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Macbook Pro Late-2009 repeatedly lags? Help!

J

Jojo430

macrumors newbie
Original poster
Jan 13, 2013
18
0
Hello everyone, so here's my problem. Every now and then (pretty much all the time now), when I'm playing games on my mac (doesn't really matter, really any game), I'll experience random lag. Now not just normal lag that happens all the time, it's like my game seems to stutter at what seems like every second. It'll be running fine for about a second, lag for another, be fine for another, so on so on, and what's really annoying, is that my mac runs the game flawlessly otherwise. It doesn't seem to happen with anything other then games though. It might be, but I'm not noticing it. I haven't seen anyone else with the same problem yet, so I was hoping someone here could help me out.

I've tried a whole bunch of things that don't seem to be working. I've restarted my computer, started up my game, and SOMETIMES it'll work, and other times I'm not so lucky. I've also tried checking my Activity Monitor to see if anything is taking up CPU. Nothing but my game. Every now and then i'll see CVMcompiler running too. I tried quitting that, and at first, it worked! I was relieved because i thought I'd solved it. Nope. Just recently it seems to be happening more often. :( I really would appreciate anyone who has the slightest idea of what it would be. This is getting really annoying. Thanks Guys!
 
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How much RAM do you have? If you only have the base 2 gb that could be your problem. Upgrading to 4 gb or 8 gb isn't terribly expensive.
 
RoboWarriorSr said:
Yeah I'm pretty sure it's because it's a four year old computer. Similar situation here.
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Well, I'm not sure its because of that, mainly because I'm not running games that are making my computer lag. When I get them to work, they run as smooth as butter, leading me to believe it's not a problem with my computer, but it's something in the software. Maybe something running in the background?:confused:

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KUguardgrl13 said:
How much RAM do you have? If you only have the base 2 gb that could be your problem. Upgrading to 4 gb or 8 gb isn't terribly expensive.
Click to expand...

I have 4 GB of ram and I've pretty much been able to run every game I buy. It's just this random stuttering that happens every other second. Like I said though, it only happens sometimes. I also make sure nothing else is running in the background to try to make it run the best.:confused:
 
You're probably running out of RAM, when it happens have you ever looked at the Activity Monitor memory usage? If it's really low free and you are getting page outs you should upgrade. 4gb of ram isn't much these days.
 
johnnnw said:
You're probably running out of RAM, when it happens have you ever looked at the Activity Monitor memory usage? If it's really low free and you are getting page outs you should upgrade. 4gb of ram isn't much these days.
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Umm, Sorry if I sound rude, but did you read my posts? Yes, I've checked activity monitor with no prevail. All the games I mainly play require even less than what I have. I don't see it bring a problem with my ram, not to mention I'm broke.
 
Jojo430 said:
Umm, Sorry if I sound rude, but did you read my posts? Yes, I've checked activity monitor with no prevail. All the games I mainly play require even less than what I have. I don't see it bring a problem with my ram, not to mention I'm broke.
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A simple Yes would have sufficed, no need for you to be rude. Other than that... you computer is probably just downclocking itself as it gets too hot. If your computer's temp rises while playing the game then that is probably it.
 
Jojo430 said:
Well, I'm not sure its because of that, mainly because I'm not running games that are making my computer lag. When I get them to work, they run as smooth as butter, leading me to believe it's not a problem with my computer, but it's something in the software. Maybe something running in the background?:confused:

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I have 4 GB of ram and I've pretty much been able to run every game I buy. It's just this random stuttering that happens every other second. Like I said though, it only happens sometimes. I also make sure nothing else is running in the background to try to make it run the best.:confused:
Click to expand...

It's weird but I know what you're experiencing, Minecraft and COD 4 won't lag but god forbid you use Aperture and the lag fest occurs. Same with Final Cut Pro X and sometimes Safari (though using WebKit helped migrate many of the issues). RAM is not the problem since I too have 4 GB. I only had a problem when using Chrome. I believe using an SSD may help.
 
RoboWarriorSr said:
It's weird but I know what you're experiencing, Minecraft and COD 4 won't lag but god forbid you use Aperture and the lag fest occurs. Same with Final Cut Pro X and sometimes Safari (though using WebKit helped migrate many of the issues). RAM is not the problem since I too have 4 GB. I only had a problem when using Chrome. I believe using an SSD may help.
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Ya, I would say do the SMC reset. I gave it a try and it worked perfectly. It's actually really frustrating that I didn't do this earlier. I've been trying to tough out this really annoying lag for almost 4 months now, and BAM. There you go.
Not ONLY did it get rid of the random stuttering, but it actually made ALL of my games run at last 50% faster. I used to be able to run Garry's Mod at 1280 by 800 res with half-decent graphics, Now I can run the game full bloom at 1440 by 900 res with top-notch graphics. Don't even get me STARTED on Minecraft.:D

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B... said:
Try an SMC reset.
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Yep. That was it. Thanks so much for your time! You will never truly know how much I appreciate that! Thanks SO much!!:D
 
Jojo430 said:
Ya, I would say do the SMC reset. I gave it a try and it worked perfectly. It's actually really frustrating that I didn't do this earlier. I've been trying to tough out this really annoying lag for almost 4 months now, and BAM. There you go.
Not ONLY did it get rid of the random stuttering, but it actually made ALL of my games run at last 50% faster. I used to be able to run Garry's Mod at 1280 by 800 res with half-decent graphics, Now I can run the game full bloom at 1440 by 900 res with top-notch graphics. Don't even get me STARTED on Minecraft.:D
Click to expand...

I actually did a smc reset which like you said sped up my computer but after toying around with a retina MacBook Pro, lest just say perspectives change.
 
Okay, forget all that hype. It's still going. It was going smooth throughout all of today, then just recently it started up again. Any other suggestions? :(:(
 
An SSD or ram is not going to help.
Have you tried formatting and reinstalling OSX?

I don't think it is a hardware issue as the SMC reset temporarily fixed your problems. If your hardware was fried you would get consistent lag
 
Okay, i found what the lag was. I'ts the computer overheating. I downloaded SMCfancontrol and crank up my fan whenever i play a game. works like a charm.
 
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