The Surface devices have been plagued by various problems since Microsoft released them. But now there's a new problem with the device. Microsoft Surface Pro 6 and Surface Book 2 are throttling down to 400 MHz. You can get more information from the MiniTool website.

Microsoft Surface Pro 6 and Surface Book 2 Are Throttling Down to 400MHz

If you are users of Microsoft’s Surface Pro 6 and Surface Book 2 systems, you may find that you stuck at Pentium 2 speeds. Surface Pro 6 and Surface Book 2 are throttling down to 400 MHz. In some cases, this state persists during the reboot. While Surface devices have had similar problems in the past, reports of problems have been growing with a Surface Pro 6 firmware update.

some Microsoft Surface devices are throttling down to 400 MHz

Tip: If you are experiencing Windows 10 blue screen of death issues with Surface Book 2, click to get more information: Surface Book 2 Encounters Windows 10 Update Blue Screen.

It seems that BD PROCHOT – an Intel CPU flag causes this Microsoft Surface devices throttling issue. BD PROCHOT can be set by any peripheral and tells the processor to throttle down to lower the system temperature. This is a useful flag when the CPU is running within the heat limit, but other components bound to the CPU are running too hot due to the demands of processes on the CPU. 

The BD PROCHOT flag is neither unique to Surface devices nor new ones. However, given the spate of reports of throttling issues on Surface systems of Microsoft and the timing of the reports associated with the release of the new firmware, that means there is at least a correlation among them. 

In the last decade, there have also been reports of BD PROCHOT causing throttling on gaming-focused ASUS notebooks, suggesting that this functionality is a known one. 

It is difficult to determine what component is incorrectly setting BD PROCHOT. If you are Surface Pro 6 systems users, you may have noticed that after you disconnect from the Surface Dock or other AC adapter, throttling will be disabled and others blame third-party antivirus software. 

A Microsoft spokesperson says that the company has noticed some customers reporting CPU slowdowns on their Surface Books. Microsoft is working quickly to fix the problem with firmware updates. 

The throttle-locking is the latest issue affecting Microsoft Surface devices; Surface Pro 6 and Surface Book 2 are throttling down. Since their launch, these devices have been plagued by various software or firmware related problems. 

Before that, the Surface Book 2 encountered problems with the GPU disappearing in the Windows 10 May 2019 update and a bug patch leading to widespread BSODs. The Surface Pro 5 encountered problems with ACPI drivers, which leads to random hibernation or sleep mode to be randomly invoked. 

Tip: If you face Wi-Fi issues on Surface devices, read this post to fix it: New Windows Update Causes Wi-Fi Issues on Surface Devices.

In contrast, Surface Book and Surface Pro 4 often don’t wake up from sleep mode at all. You see violent display flickering on the Pro 4. A power problem with the Surface Pro 3 caused the battery to run out during sleep, preventing it from recharging. The power cord of the Surface Pro, Pro 2, and Pro 3 were recalled because of a potential electrical fire.

Bottom Line

In conclusion, this post has shown you that Microsoft Surface devices now encounter the latest CPU throttling issue. Surface Pro 6 and Surface Book 2 are throttling down to 400 MHz. There is no official solution to the problem, and Microsoft is working quickly to fix the problem with firmware updates.

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