ummm Why is the Core M3 BETTER than the i5?

[Mpip2016]

I'm an ex surface pro 3 i5 4gb owner. I absolutely hated the fan noise and all the heat. I ended up selling mine back in December. On Monday, I purchased the i5 4gb pro 4 and guess what... still the same issues so I went back and returned it for the Core M

The Core M SEEEMS faster, runs cooler, not sure about battery life or benchmarking but this is something that is bothering me. How could such a "low end" chip give you a better experience? That doesn't seem right.

 

[ParoleGA]

I'm an ex surface pro 3 i5 4gb owner. I absolutely hated the fan noise and all the heat. I ended up selling mine back in December. On Monday, I purchased the i5 4gb pro 4 and guess what... still the same issues so I went back and returned it for the Core M

The Core M SEEEMS faster, runs cooler, not sure about battery life or benchmarking but this is something that is bothering me. How could such a "low end" chip give you a better experience? That doesn't seem right.

There are current bugs that may be contributing to heat and fans running. That aside, an i5 is better than an M3 because it has more computational power, not because it runs cooler. The M3 doesn't need a fan at all, so that should be the first clue the i5 will run warmer and be noisier.

As far as experience; would you rather hang out at a Mensa gathering or a frat party? Low end can often be more fun!

 

[Mpip2016]

I guess I realized I don't really need an i5...so frat party all day!

 

[Martin Zone]

Keep us informed with your M3 performances and experiences, it would be much appreciated!

 

[Rebeska]

Interesting. I hate the heat. I felt the Surface Pro 3 in the store and it was hot. I dislike the idea of a hot tablet.

 

[snakebitten]

I would have bought the M3 intentionally, if it was offered with 8 gigs of Ram.
I am honest with myself about my usage. As analogy, I would use a pickup truck...............

Processor is the engine under the hood (I'm don't need to smoke my tires. A sweet V6 is plenty. No Ecoboost required)
Hard Drive space is the "Size" of the cargo bed (I use the cloud, so a short-bed is plenty)
Ram is the amount of crap I leave in the bed of the truck all the time. (THIS is what I DO benefit from. Allows me to be sloppy)

Alas, I had to get the V8-5liter (I5) under the hood to get the 8 Gigs of Ram. Came with a larger cargo bed too.

The perfect Surface Pro 4 for me is M3/8Gigs/128 And would have been an amazing $value package.

 

[boltman2013]

Not hot its tepid warm to not warm

 

[rory753]

...still the same issues so I went back and returned it for the Core M

I sort of did the same thing. I went from an i5 surface pro 2 to an i3 surface pro3. what i noticed is the fan noise, the camera was worse(more MP but not autofocus, so any doc i pictured was blurry and OCR didnt work). So, i traded it for a surface 3. it's a capable device, but i've noticed it lags a little doing some slightly more graphic intensive things. I am really interested in the new core m processors due to their energy sipping style and lack of fan. I really want to try out a HP spectre x2, with the higher end core m processor, and a real sense 3d scanning camera...

 

[Daniel Rubino]

FYI: We now have a Core m Surface Pro 4 in the house along with the Core i5 we used for the review. We'll be taking a closer look at it this week and I'll be doing some benchmarks over the weekend.

Initial impression: It's a solid device, really impressive. I agree, though, it would have been killer to have an 8GB RAM version.

 

[theefman]

I sort of did the same thing. I went from an i5 surface pro 2 to an i3 surface pro3. what i noticed is the fan noise, the camera was worse(more MP but not autofocus, so any doc i pictured was blurry and OCR didnt work). So, i traded it for a surface 3. it's a capable device, but i've noticed it lags a little doing some slightly more graphic intensive things. I am really interested in the new core m processors due to their energy sipping style and lack of fan. I really want to try out a HP spectre x2, with the higher end core m processor, and a real sense 3d scanning camera...

So you still got fan noise with the i3 SP3? That's disappointing to hear.

 

[rory753]

So you still got fan noise with the i3 SP3? That's disappointing to hear.

I did, thought admittedly not as much as my wife's i7 sp3

 

[theefman]

I did, thought admittedly not as much as my wife's i7 sp3

Thanks for the confirmation. Guess the current generation of devices are out for me then.

 

[badMojo69]

Crazy that the fan has to kick on as soon as I fire up HearthStone. I'm like really, my S3 and Ipad play it just fine, so why does my I5 SP4 need to ramp up so high.

 

[Rebeska]

I will probably buy the new Dell XPS 12 or a traditional laptop (Dell XPS 13).
Dell XPS 12 comes with Intel Core M Skylake SoC and optional LTE.

I have really considered the Surface Pro 4 and Surface Book, but I see more benefits of the Dell XPS.

Dell XPS series looks very nice too!

 

[DCProjMgr]

​If you need more computing power, the Dell XPS 13 uses the 4 core Skylark processors rather than the low power duel cores in the SP4 and SB.

 

[boltman2013]

But its "just a Dell" and not a Surface.... trust me the Dell just run your hand around the outer edge of the screen and feel the lip and do the same to any surface and feel perfection... you will see the quality is in surface not Dell. I spent hours comparing all the OEM stuff with Surface..get Surface and you will thank me later.

Do not get spec enamored with i7 or 4 core skylake look at quality first at these prices. Nothing and I mean nothing eclipses Surface in any brand. If it does not have Windows Hello and pen support in this day and age just say NO say yes to Surface.

 

[badMojo69]

I might send my i5 and pick this up after the bugs get worked out. I can't stand the fan coming on from watching videos in bed at night. The only thing holding me back is the 4gb. But I can trade in my old RT and with the student discount save about $300, so there is that.

 

[boltman2013]

Do it the 4GB is absolutely fine and you want he m3 also get a Microsoft 3600 mobile mouse it uses Smart BT and frees the port plus saves on battery over other mice.

 

[anon(5383410)]

I like the truck analogy and would take it a step further. The beefier the engine the nosier it'll be whether you're driving 30mph or 80. It needs juice to operate. If the noise bothers you and you're only going to use it to drive to work then you might want to consider a Prius. I lived next to someone with a motorcycle for a while and felt like cracking open a bottle of champagne when he moved.

 

[sundry]

FYI: We now have a Core m Surface Pro 4 in the house along with the Core i5 we used for the review. We'll be taking a closer look at it this week and I'll be doing some benchmarks over the weekend.

Initial impression: It's a solid device, really impressive. I agree, though, it would have been killer to have an 8GB RAM version.

Could you look into possible accessory compatibility issues with the core m. For instance docking stations or any powered accessory, because it uses a much lower wattage power supply. i'm considering returning mine to get the regular core i just for this reason.