Early 2011 stuck at 800mhz

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Talonman Author

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Early 2011 stuck at 800mhz

Hello all,

I have an early 2011 Mac Book Pro base model, no Extra GPU, i7 at 2.0GHz.

My CPU is stuck at 800MHz when ice cold at boot up, and also under load when running a benchmark test.

I got this Mac Book Pro used, and would like to fix this issue.

I am running Linux Mint and using i7z to verify my clock speed.

I am also running Phoronix Test Suite to try an get my clock speed to ever leave 800mhz.

Core temps are running between 51 to 65.

Any ideas? Thanks.

I have tried holding down the left shift, control, and alt keys, while hitting the power button to reset from CPU overcharge.

Then I powered on the PC as normal.

Still locked hard at 800MHz.

I want to see this puppy run at full speed!! 🙂

MacBook Pro, Other OS

Posted on Mar 11, 2015 2:26 PM

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Answer 1

Kappy

Level 10

361,741 points

Mar 11, 2015 2:31 PM in response to Talonman

You are most likely looking at the bus speed, not the CPU's clock speed.

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Answer 2

Talonman Author

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Mar 11, 2015 2:41 PM in response to Kappy

When looking at i7z i see this

Real Current Frepuency 799,00 MHz (99.95 x 8.00] (Max of below)

Core [core-id] :Actual Freq (Mult.) C0% Halt(C1)% C3 % C6 % C7% Temp

Core1 [0]: 799.13 (8.00x) 1.23 2.91 0 0 96.7 51

Same for the other 4 cores too, and under load I never see the 799.00 change above 801.00 MHz.

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Answer 3

Kappy

Level 10

361,741 points

Mar 11, 2015 2:52 PM in response to Talonman

You cannot use non-Mac software to measure performance on the Mac. I've seen these specs before as well, but it was always a bus speed. I suggest that if you believe it is malfunctioning then take it to an Apple Store. There is nothing we can do with hardware.

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Answer 4

Talonman Author

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Mar 11, 2015 2:55 PM in response to Kappy

Would it help things if I wipe my SSD and install an official Apple OS?

I can do that...

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Answer 5

Kappy

Level 10

361,741 points

Mar 11, 2015 3:03 PM in response to Talonman

That wouldn't hurt assuming that this is that important to you. A benchmark program like GeekBench should report CPU clock speed. I would not install an unofficial Apple OS X, however.

Almost all the Windows software like you are using does not report anything but bus speed accurately. That's been my experience with them in the past. CPUz was once useful for the Macs, but not so much anymore because it hasn't been upgraded in years.

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Answer 6

Talonman Author

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Mar 11, 2015 11:39 PM in response to Kappy

Welp.... after 5 hours of searching I think I found my answer...

If your Mac Book Pro is stuck at 800HMz, the first question to as is "is your battery dead"?

My answer would have been YES.

A dead battery on the early 2011 Mac Book Pro causes the CPU to run in the slowest mode possible.

The AC adapter does NOT supply all the power necessary to run your Mac Book Pro at full speed.

Could be the reason why I found it in the junk pile at work. They were running at 800MHz too.

The PC had a note taped to it: No memory, needs battery, junk!

I pulled 8GB RAM out of the trash pile from a Think Pad T430, and put it in the Mac Book Pro.

Booted right up.

Before I noticed my 800MHz issue, I ordered a data doubler, a 1TB HD, and 16GB of RAM, and external housing for my DVD player..

I also put a 128GB SSD in that I also found in the junk pile.

I have now found (3) 128GB SSD in there... Gold mine.

I also have 20 ThinkPads all working too.

I love trash picking at work!

Anyway... If you have any doubts, google "will a dead battery slow down my Mac Book Pro", and see all the results.

I hope the new battery turns out to be my solution too! 🙂

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Answer 7

Kappy

Level 10

361,741 points

Mar 12, 2015 9:24 AM in response to Talonman

Forgot about that, I did.

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Answer 8

Talonman Author

Level 1

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Mar 13, 2015 2:30 AM in response to Kappy

I am all excited again about seeing my first i7 system run at full speed.

Can't wait for my new parts to arrive.... 🙂

Trivia:

If you install the latest version of Linux Mint on a Thinkpad 430...

Then pop the SSD out, and put it in a Mac Book Pro...

The Mac Book Pro boots right up with no errors of any kind.

The OS even correctly realized the processor had been switched from an i5 to an i7, and was displaying the correct system info.

I incorrectly thought the OS would customize itself to the hardware installed, and if you booted up with it's hard drive on an entirely different system, the OS would care, and bitterly complain!! Not the case. Linux doesn't care...

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Answer 9

Kappy

Level 10

361,741 points

Mar 13, 2015 1:15 PM in response to Talonman

Sounds to me like the problem has been Solved. 😀

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