MacBook heat issues fix

Lounge
#1

so i have a newer macbook pro and have been having major heat issues when running Rack even after implementing various osx performance suggestions (eGPU, lower frame rate, ect).

Rack can be a fairly graphics and processor intensive program which causes the macbook to run in turbo boost mode which creates a lot of heat pretty quickly. using free software to switch off turbo boost i’ve been able to keep the heat way down without using low resolution mode (which just kills the experience for me). downside is you wont get the performance boost that turbo boost provides so you may run into audio glitches on large patches. hope this helps some of the mac users around here.

https://www.rugarciap.com/turbo-boost-switcher-for-os-x/

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#2

I use it a lot and it works well. Another trick that can be useful is this:

If your macbook has thunderbolt3/usb-c ports on both sides try moving the charger to the right side of the laptop. Most of the times the thermal sensor on the I/O board on the left side is what triggers the throttling not the CPU/GPU itself

4 Likes
#3

seconding this. when I connect my late 2016 3.3ghz i7 to my egpu, I connect it and my monitor to the left side (full speed), and my power on the right side. I rarely even have my fan turn on at that point.

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#4

Thirded. Helps move the bar to a larger-sized patch with less headaches.

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#5

my laptop is no longer trying to kill itself :rofl:

if i didnt like rack so much i probably would have given up trying to solve the heat issues already and honestly i was regretting the eGPU purchase but now with the turbo boost switcher keeping the CPU temps down and the eGPU keeping the GPU temps at bay it ended up reducing a majority of the heat so it all worked out.

#6

Hello Persy

I was also looking at purchasing an eGPU (Razer enclosure) but video card choice & price make me ask the question “does it worth it?” I have an iMac i5 27" not updated to Catalina (for obvious reason :sweat_smile:) but VEGA cards are very expensive and the last AMD RX 5xxx not compliant with Mojave. Can you share your eGPU setup and the benefit you’ve detected/noticed?

Thanks for your feedback

Spontex

#7

i just went with a Sonnet Puck 570. since i use a laptop i wanted the portability and i didnt want to spend a lot because im not a gamer plus i wasnt sure how well it was going to work and the Puck was an all in one solution. the 560/570 were recently on sale and they were pretty much the least expensive thunderbolt3 option.

i havent measured the actual performance benefits. my goal was just to relieve the internal GPU of duty when using Rack to decrease the heat. just browsing modules would kick the fans on almost immediately.

#8

Thanks a lot Persy for your feedback. :ok_hand:

1 Like
#9

if it helps, I’m on Mojave and use a sonnet with a 580. works well.

#10

Thanks jerrysv

I have a Radeon Pro 570, not sure a 580 provide much more power except lower internal GPU load.

#11

mine is just what it came with, nothing that I searched out, so not sure how much performance gain there would be :slight_smile:

just happens to be what Apple’s External Graphics Development Kit shipped with when they first offered it.