Laggy Mac
 

Hi everyone,

I'm having issues with my macbook pro, and was wondering if anyone could help.

Mine is a mid-2010 13 inch macbook pro (more info below).

When I first bought the laptop, I was able to run some games like Team Fortress 2 with no lag and at medium graphics. It was also pretty quick with imovie, iphoto, photoshop and the like.

However, the computer started chugging to the point where I can no longer play TF2, and it takes me nearly twice as long to make a video because of all the lag.

I've run a lot of tests and cleanups on my hard drive, and I've even replaced the hard drive with no results. I have a ton of free space, too, so I don't think it is that.

I also ran the AHT and got this error:
4sns/1/40000000:TCOD-105.875
EDIT also got this :
4sns/1/4000000 tcod:110.875

Google says it's a fan or logic board issue, but it isn't very clear. My fan does run hot when I play games or watch a lot of videos or something, but I don't remember it being any less quiet or hot then it is currently. I also don't know if that could cause games to lag.

Any help would be greatly appreciated.

Thank you.




OSX 10.6.8
Model Name: MacBook Pro
Model Identifier: MacBookPro5,5
Processor Name: Intel Core 2 Duo
Processor Speed: 2.26 GHz
Number Of Processors: 1
Total Number Of Cores: 2
L2 Cache: 3 MB
Memory: 2 GB
Bus Speed: 1.07 GHz
Boot ROM Version: MBP55.00AC.B03
SMC Version (system): 1.47f2

It could possibly be throttling due to overheating. I'm not sure what programs to use on OS X, but make sure that when gaming/doing other intensive activity CPU/GPU aren't suddenly running at a slower clockspeed.

HOw do I check that?

I've purchased some RAM to see if that would fix the problem, and I'm waiting for them to come sometime this week. I'll be going from 2 to 8 gbs, so if RAM was the problem, that should do it.

I dug a little deeper into Google, and I think the error codes are for the temperature sensors on the CPU. So I ran istat pro and SMC Temperature and got up to 90 C on the CPU while playing games. Can this be what's making my computer slow down during the intensive programs/games?

:uhoh: You bought it before doing a proper diagnostic, not so smart.
And no 90C on a CPU is not good at all, the whole thing may not last and then you already bought expensive Mac ram.

RAM wasn't so expensive ($45), and I needed more RAM anyways. I can also use it for another computer in the future, so no biggy on that.

The 90 C only happens when I do the graphic intensive stuff like games and video, otherwise it hovers between 50-70. Using the SMC fan control, I can get it down to 45 with the fan whirling.

I think I've also confirmed that the heat is causing the problems. I tried running the hardware test with an ice pack under my laptop and it gave me no errors. I also ran some games and it ran pretty smooth until the pack warmed up.

Is the CPU heating up that way normal (as in something caused by use and wear) or is it faulty? Is there a cheap solution to my problem?

Thanks again.

Probably the heatsink has a lot of dust in it, making it less good at removing heat.

You could try blowing air into the fan vent opening. It might help, but you might have to take it apart to clean it properly.

As for a temporary solution, just use the SMC Fan Control to run the fan faster.

I've already taken it apart to clean it. There wasn't too much dust in it in the first place, and the fan spins perfectly fine.