Surface Book 2 Battery Drain While Gaming

[@ralexand56]

Give me the power, I'll deal with the consequences.

[@WindowsCentral]

That's the PC way ;) Good on you.

[@ralexand56]

Haha!

[@eyeless5787]

when you are paying such a premium for a laptop like this, problems like this even in few situations are unacceptable

[@Lenobis]

Moein Bayat This. It’s just a huge flaw. At this price they should have (a) included a sufficient charger or (b) enabled more aggressive throttling. They are trying to make the notebook shine with good specs and a slim design when the charger and battery can not accommodate the hardware. Surface Book is not just “expensive”, it’s by far one of the most expensive mobile computers out there today. I also don’t like how Daniel makes it seem a little bit like Destiny 2 and other games are at fault here. If this isn’t a driver error by NVIDIA granting games too many GPU calculations, Microsoft is to be blamed for this 100%,

[@alexdhansford]

In which case, would you prefer the Surface Book 2 was capped at a performance which can be supported by the supplied charger?

[@ralexand56]

Yeah, no! If it bothers you then dial down the slider.

[@WindowsCentral]

Problem with the larger charger is you're now forcing people to lug around a larger power supply because some gamers want that extra power. It'd also cost more as someone has to pay for it. Is that really fair too? I don't want a larger charger at all. The included one is totally sufficient for my needs. Now, if this problem occurred ALL the time in common scenerios, that's a different story. I just don't find punishing people with a larger power supply for some gamers as a good solution. As an optional purchase? Sure. If gamers want to push that hard all the time, they can pay for it. -DR

[@darkyagami4139]

If it was a gaming laptop, then sure, people would have the right to make a big deal out this. But it's a premium all around laptop that can ALSO play games really well. So what if A FEW demanding titles drain the battery while playing? Are you really getting this laptop to play only those few titles for longer than 4 hours? Then this isn't that laptop for you.. Go an Alienware or something! 🤣

[@Momiji540]

The Issue (at least for me) was with the Nvidia options themselves. In order to fix this issue your Nvidia drivers must be updated to the lasted version (check the website for the correct driver) You also must have Nvidia Geoforce Experience installed, or you will not be able to access the options needed in the control panel. (I have no idea why this is) apparently Microsoft/Nvidia limits the number of options you have with mobile GPU's. We have to keep in mind that that the power supply we were provided has many jobs to do, power, our GPU, CPU, display, etc all while trying to keep out battery charged. That being said continue below ​ Once your drivers are updated and Geoforce is installed, ​ right click your desktop, select Nvidia Control Panel. To your left, select manage 3d settings. Select global settings. Make sure your preferred graphics processor is (High Performance Nvidia Processor) Scroll down until you reach "Power Management Mode" Here you will be listed with a few options, in order for your battery not to drain. you will need to select "Optimal Power" anything else will cause a battery drain when pushing your device. (In my case) Set other options to your desired preference (Keep in mind any other high performance option in the menu will affect battery life in some capacity) If you can avoid it, do so Hit Apply. Restart your computer. Move your power slider to the far left to recommended, or better performance. (I suggest recommended) for a faster charge, but it will charge on better performance as well. Test out playing games while plugged in, your device (hopefully) should now be "charging"

[@Vertions-o5p]

In 2024 this literally fixes all of my problems like the slow performance and everything else, 5 years later and your wisdom still helps.

[@djsnowpdx]

My 2012 Retina MacBook Pro sometimes drains faster than the power delivery while playing Cities: Skylines at 1920x1200 in Windows using the built-in monitor, which has a native resolution higher than that. When only using an external monitor and playing at its native res, this is not a problem. If you have a Surface Book 2, this issue is the end of the world; it still plays the game! I only discovered this because the charger LED turned red. The Mac only has an 85w charger. Thank Microsoft for the way they've handled this! If you're concerned as a user, change the power profile slider!

[@dysonlu]

Mark Davenport So this no better than a Macbook Pro from 5 years ago. Got it. Oh and you were running the game in Windows? No wonder.

[@robertp457]

Changing the power profile slider and getting less performance is stupid. A user should be able to use all of the hardware as much as they want while being plugged in.

[@LogainAblar]

