SP3 Sale: good?

[vap0rtranz]

The MS Store just sent me an email saying the SP3 is $200 off starting now. Probably to reduce their inventory before SP4? Or early XMas shoppers.

I checked and the discount varies by model (less off for i3 Core, etc.). But I've toyed with the idea of replacing my SPro (original) so this is tempting...

Anyone made the upgrade and been happier?

 

[CrippsCorner]

These discounts have been happening for months dude. Does it say limited offer? Well as soon as that one finishes they'll start another!

My advice? Wait for October...

 

[vap0rtranz]

Ah, so nothing special. Their email simply said One Day Sale (and "expires Sept 16"). Maybe they've sent myriads of these before but my mailbox had flagged them as Spam.

 

[KentoC58]

Keep in mind that typically when they go on sale, you can get that same price through Amazon and save even more due to no taxes and free shipping.

 

[leeshor]

That depends on the state you're in and also being a Prime member. In Georgia, for instance, we get charged sales tax.

 

[KentoC58]

True leeshor, although I was not a Prime member and still got free shipping. Your mileage may vary.

 

[jrioux]

I just looked at the website. The SP3 sale is through October 10, so the SP4 should be announced by then and the sale will still be on.

Also, the i3 SP3 is marked down to $649, which is the lowest price I've ever seen for that model. That should make the i3 model attractive for some people who are considering the S3. BTW, the i3 is not much faster than the S3 based on their GeekBench scores. The highest scores for the i3 are 1680 and 3569, verses 1025 and 3494 for the S3.

 

[GreyFox7]

I just looked at the website. The SP3 sale is through October 10, so the SP4 should be announced by then and the sale will still be on.

Also, the i3 SP3 is marked down to $649, which is the lowest price I've ever seen for that model. That should make the i3 model attractive for some people who are considering the S3. BTW, the i3 is not much faster than the S3 based on their GeekBench scores. The highest scores for the i3 are 1680 and 3569, verses 1025 and 3494 for the S3.

That may be a little deceptive. the key here is 1680 vs 1025. i.e. a single thread on an i3 is nearly 30% faster but in a bursty world the race to idle is king getting more small tasks done more quickly.

The Anandtech review contains a good number of benchmarks where the SP3 i3 and S3 x7 results are shown.
The Surface 3 Review

Kraken 1.1 lower is better: I3 2801, X7 4007
Octane v2 higher is better: i3 11,636, X7 8205
Webxprt higher is better: i3 972, X7 677
Pcmark 8H higher is better i3 1869, X7 1546
Pcmark 8C higher is better i3 1894, X7 1744 *note more graphically oriented is closer
Pcmark 8W higher is better i3 2346, X7 1250

... it continues with the i3 beating the X7 on every test, quite handily in most cases, it also draws pore power and runs hotter as the price for performance.