Regarding I7 Model - Noise/Throttling

[Galaxenio]

I have been testing a new i7 256g for 5 days and i'm disappointed and lost. The SP3 overheats and the fan activates on simple tasks. I tested the same actions on my old SP2 and on the SP3 ; the SP3 overheats and becomes noisy only reading a video while my old SP2 remains cool and silent the whole time even if I use it during hours. I never heard the fan of my SP2 while installing an update or a program, on the SP3 the fan is activating as soon as windows starts to update. Same for playing a game, my old SP2 has no problem while the new one becomes a heater...
I don't understand, i'm searching for ages on web to find a solution, this subject is a mess there is no clear answers, I'd like to know if this is "normal" for all SP3 or mine is one of the batch with problems... I found topics where people said they exchanged their SP3 3 times and there are still heat problems. That's very concerning. (and obviously I already installed all updates, tried to reset the surface, tried without updates, without any program installed...)
Why the SP2 handles better than the new one ? T_T

 

[ptrkhh]

the SP3 overheats and becomes noisy only reading a video while my old SP2 remains cool and silent the whole time even if I use it during hours. I never heard the fan of my SP2 while installing an update or a program, on the SP3 the fan is activating as soon as windows starts to update. Same for playing a game, my old SP2 has no problem while the new one becomes a heater...

The SP3 shouldnt have very different passive cooling performance (when the fan didn't intervene cooling). That means, if your SP2 fan doesn't run, the SP3 shouldnt. If it did, you may check the Task Manager and find out which process uses lots of CPU cycle (the fan runs to cool down the CPU, that's why). Don't forget to check the "App History" tab, and check "Show all processes" in the menu above it. It will show all desktop and system processes that use lots of CPU cycle. Normally the main culprit is either:
a) TiWorker.exe (Windows Modules Installer Worker)
Its runs 'furiously' only on the first week to prepare the device. Especially since you already have a SP2, it will try to set it up the way your SP2 is set up. For example, some Windows components including the languages you use. Just give it a week and it will calm down.
b) Indexing/Search/etc (I don't remember exactly but it sounds like that)
Uncheck PDF files indexing from "Indexing Options" in the Control Panel. There is a workaround for that if you need PDF to be indexed, it involves some files from Adobe.

Why the SP2 handles better than the new one ? T_T

To make it thinner and lighter. As a matter of fact, the SP3 has less overall volume than the SP2. They achieved that by removing one fan (the SP2 has 2 fans), and making the only fan left as powerful as possible, which means it has to run faster, hence noisier.

 

[Galaxenio]

Well my SP3 is empty and I checked, there is nothing using a lot of ressources, there is only the video or program i'm testing running. While doing the same task, my SP2 (with more % usage because I have a lot of things installed) is not activating the fan, the SP3 does so there is definitly a problem :/

I thought that having a new more powerfull version would allow me to run things better but it's totally the opposite. So is it the same thing for everybody because it's thinner and lighter, because the big fan does more noise ? or do I have something going wrong on mine
Thanks for your answer

 

[Moonsurface]

When you say it over heats does it literally overheat and shut off or does it just get warm and blow the fan? Getting warm and putting the fan on is NOT the same as overheating.

I have the i7 256. I can watch youtube and netflix for hours and it doesn't get warm at all and I don't hear the fan. I do hear the fan when it's downloading updates or if I'm playing a windows store game like Age of empires Castle siege, but it has never ever shutdown because of overheating and usually when I stop playing the game or the updates stop downloading the fan goes off and it cools right down.

 

[Galaxenio]

The upper right part gets hot and the fan activates a few minutes after. This happens when I watch youtube videos or a streaming service similar to netflix - it's quick, 5-20 min after (low res video to high res). So it's just basic things, nothing else is running and the fan is already blowing starting to low speed then it reaches a constant mid-speed. Didnt really tested with heavy games but it's probably worse. I'm not having any shut down with overheat.

On my SP2 the device stays cold and quiet for hours doing the same thing, and even more...

 

[fuzzy2651]

I have the i5 256, and I haven't noticed my fan kick in when watching YouTube or anything. It gets slightly warm, but no fan.

It gets a lot warmer and the fan kicks on when playing Minion Rush, Sonic Dash, and that Castle Siege game. I play Civ 5 on it as well and that game causes the fan to run as soon as it loads and is running the whole time. The top right hand corner gets hot. I worry about potential internal damage from it running that hot for a few hours at a time. Good thing I got the extended warranty...

 

[Moonsurface]

I have the i5 256, and I haven't noticed my fan kick in when watching YouTube or anything. It gets slightly warm, but no fan.

It gets a lot warmer and the fan kicks on when playing Minion Rush, Sonic Dash, and that Castle Siege game. I play Civ 5 on it as well and that game causes the fan to run as soon as it loads and is running the whole time. The top right hand corner gets hot. I worry about potential internal damage from it running that hot for a few hours at a time. Good thing I got the extended warranty...

This is the same experience I have on my i7, it may be worth running task manager and checking out the processes running on those that are activating the fan. I tend to use the Netflix app which is apparently worse than using browser but I've not had a problem, can watch for hours with no heat or fan.