I just came across this video. I have a SurfaceBook 2 (i7, 16GBs of RAM, GTX 1060, 1TB Drive) and battery drain is a huge problem when playing Monster Hunter: World. I ran some tests over the weekend and noticed when playing the game using Better Performance (as opposed to Best) running the game at 720p with medium to high settings, the battery drains to critical levels in an hour and a half to two hours while plugged into an outlet. After charging up the Book 2, I then ran WarFrame using similar settings. WarFrame doesn't hit the battery as hard but there's still drain. After nearly four hours, the batteries combined were just above 50% While plugged into an outlet. During gameplay, the Book 2 performance is great. 60FPS rock solid in Monster Hunter except for the Rotten Vale which has drops here and there. Warframe runs rock solid except for Orb Vallis when dips occur. Monster Hunter isn't optimized well IMO no matter what its running on (console or mid range PCs) and Orb Vallis in Warframe simply features a ridiculous amount of detail in an open world. I generally don't use Best performance because it causes the fan to ramp up so much that the Book 2 starts to sound like a jet engine about to take off and it gets really hot as a result. I bought the SurfaceBook 2 for graphics creation and design which is my profession and on that score, it is a phenomenal device. Hands down one of the best if not THE best computers I've ever used. But when it comes to gaming, the Book 2 feels hamstrung because it has a GTX 1060 which is great but I can't take full advantage of it because the power supply doesn't draw enough charge to prevent battery drain on the games that really need the 1060. Heat is also a major concern as my Book 2 can get really hot when attempted to run certain games using Best Performance. For context, Warframe runs good even on the OG SurfaceBook with a GTX 940(?) and1GB of VRAM but good luck getting Monster Hunter: World or Doom 2016 to run on that. With that being said, I'm cautiously waiting to see what Microsoft is going to do for the next SurfaceBook. If the battery drain issue persists in the next SurfaceBook then I won't support it. I really like the design of these devices but for $2000+ no one should have to babysit their battery when plugged into an outlet under any circumstances.

[@AliASHTV]

apple enables fast charging and doesn't include the fast charger, Microsoft put a GTX 1060 and doesn't include the 150w charger! sure sure....

[@gudel45]

at least with the apple, it doesn't drain while using it.

[@MrAdhiSuryana]

But Macbook also less performing, less flexible laptop and less batery life while not gaming too

[@jtomtl]

that's how companies make profit right? stop complaining, earn more money so you wouldn't feel both products are expensive

[@WindowsCentral]

Actually, some MBP owners have complained of similar situations, even here in comments, and other forums. While it's still not ideal, and just because Apple does it doesn't excuse it here, but let's not put Apple - who removed all USB Type-A ports and added a touch bar - on a pedstal, mmkk?

[@derek400004]

Hey Daniel, i actually want to point out you used the wrong name at 6:39. The performance limit you mentioned is NOT power limit throttling, but rather thermal limit throttling. the one you mentioned (power limit throttling) speaks to the condition whereby the chip is still well-within its thermal limits, but is capped in performance because the chip cannot take anymore voltage without damage / instability. comon man, rookie mistake!!

[@FabiVoltair]

"for most people 102 watts are totally fine" - In my opinion this is not acceptable for a product that expensive, just like it is not acceptable for the Mac Book Air to overheat while rendering and therefore throttling down. It is not hard to prevent that stuff from happening and very bad for the customers facing that issue even if it is 3%

[@mindinversions4487]

1) If it happens at all, it's contributing to battery wear. 2) If it was a "feature", it should have been clearly advertised and marketed PRIOR TO AVAILABILITY FOR PURCHASE so that early adopters could make an informed decision. 3) Show me ANY manufacturer that lists battery drain while under load on AC power to be a feature. Better yet, show me ANY consumer that goes out to buy a laptop that EXPECTS the battery to drain while operating on AC power. 4) If the proprietary dock can't handle more than 102w, it should have been redesigned This *IS* a big deal. I can get the battery to drain on max performance in HEROES THE THE STORM! For those that don't know, Heroes Of The Storm is Blizzard's MoBA, only utilizes a single core, and is more CPU bound than GPU bound. At these settings it pushes 110+ FPS The issue is, if you drop from max performance to higher performance, Windows lowers max turbo boost, costing you about 20-30 FPS average, and up to 45 FPS max--Causing it to dip under 60 FPS [lowest I ever saw was 47] That is a HUGE loss of performance to safeguard my $2500 investment from premature battery wear. Now let's take that relatively "first world" problem and apply it to the professional photo editor, video editor, rendering artist using this as a professional tool for their career.... And remember, the whole issue, the WHOLE BLOODY ISSUE hangs on a the charger's capacity being approx 10-15w short of required. If THAT isn't a design defect on a premium flagship product, I don't know what is.

[@macaoron]

I love how Dan hovers his finger over a *touchscreen* laptop to indicate the options and proceeds using a *mouse.*

[@maunicareddy2407]

The Controversy isn't that its draining when gaming but that its draining even when its switched off. I did this experiment where i opened my book 2 every few days....switched it on, checked the battery and switched it off......on 15th March 96% and then on 17th March it reduced to 85% and on the 22nd, Battery 1 was at 80% while Battery 2 was at 64%......So see the drastic reduction in Battery. Tried checking the same on my HP Omen 17 and it remained at 100 to 99 every time i opened it. Microsoft hasn't accepted its mistake and even tried rectifying this bug with an update......And this is what the controversy is all about.

[@adhithyaramachandran4381]

@Windows Central you're right that it isn't a dealbreaker...but shouldn't Microsoft have thought about all possible scenarios in advance? The SB2, afterall, is marketed as a device which can be whatever you want it to be. Straightaway, gamers are cut out of the target audience.

