Surface Pro 3 Throttling Solution?

Anonymous
2014-07-06T03:09:34+00:00

Hi! I received my surface pro 3 about 2 weeks ago and so far my experience has been great while surfing the internet, personalizing it to my needs, watching videos, and writing with the stylus.

 I have seen how the surface one and surface pro 2 can handle games on the lowest settings and was very impressed and encouraged to buy the SP3 for light gaming when I have free time and am not using it for work.  However, I am a little disappointed with how the performance on the SP3 drastically drops to less than 1Ghz about 3-5 minutes after I start playing any game or even a less intensive game like Dota 2, Portal, or the newer version of GTA San Andreas (a 2005 GAME) which I bought this week from the Windows Store.  Most of the games I have tried start at 30-60 frames per second but as the heat starts building up, the frame rates drop to 10-15 frames due to throttling... This DOES NOT happen with the surface pro or pro 2 and most people play high end games at 30 frames per second on low settings for long periods even with throttling. I am not able to do that on my surface pro 3... Why? Why is there so much "power" that you can only use for a short time?... Did I just spend $1400 for much less performance than a Surface pro 2?...

I hope that this can be fixed in some way very soon. I really love the surface pro 3 and don't want to return it. But when I play a 2005 game like GTA San Andreas which was ported for smartphones and tablets and the frames drop below 25 after a while... it really gets me thinking...

Surface | Surface Pro | Performance and maintenance

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.

0 comments

42 answers

Sort by: Newest
Most helpful Newest Oldest
  1. Anonymous
    2014-07-10T04:16:46+00:00

    I notice this too especially after the July updates my games seem much slower has if the graphics or CPU power has been reduced and it was plugged in near a cooling source. I guess the battery improvements are by reducing power even during the demands.

    Was this answer helpful?

    0 comments
  2. Anonymous
    2014-07-09T21:09:22+00:00

    I tried to do that and reinstalled everything after applying every update including the july 2014 new firmware update and no positive change occured... It seems the problem has not yet been addressed :( The only way I managed to maintain a stable performance at a high level was by placing the surface in a spot where my air conditioning blew directly at it.

    Was this answer helpful?

    0 comments
  3. Anonymous
    2014-07-09T13:51:50+00:00

    Manueldaviid,

    Please go ahead and try refreshing your device, install all the Windows updates and then re install these games.

    Report back with the new experience.

    Cheers,

    Was this answer helpful?

    0 comments
  4. Anonymous
    2014-07-09T05:35:21+00:00

    I have found the same problem trying to play civilization 5.  It works great for the first half hour or so usually, then once the case starts warming up i've seen problems crop up (bluetooth mouse will stop working, it will stop recognizing some of the keyboard presses, it once shut down entirely).  i often have to let it cooldown for 5 or 10 minutes to be able to start playing again.

    Was this answer helpful?

    0 comments
  5. Anonymous
    2014-07-07T22:48:26+00:00

    Greetings Manueldaviid,

    Welcome to the Microsoft community. We are glad about the opportunity your giving us to help. I'm sorry to hear about your Surface Pro 3 performance when playing games. I can only imagine how this is irritating and embarrassing for you. I want to thank you for letting us know. We will do our best to help solving this problem.

    We'd like you to provide few more details so that we can better assist?

    1. When did it start?
    2. Do you have all updates installed for Windows?
    3. Is this a random or persistent issue?
    4. Is the device getting hot?
    5. Have you tried uninstalling and re installing these games?

    Please get back to us with details.

    Cheers,

    Sure! thank you so much :)

    1. It started since day one but I came to realize it was an issue after I changed all the possible settings(graphics, resolution, etc.) and also looked at various forums.
    2. I check for any updates on the matter at least three times a day and install every other update that appears. Mostly of windows defender. 
    3. It is persistent. No matter which game or how well it runs at first, it will severely hit performance.
    4. The device gets significantly hot. I ran a program to read the temp and while I play it will reach temperatures of 70-80 degrees. At around 75(only about 3 minutes after I start playing) throttling starts and forces the processor to go back to LESS THAN 60 DEGREES. That is when frames start dropping until the games are nearly unplayable. Personally, I think less than 60 degrees is too drastic. The device should be able to run at a higher temperature.
    5. I have also tried re installing and the issue still persists...

    Awaiting reply! Hope this helps to solve the issue.

    You nailed down. I don't know how much room Microsoft has to play with elevating the max temperature allowed. Keep in mind that the fan design changed between the 2 and the 3. So comparing both devices is not right.

    Was this answer helpful?

    0 comments