Surface Book 2 Adobe Premiere Poor Performance

[mercymaddox]

I just got my new surface book 2 yesterday.. I have been doing all my video editing on my desktop for the past while, so I was quite excited when my new laptop came in and I could finally be mobile. In fact I was planning on using my laptop as my main system for video editing as my desktop is usually used as a system for gaming.

Anyway so the laptop is performing like shit, I hope this is not the laptop but maybe a problem with the adobe software (I just dropped $2,600 on this seemingly piece of crap and I don't want to lose my money). For the first bit that I was using it, premiere was working just fine albeit with some stuttering which was surprising because I was working with 1080p footage and never had problems with 1080p previously. Now when I use Premiere, it opens regularly but once I load my project the gates of lag swing wide open, the program doesn't fully load, the slider at the bottom of the video timeline doesn't respond, I can't get through 5 seconds of video without heavy lag. Essentially all the systems in premiere are lagging, I can't even open the different tabs (Graphics, Effect, Audio, Color, etc.) because the program won't respond (And not in a "Not Responding" kind of may, more of a lag way). I don't really know how to describe my problem other than just a huge lag fest.

This is extremely disappointing because not only was this laptop very expensive but it is marketed as one of the best pieces of hardware for creatives, and it is advertised specifically with adobe products. If there is any advice for me I will gladly take it, otherwise I think I am going to have to return this computer because it has only been one day and I am already massively disappointed with its performance.

I have tried switching my computer to use Nvidia's high performance processor rather than the integrated graphics but that changed nothing. And for some reason windows made it so I can't choose a performance mode for my PC rather than a energy conservation or balanced setting.

If nothing can be done, my advice to anyone looking at the surface book 2 for video editing would be stay as far away as you can, its a nightmare trying to edit on this thing.

Thanks.

[Mike Dziennik]

I'm sure you have but have looked but is there not a high performance option under "additional plans"?

[mercymaddox]

This option isn't available on my Surface Book for some reason. I know it is on my desktop.

[3Tails]

mercy, I have the big brother to yours but our plight is the same. we have been trying to bring this to the attention of MS themselves as I believe it has more to do with architecture/software on our SBs than anything, but Adobe might have some way to implement solutions on their side. If you want to join the discussion over there, use this link:

the following is what i have learned in my brief research:

My current guess is this might be an underlying provision baked into SB Power Slider scheme https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/windows-hardware/customize/desktop/customize-power-slider

Also Power Options is configured to hide a lot of options and for you to tweak you need regedit. There is one in particular, Surface Overlay Power Setting, that has me intrigued as to what configurable options may be but alas they have it locked down sigh. If you want to see what I'm talking about, follow these instructions here: https://www.windowscentral.com/how-max-intel-hd-graphics-surface-pro-4

p.s. thanks Stan for alerting me to this thread!

[yenaphe]

I've been using Premiere on my Surface Book 1 editing 4k content without any major slowdowns (4k is heavy on the gpu).

I'm quite suprised Premiere isn't working like a charm on your Surface Book 2. Which hardware configuration did you choose ?

Cheers,

Seb

[mercymaddox]

I got the smaller surface book 2 (13.5 inches) 8gb RAM, integrated graphics (Supposed to be equivalent of an NVIDIA 1050), iNtel i7 quad core. I'm still surprised even with the slightly lower specs, because all the research I have done have said even the smaller surface book should have no problems getting the job done, I am clearly experiencing otherwise.

[Stan Jones]

I don't see an option for the 13.5 inch i7 with integrated graphics - only the discrete 1050. Can you clarify?

Hopefully a moderator will move this to the hardware forum for you...

[yenaphe]

The integrated GPU is an Intel HD Graphics 620, not suited at all for editing. If this is what you have, then your GPU is not good enough for editing sadly.

I see that the 1050 is an option, so double check to make sure you have the Nvidia GPU in your model.

Hope this helps,

Seb

[CrookedCreekProd]

Yes, I am having the exact same issues!  After Effects and Photoshop crash as well. When I go into the device manger and disable the Intel HD Graphics 620 the software runs just fine. However, I should not have to do that because I have the best Surface Book 2 on the market. It is more than capable to handle it. I do have some other production software (not made by adobe) and it runs just fine. That tells me that the issue is with adobe! Anyone know anything else?

[Stan Jones]

I'm still not clear. Do you have the 1050? If so you want it to run, not the integrated, right?

[CrookedCreekProd]

No, I have the surface book 2 with the two graphics cards, the first one is the Intel HD Graphics 620 and the second one is the nvidia gforce 1060. If I disable the 620 card the software runs just fine.

[Stan Jones]

I think that is how you want it to run: if you disable the 620, the 1060 should be the one being used.

A hardware person can comment, but I think I've seen posts that suggest you must disable the integrated for PR to use the discrete.

Here's the Photoshop page regarding this:

Troubleshoot Photoshop graphics processor (GPU) and graphics driver issues

[CrookedCreekProd]

Okay, so what I have done is gone in and changed the default graphics card that I want it to use (the nvidia 1060) but I get the same result. The only way I can get the software to work is if I disable the 620 card, but that causes some other problems when I do that i.e. my camera will not launch. Something about this just does not seem right. I have to have both cards to in order for the Book 2 to function properly.

[Stan Jones]

This is an example of the other post I was looking for:

Re: How can I use the acceleration of the NVIDIA 1050's gpu on my notebook?

PR no longer has an option for you to pick which card to use for gpu acceleration, so the only way to get the 1060 is to disable the 620.

The good news is that you can disable it. The problem for the user in that thread was that they couldn't.

I see the problem with not having the 620 able to do what the system is set up to do.

[CrookedCreekProd]

Okay, makes sense. So is there any hope for me in the future?

[Stan Jones]

I hope so! I'm still hoping someone with more hardware expertise will confirm this issue generally and hopefully for the Surface Book 2.

I would also look for a way to configure the book so the discrete card will support your other operations.

[CrookedCreekProd]

Thanks for you help! Do you have the same issues?

[Stan Jones]

No, just have an older surface pro. But I've looked at the earlier generation Book, and worried about what the discrete cards would do.

Mostly I'm a helper here in the forums who has seen the posts about conflicts with integrated graphics.

Consider running Bill Gehrke's PPBM testing, here: BillG Video Editing Blog

It tests your CPU, storage speed, and graphics card performance over a range of media. It can be very instructive. Bill can tell you if anyone has tested a Book yet.

[Stan Jones]

Different issues; not sure if the specs are the same.

But a thread you'd want to watch:

https://forums.adobe.com/message/10095192#1009

[Peru Bob]

Moved to the Hardware Forum.

[Bill_Gehrke]

Generally you really have to have any laptop plugged in to AC power to edit with Premiere, have you tried it that way? 

[3Tails]

I'm plugged in 95% of the time

[blittle33]

I'm experiencing the same problem with my surface book 2. Premiere Pro runs like garbage because it demands to use integrated graphics instead of the nvidia gpu

[Bill_Gehrke]

Here is a great idea for fixing the problem without completely disabling the Intel GPU it only disables the OpenCL API and not the other three API's (OpenGL, Direct 3D, and Vulkan).  It is a very simple Registry modification from another forum thread 

I have not tried it myself since I do not have the problem so your feedback is important to see if you have success.

[3Tails]

Bill, seriously, where do you find the time to be everyone's savior? Thanks for the link.