I got the base Surface Pro 11 (X Plus) with 16GB RAM 256GB SSD
aka the weakest of the 4 1st gen offerings CPU and GPU-wise.
Fan noise
fans do ramp up while gaming, but not jet engine like or high pitched.
Otherwise they are not noticeable for surfing, watching a 4K movie, office work.
Battery
the battery life is crazy good - compared to what I got at work (2023 HP Laptop) and had prior. While it's no match for low power sipping Mac/MacOS, its so nice that Windows (and hopefully Linux 🤞) will have something at least something in the vincinity.
Games/Launchers/Mods
None of my game launchers, games, fan made mod manager (🥰) and mods are made for ARM, but they all work without any issue out of the box, the Xbox controller (Bluetooth) too.
I can output a stable 50 to 60fps to 4K with the stock USB-C to HDMI adapter.
RPG/shooting/driving works fine fps wise and no noticeable input lag.
The cinematics/cut scenes however are all over the place - from low 20fps to 57fps - sometimes in the same game and scene.
If I remember correctly those are rendered on the fly and not prerecorded, so that would points towards some driver/optimization/compatibility issue.
the Xbox Game Bar also just shows zeros for GPU and VRAM, but otherwise works fine (CPU, RAM, FPS).
software issue/installation error
I did have a single program that doesn't work.
I got an error message (below), while trying to install it.
I'll see tomorrow if I can make it work.
Even if not, no worries, they are already at work for an ARM variant and I can use the web version until then.
FINALLY
I don't remeber how many years that I've waited for such a device and they are finally here.
I will still return this awesome Surface in a few days regardless.
Looking forward what's announced/rumored within until the end of the year.
It's possible I'll get a Surface Pro again, but with 32GB RAM and in a different color.
However my takeaway: I a(r)m ready 🙂