NVIDIA GPUs Power New Surface Studio

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Microsoft Wednesday introduced the radical new Surface Studio, aimed at content creators, as well as a new top-end version of its acclaimed Surface Book. Both are powered by NVIDIA GeForce GTX GPUs. The new Surface Studio, powered by either an NVIDIA GeForce GTX 965M or a GeForce GTX 980M, is built around a stunning 28-inch touch display with 13.5 million pixels that can tilt down to immerse creatives in their work. Paired with a radical new input device — Surface Dial — it promises to pull creative professionals into their work like never before. Microsoft also introduced a new high-end Surface Book — also powered by an NVIDIA GeForce GTX 965M GPU — that delivers up to 16 hours of battery life and up to two times the 3D graphics performance versus current Surface Book models, while maintaining the slim, lightweight characteristics of its predecessor. Like the Surface Book launched last year, the device gives users the ability to detach the screen and use it as a tablet or use it like a traditional notebook.
 
between Pascal being a hit, and their GPU's working their way into many automobile applications, and this... I'm glad I bought some nvidia stock a while back.
 
Slow getting this to market or does the 1060/1070 not fit the same design envelope as the 965M/980M?
 
collegeboy69us said:
between Pascal being a hit, and their GPU's working their way into many automobile applications, and this... I'm glad I bought some nvidia stock a while back.
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I bought AMD at $2 and Nvidia was sitting at around $14 at the time. Kicking myself for not getting in on both. I am happy with my AMD take but I would've seen nearly 400% returns with Nvidia..
 
BloodyIron said:
I wonder how serviceable it is.
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Well, if the Surface 3 Pro is any indication, probably not very. I mean, there are rough ways for example, to replace the SSD with something bigger (re: dremel tool). But I think in this case, the computer mostly resides in the base box underneath the Surface screen?
 
Its not often that I feel swayed by a commercial... but that was a fantastic commercial. The music hit me in my feels from watching Charlie and the Chocolate Factory as a kid, and the visuals made me eyegasm.
 
Why did MS go with Maxwell? A 1060 would be somewhat faster and run cooler.
 
Stoly said:
Why did MS go with Maxwell? A 1060 would be somewhat faster and run cooler.
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I thought the same thing, but I'm guessing this has been in the works for much longer than the 1060 has existed. Or maybe they got a massive bulk discount on the 980Ms....
 
A key part of a lot of Microsoft's business model includes IT businesses that support their products. This includes hardware and software. So if they're not taking IT support into account, then they really have lost touch with the industry.

I suspect it's the latter.

Trepidati0n said:
Considering the demographic that will buy this...the desire for serviceability is probably on a rank of 1 to 10 a negative 5
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This is my first time seeing it and that Surface Dial looks awesome. Hope that thing gets a lot of support. It's completely useless for me though.

Make the Surface Studio a 13", with spec similar to that of a Surface 3, somewhat splash/water proof, for $600 or less, I'd buy one for the kitchen.
 
BloodyIron said:
A key part of a lot of Microsoft's business model includes IT businesses that support their products. This includes hardware and software. So if they're not taking IT support into account, then they really have lost touch with the industry.

I suspect it's the latter.
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What does IT need to service? Seriously? What is the "wearable item". That is what SERVICE is for..things that wear out before the product is in its useful life. Big data services..yes, the HDD are serviceable and to some extent power supplies for redundant systems because those two items are known LOW reliability items in any system. Everything else is a big FU in most cases. Again...the people who make HW get it..and MS isn't stupid either.

Furthermore, the people who USE THIS don't want a "big blocky computer". But...by all means...piss off your end user with your desire to make your life easier. You do realize IT doesn't make money for company? It costs money. The only people who actually make money for companies are your sales force. Therefore it is YOUR JOB, as an IT professional, to minimize the overall cost and impact of technology to the company but at the same time giving them tools which can increase their ability to be productive to either minimize their costs or allow your sales team to generate your revenue. This means if a super sexy and elegant computer make employee A even 5% more productive....that easily DWARFS any amount of time you might spend working on the widget over the year by having to send it our for repair. But..by all means, bitch about being able to service things you should never have to service because it will save you time.
 
