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Performance reduced after EFI update on MacBook Pro Retina

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jisongkun

macrumors newbie
Original poster
Jul 23, 2011
19
0
after i upgraded EFI on my retina macbook pro the proformence reduced to unusable. under heavy load( under mac os or windows7) the cpu clock drops and as well as cpu clock. this is the screen shot of gpu clock monitoring from windows u can see the gpu clock is running at 270Mhz at most of the time and trying to be back to 725Mhz(yea, not 900Mhz!) when im running a graphic benchmark. cpu will run about 1.1Ghz as well.
samething will happen when im playing D3 on Mac OS.

Reseting SMC and PRAM did not help! reinstalling windows7 via bootcamp did not help either.
i there any one here having the sam trouble?
MacBook Pro with Retina display, OS X Mountain Lion (10.8.2)

thank you!

Update: SMC reseting will fix the low fps problem under Mac OS but not bootcamp Windows! this is still killing me!
 

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stuaz

macrumors 6502
Jun 16, 2012
446
1
I had similar problems, and resetting the SMC worked for me. Sorry it didn't for you :(
 
T

terraphantm

macrumors 68040
Jun 27, 2009
3,814
663
Pennsylvania
Same issue here. It's almost like speedstep is programmed backwards. My CPU is constantly running at 3.4-3.6GHz, and then as soon as a game loads, it drops to 1.2GHz. I've lost track of how many times I reset the SMC. No help.

Is it possible to downgrade the EFI?

Edit: Seems to be thermal throttling. If I turn on the AC and let my MBP take in that air, the CPU jumps back up to 3.4.
 
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J

jisongkun

macrumors newbie
Original poster
Jul 23, 2011
19
0
terraphantm said:
Same issue here. It's almost like speedstep is programmed backwards. My CPU is constantly running at 3.4-3.6GHz, and then as soon as a game loads, it drops to 1.2GHz. I've lost track of how many times I reset the SMC. No help.

Is it possible to downgrade the EFI?

Edit: Seems to be thermal throttling. If I turn on the AC and let my MBP take in that air, the CPU jumps back up to 3.4.
Click to expand...

nice to know that. but its not good idea to hold the mac in the air playing games lol. i hope apple release a new EFI to solve this problem.
 
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bill-p

macrumors 68030
Jul 23, 2011
2,889
1,550
Yeah, as mentioned, keep resetting SMC. I had to reset mine 5-7 times (continuously) for it to behave properly.

Even now, my performance under Bootcamp is still not up to the level it was before the EFI update.
 
J

jisongkun

macrumors newbie
Original poster
Jul 23, 2011
19
0
bill-p said:
Yeah, as mentioned, keep resetting SMC. I had to reset mine 5-7 times (continuously) for it to behave properly.

Even now, my performance under Bootcamp is still not up to the level it was before the EFI update.
Click to expand...

"continuously" means keep pressing those 4 botton before u boot up? or u reset once then boot up then reset?
thaknk you!
 
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bill-p

macrumors 68030
Jul 23, 2011
2,889
1,550
jisongkun said:
"continuously" means keep pressing those 4 botton before u boot up? or u reset once then boot up then reset?
thaknk you!
Click to expand...

I pressed those 4 buttons once, then started the computer up, went into Bootcamp, tested, then shut down the computer and went back to pressing the 4 buttons again...

7 times...

...and after the 7th attempt, it went back to normal.

I did it an 8th time today, and now it's back to how I remembered it before. Looks like something Apple put into the system totally messed with the temperature sensor.
 
M

magbarn

macrumors 68030
Oct 25, 2008
2,957
2,253
Apple giveth and taketh away...
Sounds eerily reminiscent of the 2009 MBP where they cut down the SATA speeds from SATA II to SATA I as their cables couldn't handle SATA 2 speeds and was corrupting data. Sounds like this update/'downgrade' changes the CPU/GPU cooling algorithms to throttle much more aggressively.
 
J

jisongkun

macrumors newbie
Original poster
Jul 23, 2011
19
0
magbarn said:
Apple giveth and taketh away...
Sounds eerily reminiscent of the 2009 MBP where they cut down the SATA speeds from SATA II to SATA I as their cables couldn't handle SATA 2 speeds and was corrupting data. Sounds like this update/'downgrade' changes the CPU/GPU cooling algorithms to throttle much more aggressively.
Click to expand...

omg i hope this is not the case!

----------
bill-p said:
I pressed those 4 buttons once, then started the computer up, went into Bootcamp, tested, then shut down the computer and went back to pressing the 4 buttons again...

7 times...

...and after the 7th attempt, it went back to normal.

I did it an 8th time today, and now it's back to how I remembered it before. Looks like something Apple put into the system totally messed with the temperature sensor.
Click to expand...

oh god. alright, as long as it can have its original power back. ill do it, no matter how many times.
 
S

shansoft

macrumors 6502
Apr 24, 2011
437
268
I have tried many times, it won't work..

As long as the temperature goes past certain degree, it will starting to throttle CPU.

Guess this is Apple's strategy to cool down the laptop, else it will overheat in some cases due to its design.
 
M

magbarn

macrumors 68030
Oct 25, 2008
2,957
2,253
Reset SMC 10 whole times, my rMBP now throttles heavily while trying to play D3 or BF3 in bootcamp, where previously I was able to game for a hour with zero slowdowns. Why o why did I upgrade the stupid EFI again?!! :mad:
 
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ninja2000

macrumors 6502
Dec 16, 2010
338
75
magbarn said:
Reset SMC 10 whole times, my rMBP now throttles heavily while trying to play D3 or BF3 in bootcamp, where previously I was able to game for a hour with zero slowdowns. Why o why did I upgrade the stupid EFI again?!! :mad:
Click to expand...

