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Having to reset the SMC every long gaming

X

xPurpleblob

macrumors regular
Original poster
Jun 29, 2011
111
1
I have to reset the SMC everytime I play about 3 hours of Starcraft to get it back to the normal FPS which is about 45 FPS from 15 FPS...
Is this normal?

I have a 15 retina base model.
 
Do a search, it's pretty common. It sounds like a software problem that you will have to wait for Apple to fix, nothing wrong w your computer.

I play battlefield 3 quite a bit bootcamping on windows and haven't had to reset it. Maybe it has something to do with the game????
 
xPurpleblob said:
do you think they will allow for an exchange?
Click to expand...

All depends if you bought it from a local Apple Store or not. If the system was purchased less then 14 days ago, you can return it no questions asked. If it's older your SOL they will just repair it (Possibly replace it if purchased from an apple store). You might get lucky and they will do everything they can for you, if not your just SOL.

I have the same issue as you, spoke to apple multiple times over and over. They still refuse to believe or presumably know the systems do this, and are within spec. Or just don't give a damn. I have a service order out for my system to get repaired. After speaking with the technician who will replace my Faulty LG screen, he said Apple has no mention of anything other then a bad LG panel. I asked him if he was to check on my down-clocking and GPU not running at 900/2508(runs at 900/2001) and he said there was no mention of it on the work order. Although that was the main reason I called Apple.

So my conclusion is either you take it back within the 14 day return, or like the rest of us WAIT till Apple first acknowledges it, and secondly decides to fix it.
 
SchuettS said:
Do a search, it's pretty common. It sounds like a software problem that you will have to wait for Apple to fix, nothing wrong w your computer.

I play battlefield 3 quite a bit bootcamping on windows and haven't had to reset it. Maybe it has something to do with the game????
Click to expand...

Actually it's not the game. The unit throttles the GPU memory-clock to about 350 MHz, but it should go up to 900-1254 MHz. This limits fps in most games and is well noticeable.

You can try it with GPU-Z. Open it up and leave the sensor bar open while gaming. When you play a game it should max out the clocks. When it still stays at a low clock rate a SMC-reset will revert it... sadly just temporarily.
 
So it's actually been a just a more than one week I bought this thing and I bought it with bread. Can I straight out exchange it or do I have to go through that process with receiving the check from Apple and buying it all over again?
 
It's a bug which came with 10.8.2 around. I think another device will have the same problem.
 
Should I just hold on to it?
I am feeling very lucky that I have a Samsung display....
 
Actually, your issue is similar but somehow different. On mine i got the fps drop only when I boot up without reseting smc. During gameplay I've never experienced such a fps drop. Can you downgrade to 10.8.1 to check if the slowdown would still occur?
Also what are your temps after about 2 hours gaming?
 
Woops, if you misunderstood..

I meant the same thing as you haha.
And when I game the fan is definitely audible and it gets hot to touch near the fans near the screen.
 
You can limit fps to 30 (or 32) which offers fluid gameplay and will tone down the fan speed a bit. For example my fans are absolutely silent in LoL at 2880x1800 and high details. In WoW at 1080p and high details they spin at about 3k which is far more silent than any other laptop I had.
 
reery said:
Actually it's not the game. The unit throttles the GPU memory-clock to about 350 MHz, but it should go up to 900-1254 MHz. This limits fps in most games and is well noticeable.

You can try it with GPU-Z. Open it up and leave the sensor bar open while gaming. When you play a game it should max out the clocks. When it still stays at a low clock rate a SMC-reset will revert it... sadly just temporarily.
Click to expand...

So why haven't I had fps drop when playing bf3 which is a very demanding game. It's odd some people have to reset all the time but others don't have to.
 
SchuettS said:
So why haven't I had fps drop when playing bf3 which is a very demanding game. It's odd some people have to reset all the time but others don't have to.
Click to expand...

I also never had any fps drops. The fps will only drop if you have a rMBP with 10.8.2 and restart the laptop or wake up from sleep in OSX or Windows. If it doesn't drop from the beginning of a game it shouldn't drop at all until you do one of these described actions.
 
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