Quick Advice on Surface Pro 4 M3

[E-LAN]

Hi all,

I'm certainly not tech-savvy, but I want to get a surface pro 4 for my brother. The only thing's he would be using it for is browsing the web, watching films, and also some web design and a bit of programming.

Will the M3 model be sufficient? I know the i5 is only £100 or so more, but I think I'm being a good enough brother paying this much for a new device for him.

 

[WildKarrde]

IMHO, RAM is the main reason to upgrade to the i5. If your brother uses virtual machines much in his programming, then he would likely appreciate 8GB w/ the i5. But to get that is an extra $400 over the i3 version.

My SP2 is fantastic, but even without running virtual machines, I often hit the RAM limit while using other development tools.

On the other hand, beggars can't be choosers, and I'd be perfectly happy with a free i3 SP4.

 

[GreyFox7]

Confucius say, don't look a gift horse in the mouth.

 

[E-LAN]

Thanks for the advice. My brother currently uses a PC that is an AMD Phenom II X2 550 with 4GB of ram and is fine. So I presume the M3 would be better than that?

 

[maartenvda]

Hi,
I am studying civil engineer at the University, so I also have programming classes(mainly in JAVA). Since that doesn't uses much RAM, i am going to buy the I5 4GB RAM model.

 

[WildKarrde]

Thanks for the advice. My brother currently uses a PC that is an AMD Phenom II X2 550 with 4GB of ram and is fine. So I presume the M3 would be better than that?

Leaps and bounds better, lol.

 

[E-LAN]

Hah, I figured it would be, but I have no idea on AMD vs Intel.

So that pretty much confirms the M3 would be superior to what he uses now anyway? Just the i5 would be icing on the cake?

 

[GreyFox7]

Here's a geekbenck comparison of an AMD Phenom II X2 550 based system to M3 SP4.

Gigabyte Technology Co., Ltd. GA-MA790X-UD3P vs Microsoft Corporation Surface Pro 4 - Geekbench Browser

 

[E-LAN]

Thanks for that, but no idea what it all means. XD

 

[GreyFox7]

Thanks for that, but no idea what it all means. XD

Green is good, more green is better

 

[E-LAN]

And should I be worried about how much blue there is?
I figured the green was better, but some of the things I've never heard of there.

 

[GreyFox7]

And should I be worried about how much blue there is?
I figured the green was better, but some of the things I've never heard of there.

Hard to say if he doesn't use those functions or didn't use them much then it would never matter.

Here's how the i5-6300u stacks up for $100 more.
Gigabyte Technology Co., Ltd. GA-MA790X-UD3P vs Microsoft Corporation Surface Pro 4 - Geekbench Browser

It's a tough call.