MacBook Pro Early 2011 lags and overheats when attached to power

[AlexBa]

Good morning everyone,

I've been looking around the web quite a while for someone with a similar problem as I haven't found people with anything exactly like me I thought I'd ask the experts!

Essentially I've been having lag issues on my MacBook Pro for a little while now. However unlike other posts I've found and read they occur when It's plugged into the power source. So, example, when I'm gaming and the Mac is plugged in, it will start to lag. However when I unplug it, it starts to run normally again. I usually let it run until it's almost out of battery and then I have to play the lag game again which is rather frustrating.

Furthermore I've had some serious overheating issues with my Mac, according to SMCFanControl the fans are always running full capacity and temps usually range from 60-85 when either streaming or gaming.

I'm not sure if this is relevant, but I've attached the specs too and some additional information (I'm not actually sure how to put it in as an image, sorry!)

- MacBook Pro Early 2011, 15inch
- Processor 2.2 GHz Intel Core i7
- Memory 16 GB 1333 MHz DDR3
- Graphics AMD Radeon HD 6750M 1024 MB
- SSD 256GB (84GB Available)
- System Version : Mac OS X 10.7.5 (11G63)

Also, there are a couple of dents in my casing which may or may not be relevant.

Thanks everyone!
Alex.

 

[Doward]

Anything under 95C is not overheating.

You won't experience throttling until 100C+ temps.

What you may have is a dying power supply, causing the MacBook Pro to think it can 'turn up the juice' and then is detecting abnormally high battery draw, so it knocks everything down.

Go download the Intel Power Gadget, run it, and see what is happening on both battery and PSU power while running the same load.

 

[AlexBa]

Thanks for your reply Doward,

I've run Intel Power Gadget and it seems that whenever I plug the power in the Processor Power drops dramatically as does the Processor Frequency. Can we therefore assume that the Power supply is faulty and needs to be replaced?

N.B. The actual power supply currently gets extremely hot too, I couldn't remember if it was always like this, but I guess not.

Alex.

 

[daneoni]

Your biggest problem is probably the fact that you're running Lion.

 

[kappaknight]

There are a number of possible issues here:

- Dropped/damaged parts.
- Running Lion when yours can handle ML or Mavericks
- Possibly bad thermal paste application
- Gaming related stuff for Macs in general. You didn't specify which games you're trying to play on it.

 

[AlexBa]

I've actually just upgraded to Mountain Lion.

Kappaknight: I realize that me having dropped it may have affected my Laptop more than initially anticipated, but I found it odd that the lags only happened when plugged into a power source.
I really only play a game called 'League of Legends' casually. It's just when I do have time to play I'd like it to be lag free.

Thanks again.

 

[Wilsoncw1997]

Get SMC fan control if you want your laptop to be cool.

 

[Doward]

I would absolutely try a new 85 watt charger next.

 

[AlexBa]

Thank you everyone and in particular Doward!

I've bought a new charger and the readings on Intel Power Gadget aren't spiking or fluctuating as heavily as before!

I even asked in the store what it could be and they said they had no idea until I suggested the idea of a faulty charger... Nice to know people online know more than the staff in the store!

Alex.