PC OEMs have done very little to make PCs exciting again. Cell phones, while becoming boring themselves, are still the new hotness in comparison. Microsoft is actually trying to bring some money back and keep the PC hardware industry alive and people do nothing but complain about it. WTF is wrong with enthusiasts these days?
 
VIC-20 said:
PC OEMs have done very little to make PCs exciting again. Cell phones, while becoming boring themselves, are still the new hotness in comparison. Microsoft is actually trying to bring some money back and keep the PC hardware industry alive and people do nothing but complain about it. WTF is wrong with enthusiasts these days?
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I agree with that you're saying buy the Surface line isn't so much geared towards PC enthusiasts, at least not the high performance PC gaming crowd around here. The Surface line is targeted at productivity, particularly mobile and now with the Surface Studio, digital ink productivity. The pricing and targeting of the Surface line I think is the right way for Microsoft to market the Surface line because not crowding out their partner OEMs is still critical.

If the time comes that thinks it needs to more aggressively sell PCs at lower price points and different audiences I imagine they are keeping their options open their if the PC market continues to decline. 2017 is expected to be a stabilizing year for PC sales and if that doesn't prove to be the case, I wouldn't be surprised if Microsoft doesn't start looking at a more broad based PC line up of it's wares.
 
I don't see any problems with MS using older technology if it is sufficient for the product they are going for.

You are not going to be buying a $3000 PC targetted at designers to game, so if 965M is sufficient for the general userbase of the product, I don't see any reason why they'd need to go higher, except to fill a small niche of those who use their computer to also game.

That being said, it certainly is looking like that Maxwell is nVidia's current license to print money...
 
Stoly said:
Why did MS go with Maxwell? A 1060 would be somewhat faster and run cooler.
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Microsoft was first with skylake and paid the price with reliability on the Surface Pro 4, and to a slightly smaller extent with the book with it's hybrid graphics. They probably figured it's better to let someone else take the PR hit if Maxwell turned out to be problematic.
 
heatlesssun said:
I agree with that you're saying buy the Surface line isn't so much geared towards PC enthusiasts, at least not the high performance PC gaming crowd around here. The Surface line is targeted at productivity, particularly mobile and now with the Surface Studio, digital ink productivity. The pricing and targeting of the Surface line I think is the right way for Microsoft to market the Surface line because not crowding out their partner OEMs is still critical.

If the time comes that thinks it needs to more aggressively sell PCs at lower price points and different audiences I imagine they are keeping their options open their if the PC market continues to decline. 2017 is expected to be a stabilizing year for PC sales and if that doesn't prove to be the case, I wouldn't be surprised if Microsoft doesn't start looking at a more broad based PC line up of it's wares.
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All very true and I agree with you completely. But enthusiasts used to be thrilled by new PC tech in general and it didn't matter if they were ever going to buy it. Tech was just appreciated for being new, unique, interesting, etc. It was exciting to us and we convinced our friends and family to buy it. We used to be the champions of new PC tech and now I feel like we are the anal whiny gatekeepers. Makes me sad.
 
BloodyIron said:
A key part of a lot of Microsoft's business model includes IT businesses that support their products. This includes hardware and software. So if they're not taking IT support into account, then they really have lost touch with the industry.

I suspect it's the latter.
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Or they're branching out into a different market and will support the device directly. Which is what's happening.

I'll say this: the Surface Studio is super overpriced, but the form factor makes sense for the target demographic. I can absolutely see it snapped up immediately by architectural and design firms, artists, maybe even schools. I'd love to get one and hook it up to a projector.
 
