Surface pro 4

[rgsteele190]

Can someone tell me if the graphics capabilites of the Surface Pro 4 (256GB / Intel Core i5 - 8GB RAM) are powerful enough to support Fusion 360? My thought was that given that any rendering required does not occure on the computer, It might be.

Gary Steele

[Anonymous]

@rgsteele190, I don't know the answer but you left out the most important piece of information so I am adding it for you.

The Surface Pro 4 model with the i5 processor comes with Intel HD graphics 520.

[innovatenate]

Fusion 360 still utilizes local resources to process the models. You'll need adequate hardware/graphics/memory as defined by the system requirements below.

http://knowledge.autodesk.com/support/fusion-360/troubleshooting/caas/sfdcarticles/sfdcarticles/Syst...

I hope this answers your question.

Thanks,

[rgsteele190]

I probably should have been more specific with my question. Here is what
the spec says. "Graphics Card: 512MB GDDR RAM or more (except Intel GMA
X3100 cards)". As far as I can ascertain the GMA X3100 is a spec for a
graphics processor that used the computer's ram and has been superseded by
the "HD" spec which also uses the computer's ram. So my question is would
the same exception hold for the HD 520?

[Anonymous]

@innovatenate, the Intel HD Graphics 520 does not have its own memory, as is the case with most integrated graphics.  The link you gave requires a 512mb graphics memory requirement.  It is not clear if this 512mb can be of the shared type.  My guess is that you are requiring dedicated memory, otherwise practically every computer would meet the requirement.  But, I have a MacBook Pro with integrated Intel Iris 5100 graphics (also shared memory) and Fusion 360 runs very nicely on it.

@rgsteele190, I think you will do fine with the Surface Pro, though I suspect a discrete graphics option would be better if you are going to use Fusion hard.  Only you can answer that.  I can tell you that my Late 2013 MacBook Pro with Intel Iris 5100 integrated graphics runs very well, and I use it in a professional capacity.  I believe the HD 520 graphics are in the same ballpark.  I hope you let us know how it performs when/if you get it.  Microsoft just released some impressive hardware.

[matt.pooley]

@rgsteele190, I would add a caveat around potential use of a Surface Pro 4 with Fusion 360, we have observed challenges if Fusion is used with high DPI settings which I believe are regularly seen on Surface Pro systems. Before purchasing specific hardware, I would recommend trying Fusion on your current system with 150% DPI set through the Display Preferences, this will be a guide as to how Fusion may be seen on Surface hardware.

Some additional details from Microsoft on this area are available at : http://www.microsoft.com/surface/en-us/support/apps-and-windows-store/app-display-issues?os=windows-...

Regards,

Matt Pooley

On Behalf of the Fusion Dev Team.

[Anonymous]

@matt.pooley, That is a very good point, and one not to be taken lightly.  I know what that experience is like from running Windows 10 on my MacBook Pro that has a high DPI display.  At native resolution you have to go to at least 150% scaling.  In my case I was at 200% which is recommended by the OS at that resolution.  At this scaling Fusion 360 was almost unusable, but without the scaling everything whether Fusion or not was too smal to read, and I have good vision.  In OSX (Mac) everything look great.

This is going to become a very common problem as high DPI is becomming more and more popular, especially on high end machines.

[O.Tan]

Well only for Windows based softwares, on the Mac side the transition to HiDPI has been much smoother and I believe most apps these days are Retina-ready

[rgsteele190]

Thanks to all who responded to my question. I received some good information. I have narrowed down my choice to the Surface pro I7  or the Surface Book i5 with Nivida gpu. The scaling issue shouln't be a problem as I will be using a large external monitor while running Fusion 360.

[Davidf01 · Accepted solution]

FYI,

I have fusion running on my surface pro 2 with 256 HD and 8 gigs of ram with the intel graphics.

[Anonymous]

Please keep us updated on your choice, I'm also thinking to exchange my Z book for a Surface Book i5 after my wife has got a Surface 3.

The only question is if I will need the extra GPU power ???  And if we are going to get the Book in Europe

[Anonymous]

How is this working for you? I have a Surface Pro 3 connected to a 50" Samsung TV and all of the icons and menus are way to small to see.

[mfeathers]

I have a Gigabyte Brix Pro with Intell Iris Pro 5200 and it runs Fusion really well @ 1920 x 1080. The specs I've read on the Surface Pro i5 and i7 seem to match up pretty well with my older spec.

[Anonymous]

That is good to know,

The Surface 3 I have now is the Atom version, only use it for surfing and showing some pictures around, nothing in 3D, but it's battery time is superb and I do like the touchscreen.

For 3D work I use a HP Z-book, really up for the work but it's nothing compared to the Surface portability, so next your I would prefer a less powerful device for mobility.

[Anonymous]

I have only just installed F360 on my surface Pro 4 (i7 256GB 16GB Ram). I'm only a hobyist, however so far i have not encountered any issues with scaling (200%). I will update more if i find any issues. 

[innovatenate]

If you run into any difficulties, try the suggesitons in the below link.

https://knowledge.autodesk.com/support/fusion-360/troubleshooting/caas/sfdcarticles/sfdcarticles/Per...

Thanks!

[Anonymous]

I'm thinking of getting the Surface Pro 4 so I can work on my Revit drawings, so please keep us up-to-date as to slow downs or performance issues.

[jtevisD9ACH]

I installed Fusion 360 last week on my Surface Pro 4 and it caused all sorts of video issues. Here is my hardware config:

Intel Core i7-6650U @ 2.20 Ghz

16 GB RAM

Windows 10 (64-bit)

Intel Iris Graphics 540

Total available graphics memory 8282 MB

Dedicated Video Memory 128 MB

System Video Memory 0 GB

Shared Video Memory 8154 MB

Running an external 1920x1080 monitor (Samsung) with display on this screen only.

After launching Fusion 360 and closing the app, video would pretty much go braindead. Dialog boxes would be just frames, dropdowns would be empty, dialog boxes that overlapped would show the ones beneath it, etc. etc. Have to restart to get video working correctly again. Finally gave up and uninstall it, but hoping someone has some info on how to get this to run because I love the app.

[cekuhnen]

@O.Tan Amazing how many do NOT update their software for HiDPI. What is common on macOS is hardly the case for Win10. Mind blowing.

[cekuhnen]

@matt.pooley While the Surface Platform is not bad, the problem is when software makers do NOT update their software to offer also a HiDPI UI and icons.

I hardly have apps that run well on the Surface. Most dont offer HiDPI and thus cripple the user experience.

Fusion's UI is not that bad on the Surface compared to others, but it could be better.