[Guide] Native Power Management for Laptops

[RehabMan]

I just ran Cinebench R15 and another benchmark to stress the GPU. In Intel Power Gadget I could see the GPU at 1GHZ, which is its max frequency and my CPU also powered up as expected. But when I check the output of AppleInfoKext, I still only see one iGPU power state.

Make sure you load AppleIntelInfo *before* running the benchmark.
Check output after.

Another thing that seems odd to me is that my CPU never goes below 1.3 GHZ whereas in Windows I regularly see it at roughly 700MHZ when idling.

As per Apple's X86PlatformPlugin.kext design. Read up on FrequencyVectors...

 

[ctxdl]

If you're referring to "About This Mac" cosmetics...
Read Clover documentation regarding config.plist/CPU/FrequencyMHz

I changed it to 1800 thank you very much

 

[jonsomi]

I did.
Just ran the benchmark again to be sure that I didn't mess it up the first time. But I still only get one iGPU P-State, though I got more CPU States this time. (I ran the benchmark in battery mode this time).

Isn't it odd that I don't get any output on applelpc and appleintelcpu?

 

[RehabMan]

I did.
Just ran the benchmark again to be sure that I didn't mess it up the first time. But I still only get one iGPU P-State, though I got more CPU States this time. (I ran the benchmark in battery mode this time).

30 is a pretty high IGPU pstate, is it not?

Isn't it odd that I don't get any output on applelpc and appleintelcpu?

For the hardware in your profile, it is the expected result.

 

[jonsomi]

30 is a pretty high IGPU pstate, is it not?

Sorry, I cannot follow you. Doesn't having only one very high P-State indicate that my iGPU power management is broken/non existent?
I expect several different P-States just like with the CPU.
Basically I expect results like he/she got during testing (https://www.tonymacx86.com/threads/macos-native-cpu-igpu-power-management.222982/)

And thank you for your replies so far!

 

[RehabMan]

Sorry, I cannot follow you. Doesn't having only one very high P-State indicate that my iGPU power management is broken/non existent?

It may mean you monitored only while doing things that require the higher state... failed to test with idle/low-demand tasks.
No way for me to know what you're doing during AppleIntelInfo monitoring.

 

[jonsomi]

I did some more benchmarking and my GPU finally showed some more P-States. So it really was my benchmarking.

I also tried to run it with pluginType=false to see how that affects my machine. And I actually got even more P-States for my CPU. I guess thats because then Apple's X86PlatformPlugin.kext is not loaded, is that correct?
The only disadvantage I noticed is that my battery level does not show up properly anymore with pluginType=false.

Now I will leave pluginType enabled and have a look at Apple's X86PlatformPlugin.kext to allow my CPU to clock lower than Apple intended to.

Thank you for your help!

edit:
I just used freqVerctorsEdit.sh and now my CPU can clock down to 400MHz.
The only thing that still puzzles me a bit is that I've never seen a GPU P-State lower than 18 even when idling.

 

[RehabMan]

And I actually got even more P-States for my CPU. I guess thats because then Apple's X86PlatformPlugin.kext is not loaded, is that correct?

ACPI_SMC_PlatformPlugin vs. X86PlatformPlugin may have different behavior regarding CPU PM.
Or the differences were just due to differences in the way you used the computer during monitoring.

The only disadvantage I noticed is that my battery level does not show up properly anymore with pluginType=false.

Maybe you didn't install kexts correctly.
See post #2 of the guide for correct kext installation:
https://www.tonymacx86.com/threads/guide-booting-the-os-x-installer-on-laptops-with-clover.148093/

I just used freqVerctorsEdit.sh and now my CPU can clock down to 400MHz.

Keep in mind that may cause other problems.
There is likely a reason Apple chose the idle pstate it did.

 

[aufuk1]

Hello, I've applied the post.
Cpu frequency value is high. Cpu speed 2.1 & turbo 3.3 ghz (9470m i7-3687u). Is the turbo feature on? Or anything else. What can I do about it. I want to lower the speed.

 

[RehabMan]

Hello, I've applied the post.
Cpu frequency value is high. Cpu speed 2.1 & turbo 3.3 ghz (9470m i7-3687u). Is the turbo feature on? Or anything else. What can I do about it. I want to lower the speed.

No "Problem Reporting" files attached.
Read FAQ, "Problem Reporting" again. Carefully. Attach all requested files/output.
https://www.tonymacx86.com/threads/faq-read-first-laptop-frequent-questions.164990/
Use the gen_debug.sh tool mentioned in the FAQ, that way it is less likely you'll omit something.