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First off, the specs are: 13.5"/i7/32GB/512GB/1650 Max-Q
Not sure if this will be the case for all users, but I am currently troubleshooting a issue with the Surface Book 3 going into a thermal throttle state from just restarting or trying to update even basic things.
The first few days were fine - though attempting to run Minecraft didn't actually engage the dGPU for some reason. Eventually got the dGPU to work by installing NVIDIA's GeForce Experience, or whatever it's called.
Then I noticed that the fan would spin up even when the SB3 should have been in sleep mode; I fixed this by just having it hibernate instead. Since then, I haven't heard any fan noise at all, even when the thermals were hitting well into the upper 90s C and even a few cores hitting 100 C.
Now, I can't seem to cool the thing off. I was trying to install Adobe Acrobat Pro and the latest Intel drivers (apparently one was released on 5/20?) the screen shut off and a little thermometer popped up (which I assumed, and later confirmed, meant that it had overheated and shut down to prevent damage).
Like I mentioned just above, now I can't seem to get the darn thing to run cool enough to even install it's routine updates. I have a box fan pointed on it to try and help, but even that doesn't seem to be effective.
When last I checked (which admittedly was a few hours ago now since I'm trying a factory reset to see if one of the updates caused this) the CPU was capped out at 400 MHz, but it hasn't overheated since. It sure does take a heck of a long time to do a reset when your CPU is capped to 400 MHz.
I'm hoping that this factory reset will fix the issue (hey, ya never know 'til ya try, amirite?), but otherwise I assume that I will likely have to warranty this particular SB3.
Not really sure where I was going with all of this, I guess I was wondering if this is something that could be caused by updates and drivers or if there is a more serious hardware issue.
I spent far too long trying to see if I could force the fans to spin regardless before just giving up on that.
I'll add a link here that has a picture (would've done a screen cap, but it's in the middle of resetting) and some video showing what I'm talking about.
Thoughts or suggestions?
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.
No idea what to do at this point. I tried to get MSFT to exchange it for a 15" and I'd pay the upgrade. Or even downgrade me to the i5 13".
Right now I use this laptop with an external USB fan so it doesn't overheat, but that is a stupid solution and means I need to carry an external fan around.
Concurred with the poor design. Ive had nothing but issues with my SB3 13.5 since purchasing in August. This device always seems to run hot and I've been having issues with frequent blue screens and power-kernel event errors.
And of course Surface Support is has the worst customer service experience I've ever been through.
Oh and I have tried to force it to use the dedicated GPU thinking that might help as well. It really doesn't. Even with my multiple monitor setup. But I have overheat issues if the thing even sees the sun when working outside from my lap.
Similar experience. After much back and forth with Microsoft they offered to replace it. I could not afford to be without it for work so I had to decline for now.
Would you post your experience with a new unit here? I'm very skeptical but also a little desperate given my investment. My configuration is similar to yours.
Thanks.
@jeffrelLODell Yeah I got them to do a pre-exchange where they sent me a new one before I sent my old one back. They just held it on my card.
The new one is worse than the old one. Don't know what to do now. Look at the below.
Yes but the downside is the screen battery only charges to 50%.
Good luck.
David
