Here's how the new Surface CPUs stack up against older models

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Surfacing some specs

Here's how the new Surface CPUs stack up against older models

A whole new generation of Surface PCs just launched. How does performance compare?

Surface Pro 8 Hero Source: Windows Central

Microsoft's Surface hardware events are ever eagerly anticipated cheers to the promise of shiny new devices. This twelvemonth was no exception, as we waited to see whether expectations of a Pro viii, Laptop Studio, Pro X, Go iii, and Duo ii would be realized.

While Microsoft seems to e'er be on the ball with its design choices — save maybe port selection — the performance hardware side of things isn't always every bit easy to appreciate. The AMD-powered Surface Laptop 3 15 comes to mind, every bit do the Intel-powered Surface Studio 2 and Surface Become two. These devices launched with aging processors, much to the chagrin of power users who wanted the absolute all-time performance in their brand-new device.

A whole new crop of Surface PCs is here, launching Oct. 5 to coincide with the worldwide rollout of Windows 11. While the Pro X hasn't seen a performance upgrade, the Surface Pro viii and Surface Go 3 exercise have some new CPUs. And with the launch of the new Surface Laptop Studio, there are likewise some Intel H-serial chips to take a look at. Allow's meet what we can expect from these CPUs, equally well as how they might compare to a bunch of other popular laptops that we've already had in for testing.

Surface Pro eight and 11th Gen Intel Tiger Lake

Source: Daniel Rubino / Windows Central

The Surface Pro 8 tin exist equipped with four different processors, all from Intel'due south 11th Gen Tiger Lake series. PCIe 4, Thunderbolt 4, and Wi-Fi 6 support comes with these CPUs. Looking at the consumer side kickoff — the Pro eight also has commercial options for concern — at that place are Cadre i5-1135G7 and Cadre i7-1185G7 quad-core chips available. These are both 10nm with a maximum 28W TDP, capable of hyper-threading for a full of eight threads.

The i5 tops out at around 4.2GHz with Turbo, while the i7 hits about 4.8GHz with Turbo. As for the enshroud, the i5 is looking at 8MB while the i7 has 12MB. Intel Iris Xe graphics are integrated into both chips, with the i7 version being a bit more powerful thanks to a slightly higher frequency and more execution units (96 compared to fourscore). You lot tin expect better graphics performance compared to previous Iris Plus and UHD integrated chips, but I still wouldn't consider the Pro 8 a gaming PC. Yous can find a lot more power in our collection of the best gaming laptops.

We've already seen the i5-1135G7 in the Surface Pro vii Plus where it achieved impressive numbers in both Geekbench 5 and Cinebench R23 benchmarking. And now that we've tested the Core i7-1185G7 in the Surface Pro eight, we can come across where operation rests.

On the commercial side of the Pro eight release, a Core i3-1115G4 and Cadre i5-1145G7 join the aforementioned Core i7-1185G7. Why the dissimilar i5 on the commercial side? It has Intel vPro capabilities, just like the i7-1185G7, to help with remote direction. These appeal to It departments, so it makes sense for Microsoft to offering them for enterprise buys. The i5-1145G7 has a slightly higher Turbo clock compared to its 1135G7 counterpart, but its enshroud, TDP, and graphics frequency remain the same.

The Core i3 is there to help keep costs downwards, or for anyone who doesn't need a whole lot of power. It's a dual-core chip with Intel UHD integrated graphics, so don't expect it to measure up too closely to the i5 and i7 siblings. We've tested the i3-1115G4 in the Acer Aspire five, but haven't so far tested the i5-1145G7; I pulled average single-core and multi-core numbers from official Geekbench listings to give an idea of what to await. As for Cinebench, i3 and i7 numbers are listed.

Take these numbers with a grain of salt. The Pro 8 is its own device, and averages pulled from a huge database are certainly skewed.

Classic two-in-1

Surface Pro 8

Updated blueprint, same 2-in-1 form factor

The Surface Pro 8 finally adopts the modern design that Microsoft offset introduced with Surface Pro Ten, now with two USB-C ports that are Thunderbolt 4 enabled, an upgraded thirteen-inch display with a high-refresh charge per unit of 120Hz, and support for the Surface Pro 10 style Type Covers with the Slim Pen charging cradle.