Have you monitored temps to see at what temp it starts throttling? Also have you got turbo boost enabled?
I updated the EFI yesterday but haven't had a chance to game with it yet. I will test mine tonight and report temps and any throttling
 
J

jisongkun

macrumors newbie
Original poster
Jul 23, 2011
19
0
For my computer after it completly cool down, it will run 30 sec full speed. Gpu go up to 80C then fan start kick in as we'll as it start slowing down then reach to poor proformence with about 73C degree
 
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terraphantm

macrumors 68040
Jun 27, 2009
3,814
663
Pennsylvania
It seems to be trying to keep the GPU at 80 degrees. I'm in a fairly cold room right now and my CPU will run at 3.4GHz until the GPU goes above 80, and then it'll come down to 2.6 until the temperature drops a bit. Cycle repeats.

If I was in a much warmer room like last night, it'll probably get stuck at 1.2GHz.

What I don't get is that the fans don't seem to be hitting max speed.
 
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ninja2000

macrumors 6502
Dec 16, 2010
338
75
I have been testing my mbpr since the efi update with BF3 in bootcamp.
I am running it windowed at 1920x1080 (medium settings) with afterburner and hwinfo alongside so I can see clocks and temp.

I am running stock gpu clocks with my cpu at 2.3ghz (ie no turbo boost)

Playing for a couple of hours on a 64man metro map I am seeing temps of mid 80s for cpu and gpu. The fans are running at 4000/3700 (i left them to apples thermal profile, I normally use lobbos but wanted to see if this may be causing problems).

I had no lag, or throttling. fps were constantly over 40 with ave of mid 50's.
 
J

jisongkun

macrumors newbie
Original poster
Jul 23, 2011
19
0
still didnt fix it. i reset the SMC about 10 times already now. omg. please help.
does any one know if i genuines bar guys at apple store would help with this "windows" problem?
 
B

bill-p

macrumors 68030
Jul 23, 2011
2,889
1,550
jisongkun said:
still didnt fix it. i reset the SMC about 10 times already now. omg. please help.
does any one know if i genuines bar guys at apple store would help with this "windows" problem?
Click to expand...

They should be able to help you.

And I have had it repeat on me once or twice now...

...it's madness, but I might actually break down and ask a local Apple Store to restore the previous EFI. This is unacceptable...
 
I

imperialnavy

macrumors regular
Jul 22, 2009
191
0
Do you think Apple could potentially fix this with another EFI update?

Funny thing is, i never even tried to play a game prior to the EFI update. When my Mac came, i just updated...then i installed Windows.

@Bill-P : Maybe this is how you were so lucky with your framerates in the first place, while i wasnt : The EFI update...


(It is running nicely though, no throttling or anything...but maybe it could be a lot faster at 1600 or 1800p)
 
J

Junkyman

macrumors regular
Sep 19, 2012
112
1
Are you guys experiencing the problem whilst playing?

I have similar problem with my rMBP. However, the performance drop does not occur in "real-time", but rather when I restart the computer (or start the next gaming session ;-)). The performance then drops significantly (as described above by my co-commentators). A SMC reset did the trick for me. However, yesterday the issue returned again (was hoping for a one time thing).

So my question is: If it's a throttling issue: Why would my performance remain stable all the time, but then worsen once I restart the Mac?

Cheers

PS: It's good to know this is a general issue and not solely related to my own rMBP... :D

PPS: Let's make sure Apple is made aware of this issue. Everyone suffering from this issue should report it back to apple via this link.
 
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A

andymac2210

macrumors regular
Jul 18, 2011
228
0
Junkyman said:
Are you guys experiencing the problem whilst playing?

I have similar problem with my rMBP. However, the performance drop does not occur in "real-time", but rather when I restart the computer (or start the next gaming session ;-)). The performance then drops significantly (as described above by my co-commentators). A SMC reset did the trick for me. However, yesterday the issue returned again (was hoping for a one time thing).

So my question is: If it's a throttling issue: Why would my performance remain stable all the time, but then worsen once I restart the Mac?

Cheers

PS: It's good to know this is a general issue and not solely related to my own rMBP... :D

PPS: Let's make sure Apple is made aware of this issue. Everyone suffering from this issue should report it back to apple via this link.
Click to expand...

You can report it all you like, but don't expect a fix from Apple for 1 yea minimum, if ever.
I've been reporting issues (sometimes multiple times) for years have yet to see any of them fixed, all known issues others have problems with.

The ONLY thing apple fixes these days is problems with their iToys.
 
D

doh123

macrumors 65816
Dec 28, 2009
1,304
2
Junkyman said:
Are you guys experiencing the problem whilst playing?

I have similar problem with my rMBP. However, the performance drop does not occur in "real-time", but rather when I restart the computer (or start the next gaming session ;-)). The performance then drops significantly (as described above by my co-commentators). A SMC reset did the trick for me. However, yesterday the issue returned again (was hoping for a one time thing).

So my question is: If it's a throttling issue: Why would my performance remain stable all the time, but then worsen once I restart the Mac?

Cheers

PS: It's good to know this is a general issue and not solely related to my own rMBP... :D

PPS: Let's make sure Apple is made aware of this issue. Everyone suffering from this issue should report it back to apple via this link.
Click to expand...

I don't think thats the same problem...

but I will say.. get gfxCardStatus and monitor your GPU usage... because I've had a few times where my Intel GPU would get stuck on and never switch over to the nvidia... Reboots sometimes fixes that when it happens... always fixes it if I've Cmd+Opt+P+R on reboot.
 
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