[@MARCM0DE]

But Serious Question Can It Run Crisis 3 On Ultra And Charge Without Frying My Gpu?

[@lmychajluk]

Any update on the rumors about a new dock?

[@juliog1094]

Terrific update Daniel. Based on your review and further clarification I can remain confident with my purchase. There's nothing else like this in the market. I can do everything on this machine effortlessly. Keep up the good work Daniel and thanks for this vid extremely helpful!!

[@WindowsCentral]

Thanks! Knowlege is power, so it's up to you folks to decide. Hope you like it, it's a fun device.

[@Prince-fr2lr]

Wouldn't undervolting the CPU and GPU fix this issue?

[@kdambrosi7]

I'm sick of all the headlines saying that the surface book 2 has "battery issues" they all should see this video and even repost it

[@dysonlu]

Kyril D'Ambrosi I watched this video. It is still an issue, even if it’s not a ‘battery issue”. It is a design issue - power (wattage) deficiency. The machine should not drain battery when plugged in. You put a powerful GPU in there, you include the proper power delivery hardware. Microsoft put that GPU to get the media praises but then owners realize there are caveats, so people paying so much for the machine are right to complain. A lot in this video is just spin-doctor material.

[@robertp457]

It's still an issue.

[@FabiVoltair]

lul

[@dumpling3309]

No!!!! Micosoft needs to fix this by at least trying to find a better battery for the system.

[@VeselinMarkovic]

They should've thought about this before they released the product. Giving you an option to increase performance, while draining some battery could've been an advanced option, but users should have been made aware of this. Or they should have just included a proper adapter, say a 110-120 Watt one. This just stinks of under-engineering and/or poor optimization.

[@aidanjt]

If merely gaming can cause battery drain, then scientific applications are going to pummel it when it pegs both the CPU and GPU to 100%. They should have just bumped the power brick.

[@WindowsCentral]

Name the application and we'll give it a go.

[@robertp457]

They should have bumped the power supply up to 120w from the beginning. If they didn't call the laptop a gaming powerhouse or use lesser hardware they could have gotten by with the 95w power supply, but they didn't. They advertise modern reasonably powerful components and then paired it with a powersupply not powerful enough to charge the laptop when most of the hardware is being used.

[@ripperx444]

This is what I am thinking. If it cant keep power playing simple insurgency then professional apps will destroy this thing.

[@cwilfried8040]

Bigger charger for the SB3 pls.

I would like to know how noisy the laptop gets under maximum power setting and gaming. If too noisy, I would probably never use max settings anyway.

[@WindowsCentral]

See the original review. It's quieter than most gaming laptops, but he will hear the fans, that's just physics. Gamers often use headphones anyway, which will mask it.

Windows Central I understand, I am more interested in noise levels in regards to performance setting. I am wondering how hot and noisy surface book 2 is on the maximum level playing games vs playing games on balanced level. Performance difference will be there but it will probably be more pleasant experience after all (cooler and quieter)

[@flufflebut8781]

So if we don't want discharging batteries while plugged in, does the SB2 15 on better performance or SB2 13 on best performance, have the best performance? Might as well not pay for what I won't utilize.

[@petersonfamily6223]

It has been a year and no info on a new surface dock. Is there information on this? Thanks

[@bobbysmichael]

When I first read about the battery drain issue, I'll admit I was disappointed. Not so much because it would affect me as I play games minimally but more so the principal behind it. We as consumers do not want companies to think this is okay, it isn't. Now, though it would have hurt their marketing campaign, having a footnote in tiny writing at the bottom of the products information page that stated "under extreme loads, battery will discharge" would have went a long way and help negate all this bad press in my opinion. At any rate, with all that said, the device is truly a marvel. My favorite feature besides the track pad, keyboard and all the ways it can be transformed is the 3:2 aspect ratio. It's so much better for work activities than 16:9.

[@walkermorales337]

Bobby Michael yea I was turned off from getting this device after I learned about the battery issue but the video helped clarify it a lot, I’m thinking of gettin this next summer

[@robertp457]

The 3:2 aspect ratio makes gaming worst. I've seen no game with a lower resolution that is still a 3:2 aspect ratio. If it was a 4k monitor as 16:9 1080p would have been supported without weird stretching.

[@bobbysmichael]

Agreed, 3:2 is not ideal for gaming. It's ideal for productivity and general professional office work. I'm still on the fence on whether I purchase an SB2 or not. A big factor of me wanting to is the 3:2 ratio as 95% of the time, the device will be used for work and it's phenomenal for that. A reason why I don't want to purchase it is I don't want to condone Microsoft's response / attitude / behavior here as I worry if people just start accepting it, what if other companies follow suit and release devices that drain the battery while under load. All of us consumers will suffer as a result.

[@stevehughes8859]

Robert P p’

[@saifa.3950]

has this problem been cited at all for the 13.5 inch version?

