GPU Throttling...

M

maxiedaniels

Gawd
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May 25, 2005
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I'm having a lovely issue with my 2015 Macbook Pro Retina which has an ATI M370x GPU. The driver is a special driver that Apple modified somehow, and it doesn't seem to register properly with my system... the CCC menu shows "Pinned" and "Presets" but that it is. I've contacted ATI, they tell me it's Apple's fault and to talk to them. I contact Apple and they tell me it's ATI's fault.

The reason I care is because my card is throttling - it drops to 400MHz randomly in games, probably a few times a minute. Is there a way to force the card to stay at full speed? I've monitored the temperature and it's barely higher than idle... ~70 degrees or so.

** Forgot to mention this is using Windows 10 (Bootcamp) **
 
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Did you use DDU if there is an ios version or are you fragging on windows on your mac
 
If you're being run around like that, take it back to store and get some face to face responses. In my own country they'd have a few chances to fix it until it's 'not fit for purpose' so that may be your best bet, to use consumer protection laws if they are similar or better.
 
I'd take it back if you don't like the throttling. The Retina Macbooks aren't designed for performance, they're designed for looks and thinness. You really only have two choices when it comes to the GPU, horrible throttling or burning the GPU up. The cooling is simply not capable of handling the hardware being run full out for extended periods.

I actually had a similar issue with a Dell XPS 15 I bought a few years ago, eventually Dell admitted that it just wasn't designed for sustained loads (which is deplorable) and gave me a full refund. I considered a Retina Macbook just to find they have the same issue. I bought a gaming notebook to replace it and haven't had any issues with it.

I'd take it in to a Apple Store and calmly explain why it didn't do what I wanted and how it didn't meet up to specifications and demand a refund. Polite but insistent normally works and Apple doesn't want people publicly complaining about their hardware. The majority of their customers buy MacBooks because the hardware "sounds high end" despite never needing or using it. MacBooks aren't great for power users because they're not designed to be. I regularly recommend gaming or business laptops to power users because they're built to actually be used. But give up on getting this fixed because it's not going to happen.
 
Can you confirm it's throttling and not just downclocking? If it is throttling then using different applications/games should yield similar results. Just bring it back to an Apple store and they should just replace or refund quickly.

They don't like issues...
 
Get a refund.
They want to mess you around, they lose.
 
Return it and buy a proper laptop if you want to play games on one. The rMBP has terrible thermal design, going for form over function. For the same amount of money you could get a very well-equipped MSi GT72S that will run circles around the rMBP in anything you do with it.
 
Armenius said:
Return it and buy a proper laptop if you want to play games on one. The rMBP has terrible thermal design, going for form over function. For the same amount of money you could get a very well-equipped MSi GT72S that will run circles around the rMBP in anything you do with it.
Click to expand...

My 2014 rMBP throttles using just the intel gpu. I cant even run any kind of heavy media without it getting hot.
 
My friend had a MBP Retina and it couldn't handle CS Source after 2 hours of gaming, it would stutter and get hot.
So your best bet is to change the laptop to something else as MBPs can usually just handle games like hearthstone / farmville etc..
 
Maybe throttling isn't the right term. My temperatures are *not* high. The GPU is ~70 degrees when this is happening. This doesn't happen on the Mac side of things. It's a driver issue... so I just want to know how to force clocks.
 
The only reasons I could think that it would be dropping clock speed is because it's:

A. Hitting a power wall.
B. Overheating.
C. Not being utilized properly in the games you play.

You can try and see if drivers directly from AMD would fix the issue, but it seems like this GPU was made specifically for Apple. I wouldn't be surprised if there were no .inf entry for it in the AMD drivers. This would only eliminate C from the list of causes.

Even though you say the GPU is not overheating, the thermal limit on the card may have been set that low by the manufacturer to prevent damage over long term use. If the thermal limit were set that low, then backing off the 3D clocks would be a way to prevent the temperature from going any higher. In the case of B, you could only replace the laptop for something different, or find out if there is a way to increase the thermal limit of the GPU, like using MSi Afterburner or changing the video BIOS. I don't know if there are similar overclocking programs made for Mac OS. There is also always the possibility that thermal grease is being gooped on the internal components in enough quantity that the GPU is being insulated, worsening the thermal woes.

When it comes to A, you can check the power plan settings. I don't know what the equivalent would be in Mac OS. Make sure the plugged in power plan allows all devices and peripherals to operate at max performance.
 
Whoops. I didn't specify this is using Bootcamp, Windows 10. This isn't on the Mac side of things.
 
Scratch the temperature statement I made before. I did a proper re-test with logging to a text file using GPU-Z. The GPU clocks 800MHz when I start the game, and within ~15 seconds the temperature spikes to 81 degrees. When it hits 80 degrees, the clocks sink down to ~300-400 MHz.

Surely there must be something wrong with the computer? It's the brand new 2015 Macbook Pro Retina 15"... maybe it's an issue with the first batch of computers?
 
As others have said, macbooks are not made for sustained loads, mostly just short bursts and to sit pretty. If you want to do anything significant on a macbook for any length of time, you will have to rig a cooling system to it that is more than just a fan blowing under it.

You can find mods and tests done providing cooling to the macbook that keep it from throttling after a handful of minutes.
 
What you have is a pretty little device that's too thin to be practical.
 
Wine said:
As others have said, macbooks are not made for sustained loads, mostly just short bursts and to sit pretty. If you want to do anything significant on a macbook for any length of time, you will have to rig a cooling system to it that is more than just a fan blowing under it.
Click to expand...

Okay, I understand that it's not a gaming computer. But I have a very hard time believing that it's normal for the GPU to get too hot after 15 seconds of running a 3D application.

I'm also fairly sure this isn't occuring on the Mac side of things (when I'm booted into Mac I mean). But, there doesn't seem to be a way to monitor GPU clocks on Mac... at least, I can't figure out how to.
 
Here's a video from LinusTechTips as an example and some explanation with a thermal throttling CPU https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9DyUitTVWlw

In the video Linus runs a stress test showing the 2015 macbook retina throttling after a couple seconds, then after cooling the system in an unconventional way it doesn't throttle.

I have a micro computer with nearly the same GPU and it exhausts quite a bit of hot air to which I added a fan to help exhaust the system to keep it cooler. Have been able to play Skyrim on it on moderate settings without much issue.

Is there a reason you have to keep the macbook, or was it a gift? Have nothing against using Apple products, but an option could be to return it and get a Clevo, or MSI laptop, or even a new Razor Blade.
 
I can't actually confirm the Mac side of things works fine, because I can't figure out a way to monitor the clocks on Mac. *But* I don't see sudden stuttering on the Mac side. I *do* see the temperatures and fans hitting the same ranges as the Windows side.

I also notice a weird thing going on on the Windows side - it seems the clocks drop down to ~400MHz when I hit ~80 degrees, but then after it cools off, it doesn't ever go back up to full clock speed. I have to restart the game entirely.

Yep, I do need to keep the Mac - I'm a music producer and it's one of my systems I use. I just also happen to be a gamer and while I have a desktop build, I'd like to be able to play games on this laptop when I'm travelling. Otherwise I would have bought a full blown gaming laptop by now, believe me :)
 
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