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Surface Pro Gaming.

Diablo 3 is playable on my SP3 i7. At half screen resolution and all effects turned to low, I can get 30-40fps, dropping to the 20s in busy scenes.
 
How big is the difference? I was thinking i7 to future proof myself a little bit. Any idea when the Surface 4 might be out? Not trying to derail the thread but thought I'd ask.

If they continue the 9 month release cycle, Surface 4 will almost definitely release in the summer or early fall.

As long as you're not doing anything *super* intensive, battery life should be fine; but, obviously, if you're gaming on battery, expect some drainage.
 
How big is the difference? I was thinking i7 to future proof myself a little bit. Any idea when the Surface 4 might be out? Not trying to derail the thread but thought I'd ask.

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http://cpuboss.com/cpus/Intel-Core-i7-4650U-vs-Intel-Core-i5-4300U

Pro 4 should have already released based on the release cycle of the previous 3 it was more than likely delayed for windows 10
 
Sorry for derailing there, how do Shadowrun Returns and Dragonfall run? Anyone get a chance to test those two?
 
I can confirm that Speedrunners, Nidhogg and Towerfall: Ascension run perfectly on the Surface Pro 3.

But unfortunately, I can't tell you what processor it was using as it wasn't my Surface 3. I can't imagine that any of those games would even have issues running on the i3 though.
 
I can confirm that Speedrunners, Nidhogg and Towerfall: Ascension run perfectly on the Surface Pro 3.

But unfortunately, I can't tell you what processor it was using as it wasn't my Surface 3. I can't imagine that any of those games would even have issues running on the i3 though.

Ill list them as i5 just to be on the safe side.
 
Alright, so I'm having a bit of an issue. I'm idling on the desktop and I'm using over 40% of my available ram. The only other thing running is Avast and thats only taking up a few megabytes the rest of it is windows services.

Has anyone else had this issue? If so what is your solution?
 
Alright, so I'm having a bit of an issue. I'm idling on the desktop and I'm using over 40% of my available ram. The only other thing running is Avast and thats only taking up a few megabytes the rest of it is windows services.

Has anyone else had this issue? If so what is your solution?

RAM is meant to be used. If you're not getting mem leaks or performance issues I wouldn't worry about it. Windows likes to corner off a chuck of RAM but if something memory hungry (chrome) comes by it's usually allocated away. I'll try and remember to check my idle ram, but 40% doesn't seem too bad especially if it's the 4GB
 
Alright, so I'm having a bit of an issue. I'm idling on the desktop and I'm using over 40% of my available ram. The only other thing running is Avast and thats only taking up a few megabytes the rest of it is windows services.

Has anyone else had this issue? If so what is your solution?

Sounds about right. Regular browsing generally takes up around 30-40% ram, even if you have more of it (it's the same on my laptop with 8 and a school computer with 4). If something needs memory, it'll start deactivating stuff like indexing.
 
So is the word on the street that the Surface Pro 4 will be 4 core i7?

Hoping for moooore power.


Finger print reader and cellular data would also be nice.
 
Sounds about right. Regular browsing generally takes up around 30-40% ram, even if you have more of it (it's the same on my laptop with 8 and a school computer with 4). If something needs memory, it'll start deactivating stuff like indexing.

Regular browsing it goes into the 50-60% range with a flash video playing it can exceed 70% and the videos start stuttering. I know it's not my CPU because it barely goes above 10% utilization while the video is playing. Oddly enough it happens more in Chrome than firefox.

I can't say I'm having performance issues outside of flash though (and flash is typically garbage from a performance perspective) so it might not be anything to worry about. To put it in perspective I had 10 firefox tabs open. Notepad++ running, renpy, and photoshop CS64 bit with no hang ups. So I guess it's just flash.

It strikes me as odd because I'm exceeding 2GB usage regularly on this tablet while browsing but my old 2GB tablet never even came close to running out of memory with the same stuff running.

Does windows dynamically free up resources when needed?

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Never forget
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What's kantai collection? If it's a specific game can you give me some general settings and your surface pro model and I'll add it to the OP? I think that photo says surface 2 (which would be non pro?) but I don't want to make assumptions.
 
I'd like to keep the prices down, thanks. I don't really see the need for a finger print scanner.