[@insanyaband]

@Windows Central Hey just a quick question. Will the SB2 Drain power while rendering for a long time usind 3ds Max & VRay when set on best preformance?

[@WindowsCentral]

It's a good question that we'll try to answer. Unfortunately, none of us use that or are pro artists/engineers, so a bit difficult to test properly. Looking into it though.

[@insanyaband]

Windows Central Thank you Dan And I appreciate you looking into it I’m an architect, and although I totally agree with you that the drainage issue won’t affect people because they need 5 hours to drain 50% But when rendering that would be a big problem as u can’t stop the render or save your work until the final render is done Sorry for the long reply ❤️

[@iZacq]

Please Suggest if we should keep it on charging all the time or Drain the battery everytime till 0% or 5% and then recharge it again What is best for the Battery in Surfacebook 2 15"

[@alihassanmanghi51]

Lord Vader the best for any li-ion battery which is most recharable batteries Is the 40-80 rule You should always keep ur battery between 40 to 80% This way the life of ur battery is substantially batter

[@JoelOchoa]

Is this problem only in the 15inch? or also in the 13?

[@zalcandil]

Only the 15inch

[@JoelOchoa]

thanks

[@im2late]

The 13" has a far less powerful graphics option. However, for most non-gamers, it should be more than enough.

[@martyr857]

I purchased the high end SB2 last month and the battery drains when the laptop is shutdown. Tried everything still the same.

[@Gepodm]

If I play at better performance or best battery, how much perfermance in the gpu am I losing? Would the performance be comparable to a GTX 1050 ti? GTX 1050?

[@robertp457]

I ran it at both settings and the frame rate drop was between 20 and 30 percent.

[@andresnguyen8494]

The new charger came out for the surface book 3 can you test whether or not it will keep it charged?

[@bobbysmichael]

Also, battery drain aside, I understand it can do dual 4K displays at 30hz and dual 2560 x 1080 displays at 60hz from the surface dock. I'm curious if anyone knows, with no dock, and a single monitor connected to the usb type c port if it could run a single 2560 x 1080 at a high refresh rate (120hz+)?

[@walkermorales337]

Bobby Michael I forget which reviewer said it but I heard that the usb-c isn’t capable of powering external displays (I could be wrong) and one of the reviewers complaints was that the dock was required for external displays

[@jonasfischer9229]

Does the surface book 2 15 inch support a 150 W charger?

[@hove131]

Anti-a-lacing 😂

[@morells09]

"Anti a-lacing"

[@uzair77748]

Literally yes.

[@saulgoodman2018]

Well if you're using more wattage then is coming in. The physics will tell you that your battery will then drain even though it's plugged in.

[@kenpurchase819]

Excellent video,really helped me,and probably a lot of others,understand what's been happening and all the variables involved,Thank you,I really mean that,your videos are always to the point and helpful

[@lunatiger]

Thank

[@akshaybhagat4233]

Hi, I purchased new laptop. Dell G 15 5520 i5 12th gen 16Gb.From 1st day onwards I'm getting a battery drop of 1℅ per minute. I checked task manager, cpu at 1℅, Dedicated Graphics 0℅, memory 5.8GB, WiFi 0 KBps, Integrated GPU 0℅. No external devices connected while testing reports. Design capacity of battery is 54,891mWh, Full charge of capacity is 52030mWh ( which reducing every next day). A total of just 100 min of backup I get on STAND BY MODE(which is with only display onn and no other function on it) I I talk with Dell and they finally agreed that this laptop should give 3-4 hrs of backup on stand by mode. And they ready to replace with new battery.I kindly request you to share your opinion on this scenario that is my battery has a problem? And if yes then should I allow dell to replace battery of new laptop or should I opt for complete laptop replacement? Waiting...for your reply my friend.

[@januarytm5609]

Looking for a laptop to edit 4k videos any advice? Apple is way too Overpriced.

[@WindowsCentral]

Quite a few options. What to look for is a Core i7-7700HQ processor (45W quad-core) and something with a GTX 1060 or higher. Alternatively, you could go lower specifications and get an external GPU if the device supports it. People like the XPS 15 for high-end, but Dell, HP, and Lenovo all make "workstations" that all can handle 4K with appropriately calibrated displays.

[@robertp457]

I don't think there is a cheap laptop with a 4k screen.

[@martyr857]

I purchased a SP2 about 3 or 4 weeks ago. The 1TB , 16GB i7. My battery drains when it's turned off. If i don't use it for 24 hours the drain is about 2 or 3% on each battery. Anyone know any fixes for this?

[@iZacq]

Did u find s solution? My battery drains while Gaming 🙃😏

[@Dragonblaster1]

I remember my old maxed-out MBP 2012 trying out some gaming. The same thing happened. I'm happy with XCOM-2, The Witcher 3 and Rise of the Tomb Raider work on the SB2 without problems if you play 1080p... but why would you go for 4k on a 15" screen? I can't see they pixels, even with a lower. 1080p is fine for 15" screens.

