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Surface Pro 2 1.9 CPU Lot Numbers

Chfin

New Member
My lot number is 1350 and I have 4300u.

I have read on The Verge or some news website that this is only a small bump, but based on numbers 1.6 vs 1.9 GHz, it's a 18.75% bump. How is this a small bump in speed? Am I missing something?
 
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MickeyLittle

MickeyLittle

Active Member
My lot number is 1350 and I have 4300u.

I have read on The Verge or some news website that this is only a small bump, but based on numbers 1.6 vs 1.9 GHz, it's a 18.75% bump. How is this a small bump in speed? Am I missing something?

You'd have to go back and read through the 20 pages of this thread or another thread that talked about this. But in a nutshell I thought like you 18-20% speed increase! Yeah, I gotta have it but for whatever reason it doesn't really work out like that. In fact I owned both the 4200 and now the 4300 and never noticed any difference. I think the only people who will notice a difference are gamers or people who do heavy graphics type of computing. People like me who just do email, office, web surfing, some videos, etc. won't notice the difference fast and fast.
 

Philtastic

Active Member
Yeah, only people pushing the system to its limit will notice. Most people who just consume webpages, media, email, and word process won't notice a thing. Consider that cell phones do all of those tasks mostly just as well. I'm a gamer, thus wanted the fastest SP2 that I could get. The actual difference from what I've seen others post is roughly 10-20% depending on the task.
 

benjitek

Active Member
Yeah, only people pushing the system to its limit will notice. Most people who just consume webpages, media, email, and word process won't notice a thing. Consider that cell phones do all of those tasks mostly just as well. I'm a gamer, thus wanted the fastest SP2 that I could get. The actual difference from what I've seen others post is roughly 10-20% depending on the task.

Not exactly, there are small subtle differences the average user might notice. Mainly graphic transitions during Window operations like minimize/maximize -- on the Modern App side, pinch-to-zoom runs a little smoother. Not a big deal, but noticeable.
 

benjitek

Active Member
After following someone's advice in this forum, calling and saying I wanted a 512GB unit with the new processor -- the agent assured me he 'called the warehouse' to make sure it would happen, I received my 2nd 4200 SP2 now (lot 1350). One a side note, the SP2 received today runs >very< hot to the touch, much more so than my first one.

Am on the phone now dealing with it. Asked to speak with a supervisor, though I doubt such a thing exists there. About 10 minutes of music-on-hold, which was replaced with some other sort of hold with a 'please wait' being repeated every 10 seconds. At no time did the agent come back to the line to explain what was going on, where I was being transferred, etc. After 10 minutes of 'please-wait', back to music, and then back to a brand new regular non-supervisor sales agent -- the first one just put me back in the queue. The new agent did get me in touch with a supervisor, but first transferred me to a 'store representative', very annoying as each transfer along the line involves re-explaining my purchase history for 2 SP2's and my reason for calling. I went from 'store-representative' to 'store-supervisor', she explained there wasn't anything she could do and that it needed to be escalated to a 'technical supervisor', which she did and said I would hear back withing 4 days.

They should pay Apple consulting fees and have their customer service revamped :-(

UPDATE

This Microsoft Store stuff is frustrating. No type of contact since my last call -- email or otherwise -- so I called asked for a supervisor. Again, I was told 'one moment' while one was located and wound up back in the call queue until another sales agent (not a supervisor) picked up as if a new call. The 2nd person then did the same thing to me when I asked for a supervisor. The 3rd sales agent to pick up the call as if it were a new one just transferred me to technical support. The tech support guy said there was nothing his department could do in this situation as they deal with repairs and not shipments of new product. Great. He transferred me back to what was supposedly a supervisor, though at this point I'm thinking they simply say they are supervisors when someone asks for one and doesn't just get tossed back into the call queue.

The 'supervisor' I wound up with told my my previous call hadn't actually been 'properly escalated' which is why I hadn't yet heard back. He ensured me that this time it would. I asked for a copy of this 'escalation email', and insisted I remain on the line with him until it hit my inbox. During our conversation I asked him where the sales call center was located -- he said they are in the Philippines and they are sub-contracted to handle sales -- not employees of Microsoft. Something tells me all these supposed 'calls to the warehouse' to make sure the 4300 is shipped only involve using the telephone's hold-button.

The people at the sales call center are not in any way personally vested in their job -- it's just that, a job. They're trying to meet sales quotas and will say anything to complete a sale. There is no emphasis on customer service -- they are just waiting for their shift to end, in the Philippines :-(
 
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be77solo

Active Member
Yeah, only people pushing the system to its limit will notice. Most people who just consume webpages, media, email, and word process won't notice a thing. Consider that cell phones do all of those tasks mostly just as well. I'm a gamer, thus wanted the fastest SP2 that I could get. The actual difference from what I've seen others post is roughly 10-20% depending on the task.

Not exactly, there are small subtle differences the average user might notice. Mainly graphic transitions during Window operations like minimize/maximize -- on the Modern App side, pinch-to-zoom runs a little smoother. Not a big deal, but noticeable.

We've beaten this horse to death so much the poor fellow.... sigh

It's not a straight increase because the TDP didn't change and the cooling is identical, so the new 4300 throttles the CPU & GPU when actually using the extra multiplier, just like the 4200 already has to throttle.... ie it essentially nets the same combined performance when running anything actually demanding. It's the same silicone after all.

Normal metro or desktop usage won't be any different despite the placebo effect some claim either because the CPU is only running at approximately 800mhz during basic use anyhow:D

I have seen one fellow that found in a particular scenario encoding something using purely the CPU and no igpu use it didn't thottle and made a marginal difference in how long it took... but that's definitely the exception.

Clock speeds stopped telling the whole story years ago.

Having said that, I totally understand why someone purchasing now would want the 4300 simply because it exists and I would as well... but a 3 instead of a 2 is all I can figure it matters ;)
 

benjitek

Active Member
[BLAH BLAH BLAH]...I totally understand why someone purchasing now would want the 4300 simply because it exists and I would as well... but a 3 instead of a 2 is all I can figure it matters ;)

...and the smoother system animations, whether in desktop or modern-ui -- not much of a difference to the average user otherwise...
 

CreativeLemming

Active Member
[BLAH-BLAH-BLAH]...and the smoother system animations, whether in desktop or modern-ui -- not much of a difference to the average user otherwise...

You've convinced me, now thinking about returning my 4200 SP2 because of the slowness of my system animations in desktop and modern UI. How much smoother is it on the 4300, mine's kinda smooth but in the back of my mind I've just never been satisfied and just know it could be so much smoother. Do you have a number in FPS or milliseconds per day?
 
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be77solo

Active Member
...and the smoother system animations, whether in desktop or modern-ui -- not much of a difference to the average user otherwise...
Lol, are you running in high performance mode plugged in 24/7? Even then, I can't fathom how you are supposedly seeing any difference in basic system navigation... I'm glad you are enjoying your new SP2, that's the whole point and why we love them as they are fabulous devices, but trying to keep expectations realistic here for those that just see a bigger number and automatically assume "more better" without proper understanding. During these basic animations the CPU's are both running identical down clocked speeds because more processing power simply isn't needed, nor the wasted battery life or extra heat, so Windows slows it down regardless of max CPU boost speed.

Well, not trying argue. Have a nice weekend all
 
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