Surface Pro 3 fan

wrt40

Now the SP4 has been revealed I'm finally ready to take the plunge and buy one of these devices. I'm swaying towards the SP3 at a discounted price, nothing really sticks out with the SP4 that makes me want to pay more for it.

A question I have for anyone who has one, I've heard the fan can get noisy, which is to be expected on what is basically a full blown PC in a tablet form, but how noisy does it get and is the fan always whirring or is it only under heavy load? So for example when I'm using it for tablet type tasks: watching movies, web surfing, light office work etc, does the fan come on?

MJohnston

The i7 is much worse for fan noise than the i5 version, in my experience (have the former for work, the latter at home). The noise isn't that bad generally - for example I have Edge, Outlook, Spotify, an SSH shell, an FTP app, and one other app open right now, and there's barely a whisper. When it does get going it is like a light hiss rather than a crazy desktop PC type fan. Certain tasks will make it go crazy - you'd have to be using close to 100% of CPU though - video playback fullscreen can sometimes trigger a bit of unhappiness if it is delivered via Flash, but native video isn't so bad. Some badly optimised web pages will put a strain on your browser too which may cause a high amount of CPU usage, and therefore fan noise. The i5 makes less noise because it's less powerful, and therefore needs much less cooling, so it's a balance. I don't think the noise will ever be too loud though.

Surface Pro 4 does include a new cooling system with liquid elements which will reduce the amount of fan usage, which in turn would improve battery life. Also there's a fanless Core M version of the SP4. You'll have to balance that with the lower prices you're going to get for the SP3.

hawkwind23

The pro3 i5 with 8GB ram would be my choice if you can get it cheap enough.

Scruff

The HP Spectre 12 X2 looks like it might be a good alternative to the Pro 3. Keyboard cover included in price!

wrt40

Thanks guys.

Yeah possibly M cpu might be what I need if I'm worried about fan noise and heat. Not sure about performance, I do need something decent for when I'm in laptop productive mode.

I see Dell have a new 2-in-1 XPS12. Unfortunately you can't tilt the screen back which is just madness! I'm finding all these devices come with compromises, the decision will be which compromise to make.

MJohnston wrote:

Surface Pro 4 does include a new cooling system with liquid elements which will reduce the amount of fan usage, which in turn would improve battery life. Also there's a fanless Core M version of the SP4. You'll have to balance that with the lower prices you're going to get for the SP3.

Yeah, apparently the fan in the SP4 is only used for intensive work, so as a tablet it should be silent which is what I want. Need solid confirmation on that though!

Griffinx

Microsoft Irish store has the Surface Pro 4 prices up and they are nearly identical the Surface Pro 3. Why anyone would buy a 3 now is beyond me unless you get a deal.

The Pro 4 ships Nov 19 so Id say the Pro 3 will see reductions after this date

evolutionqy7

Fan doesn't normally kick in unless your doing intense tasks.

When it does, it's just a slight hiss. My gf noticed it one day and thought it was raining outside

If I'm browsing Internet on it I've no problem.

I have i5 4gb one. Also as someone mention, depending on what you do ofc. but 8gb version is the better one to go for if you have the funds

senordingdong

Griffinx wrote: »

Microsoft Irish store has the Surface Pro 4 prices up and they are nearly identical the Surface Pro 3. Why anyone would buy a 3 now is beyond me unless you get a deal.

The Pro 4 ships Nov 19 so Id say the Pro 3 will see reductions after this date

Ah now that really depends on needs. SP4 has alot of bells and whistles that many won't need.
S3 would be right for me so I'm waiting patiently for a price drop.

evolutionqy7

senordingdong wrote: »

Ah now that really depends on needs. SP4 has alot of bells and whistles that many won't need.
S3 would be right for me so I'm waiting patiently for a price drop.

Have a look on adverts there's a guy jobidoo I think selling them brand new with a keyboard for 770.

I got one from him for 800 900 euro last year. Was a bargain compared to store.

I registered my surface with Microsoft and still got my warranty. He's in Waterford though so be ready for a drive.

senordingdong

That's a pretty hefty discount.
Haha must be off the back of a truck!
Thanks for the tip though, will definitely look into it.

evolutionqy7

Ah dont care. Hes a sound guy, plus id still probably have a surface gen 1 if not for his hefty discount

:pac::pac:

senordingdong

evolutionqy7 wrote: »

Ah dont care. Hes a sound guy, plus id still probably have a surface gen 1 if not for his hefty discount

:pac::pac:

Ah no, you're dead right! Will try convince the missus to do it too!