Should I return my i5 for an M3 model?

[saintforlife]

I haven't even received my SP4 yet, but the heating and excessive fan noise are bothering me already.

I am a light user - web browsing, Netflix, YouTube streaming and office apps. The most resource intensive task I do on the machine might be some Excel work with sheets with a couple of thousands lines of data.

Should I have got the M3 to begin with? I went with the i5 because I wanted it to be a little future proof. But fan noise when streaming YouTube of Netflix when I'm in bed is a deal breaker for me.

Thoughts?

 

[GatsbyGlen]

I have an i5 and fan/noise is not an issue with youtube, Netflix or browsing. The only time I heard the fan was initial setup, installing office, syncing OneDrive initially and benchmarking.

 

[ryankelsey7]

I've never heard the fan on my i5, but I wouldn't care if it did come on. The speakers on this thing are crazy good.

 

[badMojo69]

I was going to but decided against it especially after yesterdays firmware update. Most issues have been resolved for me.
Passive cooling is now on, no more display driver issues and no more heat. I had if off the charger last night and have about the same amount of juice this morning. I blame windows hello for the battery drain/heat issues I was having. I have it off now. I did notice a slight whisper of fan after hours of youtube with several app open. I closed some windows and the whisper went away.

 

[theefman]

I would go with the M3. Once a device has a fan inevitably it will come on. I had an i5 SP3 and most people said theirs was silent too but i had tons of fan noise especially during the winter with the heating on so while others said they had none i had it almost all the time.

 

[ioaniro]

In my opinion if you already ordered the i5 and assuming you can return it afterwards, I would first test it and see if it lives to your expectations. You should have a 2 weeks window (or more depending on where you get it from) to return it free of charge I think?

Edit: I would also be interested in the M3 but with 256 SSD and optional 8gb ram something you can't configure atm

 

[GatsbyGlen]

I've never heard the fan on my i5, but I wouldn't care if it did come on. The speakers on this thing are crazy good.

You might, it's pretty damn loud when it kicks on

 

[GatsbyGlen]

In my opinion if you already ordered the i5 and assuming you can return it afterwards, I would first test it and see if it lives to your expectations. You should have a 2 weeks window (or more depending on where you get it from) to return it free of charge I think?

Edit: I would also be interested in the M3 but with 256 SSD and optional 8gb ram something you can't configure atm

I agree with testing it first. I have another 7 or 8 days to test mine - who knows, maybe I'll return it

As for the M3, does anyone know or can say what model SSD came with theirs (Toshiba vs Samsung)? There are some threads out there that suggest it comes with a slower SSD than the i5 model, but that's by bench-marking standards and not by "would you really notice it".

 

[DCProjMgr]

Yes! Get the Core M. It is perfect for your use case and you are throwing away battery life feeding processor and RAM that isn't making your experience any better.

 

[boltman2013]

Get the M3....

Max temp 42 (without any fans)
Avg running 32

Its the PERFECT processor for this device and 9.9 Wei on 3d Graphics
i5 will not be worth $100 extra and come with fans and more power draw and heat...less moving parts the better and the M3 is absolutely silent.

 

[Derman]

for what it's worth...

My i5 was a brick and - based on comments - I returned it for the M3. I'm doing similar usage - MS office apps, web, and streaming. The fanless design of the M3 really sold me - my SP2 heats up and the fan gets going, so I would expect that to continue with the i5 and i7 models. And I saved $600.

 

[Christopher Senn1]

Is it me or are the M3 fans totally overlooking the possibility of getting the much cheaper and highly rated Surface 3 instead?

Why get Pro4 instead of the Surface 3 if you arent going to utilize the i5 or i7?

 

[boltman2013]

Is it me or are the M3 fans totally overlooking the possibility of getting the much cheaper and highly rated Surface 3 instead?

Why get Pro4 instead of the Surface 3 if you arent going to utilize the i5 or i7?

Display, processor , size, keyboard and capabilities?

i5 and i7 are overrated in the SP..the M3 is quite fast enough. At several hundred over the S3 too get all the above is a no brainer.

 

[mertzi]

Is it me or are the M3 fans totally overlooking the possibility of getting the much cheaper and highly rated Surface 3 instead?

Why get Pro4 instead of the Surface 3 if you arent going to utilize the i5 or i7?

6Y30 is 3 times faster than Z8500. Benchmarks are scarce but it's somewhere between last gen i3 and i5.

 

[badMojo69]

If it came in 8 and 256 gb configurations i'd say yes and for most normal tablet use i'd still say yes.
For someone that likes to run vm's and do some gaming I have to say go with the i5.

From I have read the m does run hotter than the i5, but that is the trade off for no fan.
Microsoft Corporation Surface 3 vs Microsoft Corporation Surface Pro 4 - Geekbench Browser

Vs the old S3 which is what I have and it would have been a great base upgrade for me, but I wanted more.

 

[boltman2013]

If it came in 8 and 256 gb configurations i'd say yes and for most normal tablet use i'd still say yes.
For someone that likes to run vm's and do some gaming I have to say go with the i5.

From I have read the m does run hotter than the i5, but that is the trade off for no fan.
Microsoft Corporation Surface 3 vs Microsoft Corporation Surface Pro 4 - Geekbench Browser

Vs the old S3 which is what I have and it would have been a great base upgrade for me, but I wanted more.

Hotter? My M3 has never gone above 45 C...and usually operates at 37 with a low of 30
At most the back can be described as tepid warm like a cup of tea that has been sitting for a while and not warm like you would drink tea

 

[badMojo69]

Depends on what you're doing. If its gaming with no fan it will run hotter.

 

[Witness]

Should I have got the M3 to begin with? I went with the i5 because...

Thoughts?

Just came here to say that when I saw the post's title, I wondered why the top thread at the moment was about the BMW i5 vs BMW M3. :grincry:

 

[Geo Hutchings]

I haven't even received my SP4 yet, but the heating and excessive fan noise are bothering me already.

I am a light user - web browsing, Netflix, YouTube streaming and office apps. The most resource intensive task I do on the machine might be some Excel work with sheets with a couple of thousands lines of data.

Should I have got the M3 to begin with? I went with the i5 because I wanted it to be a little future proof. But fan noise when streaming YouTube of Netflix when I'm in bed is a deal breaker for me.

Thoughts?

You can put it in to power saying thus no fan noise, its what I do on my surface pro 3

 

[Geo Hutchings]

SURFACE PRO 3


In power saving it runs at 1.08 GHz about 35-41c fan off
.

High performance 2.65ghz 60-70c fan turns on

I clocked it to 1.4ghz which feels much better but still cool and no fans