SMC Update 1.1 Macbook Pro Retina 15" with Bootcamp Win 7 FPS in Games

Have a look around these forums, Have a search for retina 15 throttling. Since apple did the EFI upgrade it meant that the GPU and CPU start to throttle down even at about 80'c. which is way below the specifiaction from intel and nvidia. the core i7 max is 105'c so why apple decided to throttle so low i dont know. People need report this to apple to make them aware of this issue. i myself have got it. Crysis 3 was playing awfull skipping frames and low framerate after it got hot.

U can force the CPU to stop throttling using ThrottleStop program in windows. For the gpu i think nvidiaInspector people have used to help them, I still think it throttles tho.

something i tried was wen in windows on maximum performance setting edit the power plan to only allow 99% of the CPU. This will stop the CPU from going turbo. This will help the temps stay lower at 2.4ghz. (cuz throttling goes to around 1.3 if i recall, might be lower)

Buy top mbp with retina and receive 1200 Mhz after 80'C - yeah! SMC 1.1 fixed nothing, or almost nothig - before yesterday update i noticed CPU slow down near 70'C, after - 80'C it's make sense - aha... Thank you Apple for top configuration with lowest power of CPU at high temperature.

Im surprised no one mentioned this, try resetting your SMC

1. Shut down the computer.
2. Plug in the MagSafe power adapter to a power source, connecting it to the Mac if its not already connected.
3. On the built-in keyboard, press the (left side) Shift-Control-Option keys and the power button at the same time.
4. Release all the keys and the power button at the same time.
5. Press the power button to turn on the computer.
   Note: The LED on the MagSafe power adapter may change states or temporarily turn off when you reset the SMC.

The update I believe was to prevent having to need a reset AFTER, but if you needed it before you updated that might be why its still running bad, hope this helps you out.

I already reset SMC and PRAM/NVRAM procedures doesn't make any changes after to issue after SMC Update as before.

Will this actually work? This is one of the few suggestions that isn't "reset your SMC and/or PRAM" which does not work.

I believe I have the same problem.

Been trying to play BF3 for ages now, the rMBP simply isn't running this game properly even on the lowest resolution and lowest graphics settngs. I've seen people on YouTube play BF3 pretty well on auto and medium settings. I know BF3 on Ultra won't run smoothly, as I've seen demos of that, but I'm not even getting close to medium settings currently.

I've tried SMC and PRAM resets. Recent SMC update didn't do anything.

One thing did improve speed for a short while was to disconnect power cord and play on battery - but it didnt last that long.

[Win7 64, bootcamp, rmbp mid-2012]

Def having the same problem, and running a much lighter game (Fifa 13). Seems like plugging in the charger just generates excessive heat for whatever reason, and that causes the system to throttle down the GPU. Pretty sure it's a GPU and not a CPU issue cuz I'm using Parallels Desktop 8 and can specify # of cores dedicated to running Windows. Been having the same issue running Diablo 3 as well. I love my macbook but it definitely has its quirks when it comes to maintaining performance under certain conditions, which in this case is somewhat disappointing since gaming without charger plugged in means you're pretty limited to how long batteries can sustain you before having to plug the charger back in.

Thanks for the update, this sounds interesting - did they take your machine in and replace just that bit. Tell us exactly how the process was, thanks.

Thanks for that Kalien, very helpfull!

One question - when they got the part, did you have to wait a long time or was it done on the spot/same-day? Worried I may not have a machine to work on while it is being looked at or repaired.

Maybe there is more than just one issue - combination of logic board and magsafe/power - it could be a fault across a lot of MBP's. Not everyone truly games with the MBP's so I doubt everyone will notice this issue.

Hi All,

I tried this and it improved my FPS in games yesterday, still not getting FPS I would desire, but its become playable.

Repasted here from another thread:

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My retina MacBook Pro has had terrible graphics performance problems for a couple of weeks. I searched all over various forums and tried everything: resetting SCM, manually selecting discrete/integrated graphics card, deleting graphics kexts, etc. Nothing helped until I found this: https://discussions.apple.com/thread/4391500

Now my rMBP has silky smooth graphics again!

The directions in that post are a little hard to understand so I cleaned them up here:

Step 1: Delete system windowserver preferences

1. In the Finder, from the menu bar, select "Go -> Go to Folder..."
2. Enter: /Library/Preferences/
3. Delete the file called com.apple.windowserver.plist

Step 2: Delete user windowserver preferences

1. In the Finder, from the menu bar, select "Go -> Go to Folder..."
2. Enter: ~/Library/Preferences/ByHost/
3. Delete all files that start with com.apple.windowserver (On my rMBP, there was one file called com.apple.windowserver.12AFB147-95D6-5C70-8F62-C1E4F2BE81BE)

Step 3: Reset the PRAM (These instructions are from http://support.apple.com/kb/HT1379)

1. Shut down your Mac.
2. Locate the following keys on the keyboard: Command (⌘), Option, P, and R. You will need to hold these keys down simultaneously in step 4.
3. Turn on the computer.
4. Press and hold the Command-Option-P-R keys before the gray screen appears.
5. Hold the keys down until the computer restarts and you hear the startup sound for the second time.
6. Release the keys.

Hopefully this helps others with bad graphics performance on retina MacBook Pros.

For anyone that wants to check out the problematic plists from my rMBP, here are the files:

http://jherrman.com/slow-rmbp-2012/com.apple.windowserver.plist

http://jherrman.com/slow-rmbp-2012/com.apple.windowserver.12AFB147-95D6-5C70-8F6 2-C1E4F2BE81BE.plist

Jeremy Herrman

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Dear Kalien79,

I believe my macbook pro has the exact problem. I have reinstalled my mac os/windows 8 and updated them to the latest versions but I still have the same poor graphics problem. I am going to take my mac to service tomorrow, hoping to get it fix. My mac is also a LG version which has some display problems. I am wondering that after the fix, can your mac run battlefield 3 with consistenly high fps?

What is your GPU temperature in Windows 7/8 when running a modern 3D game like Far Cry 3? My temperature is 85-88 degrees Celsius even after changing the thermal paste. The fans spin at 6000 & 5500 rpm. As a result, I have the throttling of CPU. The service center in Finland, said that the overheating wasn't detected. However, many other users of the retina have the GPU temperature in games around 72-75 degrees.

Proof http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VUvSZCjOZIQ

I have a MacBook Pro 15 Retina display MC976 (i7 2.6ghz, 512GB SSD, 8GB RAM) which was released in 2012.

Do you think this is normal? Do you have any suggestions what I should do?