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Surface pro 3 VS Pro 4

Blarg
By Blarg
in Laptops and Pre-Built Systems
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Hello, so im really trying to get out of gaming a bit and focus on school so id really like to grab a surface pro and drop my gaming PC and im trying to decide between the pro 3 and 4, I understand everyone generally says the pro 4 is worth it but the fact is i can grab a 256gb i7 8gb pro 3 for just shy of $600 while an i5 with 4 gigs will cost me closer to $1000 which i cant really justify. As a computer science student I would assume the 8gigs of RAM is far more important then the newer tech in the pro 4 but i thought im jump on here and get some second opinions.

| CM Storm Trooper | MSI GD45 | 4670k @4.3Ghz h100i | MSI 780 Gaming Edition | Antec Greenwatts 650watts | 250GB Samsung Evo SSD 1.5tb 5400RPM | Asus VE278H | Logitch, G400s, G710, Z623 speakers|

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I honestly think you'd be fine with the Pro 3, unless you really NEED the newer features of the Pro 4.

Main System: Phobos

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Secondary System: York

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1 minute ago, nerdslayer1 said:

pro 4 if you can, the pro 3 has a serious overheating issue with the i7 model. 

Oh it does? I hadn't heard about that part. 

Main System: Phobos

AMD Ryzen 7 2700 (8C/16T), ASRock B450 Steel Legend, 16GB G.SKILL Aegis DDR4 3000MHz, AMD Radeon RX 570 4GB (XFX), 960GB Crucial M500, 2TB Seagate BarraCuda, Windows 10 Pro for Workstations/macOS Catalina

 

Secondary System: York

Intel Core i7-2600 (4C/8T), ASUS P8Z68-V/GEN3, 16GB GEIL Enhance Corsa DDR3 1600MHz, Zotac GeForce GTX 550 Ti 1GB, 240GB ADATA Ultimate SU650, Windows 10 Pro for Workstations

 

Older File Server: Yet to be named

Intel Pentium 4 HT (1C/2T), Intel D865GBF, 3GB DDR 400MHz, ATI Radeon HD 4650 1GB (HIS), 80GB WD Caviar, 320GB Hitachi Deskstar, Windows XP Pro SP3, Windows Server 2003 R2

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1 minute ago, Jamiec1130 said:

Oh it does? I hadn't heard about that part. 

it can get really bad depending on what you do, the fan can get really loud. 

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Oh that would explain why the price difference from the pro 3 i5 to i7 is like $50 these days lol

 

| CM Storm Trooper | MSI GD45 | 4670k @4.3Ghz h100i | MSI 780 Gaming Edition | Antec Greenwatts 650watts | 250GB Samsung Evo SSD 1.5tb 5400RPM | Asus VE278H | Logitch, G400s, G710, Z623 speakers|

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1 minute ago, Blarg said:

Oh that would explain why the price difference from the pro 3 i5 to i7 is like $50 these days lol

 

 

not funny the concept is really good the poor execution kept it from being good. 

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haven't tested the i7 SP3, but from experiences with both

- sp4 is thinner

- screen res is different on sp4 

- 3:2 aspect means that they're both shaped like an a4 page, but wallpapers are an issue

idk

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Now i'm wondering if i could get away with 4GB RAM with the pro 4.. Not big on photoshop or video editing my only real concern would be the number of browser tabs i use.. (probably 8-10 at a time)

 

 

| CM Storm Trooper | MSI GD45 | 4670k @4.3Ghz h100i | MSI 780 Gaming Edition | Antec Greenwatts 650watts | 250GB Samsung Evo SSD 1.5tb 5400RPM | Asus VE278H | Logitch, G400s, G710, Z623 speakers|

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1 minute ago, Blarg said:

Now i'm wondering if i could get away with 4GB RAM with the pro 4.. Not big on photoshop or video editing my only real concern would be the number of browser tabs i use.. (probably 8-10 at a time)

 

 

Just don't use Chrome! :) 

