Help! i7 Macbook Pro Geekbench really low

[MacPoor]

I just traded in my 2011 13 MBP for the 2011 17 MBP (2.2) and my geekbench scores are dropping. Yesterday, unplugged, it came in at 10025 in 32 bit, today it is hovering around 7000. When I plug it in it goes back up to 10000+. What is going on? Shouldn't it be the same? It was fine yesterday unplugged.

I saw another thread where someone had the same problem, but it was the 8gb OWC ram he installed giving him issues.

My laptop is completely stock and NO programs are running except for geekbench.

I noticed that the the integer and floating processor are way down when unplugged?

I'm not really an expert in this stuff, so if anyone can help me out I'd really appreciate it. And yes, I know benchmarks are not the most important things in the world, but a drop off that big doesn't seem right. Also, when you pay $2500 everything should be near perfect.

I'm not here to bag on the computer either. I really love the laptop, I just want everything to be right. The only other issue is the return key is warped and sticks up at a weird angle, but that seems like it could be easily fixed.

Thanks

 

[Juanto]

I just traded in my 2011 13 MBP for the 2011 17 MBP (2.2) and my geekbench scores are dropping. Yesterday, unplugged, it came in at 10025 in 32 bit, today it is hovering around 7000. When I plug it in it goes back up to 10000+. What is going on? Shouldn't it be the same? It was fine yesterday unplugged.

I saw another thread where someone had the same problem, but it was the 8gb OWC ram he installed giving him issues.

My laptop is completely stock and NO programs are running except for geekbench.

I noticed that the the integer and floating processor are way down when unplugged?

I'm not really an expert in this stuff, so if anyone can help me out I'd really appreciate it. And yes, I know benchmarks are not the most important things in the world, but a drop off that big doesn't seem right. Also, when you pay $2500 everything should be near perfect.

I'm not here to bag on the computer either. I really love the laptop, I just want everything to be right. The only other issue is the return key is warped and sticks up at a weird angle, but that seems like it could be easily fixed.

Thanks

I saw the other thread and even thought you said you don't have any RAM modifications it doesn't rule it out. If you're that worried about it, buy a new set of ram and see. Like the other users mentioned the lower numbers are more realistic for what you might see under load.

 

[fel10]

I had the same problem. It ended up being my 8GB RAM. So what I did was, I took my 8GB RAM out and put the 4GB that came with the MBP, and that solved the problem. Try putting a new set of RAM, if u have one.

 

[MacPoor]

Thanks for the reply. You really think it may still be the ram? I thought he said that it ran fine with the stock ram, which I have, and when he put the new ram in it slowed down? I really don't have any extra ram sitting around and I can't really buy any for a while cause I'm broke. I am within 14 days so I could return it, but I like how cool it runs (It has never been above 50 degrees even while running multiple apps and working in after effects) and I'm worried if I get a new one it may run hotter. I do worry that it only benches around 7000 when a day before it did 10025. My friend received his on Sunday and confirmed that it does above 10000 on battery power, and it seems that many others on this forum are getting the same results. I know that benchmarks are not that practical, but I am concerned that a drop off that big may mean bigger issues in the future.

 

[MacPoor]

fel10, thanks. I read your thread and found it interesting, but the thing that I still don't get is that I have not put aftermarket ram in, it is bone stock and was fine yesterday. Will try to open it up and replace the ram right now to double check though.

 

[fel10]

Thanks for the reply. You really think it may still be the ram? I thought he said that it ran fine with the stock ram, which I have, and when he put the new ram in it slowed down? I really don't have any extra ram sitting around and I can't really buy any for a while cause I'm broke. I am within 14 days so I could return it, but I like how cool it runs (It has never been above 50 degrees even while running multiple apps and working in after effects) and I'm worried if I get a new one it may run hotter. I do worry that it only benches around 7000 when a day before it did 10025. My friend received his on Sunday and confirmed that it does above 10000 on battery power, and it seems that many others on this forum are getting the same results. I know that benchmarks are not that practical, but I am concerned that a drop off that big may mean bigger issues in the future.

I was the guy that started the thread and here's what happened. I had the OWC 8 GB RAM, and when I did the Geekbench test, I got around 7000-8000, when I should've been getting 10000+. But when I plugged my comp to the wall, and did the Geekbench test, my score would jump to 10050. So I was like,

So I did some research, and saw that someone was having the same issue, and when they swapped the RAM, it resolved the problem. So that's what I did. I took my 8GB OWC Ram out, and put the 4GB RAM that came with the MBP back in, and the problem was solved.

