Microsoft Adds Low-End $1,699 Surface Book SKU With Discrete NVIDIA GPU

Microsoft also revealed that the Surface Book could be optioned with a discrete NVIDIA GeForce graphics chips that is housed within the keyboard base. Unfortunately, those looking for a cheap way to boost graphics performance were disappointed to learn that while the base Surface Book started at $1,499, the cheapest SKU with a dedicated GPU (dGPU) started at a much loftier $1,899.

Microsoft has heard your cries and has introduced a brand new low-end SKU with NVIDIA graphics. Whereas the previous entry-level dGPU solution came with a sixth generation Intel Core i5 processor, 8GB of RAM and a 256GB SSD, the new $1,699 SKU mirrors those specs, but cuts the amount of storage in half to 128GB. 

Of course, if you want the the full graphics capabilities of the dGPU, you’ll have to attach the 13.5-inch tablet into its keyboard base. If you use the tablet alone, you’ll only have access to the less powerful integrated Intel graphics solution. But it’s a small price to pay for what is shaping up to be a powerful mobile computing solution from Microsoft. 

If a $1,699 Surface Book still isn’t potent enough to satisfy your power needs, you can always spring for a loaded model with a Core i7 processor, 16GB of RAM, dGPU, and 1TB SSD. However, that SKU will cost you a credit card stressin’ $3,199. However, if you can somehow manage to wrangle up a student/educator discount, you can score that same Surface Book for $2,879.