macmee
Active Member
Using a fan like this frequently seems like it would mess the device up after awhile. I own that same fan but I never used it much for this reason.
Surface Pro 4 i7-6650U power throttling issue?
- Thread starter theveterans
- Start date
Using a fan like this frequently seems like it would mess the device up after awhile. I own that same fan but I never used it much for this reason.
I guess it depends on what it is doing. Actually cooling the internals or just fooling the superficially located temperature sensor leading to internal overheating. I wonder if folks will figure out how to just disable that sensor completely and what that will do to core temps (are there other temp sensors that will kick in?). If some external air flow is all it takes to keep the SP4 at a normal operating temp then I can't see how it will cause any long term damage.
OP
theveterans
Member
As long as that any kind of throttling doesn't kick in, it shouldn't harm the device. It might harm the battery though since the heat located throughout the back unlike the SP3 where heat is only concentrated on the right side of the surface.
Seneleron
Active Member
Wow, at the end of the day I was right. . AND wrong. It's "heat" throttling, just not from the sensor I'd suspected.
And for the record: Setting a computer to run in excess of it's OEM performance configuration is "overclocking". Overclocking does not just refer to cranking things up with afterburner or adjusting CPU multipliers in BIOS. I get that most people don't see "high performance" mode in power options as actual "OVERCLOCKING", but given that the option is hidden in its OEM configuration and requires additional work to "unlock" pushes it into the realm of "overclocking"
Ever so barely, but that's my story and I'm stickin' to it
And for the record: Setting a computer to run in excess of it's OEM performance configuration is "overclocking". Overclocking does not just refer to cranking things up with afterburner or adjusting CPU multipliers in BIOS. I get that most people don't see "high performance" mode in power options as actual "OVERCLOCKING", but given that the option is hidden in its OEM configuration and requires additional work to "unlock" pushes it into the realm of "overclocking"
Ever so barely, but that's my story and I'm stickin' to it
I've had a lot of success with the suggestion from the youtuber from earlier on a different video of his. Frame limiting and V-sync seems to keep everything doing just fine. For now anyway. I do wish there's something MS could do along the lines of nixing this issue, but considering they don't seem to have done much about the Surface Pro 3 power throttling I don't see that happening.
Have any of you guys been having power throttling issues with the performance mode on "balanced"? I haven't set my GPU to "performance" mode yet and also haven't noticed any problems yet. But maybe it's just the game I'm playing...I suppose it's within the realm of possibility that Shadowrun: Hong Kong just won't trip the power throttling.
Have any of you guys been having power throttling issues with the performance mode on "balanced"? I haven't set my GPU to "performance" mode yet and also haven't noticed any problems yet. But maybe it's just the game I'm playing...I suppose it's within the realm of possibility that Shadowrun: Hong Kong just won't trip the power throttling.
OP
theveterans
Member
Cerif27,
Power throttling only arises when game needs a lot of high CPU frequency and power like online FPS games such as CS GO, BF3/4 multiplayer, Crysis 3 multiplayer, GTA 5. Otherwise, performance should be very close to unthrottled performance when games don't need high CPU frequency/power.
Power throttling only arises when game needs a lot of high CPU frequency and power like online FPS games such as CS GO, BF3/4 multiplayer, Crysis 3 multiplayer, GTA 5. Otherwise, performance should be very close to unthrottled performance when games don't need high CPU frequency/power.
So does this mean strategy games like X-com, CIV5, Total War, Europa Universalis, etc will not max out the CPU? Most of these will run on my SP1 but it would be nice to see the full power of the i7 on those games. My SP1 gets damned hot playing that stuff so I imagine there is some serious CPU usage going on but there isn't really a framerate counter in those games that can say if the PC is throttling or not (or is there?).
All I know is I'm not having any issues playing Shadowrun:HK at full 2K screen resolution. I turned off post process, but that was it. Everything else is running maxed. And I found a new use for the pen I never thought I would use as a non-artist! It's great for strategy games.
PumpkinPie
New Member
So whats Microsoft's word on this? Surely someone must have reported this to them to fix? - It's kind of a deal breaker to not be able to use what you're paying for to it's full potential. Microsoft needs to come up with a fix to this power throttling issue.
In the meantime, I'm holding off buying a Surface Pro 4 until this i7 crippling problem is corrected.
In the meantime, I'm holding off buying a Surface Pro 4 until this i7 crippling problem is corrected.
OP
theveterans
Member
See my post #12. It's not Microsoft but Intel rather. Just download intel power gadget, max the CPU with handbrake transcoding and you should see that the whole 15 W TDP is gobbled up by CPU alone. Throw in the GPU then you've got the power throttling mess.
