Longest Gameplay?
- Thread starter bstylz01
- Start date
Pretty much all evening, id say 6hrs total. No issues.
horseflesh
Member
I have never used any kind of computer that could damage itself from simply being used as intended.
Maybe ten years ago, before CPUs had thermal shutdown protection built in... maybe if you had installed your heat sink improperly, or it was choked with dust... maybe then.
Today? Just enjoy your Surface.
Maybe ten years ago, before CPUs had thermal shutdown protection built in... maybe if you had installed your heat sink improperly, or it was choked with dust... maybe then.
Today? Just enjoy your Surface.
Philtastic
Active Member
I think the longest I've done on SP2 is 5-6 hours of Diablo 3. As long as the SP2 is being used in an appropriate manner (ie. not buried in pillows or with the vents taped up or on a hot surface), it shouldn't overheat because it throttles at 80 degrees Celcius (ie. it under-clocks your CPU and possibly graphics to keep it under 80 degrees).
Out of interest, does your SP2 get pretty hot and have the fan running loud while gaming? I got Speed Runners off Steam which seems like it wouldn't be too intensive for the SP2 but within minutes of playing the fan is on constantly and the machine feels quite warm. Is that normal?
Thanks
Thanks
Philtastic
Active Member
When gaming, your SP2 will get very hot if you are running it at full speed (ie. 100% CPU clockspeed, maximum graphics performance). As long as you are using your SP2 in an appropriate environment (ie. in an open area where it has proper ventilation rather than under a blanket or in a case that blocks the vents), it will underclock to stay under 80 degrees Celcius. Intel CPUs are pretty solid and can definitely go up to 90 degrees and may even go up to 100 degrees without any damage unless you run it there for a significant period of time but, again, the SP2 is designed to throttle once it hits 80 degrees. The fans should be going at max speed if you've gotten it to 80 degrees.
If you are concerned about that temperature, however, there are steps that you can take to limit how much of the CPU and GPU your game uses. Firstly, you can set your SP2 to never go above its minimum CPU clockspeed. You will find this setting in your power profile (you can find that by left clicking the battery icon in the lower right and selecting "More power options", hit "change plan" for whichever one you want to use for lower power and battery use, and go to "Change advanced power settings). Scroll down to "Processor power management" and set the "maximum processor state" to 0%. That will prevent the SP2 from ever increasing the CPU's clockspeed which will reduce power consumption and heat generation.
You can also throttle your Intel integrated graphics by going to the "Intel Graphics Settings" option in that same panel and setting it to "Maximum battery life". This will prevent your GPU from being used fully, thus reducing heat and battery consumption. Do note that limiting the CPU and GPU will slow down your system's performance but you will get much better battery life as a trade-off.
Finally, you can limit the framerate and graphics options in the particular games that you are playing so that it won't use your SP2's now limited capabilities fully. If your game doesn't have a built-in framerate limiter, the simplest way is to just lower the settings to the minimum, play at 720p (or lower but then things start scaling poorly on the SP2's 1080p screen), and turn v-sync on to limit the framerate to some derivative of 60 fps. There are more specific ways to limit your framerate with 3rd party programs but I'm not sure how well they work with Intel integrated GPUs so I will leave it at v-sync.
If you are concerned about that temperature, however, there are steps that you can take to limit how much of the CPU and GPU your game uses. Firstly, you can set your SP2 to never go above its minimum CPU clockspeed. You will find this setting in your power profile (you can find that by left clicking the battery icon in the lower right and selecting "More power options", hit "change plan" for whichever one you want to use for lower power and battery use, and go to "Change advanced power settings). Scroll down to "Processor power management" and set the "maximum processor state" to 0%. That will prevent the SP2 from ever increasing the CPU's clockspeed which will reduce power consumption and heat generation.
You can also throttle your Intel integrated graphics by going to the "Intel Graphics Settings" option in that same panel and setting it to "Maximum battery life". This will prevent your GPU from being used fully, thus reducing heat and battery consumption. Do note that limiting the CPU and GPU will slow down your system's performance but you will get much better battery life as a trade-off.
Finally, you can limit the framerate and graphics options in the particular games that you are playing so that it won't use your SP2's now limited capabilities fully. If your game doesn't have a built-in framerate limiter, the simplest way is to just lower the settings to the minimum, play at 720p (or lower but then things start scaling poorly on the SP2's 1080p screen), and turn v-sync on to limit the framerate to some derivative of 60 fps. There are more specific ways to limit your framerate with 3rd party programs but I'm not sure how well they work with Intel integrated GPUs so I will leave it at v-sync.
Pro Surfer
New Member
I hook up my SP2 to my tv and turn off the SP2 screen while playing GW2. I can play on average 4-6 hours without a problem. The fans kick on and off when needed and will stop shortly after I'm done playing. Turning off the screen and hooking up to a monitor or tv seems to help a ton with heat for me. I would not be worried about it as long as the room you are in isn't too hot during summer months.
hertsjoatmon
Member
As the others have said. You cant damage your machine from gaming as it with throttle the CPU once it hits 80 degrees to keep the tempertature at that or lower.
This will effect your experience though as your frame rates will drop dramaticly when the processor is throttled to cool it down. To counter that, I have undervolted my processor using XTU and limited the frequency that the turbo boost can acheive. My machine now averages around 75 degrees during gaming and rarely throttles giving a more consistant experience.
This will effect your experience though as your frame rates will drop dramaticly when the processor is throttled to cool it down. To counter that, I have undervolted my processor using XTU and limited the frequency that the turbo boost can acheive. My machine now averages around 75 degrees during gaming and rarely throttles giving a more consistant experience.
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