Why does Lightroom use very high CPU with a dual-monitor setup on a 2009 MacBook Pro?
Asked 10/25/2011
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I’m using Lightroom 3.3 on a mid-2009 MacBook Pro running OS X Lion 10.7, and after adding a second monitor I noticed Lightroom’s CPU usage becomes very high. Activity Monitor shows more than 100% CPU at times. Is this normal with Lightroom and dual displays, or could it indicate a performance problem? What should I check or upgrade first?
Originally by Photography Stack Exchange contributor. Source · Licensed CC BY-SA 4.0
Photography Stack Exchange contributor
14y ago
2 Answers
1
The current version of Adobe Lightroom is 3.5, if you are on 3.3 I would first recommend updating to the 3.5 version.
The Macbook Pro mid-2009 13" model came with 2GB of ram standard, I would be worried that if you only have that installed, you are already at the minimum system requirements for Lightroom. To run Lightroom well I would personally recommend at least 4GB of ram, 8 if possible on a 64bit system. It is possible that your system may be trying to swap out physical memory with the swap file and that would increase your processor usage I believe.
Another question I have, is that you stated that your CPU usage is over 100%. What exactly is happening on your PC that has you concerned? Is the actual performance of Lightroom poor?
To help diagnose I would turn off all other applications after restarting the machine, and make sure it isn't an issue after a restart. This may help to find a memory leak within the application. If you are still having issues with Lightroom, I think your best bet is the Adobe Forums.
Originally by user4892. Source · Licensed CC BY-SA 4.0
user4892
14y ago
0
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High CPU use by itself is not necessarily abnormal on a Mac—Activity Monitor can report over 100% when an app uses more than one CPU core. The bigger question is whether Lightroom is actually slowing down.
Based on the answers, the first things to check are:
- Update Lightroom from 3.3 to 3.5.
- Check how much RAM your 2009 MacBook Pro has. If it still has 2GB, that is only around the minimum for Lightroom and can cause heavy memory pressure.
- With a second display, Lightroom may need more memory and graphics resources, and the system may start swapping to disk, which can make CPU activity look very high and hurt performance.
- Close other apps and test Lightroom by itself to see whether the problem persists.
If Lightroom feels sluggish, insufficient RAM is the most likely issue mentioned. A practical target is at least 4GB, and 8GB if your system supports it. So: update Lightroom first, then check memory usage and whether the system is swapping.
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