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Surface 3: Seven things to know about Intel's 'Cherry Trail' Atom chips

GreyFox7

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Staff member
Ref : http://www.pcworld.com/article/2904...now-about-intels-cherry-trail-atom-chips.html

Microsoft’s Surface 3 is the first announced device to use Intel’s new Cherry Trail Atom chips, but you can expect therm to show up soon in other devices too. So what are the chips capable of and what should we expect?

1. Multiple OSes Cherry Trail tablets will run both Windows and Android...

Ok, technically correct but completely useless fact. We don't expect ROMs for the Surface 3 to allow installing Android OSs. Although, for now, we might see some ROMs for Android Tablets for installing Windows 10 but I'm not sure how long that will last. Really, point 1 was pointless.

2. Strong graphics Intel says Cherry Trail will deliver twice the graphics performance as its previous Atom chips. The results were apparent when I tried out a prototype 8-inch Cherry Trail tablet earlier this month, which kept pace with the fast moving visuals of Real Racing 3. But don’t expect the kind of high end gaming you get with the Nvidia’s Shield.

Strong is a relative word, if you have used a BayTrail or prior Atom based system in the past you will notice it. If you're running a gaming rig, or an i5/i7 Haswell this wont seem strong. 2x previous Atom Chips is the key.

3. No big change in battery life There had to be a trade-off for the better graphics and it was battery life, which will remain constant or improve only slightly. Microsoft has pegged the battery life of Surface 3 at around 10 hours watching video, which isn’t much of an improvement from the ARM-based Surface 2.

We will have to see how this goes but it's probably about the same as the Surface 2.

4. No big change in basic application performance While graphics have improved, the CPU performance doesn’t get much of a boost. So while Real Racing 3 played well, it actually took a little longer than I expected to load. The priority with Cherry Trail was not to improve CPU performance, which was already adequate, an Intel representative said.

Slight bump in raw CPU performance over BayTrail... will go largely unnoticed by comparison. However this should perform as well as most current ARM SoCs/Tablets and better than the now 2 year old Tegra 4 in the Surface 2. This should be a noticeable upgrade for Surface 2 users and a huge upgrade if you have the original Surface RT.

5. Not just for tablets Cherry Trail will find its way into a wide range of devices, ranging from wearables to low-cost Windows 10 laptops. Cherry Trail cropped up in Microsoft’s HoloLens augmented reality headset, which allows you to interact with objects that appear to float before you in space.

Hmmm, guess we will have to see it in action... in search of HoloLens ...

6. Look ma, no wires The Surface 3 doesn’t make use of it, but tablets with Cherry Trail can have wireless charging features built in. That means you’ll be able to plop your device down on a special charging surface and not worry about plugging it in. It might not be a lot of use right now, but Intel wants to make wireless charging as ubiquitous as WiFi, and its in talks with airports, cafes, hotels and other places to make it happen.

Awe, The Surface 3 doesn’t make use of it... next.
Note: I saw nothing about WiGig either so ... better luck next time.

7. 3D cameras Move over, 2D photography. Cherry Trail comes with technologies to support Intel’s depth-sensing RealSense 3D camera technology, which can measure distance and recognize objects. It could make Skype conversations look better by masking out backgrounds or scan objects so they can be printed in 3D.

Awe, The Surface 3 doesn’t make use of it... well maybe someone will make a USB camera attachment that does. A nice little clip on strip with 3 cameras about 8 inches long with 8MP or better cameras to do some beautious 3D work with and an App to go with it. All you entrepreneurs out there get busy.

Well 3 out of 7 is ok I guess. :)
 
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GreyFox7

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Was interested in a comparison between the processor in Surface 3, Vs my original Surface Pro, here's the results...

http://www.cpu-world.com/Compare/55/Intel_Atom_x7_Z8700_vs_Intel_Core_i5_Mobile_i5-3317U.html

I prefer CPU Boss, but there's nothing on there yet for the Z8700!
You might get something out of comparing against the BayTrail Z3795 or Z3785 although graphics performance should be significantly different the rest should be in the ballpark on the short side.


The lack of Execute Disable is disappointing. This coupled with the lack of RT being less virus prone will increase your exposure.

TBH I'm looking into using application whitelisting as a countermeasure. If it's not on my list it wont be running on my machine.
 
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GreyFox7

Super Moderator
Staff member
Was interested in a comparison between the processor in Surface 3, Vs my original Surface Pro, here's the results...

http://www.cpu-world.com/Compare/55/Intel_Atom_x7_Z8700_vs_Intel_Core_i5_Mobile_i5-3317U.html

I prefer CPU Boss, but there's nothing on there yet for the Z8700!

