High CPU Usage

Joined
Feb 4, 2010
Messages
4
Reaction score
0
Points
1
Location
Currently: States, Home: UK
Your Mac's Specs
MBP OS 10.6, 2.2 GHz intel core 2 duo, 2 GB memory
I wasn't sure where to put this, but every time I try to watch Hulu, and now youtube, my CPU usage shoots through the roof. We are talking Safari and Firefox clocking in at 130% CPU usage. It makes the videos really choppy and sometimes locks my browser. I'm just viewing standard resolution.

I suspected Adobe flash was the culprit, but every solution I found wasn't working.

I'm using Snow Leopard on a 2.2 GHz Intel core 2, 2 GB memory MBP.
Does anyone have a solution?
It is so frustrating...ugh
 
Joined
Mar 24, 2008
Messages
97
Reaction score
1
Points
8
Your Mac's Specs
Macbook Pro 13" 2.26 GHz 320GB 4GB Ram, iMac 2006, 250GB 2GB RAM & 3G iPhone
Flash does make the CPU work really hard, it's evil!!! But despite the workload on the CPU it shouldn't really be going all choppy.

The only time I've had issues with browsers freezing due to high work loads has been when excessive heat is involved. Is your computer on a desk or your lap? Is it VERY well ventilated, especially at the back where the exhaust area is? If I'm using my MacBook like a desktop (something I do a lot) I have it on a stand to help it stay cooler.

I would download temperature monitor and see what the heat situation is during freezing. Please note though, heat issue are my current obsession with my MacBook Pro, so if this doesn't apply just ignore me! Just a thought. Hey, it's the first reply, so it's something ;-)
 

bobtomay

,
Retired Staff
Joined
Dec 22, 2006
Messages
26,561
Reaction score
677
Points
113
Location
Texas, where else?
Your Mac's Specs
15" MBP '06 2.33 C2D 4GB 10.7; 13" MBA '14 1.8 i7 8GB 10.11; 21" iMac '13 2.9 i5 8GB 10.11; 6S
Joined
Mar 24, 2008
Messages
97
Reaction score
1
Points
8
Your Mac's Specs
Macbook Pro 13" 2.26 GHz 320GB 4GB Ram, iMac 2006, 250GB 2GB RAM & 3G iPhone
Interesting Bobtomay, I might try that too, I've heard people talking about the flash beta....
 

cwa107


Retired Staff
Joined
Dec 20, 2006
Messages
27,042
Reaction score
812
Points
113
Location
Lake Mary, Florida
Your Mac's Specs
14" MacBook Pro M1 Pro, 16GB RAM, 1TB SSD
Gotta love Adobe. As with Acrobat Reader, if you bloat it up so much that it doesn't perform well, instead of fixing and streamlining the code, just make it more complex (this time, robbing Peter to pay Paul, by offloading the work onto co-processors). Brilliant Adobe, just brilliant....
 

vansmith

Senior Member
Joined
Oct 19, 2008
Messages
19,924
Reaction score
559
Points
113
Location
Queensland
Your Mac's Specs
Mini (2014, 2018, 2020), MBA (2020), iPad Pro (2018), iPhone 13 Pro Max, Watch (S6)
You might want to give the new flash beta a try. Have not run it through a full set of tests, but seems to be a little better.
Can I assume that the beta has gotten better since I last used it? Last time I tried it, it brought down Opera constantly.
 
OP
D
Joined
Feb 4, 2010
Messages
4
Reaction score
0
Points
1
Location
Currently: States, Home: UK
Your Mac's Specs
MBP OS 10.6, 2.2 GHz intel core 2 duo, 2 GB memory
Thanks, that seemingly helped. Now I am only using about 110%. (That sarcasm was aimed at Adobe) Is there a reason it is still using so much CPU? As mentioned before, it's most noticeable at Hulu.

@jobborrow, I DLed SMC fan control, I'm averaging about 46 Centigrade. I have been wanting to upgrade to a new MBP maybe even Mac Pro. I haven't had freezing problems for awhile, so we will see how it goes.
 

vansmith

Senior Member
Joined
Oct 19, 2008
Messages
19,924
Reaction score
559
Points
113
Location
Queensland
Your Mac's Specs
Mini (2014, 2018, 2020), MBA (2020), iPad Pro (2018), iPhone 13 Pro Max, Watch (S6)
That is the nature of Flash. It is naturally resource intensive and I fear that 10.1 will be much of the same despite some improvements (from personal experience).
 
C

chas_m

Guest
AND YET ... everyone seems to want this bloaty, unstable resource hog on the iPad!!!

GAAAAAAH!
 
Joined
Jan 17, 2010
Messages
1,466
Reaction score
47
Points
48
Your Mac's Specs
2.8 GHz 15" MacBook Pro OS X 10.7.x & some old Macs
This is the frustration Mac users have with Adobe Flash because of their horrible Flash app for Mac. The exact same Flash video runs so much more efficiently when using Windows.

If you are using YouTube you can use the HTML5 version along with a few other sites that are testing out HTML5 which a lot of people are hoping will replace Flash. As long as Flash is still used on some sites and as long as Adobe is lazy about improving performance on the Mac version of Flash then we are going to have to live with this problem.

And people wonder why Steve Jobs is refusing to add Flash support for other Apple devices. ;)
 

bobtomay

,
Retired Staff
Joined
Dec 22, 2006
Messages
26,561
Reaction score
677
Points
113
Location
Texas, where else?
Your Mac's Specs
15" MBP '06 2.33 C2D 4GB 10.7; 13" MBA '14 1.8 i7 8GB 10.11; 21" iMac '13 2.9 i5 8GB 10.11; 6S
Can I assume that the beta has gotten better since I last used it? Last time I tried it, it brought down Opera constantly.

Only had it for about a week or so and have not been in Opera with it. As much as I like Opera, I've almost switched to Safari exclusively. Glims turns Safari into what I was missing from Opera.

tbh: I use ClickToFlash in order to control flash content and very few sites are allowed on my "open all flash in this site" list. I really don't browse youtube and other similar... and I don't do facebook, twitter, etc...

For hulu, pretty much use my Win7 HTPC & plasma for that. However, I've found many of the shows I watch to be on Netflix. In several cases where hulu may have the last 4-5 shows, I've found the entire season and previous seasons are on Netflix. When I do use my Mac, Silverlight seems to be much less of a hog than flash also.
 

vansmith

Senior Member
Joined
Oct 19, 2008
Messages
19,924
Reaction score
559
Points
113
Location
Queensland
Your Mac's Specs
Mini (2014, 2018, 2020), MBA (2020), iPad Pro (2018), iPhone 13 Pro Max, Watch (S6)
Only had it for about a week or so and have not been in Opera with it. As much as I like Opera, I've almost switched to Safari exclusively. Glims turns Safari into what I was missing from Opera.
I may use Firefox the most but I use about three of them on a regular basis (Opera, Chromium and Firefox). I've heard a lot about Glims though - maybe I should give it a try.
 

cwa107


Retired Staff
Joined
Dec 20, 2006
Messages
27,042
Reaction score
812
Points
113
Location
Lake Mary, Florida
Your Mac's Specs
14" MacBook Pro M1 Pro, 16GB RAM, 1TB SSD
I may use Firefox the most but I use about three of them on a regular basis (Opera, Chromium and Firefox). I've heard a lot about Glims though - maybe I should give it a try.

Yeah, me too - anything that can make Safari suck less is OK in my book.
 

Shop Amazon


Shop for your Apple, Mac, iPhone and other computer products on Amazon.
We are a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate program designed to provide a means for us to earn fees by linking to Amazon and affiliated sites.
Top