MacBook Pro (Mid 2007) GeekBench Low Score

[Nickhamm]

SOLVED: So apparently running a MBP without a battery does throttle performance to around half. From Apple: "If the battery is removed from a MacBook or MacBook Pro, the computer will automatically reduce the processor speed. This prevents the computer from shutting down if it demands more power than the A/C adapter alone can provide."

This just seems like poor design to me to make a product that eats more energy than it can pull from the wall. I have been running without a better because I have been through 3 batteries on this Mac, none of which seems to last very long and I am plugged into the wall most of the time anyway. The last battery I had actually swelled up and caused my Trackpad clicker to stop working until I removed it. I just bought yet another crap battery, but after this one dies, I am done with this thing and will move on to something else less poorly designed.


ORIGINAL POST:
First off, I know my machine is old, but is still able to handle most of what I throw at it despite it's age. However, I did feel that it was getting a bit sluggish, even with a brand new OS install, so I decided to run GeekBench on it and it scored lower than what I thought it should so I brought up results for other computers similar to mine and found that they were getting much higher scores on the same hardware.

This is the link to my test result (464/821): http://browser.primatelabs.com/geekbench3/1442393

And a link to someone with the same hardware and OS, but much higher score (1313/2413): http://browser.primatelabs.com/geekbench3/1440389

Any ideas why my machine would be getting such a low score compared to others, and if so, how to fix it?

 

[maflynn]

First off, I know my machine is old, but is still able to handle most of what I throw at it despite it's age.

I think you need to stop right there. If the computer is handling most of what you throw at it. Then ignore what the benchmarks report. Really, they're for points of reference in comparing computers. People get too wrapped up in what the benchmarks report.

Since you're happy with how your model, don't worry about its benchmarks

 

[Nickhamm]

I suppose I should have used the word WAS able to handle, be cause it doesn't do nearly as well anymore. Web pages seem to choke it up for several seconds every time I scroll, and 720p movies can't play off my hard drive at full frame rate anymore (they stutter and freeze) where they could a year ago. And these are files i've had for several years and I knew it could play them before without a hiccup.

I installed Windows 7 on here via bootcamp when it first came out and my Windows system score was around 4.7, but after wiping and resonating Mac OS and Windows, it only hits a 3.5 now.

I know benchmarks are mostly superficial, but I'm genuinely worried that my CPU is dying or something is going on because it just doesn't seem right.

 

[brdeveloper]

I suppose I should have used the word WAS able to handle, be cause it doesn't do nearly as well anymore. Web pages seem to choke it up for several seconds every time I scroll, and 720p movies can't play off my hard drive at full frame rate anymore (they stutter and freeze) where they could a year ago. And these are files i've had for several years and I knew it could play them before without a hiccup.

I installed Windows 7 on here via bootcamp when it first came out and my Windows system score was around 4.7, but after wiping and resonating Mac OS and Windows, it only hits a 3.5 now.

I know benchmarks are mostly superficial, but I'm genuinely worried that my CPU is dying or something is going on because it just doesn't seem right.

Something is wrong on the better scored benchmark. It's scored higher than a mid-2010 13" Macbook Pro. Also, it's scored better than the respective model's Geekbench3 score measured by Everymac, which gives 2315 points.

On the other hand, your MBP score seems to be too much low. You should check if is there a process which is taking too much CPU time.

 

[Nickhamm]

I attached s screenshot of my Activity Monitor process list, sorted by CPU Time. Hopefully this helps. I don't know what normal numbers are for these things, but WindowServer just seems like it shouldn't be that high, but like I said, I don't know.

 

[paolo-]

Maybe it's dirty inside and that's causing it to slow down to keep the temperatures low?

 

[iMacC2D]

Removed.

 

[Nickhamm]

Here's a fun monkey wrench to throw in the mix. Even though Windows 7 system score is down from what it started at (WinSAT is a mysterious beast that no one really gets anyway) I decided to run GeekBench on my machine on the Windows half expecting the same result since it should be calibrated to hardware and is not OS dependent. I did not get the same result though, scoring a bit higher than in MacOS: http://browser.primatelabs.com/geekbench3/1448891

According to Everymac, the average score on this laptop should be in the ballpark of 1100/1825 which leads me to believe there is some sort of throttling going on to make my laptop run half speed.

I did notice that my laptop doesn't even remotely get hot anymore. I wonder if there's a sensor that's gone awry and is keeping my CPU is the lowest possible state at all times. I know my laptop used to get fairly hot and he fans would kick in full force to cool it down, but I don't actually remember the last time I heard the fans run thinking about it....

 

[grizfish]

I have a 17" MBP mid 2007 and found that installing an SSD made a world of difference.

GGJstudios has some Performance Tips For Mac OS X here:

https://forums.macrumors.com/showthread.php?p=13817005#post13817005

Also, I had a heat issue and found one of the fans not working.

 

[Nickhamm]

I went through that list and found that I already follow most of it. I don't have flash installed, and if I absolutely need it I use Chrome since it's built in. I don't have any startup items or LaunchAgents. I disabled Bluetooth because I never use it. I have performance and energy settings set to max because I don't have a battery anymore and am plugged in all the time. I use AdBlock to kill ads on web pages to boost loading speed.

I verified/repaired my permissions and verified my disk fine. I downloaded Temperature Gauge Pro and my CPU sits at about 52C degrees idle, so I ran Prime95 to crank up the heat and kick on the fans and it went up to about 65C degrees and the fans went up a little in RPM, but did nothing else, even going for an hour. I took manual control of the fans and revved them up to max and they both worked and my CPU temp dropped below 50C degrees.

UPDATE: Problem solved, thanks to one line I posted to Apple's own forums. It was my lack of battery killing my system. See first post.