[@primetime3306]

Will the 15inch be good for running AutoCAD, Solidworks, etc... I'm an incoming engineering student looking for a laptop and I don't want the battery draining due to these programs

[@huilin3839]

Appreciating very much! I am going to get surface book 2 now!

[@ad78]

the 13" is draining the battery overnight without doing nothing and its loosing 10% this is lid closed. returned mine and got the Spectre x360

[@JESSROCKEDChannel]

As long as it wont shut down while connected, it's fine. My ROG G751Jy's battery is dead now but im still using it connected to an outlet

[@jgj4430]

Question - What about running on Windows 10 Game Mode. Does this impact the battery issue?

[@WindowsCentral]

Game Mode is on by default and requires publishers to take advantage of it; AFAIK it does not affect battery life.

[@Coalazure]

Just stick to recommended. High performance mode just runs the computer at 100%. Yeah it speeds things up significantly, but with the components in the form factor that is the surface book 2 15in. I can see why they might not want it running at 100% performance for more than a few hours. It's not really a gaming rig PC, but it can game just don't expect max settings out of it.

[@maythesciencebewithyou]

Can you additionally to the charger charge together with a USB-C cable, to compensate for it?

[@velocity_50]

no

[@Inf4mousKidGames]

lol the way Dan says anti aliasing is funny

[@mrankin2825]

thanks for this lot of info

[@rajthomas4224]

Do you think the 128GB option worth it?Currently, this model is worth $1,000 with student discount. I will be using this computer for college majoring in business. I just a need a laptop that can run 10-12 tabs open most of the time. I don't use any apps. Because I am thinking of getting this or Apple MacBook Pro 13. Thanks hope you reply

[@uditranasaria3760]

I have the 13 and it drains on the Microsoft Dock while playing video games at high performance mode :(

[@PeaShooter_69]

My HP EliteBook 8770W has a setting in the BIOS to turn battery use on AC power on or off. This is with a 300W AC adapter.

[@FlorianAlberge]

Hello, I have had my surface book 2 for less that a month. I am in marketing and truly think it is one of the best 2 in 1 laptop for creatives. Though, I edit a lot of videos and so far I have had no luck. With the surface charger connected: just trying to export a 30 min 1080p video, my battery is draining so much that the export fails every time. Anybody getting this issue? Do I have a bad unit? Looking for some advice. Thank you.

[@EspHack]

there's no valid excuse for this, this is not a matter of software at all, the problem is producing a device with power a supply that cant handle the device at peak performance indefinitely, that is UTTERLY AND COMPLETELY UNACCEPTABLE, there's no way in hell you can ever justify that this is 1-2% of games in 2017, 2 years down the road almost every damn game will be hammering the internals as hard as destiny 2 does today and then you will have an unusable machine as far as gaming or heavy workloads is concerned, unless you're fine with 2-3 hours per session and having to wait for a full charge again, its simply ridiculous

[@WindowsCentral]

So, don't buy it. You're welcome for our video detailing the problem so that you are now better informed ;)

[@jackjude]

you don't want more power from the mains - the PC gets too hot and down clocks while gaming, For best performance undervolt so the CPU 'only' reaches 3.8ghz - core temps will be around 73c rather than 87c and eradicates battery drain. That extra 0.4ghz - only ends up toasting your unit and reducing performance.

[@1HololensfansOfNaruto]

I can watch anything you make on sb2 dan

[@electricmiragemedia]

If you noticed battery drain before publishing your first review, why not mention it? Edit: ok so destiny and Doom initially did drain it, or didn't?

[@WindowsCentral]

It *is* in the written review. Video review was shot days before the written and the battery drain issue was not brought to our attention until the night before - it's a very specific situation and game to test and verify, making it easily missed. DOOM was fine, never had an issue, nor did Gears of War 4.

[@syedalitoufique2786]

even my asus tuf fx505ge i5 1050 ti drains while playing pubg plugged in -_- i dont know what to do my laptop comes with 120 watt ac adapter

[@micah_drums]

It probably isn’t helped by the power supply software, but if you can find some kind of charger or make one with greater amperage, this won’t happen.

[@elijah_9392]

Been waiting for this for a long time.

[@Rabolisk]

The problem is that the Surface Book 2 is not a laptop designed to play games. Instead of paying $25000 for a SB2 spend $1,200 on a decent Surface Pro and $1,200 on building a gaming desktop.

[@cwilfried8040]

Rabolisk $2500* But yeah that's simple and good idea.

[@orcasem]

It's got a gtx 1060, so it a very capable gaming machine. You won't be able to build a gaming pc with ssd, gtx 1060 and i7 for $1200

[@Aka_daka]

they titled it as "a gaming powerhouse"

[@hans-christianheine1868]

The issue is not what SB2 is supposed to be used for. We are talking PC, and CPU that are not ASICS. Gaming apps are not the sole candidates for drain, mind you! There are hidden thermal problems and they should have used MAX-Q instead of shipping a lousy charger or at least they should not have chosen a GPU that is maxing out the specifications. Easy as that, every other argument is ex-post delusion.