Finger print scanner on my phone is one of my favorite features. Saves a ton of time.



And the surface pro 3 goes all the way to 1800+ bucks. Premium features for higher end models would be par for the course.
 
OG SP1 owner chiming in. WoW runs absolutely great on it, even Ashran. I tried the FF14 trial on it as well and outside of towns the game is VERY playable. Not the best obviously but instances areas run well and the effects are still nice. Otherwise the thing has been a Hearthstone machine for like the last year and a half. Sucks they changed the win8 touch functionality a bit.
 
OG SP1 owner chiming in. WoW runs absolutely great on it, even Ashran. I tried the FF14 trial on it as well and outside of towns the game is VERY playable. Not the best obviously but instances areas run well and the effects are still nice. Otherwise the thing has been a Hearthstone machine for like the last year and a half. Sucks they changed the win8 touch functionality a bit.

Is WoW on all low?
 
Is WoW on all low?

Definitely not all low but I play it safe with some stuff. I turn shadows off in all games because who the fuck cares about shadows. I'll post basic setting info later.. But I've done high end pvp and raiding on it with no issue. The pro's screen makes wow look really, really good. The issues would be it must always be plugged in, the fan is full blast as the system is hot, and you need a USB splitter to plug everything in. Mine has an ethernet port too.
 
Wish that Square would add touch support to their Final Fantasy games for PC. I want to play the older Final Fantasy games on my Pro 3 without needing to pull out the typecover.
 
Awesome thread.

Another thing you might want to add emulators such as Dolphin and PCSX2. Would be nice to have Project M on the go if its possible.
 
Played and finished Alien:Isolation on my SP3 i5. Ran surprisingly smooth and without any issues. Lovely little machine! Lovely game, too.

Also played Bioshock Infinite and Tomb Raider 2013 on the same machine, both running really well.
 
Been playing Endless Legend on my S3 i7. Had to bump down to 1440x900 and turn off effects for it to run smooth enough enough to play for me. Good times.
 
Just wanted to add a few games to the list. I'm running a Surface Pro 2.

These run noticeably slower (but can be playable if graphic settings are adjusted):
Ultra Street Fighter (occasionally has some input lag)
Crypt of the Necrodancer (calibrate to make it playable)
Counterstrike GO
Crimzon Clover
Jamestown
Guild Wars 2
Civilization 5


These run fine:
Hotline Miami
Samurai Gun,
Terraria,
Starbound,
Don't Starve,
Hunie Pop
Towerfall


Emulators run well too:
Final Burn Alpha,
Mame, (works really well with vertical oriented shmups)
Snes9x,
EPSXE
 
I ran Arkham City on my SP3 i5, I think it was at 720 res, and lowish settings, but the fps was alright. Definitely playable.

I also ran Shadow of Mordor, at very low settings, fps wasn't the best but still playable when bored in a hotel room
 
I don't think there have ever been credible Surface rumors that I'm aware of. There were Surface Mini (obvious guess) rumors for like a full year that never amounted to anything, most of the Surface Pro 3's awesome improvements were out of the blue. If you search there are alleged "surface pro 4" rumors, amusingly enough right next to the "microsoft to stop making Surfaces???" and "surface mini" rumors which seem to be bullshit guesses.

But they'll almost certainly announce one this year for windows 10 if they're still doing annual ones. That's late in the year so why would the announce it now?

Yeah, i think Win 10 will be the trigger for the next surface.. bummer, really wanted to upgrade. I'm now going to convince myself that patience is indeed a virtue ! dammit.
 
8" Surface Pro Mini with Core M (fanless).
12" Surface Pro 4 with Broadwell i3/i5/i7 models.

Shipping with Windows 10 in June/July.

Source: My anus.
 
So here is my "dilemma."
I did not realize the new Surface Pro 4 was rumored to be right around the corner.
My fault for not doing better research perhaps.
My Pro 3 is not even a week old, I can return it.
So the big question is should I?
I know with technology if you play the waiting game you will never buy anything, but that rumored upgrade to 16 GB of RAM would help massively since my main purpose is Photos hop and Illustrator. As would a larger screen.
But are rumors enough to wait at least 3 months? I am a patient person and still have other computers to use in the interim.
What does GAF say?
 
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