Main System: Phobos

AMD Ryzen 7 2700 (8C/16T), ASRock B450 Steel Legend, 16GB G.SKILL Aegis DDR4 3000MHz, AMD Radeon RX 570 4GB (XFX), 960GB Crucial M500, 2TB Seagate BarraCuda, Windows 10 Pro for Workstations/macOS Catalina

 

Secondary System: York

Intel Core i7-2600 (4C/8T), ASUS P8Z68-V/GEN3, 16GB GEIL Enhance Corsa DDR3 1600MHz, Zotac GeForce GTX 550 Ti 1GB, 240GB ADATA Ultimate SU650, Windows 10 Pro for Workstations

 

Older File Server: Yet to be named

Intel Pentium 4 HT (1C/2T), Intel D865GBF, 3GB DDR 400MHz, ATI Radeon HD 4650 1GB (HIS), 80GB WD Caviar, 320GB Hitachi Deskstar, Windows XP Pro SP3, Windows Server 2003 R2

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4 minutes ago, Blarg said:

Now i'm wondering if i could get away with 4GB RAM with the pro 4.. Not big on photoshop or video editing my only real concern would be the number of browser tabs i use.. (probably 8-10 at a time)

 

 

I run an i5/128/4GB SP4 at my school. Win10 only starts complaining about memory when you have 100 or so tabs open and it starts paging them. 

idk

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@Droidbot Well that sounds perfect, thanks so much for the reply!

| CM Storm Trooper | MSI GD45 | 4670k @4.3Ghz h100i | MSI 780 Gaming Edition | Antec Greenwatts 650watts | 250GB Samsung Evo SSD 1.5tb 5400RPM | Asus VE278H | Logitch, G400s, G710, Z623 speakers|

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14 minutes ago, Blarg said:

Now i'm wondering if i could get away with 4GB RAM with the pro 4.. Not big on photoshop or video editing my only real concern would be the number of browser tabs i use.. (probably 8-10 at a time)

 

 

9 minutes ago, Droidbot said:

I run an i5/128/4GB SP4 at my school. Win10 only starts complaining about memory when you have 100 or so tabs open and it starts paging them. 

I run Photoshop on my 4GB/i5 Pro 4, and it really isn't an issue. Granted, I can't do a huge amount of layers, it's quite capable despite the disparage of RAM.

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Everybody turns to dust.

 

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The blood is on your hands.

 

The blood is on your hands!

 

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43 minutes ago, Blarg said:

Hello, so im really trying to get out of gaming a bit and focus on school so id really like to grab a surface pro and drop my gaming PC and im trying to decide between the pro 3 and 4, I understand everyone generally says the pro 4 is worth it but the fact is i can grab a 256gb i7 8gb pro 3 for just shy of $600 while an i5 with 4 gigs will cost me closer to $1000 which i cant really justify. As a computer science student I would assume the 8gigs of RAM is far more important then the newer tech in the pro 4 but i thought im jump on here and get some second opinions.

Two things I'd like to let you know about.

 

1. You can get the Pro 4 i5 with 8gbs of RAM for less than $1000. You can do refurb through Microsoft or for about $100 less, you through eBay or Amazon.

 

2. I own the Pro 3 i5 with 8gbs of RAM. Got it for about $500 refurb on Amazon. I am not that pleased with it. I did get the Pro 4 type cover and I plan to get the Pro 4 pen soon, but in the end, the computer is just okay. I do wish I could have gone for the Pro 4 i5 or the Surface Book i5. 

 

Something I didn't think about with the Surface Pro was the inability for it to be at 90 degrees. I'm in the library, doing math problems and having trouble seeing the math book. Couldn't do 90 degrees plus the glossy finish made reflections an issue. This is why I'd consider the surface book for school. Plus more screen. They may even let you upgrade the base in the future, instead of buying a full on machine with a base. So possible upgrades...

 

 

I still like it but the difference between the 4th gen and 6th gen processor (plus the different iGPUs) is very noticeable. 

 

 

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