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CPU while browsing

pude

New Member
Hi!

I recently bought a Surface Pro 3. I have the i7, 256 gb-version.
First of all, I'm a mac user, this is my first pc for 6-7 years. I bought it mostly to do retouching on the fly.

I upgraded from win 8.1 to win 10. Ever since I got it, the fan goes up and down like crazy. It mostly happens while watching videos in the browser. I have tried edge and chrome, the same thing happens in both browser. The cpu goes up to like 40% of usage. As soon as i quit the browser cpu goes down to a few percent.

I really like the device, but it bothers me about the cpu problem. I love the feel of the device itself, so I have no intetions of turning it in and getting another device. I would just like to fix this problem.

I've googled this problem a lot and it seems there are a lot of users having problems of cpu running high.
Does anyone have any ideas how to fix my problem? Is there another browser I can use where cpu stays down?
 

GreyFox7

Super Moderator
Staff member
Try IE with Tracking Protection or install AD blocker in another browser. Edge doesn't currently support ad-ins although you could use a Hosts file and it will work with anything it's not for everyone (more difficult to tune if there's a site that needs exclusions).

In IE, manage add-ons, Tracking Protection, add Easy List (Adblock plus), Easy Privacy, Stop Google Trackng. Note: with the later enabled embedded YouTube videos wont play but you can open them in another tab or play them on YouTube directly.

Without Ad blocking browsing the internet in 2015 is horrible and despite the (lip service) apology issued from then Advertising community they have yet to change their ways.
 
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pude

New Member
Allright, thanks for your reply. On mac I'm a chrome user, so I would prefer using chrome on my surface as well. I'll try installing AD blocker on chrome and see if it works better.
 

GreyFox7

Super Moderator
Staff member
Of the available choices Chrome will drain the battery faster which means it will also use more resources and run the fan more but installing Ad blocking will improve it.
 

GreyFox7

Super Moderator
Staff member
Allright. So your recommendation is IE? Or might Firefox be an option?
Your preference there probably wouldn't matter much. Personally I use IE with the mentioned Tracking Protection, others swear by FF. I thought FF was a bit jerky scrolling but I hear they just released a 64bit version that is supposed to be better which I haven't tried. So many options, too little time.
 

GreyFox7

Super Moderator
Staff member
I'll try your mentioned IE settings tonight and see if it works better for me.
Just a note on making that change... the last time I did it on W10 I had to Change the Default Browser in the Windows 10 settings to IE first because when I selected Manage Add-ons in IE it launched the page in Edge and clicking the Add button did nothing (not sure if that was an anomaly as I don't recall having that problem before).
 
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pude

New Member
I did the things you mentioned in IE and tried it out. I wasn't watching videos on Youtube, but as I watched a program on a play-channel (the ultimate fighter :D )for about 10-15 minutes the fan started going again (not that loud, but I could still hear it), I was watching the cpu and it was going about 15-20%. As i closed the tab with the video the cpu directly dropped to about 1%.
Do I have to restart the computer after doing the things you mentioned earlier. Or is this simply something I will have to get used to?
 
To me what you describe (15-20% CPU usage when watching video or some other intensive webpage) seems normal.

I don't let the fan bother me unless it's going full blast, which never seems to happen for me unless I'm playing games.
 
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pude

New Member
That's good. I was just trying to find out if it was normal or if something was wrong.
By the way, how do I change the default search engine from bing to google in IE?
 
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