Question i5-8250U vs i5-1035G4?

[Strooper]

Dear Community,

On top of my gaming PC, I'm planning to buy a Surface Pro. I'm struggling to choose between the Surface Pro 6 (i5-8250U) and the new Surface Pro 7 with a 10th gen i5 (i5-1035G4).

I'll use this computer mainly for programming (currently teaching myself machine learning and NLP) and Excel, sometimes with huge VBA macros.

Should I be fine with a Surface Pro 6 (i5-8250U) and save some money or is it worth to spent the extra money on a new Surface Pro 7 with its 10th gen processor (and improved graphics)?

Does the increase in power justify the increase in price? If yes, I'll go for pro 7.

Thank you!

PS: to give some context I live in France where the price are quite different from the US:

With the same characteristics:
Pro 6 i5 --> 910€
Pro 7 i5 -->1070€

 

[cdrkf]

Dear Community,

On top of my gaming PC, I'm planning to buy a Surface Pro. I'm struggling to choose between the Surface Pro 6 (i5-8250U) and the new Surface Pro 7 with a 10th gen i5 (i5-1035G4).

I'll use this computer mainly for programming (currently teaching myself machine learning and NLP) and Excel, sometimes with huge VBA macros.

Should I be fine with a Surface Pro 6 (i5-8250U) and save some money or is it worth to spent the extra money on a new Surface Pro 7 with its 10th gen processor (and improved graphics)?

Does the increase in power justify the increase in price? If yes, I'll go for pro 7.

Thank you!

PS: to give some context I live in France where the price are quite different from the US:

With the same characteristics:
Pro 6 i5 --> 910€
Pro 7 i5 -->1070€

That new i5 is much more powerful- the Ice Lake core is roughly 18% faster per clock. The top i7 models have typically had lower clocks than the older Whiskey lake parts resulting in fairly small performance gains.

However in the case of these 2 options, the 1035U has higher single and multi core boost frequencies than the older part so it's a win win, so I think the extra cost is worth it.

 

[Strooper]

That new i5 is much more powerful- the Ice Lake core is roughly 18% faster per clock. The top i7 models have typically had lower clocks than the older Whiskey lake parts resulting in fairly small performance gains.

However in the case of these 2 options, the 1035U has higher single and multi core boost frequencies than the older part so it's a win win, so I think the extra cost is worth it.

Dear cdrkf,

Thank you so much for your advice. I think I'll go for the pro 7 then.

 

[geofelt]

Worth is something only YOU can determine.
Since your budget seems to permit either, My recommendation is to buy the better unit.
If you do not, you will forever wonder if you should have.
I have never regretted buying the best for long,
but sometimes I have regretted buying the budget unit for a much longer time.

 

[Strooper]

Worth is something only YOU can determine.
Since your budget seems to permit either, My recommendation is to buy the better unit.
If you do not, you will forever wonder if you should have.
I have never regretted buying the best for long,
but sometimes I have regretted buying the budget unit for a much longer time.

Hi geofelt, thank you for your feedback

I have indeed the budget for either. It might be wiser to go for pro 7.