Surface Book 2 specs, features, and tips

1. Arnaudmk says:

   November 19, 2017 at 6:51 am

   What does g sync ready means?
   Can you use g sync with the SB2 and an external g sync monitor? And in that case through which port (because the port needs to be directly link to the Gpu right?) ? Do I need the surface dock to do so?

   Reply
   • Evan Forrest says:

     November 20, 2017 at 4:43 am

     Hi Arnaudmk,
     As your concern, The GTX 1050 and 1060 does supports G-SYNC technology. However, all display outputs are wired through the Integrated GPU. And the dGPU is only used for rendering only. So far as I know I think you can’t take advantage of G-SYNC monitor with the Surface Book 2.

     Reply
     • Arnaudmk says:

       November 20, 2017 at 5:00 am

       Oh I see, thank you for your answer as well as your article!

       Reply
2. Michael says:

   October 4, 2021 at 6:05 am

   what is the “accessory radio port” in the bios settings on a surface book 2
   I’ve searched Google and Bing (HaHa) for that term and cant find any reference to it.
   I’ve turned it off but curious to know what it does

   Reply
3. Zee says:

   May 31, 2023 at 2:07 am

   Hello,

   I understand the Surface Book 2 has the following ports:
   2x USB type-A 3.1 Gen 1
   1x USB type-C 3.1 Gen 1 (Supports Power Delivery revision 3.0 and DisplayPort)

   And the following dedicated GPU on the 15″ model:
   NVIDIA® GeForce® GTX 1060 discrete GPU w/6GB GDDR5

   1) What is the total limit of external monitors that this laptop and its GPU will support?

   2) Can I use a USB-C docking station (with 2-3 HDMI and/or DisplayPort slots in it) to connect 2-3 external monitors to the laptop?

   3) What about connecting one external monitor to the USB-C docking station and daisy-chaining a 2nd external monitor off of the first (and so on and so forth)? Does the Surface Book 2’s USB-C slot support DisplayPort 1.2/1.4 with MST (MST allows for daisy chaining)?

   4) Can I use a USB-A to Dual HDMI with 4k adapter to plug into one of the laptop’s USB-A slots and connect external monitors through that? If so, can I use both the USB-A HDMI adapter AND the USB-C docking station to connect 4-6 monitors?

   Thank you.

   Reply
   • Evan Forrest says:

     May 31, 2023 at 2:47 am

     Hi Zee,

     Thanks for your questions! I will try my best to answer based on my understanding and research.

     1. The Discrete GPU inside all Surface Book models is only used for rending, while all display outputs are wired through the Integrated GPU. So the total limit of display support for Surface Book 2 is 3, which can be configured as:
     • Option 1: 2 external monitors + 1 laptop display.
     • Option 2: 3 external monitors.
     It is the limit of 8th Gen Intel processors.

     2. Yes, you can connect to a USB-C dock to 2 or 3 external monitors. However, the maximum display support remains the same.

     3. According to Microsoft, the USB-C port on Surface Book 2 does support daisy chain displays. You can learn more here: https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/surface/troubleshoot-connecting-surface-to-an-external-display-bc8f5121-a4cb-cf0b-5770-2df7a66a3b28#WindowsVersion=Windows_10

     4. It depends on the technology of the adapter you use. If it uses technology like DisplayLink, you can have many external monitors, as you like. However, this technology usually uses the laptop CPU to encode the display signals, which results in a slight delay, low output quality, and slows down your laptop.

     I hope it helps!
     Thanks

     Reply
     • Zee says:

       June 2, 2023 at 12:51 pm

       Hey Evan, thanks for responding! I did not get any email notification about your reply so I wasn’t able to see it earlier. FYI, I’m trying to connect two WQHD 2560×1440 (165Hz using Display Port) monitors (and possibly one 4k 3840×2160 60Hz monitor) to the laptop.

       1) So I definitely cannot connect 3 external monitors while also using my laptop screen at the same time (4 screens total)? What would happen if I tried? Would one of the screens remain/turn off? Do I risk damaging my laptop’s integrated GPU or something else if I even tried?

       2-3) Thank you for the link. It helps me understand the quality loss I will experience. For the Surface Book 2, it mentions “two external displays, here’s the supported resolution and refresh rate:
       30 Hz 4096 x 2304
       60 Hz 2560 x 1600”

       Is it correct to assume that I’ll be able to run both my 1440p external monitors at 2560×1440 and 60Hz?

       What will happen to the quality of each monitor if I also add in the 3rd external 4k 60Hz monitor to the setup?

       4) I need to learn about DisplayLink technology. Does it allow the laptop to bypass its maximum display support constraints?

       Ultimately, I’m just trying to to understand what would be the best play here. I was thinking USB-C docking station because I can connect my extra peripherals (mouse/keyboard) to that too and just have to unplug two things (the docking station and laptop’s power supply) when I want to go mobile with the laptop. But if there’s going to be too much quality loss, then I will consider using a USB-A (or USB-C) Dual/Triple HDMI (or DisplayPort) DisplayLink adapter and just connecting my external mouse and keyboard to the laptop directly.

       Thanks again for the help. I really appreciate it.

       Reply
     • Zee says:

       June 6, 2023 at 1:44 am

       Hello Evan. Don’t mean to push but I wanted to know if you had any insight or answers on my follow up questions. Thank you.

       Reply
     • Evan Forrest says:

       June 6, 2023 at 5:27 am

       Hi Zee,

       Thanks for the follow-up questions!

       1. You can connect three external monitors to your Surface Book 2. For example, you can connect two external monitors via Surface Dock and another via USB-C on the base. However, only three displays can output simultaneously in either:
       – All three external monitors.
       – Or two external monitors + laptop display.
       And you can switch between both options in Windows Display Settings. I tried this before, and it didn’t harm my laptop.

       2. According to the link, I posted in the previous comment, Surface Book 2 supports two monitors with 2560 x 1600 @60Hz. So yes, it will support dual 1440p@60Hz monitors with a resolution of 2560 x 1440 @60Hz.

       3. I have never tried connecting a 4K@60H to the existing 2 x 1440p@60Hz before. However, I think it might be possible.
       If we compare the 3K@60Hz or 3240 x 2160 (7M) on Surface Book 2 15-inch display to the 4K@60Hz or 3840 x 2160 (8.2M), it isn’t much different in the number of pixels (7M vs. 8.2M pixels). There is a high possibility that the Surface Book 2 can also output 4K@60Hz + 2 x 1440p@60Hz. Again, it’s just my thought.

       Here is the Surface Dock 2 support document https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/surface/surface-dock2-overview, you can learn more about the limitation of Surface Book 2 display supports.

       4. I want to correct my previous answer. According to DisplayLink, depending on its chipset, it can officially support up to 4 external monitors https://www.synaptics.com/products/displaylink-graphics/integrated-chipsets. However, according to a test by Plugable, it can support up to 14 external monitors https://plugable.com/blogs/news/attaching-14-monitors-on-windows-8-1-with-usb.
       And if you want to have even more displays, you can use other display dongles like the FL2000 chipset from Frenscologic that can add more monitors with up to 1080p@60Hz https://amzn.to/45IA4zb via USB 3.0 port.

       I hope it helps!
       Thanks

       Reply

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