Surface Laptop Studio and 11th Gen Intel H-series CPUs

Surface Laptop Studio Hero Source: Daniel Rubino / Windows Central

The Surface Laptop Studio is the latest device to join the lineup, bringing a snazzy 2-in-1 pattern with display hinge on top of a standard laptop body. It's packing 11th Gen Intel Core H-series CPUs for a bit more power owing to its "Studio" designation. Entry-level configs have a Core i5-11300H, with the Core i7-11370H bachelor as a step up. PCIe 4, Thunderbolt iv, and Wi-Fi 6 back up come with these chips.

These two Tiger Lake CPUs have 4 cores, 8 threads, a 10nm procedure, and a maximum 35W TDP. The i5's base of operations clock speed hits up to 3.1GHz at that 35W TDP, while the i7 hits 3.3GHz when drawing the same power. As for Turbo, the i5 hits four.4GHz while the i7 hits 4.8GHz.

Surface Laptop Studio Moviestv Source: Daniel Rubino / Windows Key

Both chips feature integrated Intel Iris Xe graphics, though the Laptop Studio provides defended graphics options as well for more power. Compared to the 11th Gen G7 CPUs in the Surface Pro viii, and compared to 10th Gen H-series counterparts, you should expect better performance hither.

We tested the Surface Laptop Studio's Core i7-11370H CPU, putting it through multiple benchmarks to see exactly how it performs.

Equally for the Core i5-11300H option, we still haven't had a run a risk to test it in-business firm. Notebookcheck has boilerplate Geekbench five scores of ane,313 (single-core) and four,403 (multi-core). Similarly, CPU-Monkey has Cinebench R23 average scores of ane,394 (single-core) and v,349 (multi-core).

Bye-farewell, Book

Laptop Studio SE

Surface Laptop Studio

The 2-in-one gets weirder

Microsoft's new Surface Laptop Studio delivers an interesting accept on the two-in-1 form factor. Instead of being a tablet with a detachable keyboard, the brandish is no longer detachable and can instead be pulled forward and laid flat over the keyboard. It also has a new Precision Haptic touchpad, a 120Hz fourteen-inch display, and powerful Intel and NVIDIA chips.

Surface Go 3 and Surface Pro X

Surface Go Source: Daniel Rubino / Windows Fundamental

The Surface Get 3 saw mostly a operation upgrade. It'due south now bachelor with either an Intel Pentium Gilded 6500Y or a 10th Gen Intel Core i3-10100Y. This isn't a huge crash-land in power, and information technology's looking like the same issue of "barely plenty" that we saw in the Surface Go 2 will be truthful once again.

While benchmarks and operation numbers are not plentiful for either of these chips — we will have our ain set of numbers in one case we have a Go 3 in for testing — we can compare them to the older Go 2 CPUs.

The Surface Become 3's CPU choices don't look that impressive on paper.

The Pentium Gilt 6500Y in the Go 3 is a dual-cadre bit with iv threads, 5W TDP (up to 7W), and one.1GHz base frequency. The Gilt 4425Y in the Get two is too a dual-core scrap with four threads, with a 6W TDP and 1.7GHz base frequency. The 6500Y does have a larger cache (4MB compared to 2MB) and a slightly higher max frequency for its integrated graphics. Operation is likely non going to be wildly dissimilar if you lot're coming from a Go 2 with the Pentium bit.

The tenth Gen i3-10100Y in the Go 3 has two cores, four threads, 5W TDP (upwards to 7W), 4MB cache, and a 1.3GHz base of operations frequency. The 8th Gen m3-8100Y has 2 cores, four threads, 5W TDP (up to 8W), 4MB enshroud, and a ane.1GHz base frequency. Again, these chips are quite shut on paper, and we volition have to encounter how they perform in a real-world setting.

Surface Pro X Source: Daniel Rubino / Windows Central

As for the Surface Pro X announced at the 2022 Surface Issue, nix is changing when it comes to operation hardware. There'southward at present a version available without congenital-in LTE, which too lowers the starting toll of the device.

Both the Microsoft SQ1 and SQ1 ARM CPUs remain as available options for the Pro. If you're interested in how these chips compare, Executive Editor Daniel Rubino'south in-depth Surface Pro X SQ2 review has all the information. And if you're looking for details virtually a bunch of other great laptops, our collection of the best Windows laptops likely has what you need.

Surface surprise

Surface Go 2

Surface Go iii

Three times the charm

If you want entry to the Surface family of devices for one of the everyman possible prices, the Surface Go iii tablet is an option to consider. For at present, information technology's a Wi-Fi device, though LTE options are on the way.

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