Now, quick tip. Try doing the test with ur comp unplugged, and then with it plugged, and see if u see any difference.

 

[MacPoor]

Ya, I saw that. I did plug it in and it was above 10000 again. I wonder if it is a battery problem as you originally thought with your issue? I pulled the ram and put it back in and no change.

 

[fel10]

Ya, I saw that. I did plug it in and it was above 10000 again. I wonder if it is a battery problem as you originally thought with your issue? I pulled the ram and put it back in and no change.

Ok u problem sounds too similar to mine, so I'm almost positive that this is a problem with the ram.

 

[MacPoor]

Thanks fel, I will ask about it tomorrow at the Apple store (I have to get my return key and space bar fixed anyways because they are badly warped). I just find it so weird that it is fine when plugged in though. I know it gets more juice that way, but it was perfectly fine unplugged yesterday.

 

[fel10]

Thanks fel, I will ask about it tomorrow at the Apple store (I have to get my return key and space bar fixed anyways because they are badly warped). I just find it so weird that it is fine when plugged in though. I know it gets more juice that way, but it was perfectly fine unplugged yesterday.

No problem bud.

I know what u mean. At first I thought it was a problem with the battery, but iStat was saying my battery was fine.

Hope everything works out for ya, and if u have anymore questions, let me know.

Btw, did u just get ur MBP? Cause if u did, u r still under the 14 days return policy, so u can either exchange it for another or get a refund.

 

[MacPoor]

Thats probably what I will end up doing. This one just ran so very cool I was wondering if it was worth saving. When one spends this much it should be very close to perfect. I also just returned a 2011 13 (I really wanted the 17, but an Apple manager told me to try the 13 because I already have a Mac Pro for work. That lasted 4 days.) so I don't want to keep returning macs. Hopefully OWC will take your ram back, they seem to be great from what I experienced and thanks again for the help.

 

[cginn]

I am seeing the same thing with my new 2011 15" 2.3 Macbook Pro and with my 2010 2.8 i7 Macbook Pro. I updated both with 8gb of Crucial ram and both run lower Geekbench scores unplugger vs plugged in. I put the stock 4gb of ram back in the 2011 and still got lower Macbench scores when unplugged. Very interesting.

 

[MacPoor]

OK, I think I solved it. I closed all of my widgets (weather, clock, and istat pro) and it is back to normal. The weird thing is that it was fine with these widgets open yesterday and even benched 10000+ when it was plugged in and the widgets were opened today ??? But now it is consistently above 10000 now unplugged and actually a little less plugged in now. Maybe it was a bug? Anyways thanks for all the help.

 

[cginn]

Glad to hear that you solved your problem. I am going to do a fresh OSX install on my 2010 2.8 i7 tonight while I getting it ready to sell. I'll see if this makes a difference in the Geekbench scores.

 

[Juanto]

OK, I think I solved it. I closed all of my widgets (weather, clock, and istat pro) and it is back to normal. The weird thing is that it was fine with these widgets open yesterday and even benched 10000+ when it was plugged in and the widgets were opened today ??? But now it is consistently above 10000 now unplugged and actually a little less plugged in now. Maybe it was a bug? Anyways thanks for all the help.

This could be the case but because the other poster found his RAM to be the issue, it's the first place I would check if I was that worried about it.

Like you mentioned, you still have time to return it. Just go to an apple store and tell them that you think there is something wrong with the ram and ask for replacement modules or to exchange the computer.

 

[crashidioteque]

Power step-down on battery?

Does anyone know if GeekBench will actually attempt to use the GPUs during it's test? I wonder if the secondary/high-perf GPU doesn't get used, or is scaled back while the machine is on Battery?

I assume Mac OS X uses the same type of process as Linux or Windows to manage the CPU utilization and must bump it up when necessary and scale it back also. I also assume that the Mac will use the extra processing power in the GPU (like the physX) when necessary.

 

[ZombieZakk]

well if you have automatic graphic switching on it might not use the 6750 on battery. so turn it off during the benching.

also as a quick question have you tried any other benching tools or noticed an actual decrease in performance? it did recognize both ram chips when installed correct? could be an issue with geekbench try another program before returning.