MacBookPro's ATI X1600 is very underclocked

[halfadder]

I've been reading thru the various forums and have been toying with my MacBookPro and it's Windows XP partition for dual boot. Game performance has been good, but not quite as good as I had expected (aka Oblivion can't run higher than 800x600 unless I really sacrafice quality).

This thread has been very helpful:
http://forum.onmac.net/showthread.php?t=767

Seems Apple has underclocked the X1600 chip by over 100 MHz, probably due to thermal reasons as the base of the MacBookPro is less than 0.6 inches thick. The iMac's X1600 is also underclocked. (When compared to other PC notebooks using the same X1600 GPU). It sounds like most PC builders use 470 MHz GPU, 470 MHz RAM as their default speed.

"Overclocking" my MacBookPro with ATITool to 430 MHz GPU, 470 MHz RAM causes the fan to start up a little sooner and the bottom heat up a little faster, but overall isn't much different, aside from the much faster framerates in Oblivion!

For games like HL2 and Quake4 I don't even have to "overclock".

Oddest thing about the MacBookPro's heat is that it's concentrated in a spot somewhere right under the F6 key. Maybe there wasn't enough room in the thin enclosure for a proper heat spreader?

 

[AmigaMan]

sweet! Thanks for the onmac link. I've been a bit disappointed with my MacBookPro's performance in Oblivion but I'll try cranking up the clockspeed to see if it helps.

 

[fbrdphreak]

Overclock = more heat

MacBook Pro = pretty hot running as is

Good luck!

 

[halfadder]

Originally posted by: fbrdphreak
Overclock = more heat

MacBook Pro = pretty hot running as is

Good luck!

It might be because my MacBookPro was manufactured just recently (week 11 according to the serial number) but it really doesn't seem all that hot to me. Only when I was playing Oblivion with the GPU overclocked did I ever feel any additional warmth on the top. As for the heat on the bottom, it seems to be concentrated in a small spot almost exactly under where the "6" and "F6" keys are located. This heat spreads across the bottom, as the MacBookPro is made of aluminum, but the bulk of the heat is in that one spot. One thing I'm really happy about is that the MacBookPro doesn't seem to suffer the same "hot wrist rest area" problem that the PowerBook G4 had when its battery was charging in "fast charge" mode.

 

[AmigaMan]

I bumped up my core to 400 and my memory to 350 and I was able to play Oblivion at 800x600 w/ HDR turned on. Before I was playing at 800x600 with it off and it would occasionally stutter outdoors when more than one NPC was present. I think I might leave it like that for the time being since I'm quite happy playing at that resolution with and that level of detail. Haven't noticed the heat since my laptop is on a desk while I play. The heat also didn't seem to affect the laptop any after playing for 2 hours.