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DaddyB99
Participating Frequently
August 7, 2026
Answered

AI Denoise never completes on Intel Arc 140T (Core Ultra) — GPU at 100% compute, progress stuck — worked in ~1–2 min on earlier LrC versions — LrC 15.4.1 + Intel 32.0.101.8860

  • August 7, 2026
  • 15 replies
  • 196 views

AI Denoise consistently fails to complete on my machine. This is 100% reproducible and has persisted across multiple Lightroom Classic and Intel driver versions, including the current pairing of both.

System:

  • Lightroom Classic 15.4.1 [202606201310-b9f148a4], Camera Raw 18.4
  • Windows 11 Home 26200
  • Intel Core Ultra laptop, 16 logical cores, 32 GB RAM
  • Intel Arc 140T integrated GPU (16 GB shared), driver 32.0.101.8860 WHQL (current, verified in Device Manager)
  • Files: Fujifilm RAF (X-Trans)

Symptom:

  1. Click Denoise. The background progress indicator (top-left) immediately shows roughly 10% progress, then never advances — waited well over an hour.
  2. The photo becomes locked: "AI processing is in progress for this photo. Editing is temporarily unavailable."
  3. Task Manager shows the Arc 140T near 100% compute utilisation for the entire time, so the GPU is actively executing something — it just never finishes.
  4. Exiting Lightroom during this state leaves orphaned Lightroom processes that must be killed in Task Manager.
  5. This is a regression. On earlier LrC versions (a couple of months ago, modal Denoise dialog era), Denoise on this same machine with the same type of RAF files completed in roughly 1–2 minutes when it ran. It was already unstable and frustrating to use - it would regularly freeze mid-run, requiring Lightroom to be killed in Task Manager, and typically took a few attempts per photo - but successful runs at least completed in minutes. So the Arc 140T is demonstrably capable of executing this workload in minutes. In the current version (and possibly the one immediately before it), Denoise never completes at all: the GPU computes at 100% indefinitely.

Diagnostics already done:

  • Windows System event log (filtered Critical/Error/Warning): no Display/TDR events, no Event 4101, nothing GPU-related during Denoise runs.
  • Reliability Monitor: no LiveKernelEvent 141, no hardware errors on test days.
  • So this is not a driver crash/reset loop — the GPU computes indefinitely without completing. This matches Intel community reports of Denoise on Arc taking 12–92 minutes per photo (e.g. Arc A310 thread).
  • Mains power, Windows "Best performance" power mode: no change.
  • Tried with Preferences > Performance > Use Graphics Processor set to Auto, and then also to Custom with "Use GPU for image processing" unticked, and also Off: no change - as documented elsewhere, Denoise ignores this preference and uses the GPU regardless. There is currently no supported way to run Denoise on CPU, and DisableGPUInference.txt explicitly does not cover Denoise per the ACR GPU FAQ.
  • Timed test (7 Aug 2026): Denoise started on a single RAF at ~21:05. As of 23:00+ it had still not completed — over 1 hour 50 minutes on one photo, progress indicator unmoved from its initial position throughout. So far I have not had a denoise complete, it appears to be processing, but without progress, maybe even in an infinite loop, can’t tell. 
  • GPU utilisation logged with typeperf (60-second samples, one full hour): the Arc 140T's Compute engine sat at 95–100% in every single sample, attributable to one process (Lightroom), with zero dips, pauses, or resets - the GPU is continuously executing without ever finishing. Log CSV available on request.
  • CPU comparison test (Arc disabled in Device Manager, forcing CPU denoise) to follow in a comment.

Related reports:

Requests:

  1. Please investigate what changed in the Denoise/AI inference path in recent LrC / Camera Raw releases with respect to Intel Arc. Since earlier versions completed in 1–2 minutes on this exact hardware and the current version never completes, this looks like a software regression rather than a hardware capability limit. I am paying a monthly fee, and expect this to work on what is standard and powerful hardware. There was never any indication on purchase that intel Arc is not supported. 
  2. Please coordinate with Intel on the Arc inference path — Intel has publicly stated this requires joint work between the companies.
  3. Please provide a supported option to run Denoise on CPU. On this hardware the CPU would complete in minutes; the GPU never completes, and there is no user-accessible fallback short of disabling the GPU in Device Manager.

Full LrC System Info available on request, but I think you’ll agree I’ve provided detailed info above, so please investigate as a priority.  

