FPS Drops When Gaming using BootCamp

[Riviera122]

Hi all



Recently I have had problems when using my Windows 7 BootCamp partition for gaming. Essentially, the laptop runs too hot and as a result the GPU throttles to prevent overheating, causing intermittent FPS drops to occur which as you may expect mess up the entire pace of the game. This has only begun to happen within the past few months - I have had many months of trouble-free gaming previously on the exact same setup. The fans are running at maximum and core temps tend to be in the 80s, so no luck there. As I have currently tried:



Resetting SMC/NVRAM(PRAM)

Deleting partition and reinstalling Windows

Downloading a fan control app to try and regulate fan speed

Turn off/on Vysnc

Install firmware update for external display

Changing power settings

Changing settings within Nvidia Control Panel

Uninstalling/reinstalling drivers, rolling back drivers, reinstall BootCamp drivers



My current setup is:

Mid-2012 MacBook Pro 15" running open shell with MacBook display off

OS X Mavericks

20" Cinema Display

External SteelSeries Mouse

Steinberg DAC to Genelec 8010 Monitor Speakers



As previously said, nothing in my setup has changed and this problem has only recently occurred. I am unsure why the fans cannot keep the temperature down all of a sudden.



Some help would be great.

 

[keysofanxiety]

Hi there Justin, hope you're keeping well. I have the same machine (assuming yours is the non-Retina).

Sorry to go through what you've already said. You advised you reinstalled the drivers. May I confirm if you've tried downloading the driver through GeForce Experience?

It auto-detects the driver, so you won't have to worry about doing anything beyond installing the application and scanning for updates.

Regardless, from your description it sounds like your laptop could use a little spring clean. If you have the classic model, it might be best to crack open the bottom and give it a good de-dusting with compressed air.

Best wishes.

 

[Riviera122]

Hi there Justin, hope you're keeping well. I have the same machine (assuming yours is the non-Retina).

Sorry to go through what you've already said. You advised you reinstalled the drivers. May I confirm if you've tried downloading the driver through GeForce Experience?

It auto-detects the driver, so you won't have to worry about doing anything beyond installing the application and scanning for updates.

Regardless, from your description it sounds like your laptop could use a little spring clean. If you have the classic model, it might be best to crack open the bottom and give it a good de-dusting with compressed air.

Best wishes.

Yes, I do have the non-retina.

I believe I did yes, in the application it's saying my driver is up-to-date. I know 100% that on my previous Windows installation I installed updates through GeForce Experience but had the same problem.

I imagine that a buildup of dust on the fans is the problem? Thanks for your help.

 

[keysofanxiety]

Yes, I do have the non-retina.

I believe I did yes, in the application it's saying my driver is up-to-date. I know 100% that on my previous Windows installation I installed updates through GeForce Experience but had the same problem.

I imagine that a buildup of dust on the fans is the problem? Thanks for your help.

Yeah, certainly does sound like it would be a build up of dust. Best to take off the bottom (standard crosshead screws) and take a peer in. The fans can really build up with a lot of grime, so if you haven't cleaned it out before, that would almost certainly be causing the issues.

It's rarely, if ever, necessary to reapply the thermal compound on the 2012 models -- they don't really have the issues that the 2011 Radeons do. So a blast with compressed air should keep it running nice and cool; a nice quick and easy fix!

Let me know how you get on, or if you need any more information.

 

[Riviera122]

Yeah, certainly does sound like it would be a build up of dust. Best to take off the bottom (standard crosshead screws) and take a peer in. The fans can really build up with a lot of grime, so if you haven't cleaned it out before, that would almost certainly be causing the issues.

It's rarely, if ever, necessary to reapply the thermal compound on the 2012 models -- they don't really have the issues that the 2011 Radeons do. So a blast with compressed air should keep it running nice and cool; a nice quick and easy fix!

Let me know how you get on, or if you need any more information.

Great, thanks so much! Whilst I'm waiting for my kit to arrive, I don't suppose you know of any other potential reasons why my Mac is running hot?

 

[Riviera122]

Yeah, certainly does sound like it would be a build up of dust. Best to take off the bottom (standard crosshead screws) and take a peer in. The fans can really build up with a lot of grime, so if you haven't cleaned it out before, that would almost certainly be causing the issues.

It's rarely, if ever, necessary to reapply the thermal compound on the 2012 models -- they don't really have the issues that the 2011 Radeons do. So a blast with compressed air should keep it running nice and cool; a nice quick and easy fix!

Let me know how you get on, or if you need any more information.

I opened it up, cleaned out the fans and I'm still getting throttling issues. Any other possible solutions?

 

[supermariofan25]

Run some kind of hardware monitor software to see if the temps are getting high and the clock speed is throttling for your GPU. If so and cleaning out the fans and heat-sinks didn't work then you may need to replace the thermal compound. Look here for a guide to remove the heat sink by iFixit.