3DMarks Scores of Surface Pro 3 Models (i3/i5/i7)

[toaf]

Atari Jaguar. dont you dare poke fun of that. (tempest 2000, defender 2000) those games where nuts. Tom and Jerry for the win!

 

[mitchellvii]

Lol, luckily I don't run benchmarks or try to stress out my CPU for a living. I do however use Office, browse the web, send emails and take written notes and for that (it's intended use), SP3 is aces.

Repeat after me. The SP3 is NOT intended to replace your desktop with water cooling, 5 fans and a $600 video card. It does what it is intended to do better than any other device on the market.

 

[mitchellvii]

As far as comparisons to the iPad and the competing marketplaces, 90% of the apps in the Apple Market are basically trying to be Office. Office already IS Office and hence we don't need 20,000 apps faking it. Games? Honestly, if you want to game, buy a damned desktop with a video card and do it like a man. The SP3 is for work baby. The price to a professional who makes money using this device is immaterial. The #1 question (by a mile) is, does the damn thing do the work I need done and which CPU/SSD size answers that question the best for my use case?

 

[Tuck]

Hi all, I just got my SP3 yesterday and just registered to this forum. My model is the i5 4GB SP3. Yesterday I ran 3Dmark to do a benchmark and the scores only came out to be 278 for fire strike and 27182 for Ice storm, I am convinced that this result is abnormal, is there anything wrong that i'm doing?

http://www.3dmark.com/is/2253582
This is the link to the snowstorm result

 

[Liam2349]

I think SP2 still has its place, but for most people, I'd recommend SP3 over it.

 

[megatronium]

I'm sometimes surprised at how contentious these debates can become (and admittedly, I've been a participant in a few myself). Particularly, they seem to result from folks who aren't happy about a device and who feel it necessary to post their displeasure in a forum dedicated to users of said device.

Sometimes, the posters are legitimately, honestly calling for assistance, and those should be welcomed and addressed accordingly. Often, the only answer that can be given is, "Sorry, but this isn't the device for you." How that response is taken is often telling.

Other times, though, posters are merely complaining, even attacking the manufacturer--even though a forum like this isn't run by the manufacturer and isn't even necessarily likely to be visited by manufacturer representatives. And when such representatives do visit forums, they're often lambasted. It's a lose-lost proposition.

So, in the latter case, what's the point in posting here? Is it merely to vent? If so, then I say: start a blog, or post there if you already have one. Is it to disrupt the ability for those who enjoy their devices to do so in peace? Sure, one isn't forced to read any given posts, but often the most egregious post is buried smack dab in the middle of a thread on some other topic (often completely unrelated). And so, intended or not, such disruption occurs, and we end up with these sorts of contentious debates.

I say, with regard to the SP3: Microsoft hasn't outright lied to anyone, nor (I believe) intentionally misled. Saying that the SP3 is a "great gaming experience" is true within the context of the device--does anyone really expect it to perform as well as a dedicated gaming notebook, or a desktop? Does Microsoft imply that it will? I don't think so, and I know that I've enjoyed a bit of casual gaming on my SP3 that's at least as good as on my Android tablet. It's definitely more than I expected from such a powerful machine that's about as thin as my smartphone.

The bottom line is that Microsoft has a 30-day return policy (and Best Buy a 14-day return, and whomever else) for a reason. That's specifically so that the buyer has time to evaluate the SP3 before committing to the purchase. That's much more than we get with automobiles, for example, which have no return policy at all and represent orders of magnitude larger investments--and which are fraught with just as many potential misperceptions. I know of people who expect their BMW to perform just as well in their amateur hands as it does for the professionals who write about it in the pages of Motor Trend. And they're just as angry when it doesn't, with no redress.

It really does seem like some folks are mad not because Microsoft has misrepresented the SP3, but because it simply doesn't perform as well as they'd like. They want a .36' thin machine that can run benchmark after benchmark without throttling, when many (myself definitely included) are plenty happy with the SP3's performance even if it is throttling to some degree.

That throttling, to the extent that it occurs, is less intrusive than the limiter on my G37 that cuts out the engine when I exceed 7200 RPM. And I'm okay with it, because with my car, I recognize that the engine isn't a Ferrari's and so I can't expect it to perform like one. If I wanted a Ferrari (and could afford it), then I should just buy one. The same goes for my SP3.

