Surface Pro 4, Screen Flickering, Shaking

So a morning of work on my SP4 and just by applying the Max processor state to 78% seems to have been a workaround for the problem. I did not need to adjust any manual fan settings.

It would appear that this could be an issue with the Intel SpeedStep, or it's heat related. I am doing a CPU stress test now at this 78% figure to confirm all is okay at this level for a length of time.

It still needs a fix from Microsoft, but at least my SP4 i7 is now usable again without causing me eye strain.

EDIT: Nope, issue has come back after some CPU stressing. However, it adds further evidence that the issue only occurred when stressing the device out further. Reducing to 78% max CPU state has reduced the screen shaking effects, but not completely removed it.

I agree! But I don't think they are going to do anything about this. I am currently in negotiations with a rep about replacing my unit, but as with everyone else, she wants me to go through all the troubleshooting "fixes" that are a complete waste of my time. I don't have a Microsoft Store nearby, so I can't carry it to them and so far there is no agreement from them to replace it.

I think we need to band together and get the media involved in this situation. I'm emailing all the major networks asking them to do a story on the Pro4's. I'm also looking up every review I can find and posting about this problem.

Maybe if everyone emails the networks, we can get Microsoft moving ...

newsmanager@foxnews

******@nbcuni.com

http://abcnews.go.com/Blotter/Swimming/mailform?id=10294723

http://www.cbsnews.com/contact-us/

This is my short email to all of them...

Surface Pro4 - No help from Microsoft

There is an ongoing issue with Pro4 defects and users are getting no help from Microsoft. They claim to have been working on it for a year, but really need to do a recall. See this forum: https://answers.microsoft.com/en-us/surface/forum/surfpro4-surfdrivers/surface-pro-4-screen-flickering-shacking/570165cb-50a0-4d71-bcb1-310ddd869d1d

Also - batteries not charging, fans running constantly (even when turned off), etc.

Would love to see a report on this.

Don't know if this will help, but at this point it can't hurt.

I have just sent my device to be replaced by MS. I live in Mexico, and they dont pick up stuff in here. So i am paying the border Tax on this device because i have no way to explain to border people that the device is going for return as a temporal exportation for repair. The sole HASSLE of that is incredible. Microsoft, even APPLE picks up faulty products on Mexico, move up your game. Even with my warranty still in, I am going to shell out 200$ Dollars worth of shipping and border taxes to get the device to the US. if you WONT pay for the shipping to a repair center, you should at least provide a receipt for comercial value and a repair ORDER properly so we can mail this internationally without paying exportation fees. since all i got for my device was a pair of FEDEX labels for shipping within US territory, this is borderline unacceptable. I support the idea of going to mass media and pressure MS to improve both their communication with a clear hardware issue, and their warranty service. 

On the person who "almost" dissapeared the issue by throttling down the CPU to 78%, my problem first appeared after pushing the device a lot: I had a game in the background, and i alt tabbed into Edge and stayed that way for about one hour. Fans were full throttle obviously, but my device never slowed down or felt sluggish. Suddenly it started flickering. i had pushed the device PLENTY (prolonged gaming sessions in Galactic Civilizations 3, Grim Dawn, AOE2, AOM) before that, but it may have been i finally pushed the device too far and forced it to its throttle max. after that it was never the same. i SUSPECT that if you never psuh the device to its limits, this issue is unlikely to appear. I think it is hardware related because it is clearly a wear and tear on SP4´s that are actually doing taxing tasks. People who use intensive apps or game on the device are primarly affecting for pushing the device. ****, it might even be that we burnt the CPU/GPU into an irreparable state and will have to permanently throttle down the CPU's to a point they dont overheat. Fun faCT: A previous laptop of mine had heating issues. That thing´s GPU reached 114°C BEFORE shutting down. and ignorant as i was, that thing heat-shutdown over 10 times. 10 times it reached the ungodly 114°C of the emergency treshold for shutdown. After servicing the equipment myself it never overheated and peaked at 84°C. It went on to work flawlessly for me for anther 6 years. CPU's have a much lower tolerance for heat, fact. But IMO the CPU obviously isnt being able to vent enough heat. So, someone made an engineering mistake: the CPU's are either not properly being monitored for overheating before permanent damage, with a preventive shutdown of the device, or someone deliberately pushed the bounds of the CPU and disabled emergency heat shutdowns that would appear otherwise. Smart option: if damage is evident, downthrottle the device to stop permanent CPU damage. Nothing else makes sense. Electromigrating our CPUs into oblivion. Ha! I dont know if 8 months of 'rough' usage is enough to damage a CPU like that, but heat effectively reduces a devices life cycle. I will contradict myself saying that almost all modern CPU have internal safeguards to avoid ALL heat damage. But given how custom this hardware is, it might simply be a matter of engineering failure, and i wouldnt be surprised the custom cooling solutions on this SP4's can't deliver the needed performance. 

Also, i live in a hot as **** enviroment. Over 40°C during day. Room of use is usually 25-28°C or below.

Edit: M3 versions are also suffering this without fans. Well, could still be the heat...

Hey Max, yeah my driver version is the same as yours and I noticed that the flickering came back after many hours but it wasn't as bad as usual.

I've tried setting the maximum processor frequency to 78% and now I've my brightness up and I've been on my sp4 for 5 hours and there's no flickering.

I'll leave it running for a day and see how this rolls.

I hope this workaround pays off coz this is getting really frustrating and Microsoft is treating us like a bunch of witless crowd giving us some silly broken records to chew on while leaving us hovering there clueless!

it's really annoying!