Here are a couple comparisons you may find interesting.
i5 4200U vs Z3795
http://cpuboss.com/cpus/Intel-Core-i5-4200U-vs-Intel-Atom-Z3795
i5 4300U vs Z3795
http://cpuboss.com/cpus/Intel-Core-i5-4300U-vs-Intel-Atom-Z3795

Passmark L9600 : 1426
Core 2 Duo 2.13 ghz 13" high end MacBook Air late 2010 (I am running Win 8.1 on this and its pretty fast)
http://cpubenchmark.net/cpu.php?cpu=Intel+Core2+Duo+L9600+@+2.13GHz&id=965

Passmark Z3795 : 1678
http://www.cpubenchmark.net/cpu.php?cpu=Intel+Atom+Z3795+@+1.60GHz
 
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TheNeighbor

New Member
Darn it. The less likely for viruses on the RT lineup was one of the things I wanted. The digitizer integration should have been in the Surface 2. The Surface 3 is the perfect match to what I need on the go - light weight, digitizer pen, USB port, thin and now with a micro USB for charging. I'm thinking of getting the 128GB for just the light things I would do.
 

CrippsCorner

Well-Known Member
Here are a couple comparisons you may find interesting.
i5 4200U vs Z3795
http://cpuboss.com/cpus/Intel-Core-i5-4200U-vs-Intel-Atom-Z3795
i5 4200U vs Z3795
http://cpuboss.com/cpus/Intel-Core-i5-4300U-vs-Intel-Atom-Z3795

Passmark L9600 : 1426
Core 2 Duo 2.13 ghz 13" high end MacBook Air late 2010 (I am running Win 8.1 on this and its pretty fast)
http://cpubenchmark.net/cpu.php?cpu=Intel+Core2+Duo+L9600+@+2.13GHz&id=965

Passmark Z3795 : 1678
http://www.cpubenchmark.net/cpu.php?cpu=Intel+Atom+Z3795+@+1.60GHz

What is the relation between the Z3795 and the Z8700?

Edit: Sorry just read your other post, thanks for the links.
 
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GreyFox7

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What is the relation between the Z3795 and the Z8700?
The Z8700 is reported to have a slight CPU performance boost (5%) and about 2x Graphics performance in the same slim and trim power profile. Since there are no products or benchmarks for it yet that the best we can do.
 

CrippsCorner

Well-Known Member
Bugger, so it beats the Surface Pro CPU by 0.2 marks lol... :( (probably by more, if it has that increase like you mention)
 
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GreyFox7

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Staff member
After searching and searching I have found that the Dell Venue 11 Pro comes in several configurations and may provide an advance glimpse into where the Surface 3 performance *may* fall. I base that on the fact that the Dell Venue 11 Pro i3 4020Y model has very similar Geekbench 3 scores as the i3 4020Y SP3.

Venue 11 Pro, available with several CPUs and a sampling of their Geekbenh 3 scores singlecore/multicore
Atom Z3775 *1 4W TDP, 2W SDP - 963/3081
Core i3 4020Y. 11.5W TDP, 6W SDP - 1582/3282
Core i5 4210Y 11.5W TDP, 6W SDP - 1890/3328
Core i5 4300Y *2 11.5W TDP, 6W SDP - 2056/3250
Core-M 5y10 3.5/4.5/6W SDP/TDP - 2026/4000
Core-M 5y71 3.5/4.5/6W SDP/TDP - 2544/4424
*1 a lessor but similar CPU to the x7 Z8700 in Surface 3 although the x7 should do better.
*2 not the 15W 4300U in SP3

Based on this I believe Microsoft should seriously consider offering a Core-M CPU option in the Surface 3. Preferably a Skylake Core-M version once its released.

I haven't found anything convincing yet as far as possible comparison to the Surface 2 performance however, IMO if the Surface 3 does not perform better than the Surface 2 it's DOA. If the x7 Z8700 doesn't perform better than a two year old Tegra 4 Intel should reflect seriously on their failure to deliver with this CPU . {drumming fingers waiting for benchmarks to start dropping}

Microsoft is known for tuning performance late in the game if not after release so I wouldn't get too shook up over the first, in the wild, scores out of the gate however, you can't squeeze blood out of a turnip. Generally, it's better to let professionals handle the early testing to avoid tainted results.
 

CrippsCorner

Well-Known Member
Didn't they say Core M was considered but the price would be increased too much to make it worthwhile... it's already too high as it is! Maybe Surface 4 :p
 
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GreyFox7

Super Moderator
Staff member
Didn't they say Core M was considered but the price would be increased too much to make it worthwhile... it's already too high as it is! Maybe Surface 4 :p
IDK if they said it or what the list price of a Z8700 is (it's not currently posted) but we know manufacturers don't pay that price. :) and Intel has been subsidizing mobile chips to get market share. Anyway a top end Bay Trail Z3795 lists for $40 while the Core-M lists for $281... so manufacturers probably pay $28.10 :) unless its a high volume run then its like $2.81 :D
 
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