Surface Pro 4 vs. Book processors

[Snoops8]

Are the i5/i7 CPUs for the Surface Pro 4 the same as the i5/i7 CPUs in the Surface Book? I know the Surface Book has a discrete GPU for most versions, but is the CPU the same model for each? They are both Skylake processors, but there are different versions of mobile i5/i7. One person told me Surface Book utilizes the -H version, and someone else told me they both use the -U version.

 

[vladi]

Both U dual core

 

[Talldog]

PC World has an interesting article about the chips used in the Book and the SP4. The SP4 actually has a slightly better I7 chip using the Iris graphics, whereas the Book has the 520 graphics. Since the only I7 Book models have the GPU, it would only matter in clipboard mode.

Here are the details of the Surface Book and Surface Pro 4 chips, and why they matter | PCWorld

 

[vladi]

PC World has an interesting article about the chips used in the Book and the SP4. The SP4 actually has a slightly better I7 chip using the Iris graphics, whereas the Book has the 520 graphics. Since the only I7 Book models have the GPU, it would only matter in clipboard mode.

Here are the details of the Surface Book and Surface Pro 4 chips, and why they matter | PCWorld

Iris or HD doesn't matter much, the only one that makes the difference is Iris Pro and thus far no Skylake with Iris Pro have been announced. Probably one of the reasons why MSFT went with custom Nvidia GPU in SB which itself is probably mid-range GPU just like current Iris Pro line.

 

[Snoops8]

Thanks for the info guys!

 

[taymur]

What i don't understand...

Why buy the book that does not have a GPU? Just to have a keyboard? :S I know they have more than 60% of the battery down there, but this is just confusing to buyers.

Choice sometimes is not that good.

 

[Talldog]

Why buy the book that does not have a GPU?

If the Book had (much) better battery life in clipboard mode and I couldn't afford the GPU model, I'd buy it for the screen size and the real keyboard. If I'm not mistaken, most notebooks have integrated graphics. It would still be better than most things out there.

 

[taymur]

@Talldog, At this point, its like buying a keyboard with batteries for $400

 

[Talldog]

@Talldog, At this point, its like buying a keyboard with batteries for $400

Well, we really don't know what the cost of the keyboard portion of the Book is, because MS hasn't broken it out. All we know for sure is that the GPU adds another $200. However, given that the Surface Pro 4 keyboard (the one without the fingerprint reader) goes for $130, you would think that the Book keyboard would be worth quite a bit more.

Assuming the $400 figure is reasonable though, that means you're paying $600 for a keyboard, batteries and a GPU chip. Everyone's assuming the Nvidia chip in the Book is based on the 950. You can buy complete graphics cards on Amazon using the 950 chip for $160 - $180, so I'm not sure that the value proposition changes based on whether or not you get the GPU.