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Does anyone use Coolbook on the new 13.3" MBPs?

pgharavi

pgharavi

macrumors 6502
Original poster
Nov 25, 2004
308
229
Hello,

I just went from a Rev A Macbook Air to one of the new MBPs. Using Coolbook was mandatory on a Rev A Air to get any decent performance out of it due to throttling issues and heat. I have no such issues with my new MBP (especially with the Intel SSD in it). But since I have a functioning license for Coolbook, I am wondering if anyone else has used it on the new MBP and if it's worth it?

Thanks much!
 
yes coolbook works just fine on my MBP13 mid2009

but since i installed SL yesterday, i cannot configure coolbook anymore... :(
 
macchiato2009 said:
yes coolbook works just fine on my MBP13 mid2009

but since i installed SL yesterday, i cannot configure coolbook anymore... :(
Click to expand...

Weird, since I emailed Magnus and he told me the following:

Yes, the latest version should work.

/Magnus
 
there is a bug with mine then

i just realized that it doesn't show the correct frequencies

for instance, my MBP13 is 2.26



on adapter, frequences available are:

1596 MHz
1862
2128
2394 !!!


2394 is simply impossible as the max for my machine should be 2260
 
macchiato2009 said:
yes coolbook works just fine on my MBP13 mid2009

but since i installed SL yesterday, i cannot configure coolbook anymore... :(
Click to expand...

Uninstall via the CB menu.
Restart.
Make sure you have the latest version.
Run application again.
Activate.
Restart.

It could take two repeated attempts.

I'm running my MBP13 on the highest frequency with the lowest voltage.
 

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ok thanks

it works at the 3rd attempt !

i'm really surprised that you could run your MBP at max speed at lowest voltage without any problem
 
I guess what I'm wondering if there is any noticeable benefit. On the Macbook Air, it was as if you were unlocking the performance of the machine - like night and day.
 
no need to run full speed to surf the web, typing a text, listening for music...

you save power and produce less heat = better battery capacity and cooler laptop

both on adapter & battery but it does really make sense on battery
 
pgharavi said:
I guess what I'm wondering if there is any noticeable benefit. On the Macbook Air, it was as if you were unlocking the performance of the machine - like night and day.
Click to expand...

Of course there is a benefit. 1.0375w vs .8750w is a huge difference in terms of heat in my case. Not only that, but a small increase in battery life as well.
 
impossible to tell

because i'm always using it everyday by different ways

sometimes surfing, surfing + music, surfing on flash-based websites, etc...

but i can tell that my machine is really cool and lasts very long

i used coolbook with my first mac which was the macbook white
it was really hot and using coolbook cooled it down

so i decided to buy it every time i got another mac

$10 is a very good deal

so far i've not spent enough time finding the best / optimal settings

a friend of mine gets sometimes +10 to +20% juice
 
vant said:
Of course there is a benefit. 1.0375w vs .8750w is a huge difference in terms of heat in my case. Not only that, but a small increase in battery life as well.
Click to expand...


i really have to spend more time finding the best settings

my only fear is to use a too low voltage may result in a crash but so far it never happened and i never took voltages to very low levels

for how long have you been using the lowest voltage for max speed ?

on battery or on adapter ? both?



edit:

i've run the cpu test

the crash level for 2.26 Ghz is below 0.9250V

so, for best stability / performance / power saving

i would recommend these settings:

4 pairs only with high throttling

798 - 0.8750
1596 - 0.8750
1862 - 0.9000
2261 - 0.9250


= -20% less power for max speed ;)
 
vant said:
Uninstall via the CB menu.
Restart.
Make sure you have the latest version.
Run application again.
Activate.
Restart.

It could take two repeated attempts.

I'm running my MBP13 on the highest frequency with the lowest voltage.
Click to expand...

Did you actually test out that high frequency with .8750 voltage because I really doubt it stable. I you're just always running at half speed and have never done anything intensive enough to bump up the throttling
 
Dan73 said:
Did you actually test out that high frequency with .8750 voltage because I really doubt it stable. I you're just always running at half speed and have never done anything intensive enough to bump up the throttling
Click to expand...

:) I've been running it since I bought CB in July for my MBP13. Absolutely no crashes and CPUTest-ed. In fact, up until 10.6 came out I was running 2.26/.0875 exclusively without the .8/.0875 pair. I just put the .8ghz/.0875w pair back in for testing. I think this helped with temperatures (I always assumed temperatures were based solely on what wattage you were running on, apparently clock frequency has an effect as well).

My GF actually bought the MBP13 at the same time as me and she can only run 2.13ghz at .0925 (and 2.26ghz at .095). .0875 isn't even available for her. Every CPU chip is different.
 
very surprising

the CPU tests fails if the voltage goes below .925 at max speed

it's the crash level / limit

same for 3 other persons i asked to do the test
 
I've noticed something: with lower voltage, the stress test is OK, without any crash, and the system seems to run fine, BUT, when playing a 720p MKV (x264), it become quickly sluggish, with a choppy playback.

Then, reboot without coolbook driver, and the same video runs smooth! :eek:

That's stange, but maybe that's more related with the throttling set to medium? :confused:
 
the more pairs you have, the higher throttling should be

medium for 2 pairs

high for 4 pairs

very high for 4 or more

4 is ideal

try my settings, they should be fine

coolbook is juggling with the lowest pairs and then with more pairs when you increase throttling frequency
 
macchiato2009 said:
very surprising

the CPU tests fails if the voltage goes below .925 at max speed

it's the crash level / limit

same for 3 other persons i asked to do the test
Click to expand...


Yeah I got the same thing when I was testing to find the lowest voltage (was testing about 2-3 weeks ago) failed at .925 and had to do a hard reboot.
 
nicoplanet said:
I've noticed something: with lower voltage, the stress test is OK, without any crash, and the system seems to run fine, BUT, when playing a 720p MKV (x264), it become quickly sluggish, with a choppy playback.

Then, reboot without coolbook driver, and the same video runs smooth! :eek:

That's stange, but maybe that's more related with the throttling set to medium? :confused:
Click to expand...

I have a 13 MBP now and no experience so far here, but I used coolbook for some time with my previous 13" MB 2.1 (Mid 2007) and noticed similar behaviour there. My system was less responsive and slower with a CPUtest-ed CoolBook setting, even though the CPU was running at 2,16GHZ. I couldn't explain it and didn't want to play around with it too much. I also noticed some graphic bugs from time to time, like black and white stripes flashing for a very short moment up when activating Exposé.
This experience was enough to convince me that I shouldn't be messing around with an Apple tested setting, though this setting might not be optimal, but it is safe. It was maybe just me not managing to find the right CoolBook settings and not the fault of the concept of undervolting.

I actually was hoping for performance increase with my MacBook back then, because without CoolBook the CPU was slowed down by the system due to heat issues and couldn't run at 100% CPU performance for longer than a few seconds! I was upset I have to admit, because the machine didn't do what I paid for basically, but CoolBook on the other hand didn't work for me either.

I am just happy I don't have the CPU performance issues with my 13 MBP, it can go on 100% (x2) almost forever :)
 
jedivulcan said:
The lowest stable voltage I've been able to get it on an adapter is

2261Mhz @ 0.8625V

and it's stable, ran CPU test on it. Works perfects.
Click to expand...

What computer do you have? I have the 2.26ghz MBP and the lowest voltage I can use is .8750v which kinda ticks me off. However 2.26ghz seems to be stable for me around .925v.
 
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