 
You won't see Cherry Trail in smartphones. That's where something like Moorefield or SoFIA comes into play. Which should be able to handle desktop Office in a smartphone package. You just wouldn't want to run it on the smartphone screen, but on a desktop monitor hooked up to your smartphone.

It'll be interesting to see what Microsoft does with their Lumia line once Windows 10 arrives. I'm sure we'll have the usual ARM SOCs for them, but I'm wondering if they'll consider the Intel SOCs good enough to put into one or two Lumia phones.

Regards,
SB

I would hope we can get bayfield performance in next gen intel phones. I'd love a lumia with one. I'm tired of android at this point. my note 3 has gotten so slow and I need to do resets every few months to keep it up to speed and it seem like every new android release makes it slower and slower. I feel like i'm back on my 386 sometimes.
 
yeah android degrades performance muuuuuuuuch faster than windows (PC and Mobile, dunno about phones) even with even higher amount of RAM.

Start discussion thread about this? it seems the sure-fire performance fix is only nuke the OS from orbit :(
 
I want a Surface phone. The 5inch phone in my pocket that I connect a USB keyboard and an MHL monitor to so that it becomes my x86 Cherry Trail desktop.
Actually, you want it with WiDi so you can do wireless display with a bluetooth keyboard and mouse so that you can have your phone sitting on the charger and still be using it from your desk 10 feet away. :)
 
Prices in my country:
http://www.microsoftstore.com/store/mseea/pt_PT/pdp/productID.314948400#buy-product

610€ ($660) for the 2GB/64GB version
730€ ($790) for the 4G/128GB version

None of them bundles the keyboard cover or the digital pen. Keyboard cover is another 155€ and digital pen is another 55€.


Well screw you too Microsoft. I'll just buy something else from other brand, preferably something with Android now that you spat on my face.
 
Well screw you too Microsoft. I'll just buy something else from other brand, preferably something with Android now that you spat on my face.
Buying an Android tablet somewhat side-steps the point though. If you're considering a surface on x86, the assumed point is that you're looking for x86 application compatibility in tablet form. That's the whole reason the "non-Pro" surfaces sucked for most folks, because simple customers came into it assuming it would work with their existing apps and then became frustrated when it didn't.

If your goal is tablet OS and architecture first and then applications to follow, then Microsoft has mountains of good, cheaper competition. If you want your applications first and the tablet OS and architecture to follow, find your wallet.

There's a sorely obvious reason why Android is able to be cheaper here.
 
Erm... I know.. Don't mind my mini-rant.

And I already own a chinese windows 8.1 tablet with a BayTrail. My only gripes with it are that its wifi connection is terrible so it's useless for Seam In-Home Streaming and the 3.5mm sound output is really, really bad.
Using a USB WiFi ac adapter and the integrated stereo speakers I get a rather good experience, though. The problem with using a USB dongle is that it's the same (only) port used to charge the tablet, so I can only use it for streaming for a rather short time.

I was confident that with this hardware and Windows 10, I was gladly ready to get rid of my Android tablet and the chinese tablet and use only one device. The 4GB version should even be good enough for keeping an Android Virtual Machine for some tablet stuff you can't get on windows.

But 730€ for the 4GB version?! I can get the better specced Dell Venue Pro 7000 with a Core M, 128GB SSD (not eMMC) and 4GB RAM for 660€ today. And at least its 150€ keyboard brings a secondary battery, it's not just an extremely overpriced piece of plastic.

For us europeans, Microsoft just priced this Surface 3 right into oblivion.
 
Ah, well in that case, carry on :)

My original Surface RT meets my tablet needs, and my gaming monstrosity of a desktop PC is mostly meeting my gaming needs (I can always use more GPU, but who doesn't?) I doubt I'll get everything I want out of a converged device, at least not until I'm super old and tired of playing first person shooters. ;)
 
Erm... I know.. Don't mind my mini-rant.

And I already own a chinese windows 8.1 tablet with a BayTrail. My only gripes with it are that its wifi connection is terrible so it's useless for Seam In-Home Streaming and the 3.5mm sound output is really, really bad.
Using a USB WiFi ac adapter and the integrated stereo speakers I get a rather good experience, though. The problem with using a USB dongle is that it's the same (only) port used to charge the tablet, so I can only use it for streaming for a rather short time.

I was confident that with this hardware and Windows 10, I was gladly ready to get rid of my Android tablet and the chinese tablet and use only one device. The 4GB version should even be good enough for keeping an Android Virtual Machine for some tablet stuff you can't get on windows.

But 730€ for the 4GB version?! I can get the better specced Dell Venue Pro 7000 with a Core M, 128GB SSD (not eMMC) and 4GB RAM for 660€ today. And at least its 150€ keyboard brings a secondary battery, it's not just an extremely overpriced piece of plastic.

For us europeans, Microsoft just priced this Surface 3 right into oblivion.

If your going to wait for windows 10 why worry about the price now ? Pro tip , the price will drop by sept.

THe pro 3 with i3 , 64gb storage and 4gb ram was originaly $800 but you can now get it as cheap at $650 as it goes on sale once a month at this point .
 
http://arstechnica.com/gadgets/2015/04/hands-on-with-the-surface-3-its-not-an-ipad-killer/
http://www.pcworld.com/article/2906...indows-and-a-new-cpu-cut-the-compromises.html

surface_3_3dmark_ice_storm_unlimited-100577645-orig.png


surface_3_geekbench_single_core-100577647-orig.png
 
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I'm just waiting for a site to post some battery test numbers. If it comes close to 10 hours, I'll get it. It's a bit expensive for an Atom device, IMO, and it doesn't have an option for a keyboard with extra, battery...but it has a much better aspect ratio than what I expect the competition (Windows Slates) to offer. And that aspect ratio is worth at least a 100-200 USD price premium in my eyes.

It's just a shame that the pen has to be purchased separately.

Regards,
SB
 
I'm just waiting for a site to post some battery test numbers. If it comes close to 10 hours, I'll get it. It's a bit expensive for an Atom device, IMO, and it doesn't have an option for a keyboard with extra, battery...but it has a much better aspect ratio than what I expect the competition (Windows Slates) to offer. And that aspect ratio is worth at least a 100-200 USD price premium in my eyes.

It's just a shame that the pen has to be purchased separately.

Regards,
SB


Micro USB charging means you can use a power brick

http://www.amazon.com/Poweradd-2000...514&sr=8-22&keywords=micro+usb+battery+backup
20,000mAH battery . It will charge an ipad air twice. So that's 32.9 watt-hour charged twice. The pro 3 has a 42Wh battery. I don't think the surface 3 will have that capacity.

I made the mistake of buying the power type cover for the surface 1. It added way to much weight to my unit so I rarely bring it with me. A type cover for the surface 3 would likely do the same in terms of weight.


For anyone who wants the 128/4GB with keyboard and pen COSTCO has it $80 off if you preorder it.
 
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