[@andersistbesser]

The power supply is to weak there is no way to talk around it

[@kevinforget549]

hard to see why people complain. they managed to jam a gtx 1060 into a tablet and people are wondering why its battery cant handle the load when running full rez games for 6 hours straight. hardware has limitations with heat, space and weight as well as the limits of battery technology. i cant see such a product lasting long if someone treats this as a desktop/ laptop gaming rig instead of a high performance tablet, the temps would become unacceptable without active cooling and the battery would be finished in a year.

[@jtomtl]

just curious, why don't people just buy gaming laptop or desktop if they love to game so much?? it's not like they don't have the money....

[@JoshMarshain]

I guess its if you just want a laptop that can do everything well, that includes of course, gaming.

[@dysonlu]

Because this has been advertised, with media cheerleading, as one of the most powerful near perfect laptops.

[@kornkernel2232]

Because the attraction of Surface Book being more portable, more battery-life, sexy-looking powerful laptop than most gaming laptops. Thing is, Surface Book 2 is powerful and people want to take advantage of that, but we just found out the limitation of the power supply and other design components in Surface Book 2, this what causes some disappoinment. Surface Book 2 is currently only one in the market with this design while being capable of being a gaming PC. If gaming laptops are like Surface Book or something more sleek slimmer laptop than what we have now at the moment, then users have more choice. I think a full-on desktop PC is still best to do PC gaming, but I can see why people would prefer a laptop instead and may not have a budget to spend two expensive computers when they can have one.

[@aidanjt]

Because the GTX 1060 is a decent gaming GPU, and you shouldn't have to buy multiple laptops just for different roles. It'd be a different matter if this was a thermal limitation, the sole reason why this problem exists is because they didn't want to add a few extra twists of copper in the power brick, because... reasons.

[@robertp457]

Do you think a person would buy a laptop with a low power CPU and a low to mid range video card when for the same money they could get a computer with an 8700k and a 1080ti if they didn't need to take their computer with them? Do you think a person wants to lug around a thick and heavy gaming laptop to meetings and conferences?

[@armandones6925]

This is just a shame. Buying this expensive laptop should not come with this. Im a really a ms fan and this is just disappointing.

[@soccersensation]

We can add Dirt Rally to the list of games which drain the battery. I didn't play it for a long period of time but nonetheless, the battery went from 100% to 99/98 "and charging".

[@Narasetu]

Well, I can totally live with this issue, moreover after seeing the fact that it's a super detach-port-able laptop that happens to be able to play games since Microsoft does not seem to target hardcore gamers with this product...My more concern is the fact that they seem to omit thunderbolt 3 intentionally...That being said, should I just wait for Surface Book 3 in order to have a more "complete" setup?

[@giladvalkor]

Yea that's my current situation. I have the money to purchase it right now but can't decide if I want to go ahead and take the plunge and get the Surface Book 2 or wait for the Surface Book 3. I read rumors that it's gonna be released in October. I want it now and don't really want to wait until Oct. haha

[@m_s-c2k]

So detailed. Impressed. You habe really done some big research. Good job.

[@WindowsCentral]

Thanks! Much appreciated. We wanted to get this right. Probably could have done even more, but we're learning as we go along too ;)

[@hans-christianheine1868]

The research is still favouring MS in some tendentious ways. Draining occurs far more often than Windows Central admits it to be. It's not only games. And if games, it is not only about vertical sync being turned of or AA being on or res to high, it can simply be too demanding for anything higher than 1620x1080, if CPU is pushing hard already. Also CIV VI is causing drain at many setting levels.

[@TheNoelB]

Wait, so you're telling me that using an intensive game consumes an intense amount if power from the battery, a thing that stores power to be consumed? :O I enjoy this video because it at least discusses TDP and says it's not that big a deal, but the subject of this video reminds me of the wobble thing. W/e honestly, I still love the SB2

[@dwayneharper4768]

Final fantasy XV drains terribly while plugged in

[@aria672]

i have SB2 and usually play genshin impact. ill play for like an hour plugged in and it goes to like 30% and i game a lot so idk

[@Vrossiraptor]

I want to get a surface book but i have some things that i just can't deal with. 1. I use iPhone so its nice to have imessage and stuff on my laptop. 2. I don't have a microsoft store near me in AK, so i like apple cuz they have an apple store here and can fix my computer in like 1-5 days if needed. 3. No thunderbolt 3, i want to be able to plug in an egpu so i can make it last a bit longer. Until these things change i just can't justify going surface book but i do love the concept, design, and specs of the laptop.

[@altecsuse]

Surface book is supposed to be a Pro laptop and many professionals work on 3D work which is CPU and GPU intensive because it requires real-time rendering. It is a deal breaker for me.

[@georgepotter7475]

Nice hoodie, where was it from??

