Is the Surface Pro for me?

[wonderchild]

Hi Guys,

I'm in the process of figuring out if the Surface Pro 3 is for me. Currently I have an iPad (actually just sold it) and a MacBook Pro 15" Retina (That I JUST bought). But I really want both of these devices melted into one. And that's why I'm looking at the Surface Pro 3. I'll mostly use it at home, in a dock connected to one (two at some point) monitor, browsing the web and just day to day personal stuff on it. I'll take it to work, for the occasional note taking (have a dedicated work laptop, from the company). And then I'll use it as an eReader at home and on travel.

My biggest concern right now is, that I'm also going to use it to Play Counter Strike Global Offensive with some friends, and I'm worried about the throttling. I'll play in 800x600, with most of the setting on low, so my main question is, if the throttling will make it impossible to play competitive games online for an extended period of time, because of the heat? And can it be mitigated with a USB fan?

Hope you guys can help!

Jonas

 

[James8561]

My SP3 i5 8GB can run l4d2 on medium high settings at 1280x800 rest fluidly. IDK about throttling haven't actually played that long. But since both games are on the same engine, you'll be fine. In fact you'll be fine with any source game since that engine is ancient so anything can run it.
As you can see, it can get pretty darn hot and uses in excess of 20W, but just keep it in a cool environment while plugged in and you'll be fine. This was after 20min of l4d2. No performance degradation perceived

 

[wonderchild]

Thank you James!

One additional thing; Which model should I get? Im fairly confident in getting one with 8GB RAM, but should I get i7 or can I get by with the i5?

 

[James8561]

If you have the extra cash to spend, $300, I'd go i7 because of better graphics and cooler CPU (literally and figuratively. "OMG a tablet with i7!")
But the best value is in the i5 because the performance difference is only around 10-15% for $300

 

[kenjancef]

If you have the extra cash to spend, $300, I'd go i7 because of better graphics and cooler CPU (literally and figuratively. "OMG a tablet with i7!")
But the best value is in the i5 because the performance difference is only around 10-15% for $300

I have the i5/128, and I'm probably going to return it for the i7/256, for just what you said, graphics and CPU...

 

[cgavula]

I have to agree. I have the i5 with 256GB and it is great, but I occasionally wish I'd gotten the i7.

 

[wonderchild]

Thank you very much guys! I finally got my MacBook sold, so I'll be looking for the i7, 256GB with 8GB of RAM in the very near future.