With every PC release, there’s the question of whether you can play video games on it — gaming is one of the most popular activities to do on a PC, after all. Microsoft recently launched the Surface Pro 9 tablet, and if you’re wondering whether you can use it for gaming, the answer is yes. However, there’s a lot to consider before booting it up for playtime.
Right out of the box, the Surface Pro 9 isn’t a gaming laptop, and it doesn’t have very powerful specs. The Wi-Fi model comes with 15W Intel processors and no discrete graphics (although it can handle lightweight games like Rocket League or Fortnite if you turn the settings down). In contrast, the 5G model uses an Arm-based Microsoft SQ3 processor that’s not at all meant for natively running games. Some games are designed for Arm processors, but they’re pretty rare.
However, the Surface Pro 9 has a fantastic display with a 120Hz refresh rate, which makes for a great gaming experience if you can find a way to get games running. Thankfully, there are many ways to make gaming happen nowadays, whether you’re using cloud gaming or a GPU, and they can be great even on a thin and light device like the Surface Pro 9.
Cloud gaming on the Surface Pro 9
The more broad solution, if you want to play games on the Surface Pro 9, is to use a cloud gaming service, like Xbox Cloud Gaming, Nvidia GeForce Now, or Amazon Luna. The way cloud gaming works is that games are rendered on a server, and the game is streamed to you in real time through the internet. That does mean you need a persistent high-speed internet connection, but cloud gaming works on both Intel and Arm variants of the Surface Pro 9.
Since the Surface Pro 9 has a very sharp display and a 120Hz refresh rate, Nvidia’s GeForce Now is the best solution to take advantage of that. Through the RTX 3080 membership, GeForce Now allows you to stream games at up to 2560 x 1600 resolution and 120 FPS, which makes for a fantastic gaming experience. However, GeForce Now uses a dedicated app that’s only supported on Intel or AMD processors, so you might not be able to play on the Surface Pro 9 with 5G.
Xbox Cloud Gaming can be used through the Xbox app for Windows, which runs natively on both Intel and Arm variants of the Surface Pro 9, so it’s probably the most convenient option. You can also access Amazon Luna through a web browser. If you have the Arm version of the Surface Pro 9, you might want to use Microsoft Edge or Mozilla Firefox, since those are the only two browsers that run natively on Arm-based Windows devices. And, because the Arm model has 5G, you might be able to play from anywhere, even without Wi-Fi. Both Xbox Cloud Gaming and Amazon Luna support 1080p streaming at 60 FPS, so while it’s not as impressive as GeForce Now, you’ll still have a good time. We’d say Xbox Cloud Gaming offers the best value because you can get it with an Xbox Game Pass Ultimate subscription, which includes over 100 games, many of them being major releases, on top of having a dedicated app to use the service.
It’s worth noting that not games on Xbox Game Pass Ultimate use a mouse and keyboard, so you’ll need a controller like an Xbox Wireless Controller.
- Xbox Game Pass Ultimate gives you access to over 100 games on Xbox and PC, including access to cloud gaming so you can play on the Surface Pro 9.
Using an external GPU (Intel models only)
If you have a Surface Pro 9 with an Intel processor, the other option you have is to use an external GPU, which is possible thanks to the power of Thunderbolt 4. This is a proprietary Intel technology, so it’s not available on the 5G models of the Surface Pro 9. Still, it has some amazing capabilities, including up to 40Gbps of bandwidth and, most importantly, support for PCIe signaling through a USB Type-C port.
PCIe is the interface used to communicate with the internal components of a PC, but by passing it through a Thunderbolt 4 port, you can connect a graphics card that’s actually outside your computer using an external GPU enclosure. This is a fairly expensive option since you need to buy the enclosure and the GPU itself, but it means you won’t need to constantly be connected to the internet to play your games, and you can take full advantage of the 120Hz display on the Surface Pro 9.
If you need an external GPU, the Razer Core X Chroma is one of the best enclosures around, and it will support most modern GPUs, though you may have trouble with super-large cards like the GeForce RTX 4090. Still, a GPU like the GeForce RTX 3060 is already going to give you a fantastic experience in most games, and it’s much cheaper.
- The Razer Core X Chroma is an external GPU enclosure with a 750W power supply, including 100W of power delivery to your laptop. Plus, it has RGB lighting for some extra flair.
You can also try the Gigabyte Gaming Box, which already has a GPU built-in. You can’t upgrade the GPU inside it, however.
That’s all you need to know about gaming on the Surface Pro 9. While it’s not a machine built for gaming, modern technologies like cloud gaming and Thunderbolt 4 make this experience possible, even if it requires some investment.
The Surface Pro 9 is likely the best Windows tablet you can buy today, and one of the best laptops in general. If you haven’t yet, you can buy it below, whether you’re interested in gaming or not.
- The Surface Pro 9 is a top-tier Windows tablet with Intel or Qualcomm processors, and it comes in multiple colors for the first time ever.
Originally published at Melbourne News Vine
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