17" MBP Struggles When Connected to ACD 27"

[blueprint1983]

I have a 17" Macbook Pro that has 8 gigs ram (it's the last 17" MBP Apple made) that is struggling when it's connected to my 27" Apple Cinema Display. I'm using Ableton Live 9 (Digital Audio Workstation that is similar to Logic) and the fan will get loud and the computer will stutter and have lots of latency when trying to keep up with playback in the program.

I also experience this when watching youtube videos that are high-resolution.

Now, if I unhook the Apple Cinema Display, the Macbook Pro will actually run fairly well on all the above mentioned programs.

Has anyone else experienced something like this? It's gotten to the point where I'm considering getting a Mac Mini because I really like the screen real estate and I don't really take my Macbook Pro places anymore.

 

[borgqueens]

Strange I don´t see any reason for it to have problems at that. Perhaps your MBP have a malfunction. Do you still have apple care or something ? I think it needs repairs.

You can trie restoring it back to factory state to eliminate the possibility of a new mac virus.

I hope you´ll get it to work. It is a shame to see your 17" MBP die off this fast.

 

[blueprint1983]

I don't know if it's the processor trying to work harder with the bigger, higher res display or an actual malfunction in the laptop. I tend to think it's just the processor being overworked.

 

[Intell]

It very likely isn't the CPU. Maybe the GPU, but unlikely as well. Those last 17" Macbook Pros are able to drive the large 30" Apple displays without a problem as well as their internal screen.

 

[sarthak]

Is the notebook running on the HD 3000 graphics (unlikely), try turning off Automatic Graphics Switching. I hook up three 24" displays to my rMBP and it gets quite warm as it's running off the GT 650M.

If possible, you might want to try and do a clean install of Mountain Lion or Mavericks when it's released.