The speed of processor x in group 0 is being limited by system firmware

Anonymous
2013-11-30T23:32:10+00:00

Hello all,

I have a new Surface Pro 256 and I keep noticing these warnings (Event ID 37) in my System Event Log and wonder if anyone else is getting these.  There are 4 warnings in a row as follows (see attached screenshot):

The speed of processor 2 in group 0 is being limited by system firmware. The processor has been in this reduced performance state for 71 seconds since the last report.

The speed of processor 0 in group 0 is being limited by system firmware. The processor has been in this reduced performance state for 71 seconds since the last report.

The speed of processor 3 in group 0 is being limited by system firmware. The processor has been in this reduced performance state for 71 seconds since the last report.

The speed of processor 1 in group 0 is being limited by system firmware. The processor has been in this reduced performance state for 71 seconds since the last report.

Thank you in advance!

Hal

Surface | Surface Pro | Power and battery

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Anonymous
2014-03-28T13:43:08+00:00

Did you change the advanced options in the power plan such as the PCI express and processor power management?  I know the default for the cooling policy is passive which will slow the processor before increasing fan speed.  Active will do the opposite increase fan speed before slowing the processor.  Also the minimum processor state will need to be changed it allows allow the CPU to automatically down clock.  Default is 5% increase it to 100%.  Also change the graphics to max performance since it is built into the CPU.  Changing all of this will really cut the life of your battery an heat things up. 

I will warn you though, if you are in a situation where some rouge process is unknowingly maxing out the processor for a period of time and the fan can't keep up with the cooling the thermal protection will kick in and shut your pc off with no warnings.  Bad flash is a prime example.

I think you all are getting this warning because you are running hot at times and some function is kicking down the processor speed to dissipate the heat and this is where the firmware and power saving in windows is conflicting generating the warning.  A example might be a windows process says I need 100% CPU and the firmware says sorry I am to hot you only get 5% and logs it as a warning or vice versa.

Not all warnings are bad and if you see this in your event log and can't tell when it is being logged expect by looking into he event log I say ignore it.  If you are crashing and see this event logged right before the crash its something to worry about and I would suspect heat.  My guess is unlike a desktop and laptop the fans in the surface are not running all the time or barely spinning to preserve battery power and if the surface heats up real fast it dials back the CPU to cut down on heat and logs the warning and if it still does not cool down it cranks up the fans.... if that does not cool things down it just shuts off - just a guess.

The only 2 scenarios I can come up with that would cause this warning is aggressive power management so they can say the battery lasts 4 hours give or take or heat.

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Anonymous
2015-09-13T20:04:49+00:00

I stopped-in to the MSFT store.  They immediately agreed that this is problematic.  They uninstalled all drivers and let Windows (10) reinstall all drivers.  Device Manager showed all sorts of problems.

After this process, the issue in Device Manager went away.  I have been using the machine for hours since then without any issues.

They did say, however, that if the issue comes back, this would be a candidate for a swap-out for a new Surface.

On a side note, I can't say enough how helpful the folks at the MSFT store have been, in multiple locations.  Nice to see it from MSFT.

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63 additional answers

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  1. Anonymous
    2015-12-29T20:24:03+00:00

    But... this is not an abuse of a return policy.

    The fundamental problem is that Microsoft, and its employees on the support side (online and in stores) are not useful. If I take my machine to them and they decide it needs to be replaced, is that an abuse? It's stupid, yes, but they insisted on replacing my SP3 four times (!) due to it shutting down, randomly. They never, once, wanted any of the copious logs I saved. They never tried to understand anything about the issues; they simply have a "replace" mentality (after suggesting a complete reinstall of Windows, of course).

    If this specific issue is normal, Microsoft should explain that and inform their support people. Otherwise, we are left in this ridiculous cycle of conjecture and replace :-)

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  2. Anonymous
    2016-04-11T10:28:10+00:00

    The behavior is normal and part of the firmware.  Its a way of maximizing battery life and maintaining a certain thermal threshold.  You'll see this on hardware from many manufacturers. Many manufacturers purposely tweak and/or downgrade hardware to operate within their established specs or marketing claims.  It's crummy this is not disclosed, but it doesn't mean something is wrong.   

    This! ^  I'm surprised no one else in the thread has acknowledged this.

    This error is harmless, normally.  In many systems, not just the Surface 2, the CPU/bus speeds are just slightly underclocked.  I'm typing on a low end 17" Dell with a Haswell ULV i3, and it shows the same thing.  Like in most systems, the bus is just slightly underclocked in firmware-99.76Mhz instead of 100.  That's been normal for decades now AFAIK.  It's not anything to worry about, and it's certainly not causing crashes or anything!  If your system is crashing or whatever, something is wrong, but it's not this.  (Or it could possibly be speedstep or AMD's equivalent causing this to trigger too...either way, it's not an issue.)

    I absolutely would not change settings regarding how much the CPU can underclock itself.  Even on a desktop that's pointless and wasteful, it forces the CPU to run at full power like they used to have to even if it's not doing anything.  That's a bad idea on a desktop, and of course an even worse idea on a tablet!  It has nothing to do with this, and this isn't really an issue.

    In my own case, this processor speed warning messages are usually followed by an unexpected shut down of the system. What is the relationship?

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  3. Anonymous
    2016-04-11T10:33:09+00:00

    In my own case, this processor speed warning messages are usually followed by an unexpected shut down of the system. What is the relationship?

    probably no relationship at all.

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