Surface Pro 4, Screen Flickering, Shaking

so what would the SFP do then for an external display that didn't have an integrated frame buffer dedicated within the display?  I suppose it could then default to business as usual using the GPU RAM somehow.  That could explain why the external display doesn't have the issue.  It would be nice to get a confirmation from anyone that is willing / able to open theirs up and look for physical evidence of heat damage to the (apparently dedicated) frame buffer memory module.

"Cooling design overlooked the dedicated frame buffer memory module because it's an unusual feature and it's overheating" seems like a very plausible story for all of this.  So can we do anything about it? 

There's either a software implement that can improve the cooling for which MS can deliver a patch, but that still won't help anyone with an already damaged part.  Or there's not a software update to help cooling and any replaced part will also go bad, in which case MS should recall every SFP4, redesign it, and offer everyone a credit for a new model.

Since MS has done nothing about this, my guess is they know the latter is their solution and they don't want to take the necessary beating and cost that will result.

HP Spectre x2

There's a new model and older model(s), so the latest one.  Seems about equivalent to the 2017 SP4.  

dude, first query on Google; look what I found: 

https://h30434.www3.hp.com/t5/Notebook-Video-Display-and-Touch/Spectre-x2-12-Screen-Display-Flicker/td-p/5434665

Damn, I'm so scared now - I'm not ready to lose an other fortune on a tablet PC

I've noticed the fan in my SP4 is often not running (or running at a low speed) when the flickering occurs. When I put a vacuum cleaner on the top-left air-vent the flickering stops within a few seconds. So it is temperature related and the heat dissipation is below par. I've cleaned the air vents and I'm pretty sure there is not much dust inside the fan. Now there are a couple of possible causes:

1. The latest firmware-update changed the fan-control so it runs less often (software problem resulting in insufficient cooling);
2. The framebuffer as stated by Ferdo is breaking down due to the number of operating hours/lifespan of the device (hardware problem getting worse over time);
3. The framebuffer is breaking down because of 1 (hardware damage caused by insufficient cooling).

Microsoft could at least try to do a firmware update to change the fan-control so the fan starts running earlier/higher at lower temperatures improving the cooling in order to avoid 2. This is something they could/should try ASAP since it can be done easily and rolled out fast. I've read some posts in the past from people complaining about the fans running at high speed making too much noise. Maybe Microsoft changed the fan-control to solve that complaint. But at the moment I rather have fans running at high speed with noise than the screen flickering which makes my expensive device useless!

Something else I am curious about: Is the problem related to the i7 version of de SP4? It seems most people here have the i7 (but maybe I am biased). Probably those devices are used more intense so they have more running hours at higher temperatures. But it is interesting. Are there any reports of SP4 m3 (fanless) owners experiencing these problems? How about i5 owners?

Final rant: I am really disappointed Microsoft does not respond to our complaints or even participates in this thread! It is very bad a premium device like this (which I really like in terms of form factor and specs) breaks down in the second year of ownership. Consumer Reports was right I'm afraid...

now we're getting somewhere!!  I don't know what display frame buffer memory is, so google helped me with this:  https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Framebuffer

"Common graphics drawing commands ... are sent to the graphics accelerator in their raw form. The accelerator then rasterizes the results of the command to the frame buffer ... The graphics driver then translates those commands to instructions for the accelerator's GPU. The GPU uses those [instructions] to compute ... results ... The framebuffer's signal is then produced in combination with built-in video overlay devices [like the mouse cursor] without modifying the framebuffer's data and any analog special effects that are produced by modifying the output signal."

"Video ... RAM is where the bitmap of image data is "buffered" for display. The term frame buffer is thus often used interchangeably when referring to this RAM ... The CPU sends its data to the video card. The video processor forms a picture of the screen image and stores it in the frame buffer. This picture is a large bitmap. It is used to continually update the screen image."

So is this the flow then:   CPU --> GPU RAM (including framebuffer) --> GPU --> Display Image

with something else like this in parallel:    Mouse input --> CPU --> GPU --> Cursor Location in Display Image

If the frame buffer exists on the same GPU RAM, wouldn't that mean the image output would be the same regardless of which display received the image?   Why wouldn't the damage corrupt the entire module of GPU RAM and produce other symptoms consistent with failed RAM?

I read somewhere that this particular display has framebuffer integrated into the display it self in order to make some things possible... Don't ask me how or why but I guess this is how the surface pro internal display works

Thanks Man, I'll review that and consider it for future purchase if no "Gates"  are known about it 

but I really hope Apple introduces a similar devices, I'll never come back to this (one time mistake) company.