[@iZacq]

ANY SOLUTION IN 2020 ❓ I'm playing GTA 5 and my battery drains , thinking of selling it, its out of warranty, If I get a good price will sell it , mine is a 1TB 15" paid $3600

[@jackjude]

Undervolt with throttlestop, it reduces temps and cuts out battery drain. Performance improves too as the cpu dosent downclock when it overheats - max CPU temp I get is 74c.

[@iZacq]

@@jackjude How to do that ?

[@hans-christianheine1868]

Well MS, should learn to do basic Math again 102W < 80W+20W+7W + etc. ? What about safety of charger when it is maxed out constantly? Who decided to use a 102W charger, I would like to know his/her name!! Also why exactly 102w? Because SB"2" ? This is absurd!

[@TheMopse]

Wtf? If I am paying around 3k € for a laptop I assume that they include a power adapter that provides enough power no matter what. I was so happy about this new surface book 2 everything was perfect and I was going to buy it for exchange of my 2013 macbook (I dont like the new Macbooks) but this is a no go for me. Lets see what dell gives us with the new xps 15 that will come early 2018 ....

[@cwilfried8040]

TheMopse So... You don't have it ?

[@lucanusbobo3889]

This battery drain is not really a problem, as it appears only in specific situations (hardware-heavy games & cold environments & etc.). In addition to that, the battery drain is so low, that you still will be able to play for many hours, before the laptop changes into battery saver mode and the drain stops. So you will never run out (with a little less performance in the end).

[@im2late]

Did you watch the whole video? According to DB, this is apparently NOT quite the problem that was first reported and only occurs in RARE instances; AND did you not listen to the section of the review around the 8th minute of this review? (Honestly, if after 5 hours of intensive game play, one will still have 50% battery, I can't really see why he/she would dismiss such a beautiful machine.) If it were me, I'd buy it and test it with my games. The return window on the unit is a generous 30 days (and even more at the Christmas season - can be returned until Jan.31, 2018.) This would give you plenty of time to see if this would be a problem for you. The Surface Book 2 is beyond a doubt a beautifully designed and wonderfully functional piece of equipment. BTW, I'm the owner of a DELL XPS 15 L502X (circa 2011) that is still running great. I love high end Dell's BUT they do not make a 2-in-1 that can touch the Surface Book 2!

[@aidanjt]

It's a defect no matter what excuses you make. The purpose of a charger is to charge. If it can't even provide enough power to stop the battery discharging then it's a defect. All for what? Shaving 80g off the weight of the charger? That's just a moronic trade-off.

[@WindowsCentral]

A defect is certainly relative and subjective though. The fact is, the user is purposefully putting into a high-powered mode to prevent throttling of the CPU and GPU - like a turbo. Leaving it under "recommended" (like most PCs have, btw) and it's fine. But sure, Microsoft could cap the GPU and problem solved. Maybe they should do that.

[@stupidfish2]

if you like gaming a few hours it would be nice to remove the battery, but there are 2 batteries. and maybe all the 2 batteries are losing capacity after a few weeks gaming without using the laptop unplugged!? and you dont want 2 dead batteries if you didnt even use them... (but i am not really an expert)

[@ripperx444]

I have to call this guy out on this video. This is not true. I am on my second surfacebook 2. The first one DID NOT charge at all as soon as the GTX 1060 was in use. It was draining battery like crazy as expected. I returned it and got a brand new machine. Now this one finally charges while the graphics card is in use BUT it still drains battery while running games. This is irrespective of the power slider. I played insurgency for 40 min and my battery while plugged in dropped 3%. Power slider was set to low. I will wind up returning this lap top as well as this is unacceptable for any machine at any price point. Why make "powerhouses" that cant keep a charge. It unusable.

[@ToxicGamerDaddy]

My razer blade drains fully after 1.5 hours of gaming halo wars 2 on it when fully charged and plugged in. My surface book 2 lasts 6 hours when fully charged and plugged in on max settings. Macbook pro one time on steam battery drained within 2 hours plugged in fully charged lol idk what the issue is. My buddy's custom pc blows hot ass air when max settings are hitting feels like a heater in that room. I think its actually impressive on the battery and how cool it stays while gaming on max settings

[@chickenclips]

anti alacing.... ffs

[@ralexand56]

Thank you!

[@SuperstarPecanbar]

This video is marketing basically. He crowdsourced info on reddit from users, and he basically only "provided context" about some of the things they brought up. Do your own research. Don't trust this video.

[@stephw1363]

I will admit it isnt confidence inspiring that the rest of the engineering will be well thought out.....but im more on the fence because of another issue....adobe rgb coverage that i can get better with a wacom cintiq and a dell precision....but....i wish someone would properly explain to me all the things to look for in a photo editing display....i know gamut is not the only consideration and how exactly the surface book 2 compares to wacom or ipad

[@SchteeveFour]

If you want something that's locked down, to protect you from yourself, buy an Apple product. Windows computers should not lock down settings. That said, it would be great if consumers also had the choice to purchase a more capable power supply.

