Wednesday, October 2nd 2019
AMD and Microsoft Announce New 15 Inch Thin and Light Microsoft Surface Laptop 3
Today, AMD and Microsoft announced the first-ever 15-inch Microsoft Surface Laptop powered by new AMD Ryzen Microsoft Surface Edition processors. A significant, multi-year co-engineering program between AMD and Microsoft at the silicon, platform, and software levels created this 15" Microsoft Surface Laptop 3 with a perfect balance of performance, battery life, and sleek and lightweight design. Combining world-class compute and graphics performance with a fully optimized, rearchitected system software stack including AMD Radeon FreeSync display technology, Microsoft Surface Laptop 3 is designed for creative professionals, students, gamers on the go, and business users who value the large screen experience alongside portability. The custom AMD Ryzen Microsoft Surface Edition processors and optimized software highlight the latest example in the multi-year collaboration between AMD and Microsoft, first established more than a decade ago for the Microsoft Xbox and now spanning from Azure to Surface to xCloud and Project Scarlett.
"With AMD Ryzen Microsoft Surface Edition processors, AMD brings to market the most powerful mobile processors for ultrathin laptops we ever created," said Rick Bergman, executive vice president, computing and graphics business group, AMD. "The AMD-powered Microsoft Surface Laptop 3 delivers premium craftsmanship only AMD could help bring to life, combining a 15-inch laptop with a customized 15 W processor to create a device that packs all the power and visual experiences of a large screen with the benefits of an ultra-thin, 3.4 pounds device. Widely recognized for offering world-class CPU and GPU performance, AMD is pleased to partner with Microsoft and continue bringing innovation to the market."
"When looking for the right processor to power the all new Microsoft Surface Laptop 3, we wanted the best graphics performance in a single processor. AMD immediately came to mind given our successful history of collaboration bringing world class graphics performance to the Xbox," said Pavan Davuluri, Distinguished Engineer, Microsoft Corporation, Microsoft devices group. "Through our long-term partnership with AMD, which demonstrates process capabilities at the forefront of the industry, we're bringing advanced computing experiences and striking innovation to Microsoft Surface Laptop 3."
Read more about AMD and Microsoft's multi-year journey to bring Microsoft Surface Laptop 3 to life on the AMD blog and Microsoft Windows Blog.
"When looking for the right processor to power the all new Microsoft Surface Laptop 3, we wanted the best graphics performance in a single processor. AMD immediately came to mind given our successful history of collaboration bringing world class graphics performance to the Xbox," said Pavan Davuluri, Distinguished Engineer, Microsoft Corporation, Microsoft devices group. "Through our long-term partnership with AMD, which demonstrates process capabilities at the forefront of the industry, we're bringing advanced computing experiences and striking innovation to Microsoft Surface Laptop 3."
Read more about AMD and Microsoft's multi-year journey to bring Microsoft Surface Laptop 3 to life on the AMD blog and Microsoft Windows Blog.
22 Comments on AMD and Microsoft Announce New 15 Inch Thin and Light Microsoft Surface Laptop 3
I tell you, the surface pro would have been an excellent product for the Kaby Lake CPU/AMD GPU collaboration, it would have really given it some graphical horsepower. Either way though, I'm really interested to see what AMD can do with the Zen 2 cores.... You think they'll use the same Vega CUs in an APU or Navi with the new Navi based mobility GPUs? Either way, what would be really awesome is if partnering with AMD will be able to get the price down.
EDIT: Looked it up from the links:
"This re-engineered approach provides a hybrid-turbo-like capacity for bursts up to 4 GHz of 'Zen+' CPU performance or take what is already the world’s fastest performing graphics for ultrathin laptops to new heights when needed."
"Effortless acceleration when needed: The specifically customized AMD Ryzen Microsoft Surface Edition processor inherits from the graphics core architecture of Xbox One and includes one additional compute unit more than any other AMD Ryzen mobile processor for an extra boost of graphics horsepower."
So it's got one extra CU (So I guess Vega 11?) and it is Zen+ but with some tuned boosting algorithms to reach up to 4 GHz. So we're not going to see IPC uplift from Zen 2, but that frequency is pretty high for a laptop APU. I'm guessing it will be bursty and then clock down pretty aggressively. Overall, not bad. I'm guessing we'll get at least MX150 performance in games.
arstechnica.com/gadgets/2019/10/amd-scores-a-big-marketing-win-with-ryzen-powered-microsoft-surface/
This is not a stock part but rather custom as the press release states. It falls between the 3550U and 3700U.
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ryzen#Zen+_microarchitecture
I would venture to guess that it is a quad core SMT 4(8) with 2.2 GHz base clocks and 3.9 GHz turbo clocks. The number of Vega processors is 576. This should be faster on the CPU and GPU side than the Core i7-1065(G7) and only marginally slower on the CPU side but much faster on the GPU side than the Core i7-8665U.
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Intel_Core_i7_microprocessors#Sunny_Cove_microarchitecture_(10th_generation)
This is probably the reason MS went with AMD.
Edit: That makes the AMD processor Zen+ and Vega.
Microsoft Embraces AMD: Custom Ryzen 7 Surface Edition CPUs Debut in Surface Laptop 3 (Updated)
"Get the scoop from the @verge" ?!?!?!?!?
There are actually 2 lines of laptops: Surface Laptop 3 and Surface Laptop 3 for Business. Each with 13.5" or 15".
13.5" variants are Intel-only and probably identical save for a TPM 2.0 chip.
Consumer 15":
AMD APU, max 16GB RAM, max 512GB SSD
Business 15":
Intel 10th, max 32GB RAM, max 1TB SSD
Intel variants have WiFi 6, but they don't support Thunderbolt 3 (which is integrated in Ice Lake...).Not everyone wants a gaming laptop. The whole idea of eGPU for gaming is that you can have a normal, light notebook for everyday tasks (like the Surface Laptop). You attach the eGPU for the occasional gaming (or for non-gaming tasks).
So one shouldn't really compare a laptop+eGPU to a fully-focused gaming desktop or even expensive gaming laptops. It competes with stuff that people normally buy for occasional 2h/week gaming: consoles and cheap desktops.A desktop 1080Ti performing like a desktop 1070 is not too shoddy compared to laptop alternatives.
Comparatively, you could just spend the extra $1k and get 1070 performance in your laptop all the time.