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Apple Releases Retina MacBook Pro SMC Update to Address Gaming Frame Rates and Fan Issues

i reinstall my windows 7 ... but the problem isnt gone
arrrrghhh i regret it allll :(
what i notice is that with this smc update i was able to go past 80c limit (in the morning when i try it)
but now
i am stuck below 80 like before
is this the case?
and btw the post above me
you are suggesting me to download the file in the link ?
 
I do notice an increase of FpS in Virtualized Path to Exile (Game) under parallels... it's like 10+ fps.

Overall worth it.
 
cbs20 said:
Thats because you need to install the Windows Support software (the drivers) on the Windows side. The funny thing is Apple doesn't have drivers for Windows 8 for the retina posted in their downloads section. Apparently only certain computers have Windows 8 drivers not including the retina.

http://support.apple.com/kb/DL1638
Click to expand...

i went ahead and install this on my windows 7 though cause i have went ahead and remove my w8 ....
guess i will stay with w7 for a while
nevertheless
this solve my problem
i am now able to go past the 80c mark which result in me getting more fps
thx you very much
you are my hero of the day :)

ok i dont know what is wrong with this game
i went ahead and check it again and now it stuck at 80...

just forget what i said ...
it act normally now
i guess it depend on the mood of the gpu... lol
 
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DaveNinja said:
They should be the same as when you play WoW right after resetting the SMC, like 45-70fps on high at full res
Click to expand...

Damn! What were your settings when getting that much FPS? Even after an SMC reset I was lucky to get 25-30. The only time I would see anything close to 45FPS would be when I'm in the bank and there's no activity.
 
vmdc said:
Damn! What were your settings when getting that much FPS? Even after an SMC reset I was lucky to get 25-30. The only time I would see anything close to 45FPS would be when I'm in the bank and there's no activity.
Click to expand...

Lower projected textures to "low" and turn of sun shafts (WoW actually recommends this). Also ground clutter KILLS the video card. I'd do low. You can keep view distance ultra or high since it's an advantage, especially in PVP.

I get around 60-90 with those settings.
 
Ryth said:
Actually they would be similar in price with the same displays.

The point is that the 2GB GTX chips can be put in the MBPR and really should be for their flagship product.
Click to expand...

So you're comparing a 4.5 lbs laptop with Alienware's DTR 'laptops' that weigh over 2x more? The GT 650M in the rMBP 15 only has an estimated TDP in the 30-35 watt range. The GTX 650M that you expect Apple to shoehorn into the rMBP puts out 100-122 watts in heat. What you're asking for is physically impossible in today's tech. Not even the next TSMC node shrink for AMD/Nvidia is going to give you GTX 680M performance in a 30 watt power envelope. Given that the rate of GPU improvements has significantly slowed down in the last 2 years, you're going to be waiting 5 years before you see today's 100+ watt mobile GPU performance at the 30 watt power level. Heck, even Alienware 14 inch 6.5 lbs laptop has the same GPU as the rMBP. Yes, Apple could've at least given us 2gb VRAM but that's for the Haswell update. And the next Haswell dGPU is not going to be a big jump in performance as it will be using the same 28nm node process as the current GT650M.
 
but

ikir said:
Yeeees :)

----------



Are you crazy? Firmware updates are the most important ones. If you have a retina update now and fix that damn slow performance GPU bug finally!
Click to expand...

but I don't think I have a GPU bug, everything already works swimmingly!
 
Since the update on logging into my macbook i am presented with a box saying that my nvidida Cuda drivers need updating. Although there is no new update present? Is this normal? i have never seen this before.
 
Everything feels snappier. Safari, mission control, scrolling. Specially on integrated GPU. The fan problem seems to be completely resolved.
At last!! My laptop as it should be from the first day.
 
hfmuehleisen said:
Just a quick heads up: I just installed the SMC update and the OSX update on my 15'' Retina MBP. Unfortunately, that broke something, unable to boot the OS. Reinstalling atm :(

It may be a good idea to install these separately.

(Writing from iPad)
Click to expand...

I had the same thing happen to me last night. My 15" Retina MBP will boot to the login screen then I can't do anything after that. Heading to the Apple Store on Sunday to see if they can fix it without having to reinstall everything.
 
tivoboy said:
but I don't think I have a GPU bug, everything already works swimmingly!
Click to expand...
Seriously, you should do an update even if you think everything is ok. This is basically a "bios" update. The SMC controls a lot of systems on the system bus.
 
I'm really happy with the upgrade. Before it, It was so noticeable when the system changed from integrated to nvidia gpu. After the upgrade it seems that the intel gpu is a lot faster that i cannot distinguish in wich i am.
And now the system seems to be a lot quieter.
 
So glad they fixed this.

I bought a 2013 rMBP 15 2.4 256 SansDisk on Tuesday. Fans were blowing like crazy 8 times in 2 hours of use the first night. Blew 2 times in the morning just reading NYTimes website. I never felt so saddened by a Mac purchase in my life. I've been using and buying macs since 1992. Crazy! Took it back on Thursday, swapped it out for new one crossing fingers. Did PRAM and SMC right off the bat and sure enough fans blowing like crazy again. Literally as I was about to pack it up somebody on the apple forums said that Apple did a SMC update. Did it. Fan went hovercraft and and restart.

Working 100% after that. Love it. But I just wonder how many rMBP went back to Apple because of this?
 
