How to Disable Intel Turbo Boost on Microsoft Surface

Microsoft Surface lineup always comes with the most cutting-edge hardware and powerful processors. Most processors also support Intel Turbo Boost Technology 2.0, which helps you when working on a highly demanding workload.

While the technology improves performance, it also hurts power efficiency and overheating. This tutorial will show you how to turn off the Intel Turbo Boost technology on your Surface devices.

What is Intel Turbo Boost Technology?

The Intel Turbo Boost is a technology that automatically allows processor cores to run faster than the rated operating frequency when they run below power, current, and temperature specification limits. This feature is available on Intel Core i5, Intel Core i7, and Intel Core X-series processors.

Should I disable Intel Turbo Boost on Microsoft Surface?

There are a few reasons that you might want to turn off the Intel turbo boost feature on your Surface devices:

• Reduce power consumption without hurting much to the device’s performance.
• Make your device run cooler and quieter.
• In Windows 10, you can automatically turn off Intel turbo boost while on battery and turn it on while charging.

How do you disable Intel Turbo Boost on Microsoft Surface?

There are several approaches to disabling Intel Turbo Boost on Microsoft Surface devices. However, since Microsoft doesn’t let you configure the most advanced power settings through the UI on Microsoft Surface, the best way to configure it is through the Windows command line. To do so:

1. Right-click on the Start menu (Win + X).
2. Go to Command Prompt (Admin) or Windows PowerShell (Admin).
   
   
3. Enter the following command:

   powercfg -attributes sub_processor perfboostmode -attrib_hide

   This command will re-enable the Processor Performance Boost Mode, which is turned off by default.

4. Now enter:

   powercfg -q scheme_current sub_processor perfboostmode

   This command will query your current Processor Performance Boost Mode. It should return the following output:

   Power Scheme GUID: 381b4222-f694-41f0-9685-ff5bb260df2e  (Balanced)
     GUID Alias: SCHEME_BALANCED
     Subgroup GUID: 54533251-82be-4824-96c1-47b60b740d00  (Processor power management)
       GUID Alias: SUB_PROCESSOR
       Power Setting GUID: be337238-0d82-4146-a960-4f3749d470c7  (Processor performance boost mode)
         GUID Alias: PERFBOOSTMODE
         Possible Setting Index: 000
         Possible Setting Friendly Name: Disabled
         Possible Setting Index: 001
         Possible Setting Friendly Name: Enabled
         Possible Setting Index: 002
         Possible Setting Friendly Name: Aggressive
         Possible Setting Index: 003
         Possible Setting Friendly Name: Efficient Enabled
         Possible Setting Index: 004
         Possible Setting Friendly Name: Efficient Aggressive
         Possible Setting Index: 005
         Possible Setting Friendly Name: Aggressive At Guaranteed
         Possible Setting Index: 006
         Possible Setting Friendly Name: Efficient Aggressive At Guaranteed
       Current AC Power Setting Index: 0x00000002
       Current DC Power Setting Index: 0x00000002

5. To disable Intel Turbo Boost while on battery (DC Power), type the following:

   powercfg -setdcvalueindex scheme_current sub_processor perfboostmode 0

6. Now enter the same command again to re-query the current Processor Performance Boost Mode:

   powercfg -q scheme_current sub_processor perfboostmode

   Now you will notice that the current DC power setting index is 0x00000000, which means it’s currently running in a Disabled mode.

   Current AC Power Setting Index: 0x00000002 
   Current DC Power Setting Index: 0x00000000

7. Finally, you can save your current power settings by entering the following:

   powercfg -s scheme_current

How do you re-enable Intel Turbo Boost?

To re-enable the Intel Turbo Boost, you need to change the value for perfboostmode back to 2 (Aggressive). To do so:

1. Right-click on the Start menu (Win + X).
2. Go to Command Prompt (Admin) or Windows PowerShell (Admin).
3. Enter the following command to re-enable Turbo Boost:

   powercfg -setdcvalueindex scheme_current sub_processor perfboostmode 2
   powercfg -s scheme_current

4. To verify, you can query your current configuration by entering the following:

   powercfg -q scheme_current sub_processor perfboostmode

   You can verify that the DC power setting index is 0x00000002, which means it runs in an Aggressive mode.

   Current AC Power Setting Index: 0x00000002 
   Current DC Power Setting Index: 0x00000002

Now everything is set and done, to verify, you can use the Windows task manager to monitor your CPU speed. At any workload, your CPU should be running at a maximum speed of the base speed. You might notice a slight slowdown in performance. However, your device will run cooler and stay longer than before.