2018 i7 MacBook Pro throttling discussion.

[Salty Pirate]

Out of curiosity, can someone with the 2.2 & macs fan control chime in how hot that model cpu is averaging?

My 2.6 is averaging 105-107F

My only qualm with returning this one for the base model is the 256GB SSD..It may not be as fast as the 512GB one.

 

[RumorConsumer]

Out of curiosity, can someone with the 2.2 & macs fan control chime in how hot that model cpu is averaging?

My 2.6 is averaging 105-107F

My only qualm with returning this one for the base model is the 256GB SSD..It may not be as fast as the 512GB one.

Why not configure to order from the website?

 

[Salty Pirate]

Why not configure to order from the website?

bought it at best buy used the 150 off student coupon

 

[iamMacPerson]

I seem to be getting better numbers from my 2.2 base model then your 2.6 model

I'm using Macs Fan Control, but even without that, I'm seeing CPU only numbers in the 920 range. It spikes right up at 100c and then starts banging around the 90c range until it recedes back to something more respectable.

View attachment 771714

I'm curious, what's your score on a fifth or six consecutive run? Using Macs Fan Control, today I got a max score of 904 on my second pass with my 2.6 i7. It continued to decline from there, and on it's sixth run achieved a score lower than the first pass of the day: 854. Averaging all six tests, my computer received a score of 878.

Attached is my second run, you can see the read out in Power Gadget from the first one. After the second one, it would drop the Turbo in around the same time but was better able to maintain its base clock.

 

[Blue Sun]

Thanks everyone for super informative posts.

What do you all think of the likelihood that Apple releases a firmware update that implements a more aggressive fan curve? Also, is it possible for them to undervolt or underclock these CPUs to reduce throttling and maybe restore some performance?

 

[sk8r1230]

i went with 2.6. i need 1tb ssd and i want the highest performing gpu i can get. it was less then 100 bucks after those upgrades to the base model. i may not get top tier performance on extended projects but my day to day short burst use should benefit from the increased base clock.

 

[laz232]

Thanks everyone for super informative posts.

What do you all think of the likelihood that Apple releases a firmware update that implements a more aggressive fan curve? Also, is it possible for them to undervolt or underclock these CPUs to reduce throttling and maybe restore some performance?

Well underclocking is not going to improve anything apart from temperatures but certainly not performance, obviously.
Undervolting At a given clock speed is running it outside the reliability window given by the CPU manufacture, thereby affecting reliability (In terms of undesired bit errors, Or other logic errors), So I don't really see that as an option either...

Apologies for capitalisation, dictating on my iPhone which is crap because it capitalises sentences that are dictated, Whenever the dictation is restarted

 

[Duradrum]

2.6 i7 here, 16GB RAM, 512GB HDD.

I just exported a 4K FCP X clip (only 1 minute 30 long) but here's my CPU performance. No issues so far with throttling.

 

[sk8r1230]

the other thing i would consider is lets say in theory some how apple or intel does push a partial fix for some of these issues. will you kick youself for having the base model now that the 2.6 has settled down and is a nice upgrade? just a thought

 

[Elektrofone]

Great new video from Macworld and a CPU Expert.

Edit: He says for his money he'd go with the i7 over the i9. Didn't say 2.2GHz vs 2.6GHz though.

https://www.macworld.com/article/32...eat-problems-with-apples-new-laptop.html#jump

 

[chituan211]

I use volta to undervolt -150mv and set power limit to 45W. The 2.2ghz based i7 locked in at 3ghz and achieves around 950 cinebench on average even after 10 runs. If I do not set the power limit, the clocks keep jumping all over the place and only get about 820 cinebench score.
https://www.flickr.com/photos/157256909@N08/shares/R495Cc

 

[sk8r1230]

I use volta to undervolt -150mv and set power limit to 45W. The 2.2ghz based i7 locked in at 3ghz and achieves around 950 cinebench on average even after 10 runs. If I do not set the power limit, the clocks keep jumping all over the place and only get about 820 cinebench score.

i didnt know there was a program out there that let you do this with a mac. what are you using?