[@JackiePrime]

Stay tuned

[@g0lanu]

I really don't see how it depends. All the things listed point to a big fucking problem. I haven't met yet a custom PC builder that underpowers their power supply below the max the system might need in a practical situation, regardless of the circumstances required for those components to reach their peak power usage. It's a professional tool, why would anybody care about circumstances? Microsoft should release a more powerful charger as a configuration option or a separate purchasable item.

[@YTT34]

Good job, man!

[@Aka_daka]

I was really considering the Surface Book 2, until I found a lot of people are having so many issues with them it's in relation to the Marvell WiFi chips Microsoft have been using on the Surface line, very inferior to the competition it's amazing this BS exist on something so expensive! also has battery drain when gaming and plugged in and people have reported input lag with the track pad not good enough too many problems!! not good enough Microsoft! for the price I think you dismiss some of the faults this device has too easily..

[@nickp82]

Don't play Destiny then... Simple. it's shit anyway.

[@WindowsCentral]

This is besides the point as it can happen with any high-end game given the right circumstances ;)

[@armandones6925]

You dont even sense the point

[@nickp82]

Arman Dones it was a joke... Duhhhh! Get a sense of humour jeeze.

[@robertp457]

It's just about every modern game and not just one.

[@robertp457]

Your sarcasm wasn't clever or funny.

[@TheDarkserpent]

I wish I had this problem, but my 900 dollar crap notebook power brick, brings enouth juice.

[@JesusFloresLastra]

I finally got my SB2 15' but there aren't any cases, tempered glass or anything for this laptop yet... Any word on what is coming for this laptop?

[@WindowsCentral]

We have a few bags to look at from SF/Waterfiled. We'll be doing some accessories too.

[@AhTalk0]

Its the best laptop it just needs a better charger.

[@kenguan2983]

This would be very disappointing for me. I planned to use this as my sole pc/laptop when I move into college next year. I would hook it up with a surface dock and onto a larger monitor. A good speaker, table, and stuff. Then if I need to, I would still be able to use it outside of dorm. I planned to play alot of games too, and it's disappointing to me that I wouldn't be able to play as long as I want to. Hopefully they will fix this with a firmware update that wouldn't restrain the gpu powers, or release a higher wattage surface dock soon.

[@jacobbagger1]

Partial solution: Lock the framerate to 60fps so the GPU isn't running at full capacity constantly.

[@JohnEthan777]

I wonder how many people were actually considering the surface book 2 as a gaming laptop... for I'm seeing comments, and people saying that they would rather check out the XPS, or other macbooks and laptops. If those seem like good replacements, then you're definitely not the target audience for this product, as no one in their right mind would pay so much for a laptop, unless they were going to use it like a tablet at some point, and that too regularly for extended time periods.

[@robertp457]

Microsoft calls the laptop a gaming powerhouse. Also don't you think people want to not only work, but play on their laptops? Why would a person want to carry two laptops or a heavy gaming laptop.

[@JohnEthan777]

Derek Jonez The problem is that most people approach this as a laptop. While its design is definitely like one, it is more of what the name suggests-a book,where you can draw read, and write and also happens to be an amazing laptop. While most people myself included do wish to take advantage of its gaming potential alongside work, what bothers me is that they consider battery drains of 5 percent on select game titles over long periods of time gaming continuously which they are not going to really be doing since they probably have work to do. (and I'm sure people can ignore it on the times they are on vacation as well) to be a deal breaker and then choose to say that they're buying an xps or MacBook. Both of those devices are laptops without the functionality of the surface which means said people weren't going to take advantage of it anyway which means they probably weren't the target customers in the first place

[@adrianstanciu1046]

This is such a stupid review. The only reason one would pay this amount of money is because one wants to take advantage of the full performance. It's not a "rare case when you're really pushing the CPU and GPU". For some people that happens everyday. You should really stop making videos.

[@Cemsicles]

It's a surface, CPU needs to be under volted anyways.. that fixed all my problems with charging.

[@robertp457]

And just what evidence do you have to support that theory?

[@Cemsicles]

The 15" Surface Book thats sitting on my lap and charging fine after undervolting installing Intel and Nvidia drivers? Also disabled useless metro apps and disabled cortana which was eating CPU as well. CPU is no longer throttling and using less power. Better performance for less energy and heat.... Any other questions?

[@florianwicher]

Please learn how to pronounce Anti-Aliasing

[@SoWhat07]

"Sleep of death" Did you 👂abouth this bug? More than 250K broken surface device with permanenth black screen. What happen with Windows Phone? The same will become with Surface. How many people from formar Nokia employers was fired from Microsoft? Soon EU will end future bankruptcy of hardware team from Microsoft. I buy two surfaces and the both are now permanent death. We will see the same fiasco with Surface 5. 250K complains for a one fatal problem and Microsoft not care at all. Before a week ago at 11/2017 with lattes updates my Surface died. Shame on you Microsoft.