MBP battery will not charge when playing games.

Question

MBP battery will not charge when playing games.

I have a late 2011 15-inch MacBook Pro and have had upgraded 16GB RAM for two years.

An avid Sims 3 player, I have 6 expansion packs and play regularly. I have never had a problem with playing on my MBP.

I had to get a new charger in December and got an Apple certified 60W MagSafe charger for $40 (has serial number, designed in CA, assembled in China, Apple logo, everything). I purchased another one for my Sims-playing roommate as well.

Ever since I've had a new charger my MBP immediately stops charging when I load up the game, and from there the battery life depletes despite staying green. I know that The Sims 3 draws a lot of power, but I have never had a problem with charging while playing. My roommate has an older MBP, even more expansion packs for Sims 3, and yet the same charger that I got for her works fine while playing.

Is it my charger, battery, hardware, or what that is not allowing me to play?

Thanks!

MacBook Pro, OS X Mavericks (10.9.4)

Posted on Apr 29, 2015 5:32 PM

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Answer 1

Apr 29, 2015 5:49 PM in response to calmbe4thexstorm

There is a lot you can do with a 60 w charger, but when you want to meet full system demand it won't work. Other users have noticed with that even with the full size charger, 85 w, if your gaming calls in the discrete graphics processor in addition to the integrate gpu, you can get into the situation of actually drawing down the battery in addition to using full line power. That is a heavy loading of the system, but can happen with things like 3-D games that are really heavy users of system resources.

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Answer 2

Apr 29, 2015 5:44 PM in response to calmbe4thexstorm

A 2011 MacBook Pro 15" is supposed to use an 85 w charger,Find the right power adapter and cord for your Mac notebook - Apple Support so the 60 w charger is underpowered for your machine. Gaming places a heavy electrical load on the system so it is not surprising a 60 w charger is unable to keep up with the demand.

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Answer 3

Apr 29, 2015 5:45 PM in response to Ralph Landry1

Thank you! I will look into this immediately. I was hoping it was something silly like that.

Thankfully, the 60W still works great while running Avid Pro Tools and Avid Media Composer.

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Answer 4

Apr 29, 2015 5:54 PM in response to Ralph Landry1

I play with the lowest possible graphics, as that's not my main playing point.

Generally speaking, would an external video graphics card aid in better gameplay/wear on the system?

I've contemplated getting a PC solely for customizability with parts and having a decent machine for games (I only play the Sims though, so the extra money and machine may not be worth it).

You're very helpful!

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Answer 5

Apr 29, 2015 6:03 PM in response to calmbe4thexstorm

Some of the heavy gamers do feel the Windows machines are better suited since they can go to the high-end video/graphics support. But, as you say, that is a big extra expense. If you are not into that kind of high-end gaming the Mac is fine, the 2011 MBP is a great machine. I've been using this one since it came out and it is rock solid.

But I don't put a heavy load on it in the gaming area. I run FORTRAN scientific codes which are heavy loads on the CPU, but not the GPU so there is not that added electrical demand.

An external graphics card does not seem like a real need to me, especially since you would probably then be looking at another monitor, also. If you are not having any system issues beyond the 60 w charger being undersized, why mess around more than you have to?

Just my two cents 🙂

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