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My Surface Pro 6 runs noticeably slower when it is connected to the dock. I have a dock at both home and work and see the same reduced performance in both places. This is not a new issue (unlikely related to a recent Win or other software update). Both docks were originally purchased for use with my previous Surface Pro 4 device.
Does anyone else notice such a pattern?
Any thoughts on what might be causing this and how to fix it?
I don't see any obvious issues when looking at Task Manager. CPU, memory and internet are all lightly utilized.
Thanks much for any thoughts.
-bs
Locked Question. This question was migrated from the Microsoft Support Community. You can vote on whether it's helpful, but you can't add comments or replies or follow the question.
Working like a charm for me. In fact, I went back and adjusted battery slider to the middle, and watched the CPU speed drop to 2. Now, with the slider still in the middle, it's back up to about 4. I can absolutely see the difference in performance as well with my applications.
That being said, time will tell if it works over the long term.
Does anyone know if it's still possible to chat with a real person from MS? All I see is a virtual agent all over the place. I'm returning my SP6 and all I'm gonna ask for is a full re-found.
Unfortunately, using the power mode slider has not consistently worked for me since I had earlier posted that. Not a solution. (frowny face)
Additionally, I now have two fans and they don't make a difference for me. While I wish that something worked, I'm at least glad that I don't have to have a bulky fan stuck to my PC and dock.
I agree with you about the charger. I'm starting to think it is not the dock so much as the charging (or both). I've tried the MS charger that came with the SP6, the MS dock and its charger, and a third party charger (top seller on Amazon). All three of these cause my SP6 to drop to 0.4GHz while the charger is plugged in. (It seems to happen after the device gets to a full charge, but I'm not 100% sure about this yet.)
I have the device set to max performance on battery and on charging and can pull up the performance manager and literally plug and unplug the charger and watch the CPU throttle cycle between 0.4GHz and 3 GHz when I do it.
Is it possible the throttling happens on charger, regardless of whether that charging is through the dock or just the bare charger?
If yes, then the flaw could be more widespread and may apply to everyone with a Surface who charges it...
Ari
Don't keep your fingers crossed. I am running my SP6 all the time in "Best performance" mode and it didn't help.
I tried putting a fan over the dock and then over the cable insertion on the SP6 (didn't have two fans, just tried one at a time), and found no difference. The Surface Pro 6 would still slow its CPU down to 0.4 as soon as the docking station was plugged in.
However, I have had some success thus far after changing the "power mode" to "best performance" (without using any fans). This is found by left-clicking on the battery icon by the clock on the taskbar.
Not ideal, I realize, but after setting this, I have not yet had the CPU throttle back down.
Can anyone else confirm whether or not this works for them with their setup?
Ari
BOOM! This is the best tip yet!
I did this, and went from 0.4 to 3.8 instantly. So far, holding steady after an hour.
BTW, I have had the slow-down issue with a regular Surface charger cable (not dock) as well.
Thank you for this super simple solution -- at least for me -- at least for now..... fingers crossed.