Excellent post and a lot of what I've been preaching to the choir!

 

[drsqueggy]

Had a little play with my Surface Pro 3 i5 256gb today. I was unhappy with my initial 3dmark 11 performance benchmark result of 854 so I had a little play with things.

1280x720 - benchmark tests only, centred.

Here is a list of results with stock graphics driver and connected standby on.

Stock benchmark - 854
Undervolted -50 on preinstalled graphics driver with C/S - 921
Undervolted -60 on preinstalled graphics driver with C/S - 952
Undervolted -75 on preinstalled graphics driver with C/S -961
Undervolted -100 on preinstalled graphics driver with C/S - System Restart

I then installed the Intel Beta driver which has been released for Grid Autosport (which I'm currently playing), I also disabled connected standby. I went into the Intel HD Graphics settings, which installs when you install a driver from the Intel site and set 3d to performance mode and continued benchmarking.

Undervolted -75 Intel Beta Driver C/S disabled, Intel Graphics-Balanced - 1082
Undervolted -75 Intel Beta Driver C/S disabled, Intel Graphics-Performance - 1112

I have tried undervolting a bit more I went down to -80 but with the Intel gfx set to performance mode it decided it wanted to throw up the overheating screen and it turned off.

So I've pretty much come to the conclusion that the max I can get my SP3 without it crapping out is 1112, which I'm pretty happy with.

Link to 1112 3dmark - http://www.3dmark.com/3dm11/8669990

 

[ctitanic]

Sometimes, the posters are legitimately, honestly calling for assistance, and those should be welcomed and addressed accordingly. Often, the only answer that can be given is, "Sorry, but this isn't the device for you." How that response is taken is often telling.

You are so right! Another point and question to those users is, don't you do your own homework when you are about to buy such device? The only thing wrong is your own decision! Why after making the wrong decision you come to a forum full of happy users blaming Microsoft? If you want to come and tell us about why this device is not for your, great, we all will learn and won't do the same mistake as you did now in the future. But don't blame anyone but yourself. First, that's your mistake. Second, return it before it become a bigger mistake.

 

[ctitanic]

Had a little play with my Surface Pro 3 i5 256gb today. I was unhappy with my initial 3dmark 11 performance benchmark result of 854 so I had a little play with things.

1280x720 - benchmark tests only, centred.

Here is a list of results with stock graphics driver and connected standby on.

Stock benchmark - 854
Undervolted -50 on preinstalled graphics driver with C/S - 921
Undervolted -60 on preinstalled graphics driver with C/S - 952
Undervolted -75 on preinstalled graphics driver with C/S -961
Undervolted -100 on preinstalled graphics driver with C/S - System Restart

I then installed the Intel Beta driver which has been released for Grid Autosport (which I'm currently playing), I also disabled connected standby. I went into the Intel HD Graphics settings, which installs when you install a driver from the Intel site and set 3d to performance mode and continued benchmarking.

Undervolted -75 Intel Beta Driver C/S disabled, Intel Graphics-Balanced - 1082
Undervolted -75 Intel Beta Driver C/S disabled, Intel Graphics-Performance - 1112

I have tried undervolting a bit more I went down to -80 but with the Intel gfx set to performance mode it decided it wanted to throw up the overheating screen and it turned off.

So I've pretty much come to the conclusion that the max I can get my SP3 without it crapping out is 1112, which I'm pretty happy with.

Link to 1112 3dmark - http://www.3dmark.com/3dm11/8669990

i5 4Gb here is what I get

http://www.3dmark.com/3dm/3932016 (no undervolting). - 549

 

[Liam2349]

I'm curious about undervolting. I feel like it will interfere with the speed of smaller stuff, like general navigation, waking from sleep, e.t.c.

 

[drsqueggy]

i5 4Gb here is what I get

http://www.3dmark.com/3dm/3932016 (no undervolting). - 549

What's your "benchmark only" test results at stock using 3DMark 11? Interested to see how the i5 4gb compares with the i5 8gb.

 

[Moonsurface]

Just out of interest I ran a 3DMark today on my surface pro 3 i7 256GB. I only did it because my husband was running it on two 3-4 year old laptops to try to decide which one was better to give his son... this is what I got.