Microsoft testing Surface Throttle-gate fix for Windows Update delivery

We reported in August that many Surface users were complaining their tablets and laptops were suffering unnecessary thermal throttling.

Microsoft’s Surface Pro 6 and Surface Book 2 reportedly dropping to 400 MHz clock rates (from 1.6 GHz)  following a seemingly botched firmware update. In addition, the devices were not employing Intel’s Turbo Boost technology, meaning performance was always far from optimal.

The issue appears to be due to an erroneously set CPU flag called BD PROCHOT (bi-directional processor hot), which tells the processor to throttle down due to high system temperatures.

Microsoft then acknowledged the issue, and promised a solution, saying:

“We are aware of some customers reporting a scenario with their Surface Books where CPU speeds are slowed. We are quickly working to address via a firmware update.”

Yesterday a Microsoft engineer confirmed that a fix is being tested and it will be shipped to everyone through Windows Update when it passes Microsoft’s quality standards.

“Thank you for reporting the issue. We are testing a fix that will release as soon as it passes our quality testing. When the fix is released it will be made available through Windows Update,” Eddy Atinda, a Microsoft employee stated.

Microsoft has recently released Surface Pro 6 firmware into the Release Preview Ring, which appears to deliver a fix, so unless anything else goes wrong the fix may soon enter general circulation.

Are any of our readers affected? Let us know in the comments.

Via WindowsLatest