 

[shelt]

This is interesting!

https://www.notebookcheck.net/Apple...e-performance-with-a-few-clicks.317552.0.html

 

[dylin]

I use volta to undervolt -150mv and set power limit to 45W. The 2.2ghz based i7 locked in at 3ghz and achieves around 950 cinebench on average even after 10 runs. If I do not set the power limit, the clocks keep jumping all over the place and only get about 820 cinebench score.

https://www.flickr.com/photos/157256909@N08/shares/R495Cc

Thats really awesome to see. Do the settings that you use still stay after a restart?

also have you tried to undervolt further?

 

[chituan211]

Thats really awesome to see. Do the settings that you use still stay after a restart?

also have you tried to undervolt further?

I use this. it is only free to try for 7 days. It is loaded even after the restart. (You have 30 secs before the setting applied to change in case it is unstable. -150mV is the max value you can undervolt.
http://volta.garymathews.com/

 

[sk8r1230]

I use this. it is only free to try for 7 days. It is loaded even after the restart. (You have 30 secs before the setting applied to change in case it is unstable. -150mV is the max value you can undervolt.
http://volta.garymathews.com/

only 6 bucks to buy. this dude will make a killing for 2018 lol

 

[Elektrofone]

2.6 i7 here, 16GB RAM, 512GB HDD.

I just exported a 4K FCP X clip (only 1 minute 30 long) but here's my CPU performance. No issues so far with throttling.

View attachment 771828

Do you have render times for the project and would you be willing to share? I'd love to compare it to my MacBook Pro.

 

[RumorConsumer]

bought it at best buy used the 150 off student coupon

Return in entirety
Repurchase at Apple store and use education discount
Sell the free beats headphones

 

[dylin]

I use this. it is only free to try for 7 days. It is loaded even after the restart. (You have 30 secs before the setting applied to change in case it is unstable. -150mV is the max value you can undervolt.
http://volta.garymathews.com/

Ah nice, thanks for the info. Also, putting it at -150mv has it been stable with your experiences so far? How long have you been using this software?

lots of questions

 

[chituan211]

Ah nice, thanks for the info. Also, putting it at -150mv has it been stable with your experiences so far? How long have you been using this software?

lots of questions

I have been running cinebench for more than 20 rounds and it is still stable so far. .

 

[anshuvorty]

2.6 i7 here, 16GB RAM, 512GB HDD.

I just exported a 4K FCP X clip (only 1 minute 30 long) but here's my CPU performance. No issues so far with throttling.

View attachment 771828

The fact the temps are not hitting around 100 degrees C means that there isn't going to be throttling. It is called thermal throttling meaning that the speed is only going to decrease once the CPU starts overheating. 77 degrees or 80 degrees C isn't high enough to cause throttling.

If you were showing us this data point as proof of how a real life workload affects the i7 in terms of throttling, thanks for the information. If you were trying to prove that the CPU can throttle when exporting a fairly small FCP X 4K clip, you have to try again.

 

[Mockletoy]

For those who are concerned about undervolting: don't be.

Every CPU that comes off the production line is unique. Some require more voltage to run at a given clock speed, some require less. Intel sets a limit for what is the worst possible performance it will accept and then (to oversimplify a bit) it feeds every CPU that voltage. Does it work? Great, you've got a CPU that's ready to go to market. Does it not? Then you've got a dud (or maybe they can test it again successfully at worse settings and sell it as a lower-spec CPU).

So, one CPU might need 1.28v to run at 4Ghz, while another might be able to do it at 1.20v or even lower. It's all just the luck of the draw. But Intel doesn't check each CPU individually and have each chip ask only for the voltage it actually needs, they all get the same voltage whether they actually need it or not.

So, Intel has configured each and every one of these CPUs based on what it considers to be the worst case scenario when it comes to voltage. It has to do it that way to ensure that the crappiest CPUs can run stable.