I'm a new Mac user, and was initially disappointed with the performance of my 15" inch, early 2013 Macbook Pro Retina.

10.8.3 has resolved every issue I had with it, and I'm glad I decided not to return it.

Safari is quick and snappy, iTunes performs much better, transition animations are smooth as silk, and VM performance seems to be a bit better. Also, the fan doesn't spin up to obnoxious levels while watching youtube videos, or while listening to music on iTunes.

I'm sold on an experience that I wasn't sure would be worth the investment.
 
What if we game through Bootcamp?? Did it update over there as well? or do I have to go into Bootcamp and update in there?
 
vmdc said:
Damn! What were your settings when getting that much FPS? Even after an SMC reset I was lucky to get 25-30. The only time I would see anything close to 45FPS would be when I'm in the bank and there's no activity.
Click to expand...

Let me give you a better specification to max out your DPS without affecting visuals. First off, since your display is so high there is no reason for antialiasing and also since you have a mobile GPU you need to disable shadows because you don't have any CUDA cores.

Ultra Settings
Resolution: Max
Anti-Alias: 1x
Shadows: Low
Water: Low
Sunshafts: Good
(Everything else can be ultra and with the new SMC Update and a cleared NVRAM you will get 60-80FPS in Azeroth in an extremely busy city like Orgrimmar. However in Pandaria you will get around 45.
 
skysailing said:
What if we game through Bootcamp?? Did it update over there as well? or do I have to go into Bootcamp and update in there?
Click to expand...

Update in boot camp? No, boot camp is just the platform to install/run Windows on a Mac natively. EFI is the Mac's firmware (the BIOS on a PC) so it will be there whenever you're Mac is running. It has nothing to do with the OS.

oatman13 said:
Let me give you a better specification to max out your DPS without affecting visuals. First off, since your display is so high there is no reason for antialiasing and also since you have a mobile GPU you need to disable shadows because you don't have any CUDA cores.

Ultra Settings
Resolution: Max
Anti-Alias: 1x
Shadows: Low
Water: Low
Sunshafts: Good
(Everything else can be ultra and with the new SMC Update and a cleared NVRAM you will get 60-80FPS in Azeroth in an extremely busy city like Orgrimmar. However in Pandaria you will get around 45.
Click to expand...
Thanks for the insight. I'm kinda new to gaming on a computer so I'm a noob regarding things like this. A question.. Cleared NVRAM? What do you mean by that? Is there a way to clear it? Is it cleared automatically by the machine?

Thanks
 
... on the first day of the released of the update i was very happy but now i am having sooo much problem with it that it started to frustrate me
apple spend soooo long on this too.
i am playing starcraft 2 on bootcamp (windows 7)
the gpu core clock is always changing when i play which result in me getting a low fps at times
i have already update my bootcamp to 5.0.5033
reset my smc and nvram numerous times but the problem is always their
is anyone getting this problem
im not mad in anyway but i just feel very sad and disappointed in apple product which i spend over $2000 to get.
 
Ryth said:
Actually they would be similar in price with the same displays.

The point is that the 2GB GTX chips can be put in the MBPR and really should be for their flagship product.
Click to expand...

Ummm it's a similar price now so how can they be similar in price when the Alienware has a VASTLY inferior display.

Now I use this machine every day. I generally do photo and graphics work, but have done some video work as well.

It screams through it. Since the SMC update it is runs quicker and smoother, both on the integrated and discrete GPUs.

Also my temps are generally lower after this update and the random fan spool up under no load has gone.

In short it is the computer I want and need it to be.
 
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I frequently had this problem and I was SOOOO happy to see it fixed :)

It would randomly happen when I switched to Bootcamp to play games. Games that should have been playing at 60 FPS were instead jaggedly chugging along at 20 FPS - and not a "smooth" 20 FPS. Having to reset it was a PITA.

Thanks Apple ! (a few months late)
 
Ryth said:
Actually they would be similar in price with the same displays.

The point is that the 2GB GTX chips can be put in the MBPR and really should be for their flagship product.
Click to expand...

Little known fact:

The GT650M in the 15" rMBP is overclocked by Apple and keeps up with the GTX660M.

For a 4.6 lb laptop, gaming/graphical performance is literally the BEST ever. Seriously - there is no other laptop at any price point that comes close to this level of performance in 4.6 lbs.

As someone who carries his 15" rMBP to and from work (and all around the building) daily, and also likes to game in Bootcamp, I can say that graphical performance is more than good enough.

For example I've been able to:
- Play Skyrim at high settings w/ AA on at 1650x1200 @ 50-100 FPS
- Play GW2 at carefully selected settings at 2880x1800 @ 40-60 FPS
- Play Civ5 at high/ultra @ 30 FPS (but smooth as butter...)
- Play the new, broken SimCity IN PARALLELS (not Bootcamp) at 26 FPS...

It's MORE than sufficient. It's NOT a gaming machine, but yet since getting it, my beastly gaming rig has hardly been turned on.

The SMC bug was the one thing that kept getting in my way of truly loving this machine. Now that that's fixed... I'm SOOO happy :)
 
All those great stories, but here my performance dropped like hell.

Bf3 on 1680x1050 on Medium (custom, no ssao, no aa, low mesh, low terrain) runs 27 fps.

Awesomenauts used to do 60fps capped at 2880x1800, no not even on 1920x1200..

SMC reset doesn't work anymore. What can I do now?
 
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