I was using the Nvidia control panel on my unibody mbp to try to increase the fsb clock speed to try to overclock my cpu a little but whenever I hit apply I got a bsod, then somehow it ended up being underclocked to something like 1600 mhz. I cant figure out how to at least restore it to the default speed. Anyone know how I could fix this?
Got a tip for us?
Let us know
Become a MacRumors Supporter for $50/year with no ads, ability to filter front page stories, and private forums.
MBP underclocked, cant restore to default speed
- Thread starter kodyq
- Start date
- Sort by reaction score
What's with people messing around tools these days? Just answered a post where some guy did random things in terminal. Like poster above, just do a PRAM reset. Press cmd + opt + p + r after you power on.
I'd recommend an SMC/PMU reset over PRAM but you might try both if one or the other doesn't do the trick.
SpeedStep technology underclocks your computer when you don't need it. If you run something intensive, it'll clock back upto normal speeds.
Thanks for the replies, I didnt think to do either of those, I was thinking those things applied to the mac side only for some reason but the pram reset worked.
I saw someone use the nvidia control panel to overclock their cpu under windows on a mbp, Can anyone tell me if its actually possible? And if I can manage to overclock it can it be overclocked in windows only and not on the mac side? (its a unibody btw)
Im sure you get these questions from noobs all the time but any help would be great.
edit: its actually still at 1600 mhz in windows how can I fix this?
I saw someone use the nvidia control panel to overclock their cpu under windows on a mbp, Can anyone tell me if its actually possible? And if I can manage to overclock it can it be overclocked in windows only and not on the mac side? (its a unibody btw)
Im sure you get these questions from noobs all the time but any help would be great.
edit: its actually still at 1600 mhz in windows how can I fix this?
Its quite usual actually, dont worry. I have the same MBP and i also have about 1600mhz in idle windows 7
When i play Fallout 3 for example, it switches back to 2800 Just try it out and measure with CoreTemp or CPUID 
Overclock laptop = fail to realize damage can happen
Overclock laptop when not needed = energy usage fail + first fail
Overclock laptop when not needed = energy usage fail + first fail
I'd really like to know how you came to the conclusion that gaming an overclocked uMBP for 3 hours won't really damage it. It will! You could try running System Restore selecting a point before you tried fiddling the GPU clock to see if it returns to it's default settings.
Overclocking any unibody's GPU is to put it politely a very bad idea, not only with the razor thin thermal parameters of the design but the glaring lack of proper fan control management in Windows means you're taking a hell of a risk frying your GPU and on top of that cooking the system board.
Just want to point out the OP underclocked his CPU, not GPU. I don't you can under/over clock GPUs?
GPU clock speeds can most certainly be adjusted depending on the hardware. For the ATI 2600XT in my iMac there is ATITool in Windows. As the OP mentions for the nVidia there is the nVidia Control Panel which he said he was using. So far as I know that only adjusts the GPU clock speed so I assume the CPU comment he made was in error.
My Studio 540 has an ATi 4350 with Catalyst Control Panel, and it allows you to overclock the CPU and RAM of the graphics card.
My intention was to overclock it only a little bit, while also having the fans on a high rpm from the start using the "smcfancontrol in mac then rebooting into windows without shutting down" method.
I spend the majority of my time on mac, so my thinking was that in the little time I spent gaming overclocking from maybe 2.66 ghz to 2.90 ghz wouldnt instantly kill my computer. And really Im not asking about the "ethics of overclocking" but just "how to"
Could anyone answer my question?
Also thank you for all the replies
I spend the majority of my time on mac, so my thinking was that in the little time I spent gaming overclocking from maybe 2.66 ghz to 2.90 ghz wouldnt instantly kill my computer. And really Im not asking about the "ethics of overclocking" but just "how to"
Could anyone answer my question?
Also thank you for all the replies
You can't overclock the 2.66ghz to 2.90, not possible. The max you can probably get is about 2.70 or 2.75 which is minimal at best.
Use nTune.