VIC-20 said:
All very true and I agree with you completely. But enthusiasts used to be thrilled by new PC tech in general and it didn't matter if they were ever going to buy it. Tech was just appreciated for being new, unique, interesting, etc. It was exciting to us and we convinced our friends and family to buy it. We used to be the champions of new PC tech and now I feel like we are the anal whiny gatekeepers. Makes me sad.
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Great point. I think part of the problem you're describing here is that it's hard to appreciate what we don't use. Even with a group that's as experienced with technology as this one, none of individually will ever use or understand well every single piece of technology out there. Pen computing in this forum is seen by many as a useless anachronism but digital ink has been around for a long time.
 
heatlesssun said:
Great point. I think part of the problem you're describing here is that it's hard to appreciate what we don't use. Even with a group that's as experienced with technology as this one, none of individually will ever use or understand well every single piece of technology out there. Pen computing in this forum is seen by many as a useless anachronism but digital ink has been around for a long time.
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Pretty much. I very much like my Surface Pro 3, but the Studio is nothing I'd ever buy. Interesting sure, but nothing that I'd go "Oh man! That shit's hot!" The same goes with the pen. I put mine in a cup, on a desk, hidden under my stairs. I used it for maybe 20-30 seconds for the whole like 1-2 years I've owned the Surface Pro 3.
 
It's not overpriced if you take into consideration the cost of an equivalent wacom tablet.


Terpfen said:
Or they're branching out into a different market and will support the device directly. Which is what's happening.

I'll say this: the Surface Studio is super overpriced, but the form factor makes sense for the target demographic. I can absolutely see it snapped up immediately by architectural and design firms, artists, maybe even schools. I'd love to get one and hook it up to a projector.
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BloodyIron said:
It's not overpriced if you take into consideration the cost of an equivalent wacom tablet.
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Not all touch input devices are alike. Wacom tablets are expensive because they have extremely well crafted and specific inputs. They even have settings that make the screen feel like paper. Does the Surface Studio do that? How is its accuracy and input tracking relative to the Wacom? Is it as precise? There are certain applications where you don't need Wacom or Intuos levels of precision. But there are plenty of applications where you would. Does the Surface Studio meet or exceed those precision requirements?

I can see the Surface Studio working nicely for an architect, because the architect may not need all of the settings of the Wacom. But the pro artist may not get enough control over the Surface Studio's input to make it a viable option. Just because Gabe likes it doesn't mean it's going to actually be popular among high precision artists.

So, architects will probably dig it, and artists who don't need super precision will probably try it out. Personally, I'd like an $800 version that can be hooked up to a projector. This is exactly what a conference room needs.
 
Terpfen said:
Not all touch input devices are alike. Wacom tablets are expensive because they have extremely well crafted and specific inputs. They even have settings that make the screen feel like paper. Does the Surface Studio do that? How is its accuracy and input tracking relative to the Wacom? Is it as precise? There are certain applications where you don't need Wacom or Intuos levels of precision. But there are plenty of applications where you would. Does the Surface Studio meet or exceed those precision requirements?

I can see the Surface Studio working nicely for an architect, because the architect may not need all of the settings of the Wacom. But the pro artist may not get enough control over the Surface Studio's input to make it a viable option. Just because Gabe likes it doesn't mean it's going to actually be popular among high precision artists.

So, architects will probably dig it, and artists who don't need super precision will probably try it out. Personally, I'd like an $800 version that can be hooked up to a projector. This is exactly what a conference room needs.
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The N-trig pens in Surface devices starting with the Surface Pro 3 from all that I've experienced (I have a Surface Pro 3, 1st gen Surface Book and Surface 3 that all use this pen tech) and read are very much on par with traditional Wacom pen tech. Wacom pens used to require a digitizer layer which required additional hardware which is one reason why the Surface line transitioned over to N-trig that didn't at the time. Wacom now has a active pen technology that's similar though I don't think it's used in Cintiq devices currently.

$800 dollars for a full computer with a Surface Studio class display that's pen and touch capable would be very nice but simply doesn't exist at that price anywhere.
 
JDon said:
I thought the same thing, but I'm guessing this has been in the works for much longer than the 1060 has existed. Or maybe they got a massive bulk discount on the 980Ms....
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Got around to watching the video last night. They designed and finished it two years ago, but had to sit on it because no one could reliably make the screen in mass until recently. I'm guessing its's a similar reason why the Dell which previewed a similar device in 2014, and again at Adobe Max also hasn't shipped, but allegedly will be at CES.
 
shit i found this thing completely awesome when i saw the video, but my mind is boggled about not using a 10xx gpu
 
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