But unless you've very unlucky, the odds are that your CPU is not one of the crappiest CPUs that came off the line, so it can almost certainly run just fine with substantially less voltage than what Intel uses as the default.

The only real risk involved is data loss: until you are absolutely certain you have attained a stable undervolt, you have to behave at all times as if you computer could crash and reboot at any moment, because that's what'll happen if the voltage is insufficient.

I've been running a 7700HQ at a -0.125 undervolt for months now and it hasn't crashed once. And that's just laziness on my part: -0.125 was the first value I tried. It worked. It lowered the temps appreciably and I couldn't be bothered to find out if maybe -0.130 or even -0.150 might be stable, because my temps on this machine never get much above 70C anyway.

Point being, undervolting is not bad for a CPU. Quite the opposite, really, since anything that helps the CPU to run cooler will prolong its useful lifetime.

 

[anshuvorty]

For those who are concerned about undervolting: don't be.

Every CPU that comes off the production line is unique. Some require more voltage to run at a given clock speed, some require less. Intel sets a limit for what is the worst possible performance it will accept and then (to oversimplify a bit) it feeds every CPU that voltage. Does it work? Great, you've got a CPU that's ready to go to market. Does it not? Then you've got a dud (or maybe they can test it again successfully at worse settings and sell it as a lower-spec CPU).

So, one CPU might need 1.28v to run at 4Ghz, while another might be able to do it at 1.20v or even lower. It's all just the luck of the draw. But Intel doesn't check each CPU individually and have each chip ask only for the voltage it actually needs, they all get the same voltage whether they actually need it or not.

So, Intel has configured each and every one of these CPUs based on what it considers to be the worst case scenario when it comes to voltage. It has to do it that way to ensure that the crappiest CPUs can run stable.

But unless you've very unlucky, the odds are that your CPU is not one of the crappiest CPUs that came off the line, so it can almost certainly run just fine with substantially less voltage than what Intel uses as the default.

The only real risk involved is data loss: until you are absolutely certain you have attained a stable undervolt, you have to behave at all times as if you computer could crash and reboot at any moment, because that's what'll happen if the voltage is insufficient.

I've been running a 7700HQ at a -0.125 undervolt for months now and it hasn't crashed once. And that's just laziness on my part: -0.125 was the first value I tried. It worked. It lowered the temps appreciably and I couldn't be bothered to find out if maybe -0.130 or even -0.150 might be stable, because my temps on this machine never get much above 70C anyway.

Point being, undervolting is not bad for a CPU. Quite the opposite, really, since anything that helps the CPU to run cooler will prolong its useful lifetime.

Now you got me convinced to try and undervolt my 6850K. Hmm...currently it is running OC at 4.3 GHz all cores at 1.38V. Maybe I should lower that...hmm..On idle it is sitting at or around 45 degrees. On load, it gets to around 80 degrees but nothing near 90 degrees.

 

[Mockletoy]

2.6 i7 here, 16GB RAM, 512GB HDD.

I just exported a 4K FCP X clip (only 1 minute 30 long) but here's my CPU performance. No issues so far with throttling.

View attachment 771828

Your CPU was only ever under a 50% load, so if it had throttled under such a light load that would be … very bad.

Do something that puts all 6 cores under heavy load for more than a minute or two and see what happens.

 

[uecker87]

I use volta to undervolt -150mv and set power limit to 45W. The 2.2ghz based i7 locked in at 3ghz and achieves around 950 cinebench on average even after 10 runs. If I do not set the power limit, the clocks keep jumping all over the place and only get about 820 cinebench score.
https://www.flickr.com/photos/157256909@N08/shares/R495Cc

I just did this too. Wow the difference is night and day... Might be worth purchasing. Ha.

Hmm new user on here. Maybe you are the creator? Would be a smart move, haha.

Edit: I am at -135mv so far.. I noticed that it still turbo boosts up to about 3.8ghz right away and then maintains about 3ghz throughout. Definitely better than how it handles it normally. I am averaging about 975 on Cinebench right now.