Now all this talk makes me worry a bit actually. The MPB has razor thin thermal parameters, i agree on that too...
But running it at default settings (Cpu 2,8ghz), (gpu 500/792) raises the temperature to about 90 °C Cpu and 97 °C GPU... (When playing Fallout 3)
Doing this very very often and for a few hours at a time is ok, right ?!
My MBP is supposed to withstand that, right ?
But running it at default settings (Cpu 2,8ghz), (gpu 500/792) raises the temperature to about 90 °C Cpu and 97 °C GPU... (When playing Fallout 3)
Doing this very very often and for a few hours at a time is ok, right ?!
My MBP is supposed to withstand that, right ?
What is limiting it from going to something like 2.90? Is it because macs dont have a bios to change things like the voltage?
Im no expert but im pretty sure that temp is fine but anything hotter would probably be bad, it might be good to turn up the fan speed
No. Nvidia thermals for GPU's with normal cooling are:
70s -normal
80s -tolerable
90s - hot
100s -400 dollar hash browns and eggs anyone?
With the unibody design I'd knock off 5 degrees off those, if not more cos I've seen 9600M's lock up at below 88 degrees in Windows shortly before the fans turn up to hovercraft speed.
The amount that you can overclock your CPU is largely based on the fan/s that you have in the computer. If you can keep the CPU cool while its running faster then theres not going to be as much damage later on in life.. (not to say that the CPU suddenly becomes immune to damage) The uMBP only has the 2 fans if i remember correctly (and as someone has already mentioned windows doesnt have the best fan control in the world) thus your seriously endangering your CPU by putting it above 2.70GHz. I wouldnt suggest it anyways, the 2.66 isnt exactly slow! lol.
Hope that helps
PTP
Does the same rule apply to the CPU ? If things do get broken i wonder how they handle things with the guarantee. After all they didnt write that i am not supposed to play Fallout 3 on my Macbook Pro
Edit to my last post : Cpu gets hot, up to 97°C , Gpu reaches 90°C as max temperature^^
Edit to my last post : Cpu gets hot, up to 97°C , Gpu reaches 90°C as max temperature^^
Does the same rule apply to the CPU ? If things do get broken i wonder how they handle things with the guarantee. After all they didnt write that i am not supposed to play Fallout 3 on my Macbook Pro
Edit to my last post : Cpu gets hot, up to 97°C , Gpu reaches 90°C as max temperature^^
Most Core 2 mobile CPU's have a blowout temp of 105 degrees, but MBP's logic boards can easily fail at under 100 degrees.
I'm giving up posting on these overclocking unibodies in Windows threads now cos they might as well be a suicide thread - 'How to Blow up Your Macbook Pro'. It's simply not thermally designed as a gaming notebook - unlike a Toshiba Qosmio X300 with it's huge fans for example.
Lastly a warning - a friend who works at large UK Applecare repair centre has said they now do additional checks after finding a cooked GPU - plug your HD into a caddy checking if there's a Windows volume and any GPU tools. If it's found say goodbye to the warranty!
Well apart from nHancer and gpu Z there isnt anything
I am not crazy and actually try to fry that thing
I am not crazy and actually try to fry that thing
Not entirely true. The limitation is that once you increase the FSB, you also increase the speed on the DDR and other buses. That causes the system to crash. Having an increased speed in the ATA/PCI ports won't do crap, but they are also increased in speed when you up the FSB on the CPU. Its a motherboard problem that causes everyhting else to increase in speed when you don't need it.
Furthermore, these chips are able to handle the increased speed, and you're not increasing the voltage so thats slightly okay. As long as temps are monitored, it shouldn't be a problem.
Why do most people on here need to use SmcFancontrol ?? Whenever i startup a game, it wont take long until the fans startup and make noise like a hovecraft I do use the newest MBP though...did Apple fix the fan problem in those ? Or iis my fan, although its very loud, not running at 6200rpm yet ?
I do use the newest MBP though...did Apple fix the fan problem in those ? Or iis my fan, although its very loud, not running at 6200rpm yet ?