Force MBP to 1GHZ?

[Burnsey]

For a little while now I've been using my MBP without the battery inside. I understand that this leads to the computer throttling down to 1GHZ. Personally I have not noticed much of a slow down with the stuff I do when it throttles down like this, but I have noticed that heat is significantly reduced.

Is there any way to force the computer to stay at 1ghz when the battery is in? I notice when the battery is in, the computer runs anywhere from 1ghz to 2.33ghz seemingly randomly, but heat goes up significantly when the battery is put in. I do not trust or care for OSX's power management, and would like to just keep things at 1ghz.

I would prefer to do this without third party apps (like coolbook). Is it possible to make OSX think the battery is out? Or force boot into 1ghz mode?

 

[gr8tfly]

The variance you see with the battery in is not random. There was a lot of work put into the technology which handles the throttling of the CPU based on usage. It results in a compromise between heat, performance and battery life. More performance = more power consumption = more heat = less run time. You can't get something for nothing.

If you don't need a 2.33GHz machine, I'm sure someone will trade for a 1GHz Aluminum PowerBook.

Seriously, just run the machine and don't worry about it. All notebooks get warm - some more noticeable than others. Some run the fans all the time or "randomly" go from zero to jet blast, then back (like Dell). The MB/MBP use aluminum both for structure and for cooling. This lets them create a machine which is small and light. The fans are well controlled and come on as needed. Don't run the machine on soft material (pillow/blanket), unless you have something flat between the machine and the material - also, keep the back clear (exhaust vents).

 

[Theclamshell]

There is a code to turn off one core of the cpu, im not sure what it is but look it up and it should reduce heat

 

[gr8tfly]

There is a code to turn off one core of the cpu, im not sure what it is but look it up and it should reduce heat

If the developer's tools are installed, there's an app to monitor and control the cores called "CPUPalette". It's in "/Library/Application Support/HWPrefs". If I remember correctly, the setting is lost upon restart. I doubt it will affect temperature. The tool is mostly for development and optimizing multi-threaded apps.

 

[Burnsey]

I know that the power management in OSX is not random, but it just seems poor. For example, when I'm converting video files or unzipping large files or other CPU intensive tasks I would like the processor to go at 2.33ghz, but when I'm web browsing or word processing and even light photoshopping I would like it to be at 1ghz. Right now it constantly jumps around from 1ghz to 1.5ghz to 2.33ghz with just web browsing and this seems odd to me.

When the battery is out I only notice slow downs in the above cpu intensive tasks, but for everything else, even playing HD videos and heavy Photoshopping I notice no difference, except that the temps are some 20 degrees cooler and the fans never come on. A 1ghz G4 would not come close to the type of performance I get out of the C2D even at 1ghz, and G4s get hot.

I don't know if the cooler temps are because of the space that is left open when the battery is taken out (better heat dissipation, though I never notice that area getting hot) or because of the processor slowing down, but it makes the computer more usable.

 

[gr8tfly]

I'm sure it's cooler because the clock is locked down at 1GHz.

There's not too much you can do about the fluctuations you see. The usage is evaluated on millisecond timeslices. About the only thing I can think of is playing with the apps "nice" settings. If it's "less" nice, it will receive less CPU time - but, others will get more. I doubt you'll see much difference.

Another option might be to use a wireless keyboard and mouse and/or an external display. That way, you won't be in contact with the machine.