Just Got a Surface Pro 3 (i5 / 4Gb), Is overheating normal?

[lovenokia]

I am not sure whether I have a defective unit, but my surface pro 3 is already heating up right out of the box. When I first got it, it was not doing this. Today I went on wifi to get it updated, and during the process the surface seems to be exploding. It is very odd, because when I press the power button it becomes silent, but when I turn it back it the fan goes wild. I may have to get this guy replaced.

 

[Pete]

Yes, updates,will heat the surface up. Just let it finish and things should be fine. Don't forget to check for more updates after each reboot.

 

[lovenokia]

So after it initially finished the first round of updates it cooled off. Now it is during an update, and the fans are going. Hopefully after all the updates are done with the latest firmware, things should be working without issues.

 

[Coreldan]

Which config?

 

[lovenokia]

I have an i5 128gb 4 gb of ram

So I got the updates and everything, and the tablet seems to be heating up in basic tasks. Imma just let it chill for the night. See if it is better in the morning, and if not, than I'm going to get it swapped. I absolutely love the build quality and design, so far an excellent device.

 

[lovenokia]

So when I open a video the fans start to pure and the tablet heats up. Is it normal for the device to heat up like that?

 

[Pete]

I've just modified the title of this thread to include your SP3 model. Hopefully other users with the same configuration will be able to add their own experiences.

 

[lovenokia]

I just noticed that, thanks. Hopefully I will be able to get to the bottom of this issue.

 

[Ebuka Allison]

I am not sure whether I have a defective unit, but my surface pro 3 is already heating up right out of the box. When I first got it, it was not doing this. Today I went on wifi to get it updated, and during the process the surface seems to be exploding. It is very odd, because when I press the power button it becomes silent, but when I turn it back it the fan goes wild. I may have to get this guy replaced.

Same for mine. I was actually watching Netflix today and it shut off totally.
And showed the overheating icon.
Same config as you btw

 

[Jas00555]

OVERheating? As in shutting off from heat? No, that's abnormal. Heating up? Yes, that's normal. It only happens for me when I'm installing firmware and playing some more graphically intense games, though.

 

[anon(7901790)]

Define "overheating." Like Jas00555 say, heating up is normal, especially if you are doing CPU/GPU intensive tasks. Now if it gets to the point of shutting down, or actually feeling uncomfortable then that is abnormal. Uncomfortable meaning that you cannot hold on to it. Otherwise, I wouldn't worry about it.

 

[nasellok]

Make sure you have auto-install updates, and make sure you are always installing any and every update. Each firmware upgrade, and windows update has increased performance for me on the i7 256GB version. The fan runs when playing flash video, and this is probably the reason why flash is going the way of the dinosaur - its way too resource intensive for what it does. I have also noticed that shutting down instead of just going to sleep seems to save battery life - I mean, the thing boots in like 12 seconds, its not like the extra 10 seconds is going to make or break your day.

 

[Ebuka Allison]

Define "overheating." Like Jas00555 say, heating up is normal, especially if you are doing CPU/GPU intensive tasks. Now if it gets to the point of shutting down, or actually feeling uncomfortable then that is abnormal. Uncomfortable meaning that you cannot hold on to it. Otherwise, I wouldn't worry about it.

So hot I can't touch it

 

[anon(7901790)]

So hot I can't touch it

Replace it. It sounds like you have a defective fan.

 

[lovenokia]

So I have had it for a few days, and the fan is silent, but the tablet on the top seems to warm up a bit, it isn't uncomfortable but it does warm up. It does kinda get annoying, I do not know if this is defective, but I may go the the MS store, see the other surface tablets. All I am doing is web browsing, and surfing apps, these are not cpu intensive tasks. I remember playing with the sp3 at the MS store, and it did not get this warm, so it may be a defective unit.

 

[raqball]

Any thing this thin and sporting a real (non mobile) processor is going to get warm..

Even devices sporting mobile processors get hot. iPad, iPhone, Galaxy phones ect.

Expecting something this powerful that's packed into such a thin package to stay cool is unrealistic in my opinion.

 

[anon(4054009)]

Any thing this thin and sporting a real (non mobile) processor is going to get warm..

Even devices sporting mobile processors get hot. iPad, iPhone, Galaxy phones ect.

Expecting something this powerful that's packed into such a thin package to stay cool is unrealistic in my opinion.

Macbooks wil roast your legs watching Netflix, so this is not isolated. Microsoft did announce they were going to issue a patch for some heating issues.

 

[lovenokia]

Any thing this thin and sporting a real (non mobile) processor is going to get warm..

Even devices sporting mobile processors get hot. iPad, iPhone, Galaxy phones ect.

Expecting something this powerful that's packed into such a thin package to stay cool is unrealistic in my opinion.

I will give it to Microsoft that they were able to make the fan not to be able to be heard, but I hope I could throttle the CPU, or do something for the heating it is getting annoying. This is a rather perfect product for me, other than that heating, and potentially better battery life. Oh well, there are always some compromises one will have to deal with.

 

[lovenokia]

Macbooks wil roast your legs watching Netflix, so this is not isolated. Microsoft did announce they were going to issue a patch for some heating issues.

I know that Macs tend to do good with quiet fans, but I did not know that they would roast your legs, that does not sound good for the industry for thin and light, but not so much about the cooling aspect.