M1 Air throttles to a maximum of 4W during a game

[jdb8167]

I did an experiment. I turned on the AC and set it to 21C. After 1hr (when room temp was constant at 21C) i started the Cinebench R23 benchmark. The 30 minute result was at 6700 points. When the room is 29-30C the 30 minute test is at 5400 points.

I also observed that the powermetrics tool reported a 10W draw even during the late stages of the benchmark.

I haven't gamed on it because the room felt too cold (it's funny how it feels cold in the summer at 21C and when it's winter 21C feel warm).

I'm starting to think that the room temperature actually makes a big difference, but i still need to do a few experiments.

If powermetrics was reporting a fairly steady 10W then I would say the MBA cooling is working as intended.

 

[Queen6]

I did an experiment. I turned on the AC and set it to 21C. After 1hr (when room temp was constant at 21C) i started the Cinebench R23 benchmark. The 30 minute result was at 6700 points. When the room is 29-30C the 30 minute test is at 5400 points.

I also observed that the powermetrics tool reported a 10W draw even during the late stages of the benchmark.

I haven't gamed on it because the room felt too cold (it's funny how it feels cold in the summer at 21C and when it's winter 21C feel warm).

I'm starting to think that the room temperature actually makes a big difference, but i still need to do a few experiments.

Ambient temperature is a significant factor for passively cooled systems such as the M1 Air. Not even Apple can disrupt the laws of thermodynamics 🤣 Best I've seen and owned is the Acer Switch 5 as it employs an active liquid cooling loop, that said anything past the i3 throttled down such is the nature of the beast...

Q-6

 

[Geoca]

I did another experiment. I wanted to play some dota2, but my gaming laptop is in for repairs (battery change), so i played on my Macbook Air. Initial game was as the rest of them, high fps during the first 5-10 minutes then crawled to 40FPS and even lower in team fights.

I have a Xiaomi air purifier so i put the laptop over that purifier exhaust as you can see in the pictuer below.

The result is that i had constant FPS and powermetrics reported a constant 11W draw (opposed to 4W).

The room temperature is 28C.

I am still having some doubts if something is messed up within the laptop or it's just the room heat.

I also remembered something, before when the laptop was on power sometimes i used to feel the case a bit tingly. Now i can't remember the last time i felt that.

 

[Queen6]

It's the ambient temperature simple as that, placing the Air on the air cleaner clearly illustrates this. The Xiaomi can push a fair volume of airflow (I have one) out the top cooling the chassis of the Air which helps to cool the internals. The tingling is related to earthing and not uncommon for Mac's to do so.

Simply elevate the rear of the Air off the desk and use a USB Fan or try a cooling pad that can push 100cfm preferably with a single large fan. This should help to maintain FPS, the Air is passively cooled therefore the ambient temperature is a major factor. I'm not far behind as local temperatures are around 32C with the AC bring the temperature down indoors to 26C/27C, however from experience I know that passively cooled systems struggle in warmer climates so opted for the M1 MBP.

Q-6