      Correct answer Sameer K

      Hey ​All! Thanks for the detailed report and logs. Our review indicates that this may be a Driver configuration or hardware-specific compatibility issue rather than a change to Lightroom Classic’s Denoise model.

      Currently, Denoise is designed to run on the GPU, and Lightroom Classic & Lightroom desktop do not provide a configurable setting to force Denoise to fall back to the CPU.
      Please make sure you are using the latest Intel graphics driver. If the issue began after a driver update and persists on the latest version, try reverting to a previously working Intel driver and report the result to Intel as well.


      We appreciate the reports, they help us, and Intel investigate GPU-specific compatibility issues. 
      ~Lightroom Team.

       

      Best,

      Sameer K

      (Tagged as Best answer to pin the response for discoverability)

      15 replies

      Sameer K
      Community Manager
      Sameer KCommunity ManagerCorrect answer
      Community Manager
      September 1, 2026

      Hey ​All! Thanks for the detailed report and logs. Our review indicates that this may be a Driver configuration or hardware-specific compatibility issue rather than a change to Lightroom Classic’s Denoise model.

      Currently, Denoise is designed to run on the GPU, and Lightroom Classic & Lightroom desktop do not provide a configurable setting to force Denoise to fall back to the CPU.
      Please make sure you are using the latest Intel graphics driver. If the issue began after a driver update and persists on the latest version, try reverting to a previously working Intel driver and report the result to Intel as well.


      We appreciate the reports, they help us, and Intel investigate GPU-specific compatibility issues. 
      ~Lightroom Team.

       

      Best,

      Sameer K

      (Tagged as Best answer to pin the response for discoverability)

      DaddyB99Author
      Participating Frequently
      September 1, 2026

      I have been using the latest graphics drivers throughout, as is always recommended. I don’t think it’s reasonable to expect me to test a sequence of older graphics drivers to see if Lightroom might function properly on those older ones. Please can this issue be investigate by Adobe, liaising with Intel? Intel ARC GPUs are not specified anywhere as unsupported by Lightroom, are they?

      Adobe Employee
      KrishnaMaithreya
      Adobe Employee
      August 11, 2026

      ​@DaddyB99  Can you go through the troubleshooting steps below and share the relevant logs?

      https://helpx.adobe.com/in/camera-raw/kb/acr-gpu-faq.html#troubleshoot-acr

      In particular, please follow the steps under “GPU troubleshooting steps for Camera Raw and Lightroom” and share the logs from the CameraRaw/Logs folder (Point no. 5)

      Just an FYI, the latest version of LrC is 15.5. It’s generally recommended to use the latest version when troubleshooting issues.

        DaddyB99Author
        Participating Frequently
        August 11, 2026

        Thanks for the response. I’ve updated to 15.5, tested denoise, the same issue exhibited (left it for a couple of hours, still processing, still utilising 100% of GPU, no change in progress bar, no denoising evident). 

        Followed the steps in the troubleshooting instructions. The log for point 5 is attached. Same symptoms - no progress bar movement, GPU at 100%. I ended the denoise process using the red cross next to the background process within the lightroom UI. (Note that while this gets rid of the progress bar, the right ‘detail’ panel says AI actions are still running, and that photo then remains un-editable unless I close lightroom, kill lingering lightroom processes in task manager and restart lightroom - but I didn’t do that for this test to avoid it destroying logs). 

        Attached are the two log files from step 5. They were obtained after closing lightroom normally following the denoise job being closed in the lightroom UI after it ran fruitlessly for a period (at 100% GPU).

        DaddyB99Author
        Participating Frequently
        August 11, 2026

        ​@KrishnaMaithreya 

        Having looked through the logs I attached myself, I'd like to share some observations and a hypothesis, as I think they may be significant.

        First, to be clear about what the logs cover: Denoise was run within this logged session. The sequence was: fresh launch of Lightroom at 18:45, Denoise started on one photo shortly after, GPU immediately at ~100% compute with the progress bar stuck (as previously described), Denoise job cancelled via the red cross in the UI, then Lightroom closed normally via File > Exit at ~18:49.

        Observations from the two log files:

        1. The logs contain this line, repeated many times during initialisation:
          Masking AI inference running on CPU. Omitted ArrowLake 128EU GPU with driver: 32.0.101.8864
          So Camera Raw appears to already recognise this GPU/driver combination as unsuitable for AI inference, and deliberately routes Masking to the CPU. That is consistent with my experience - masking features work quickly and correctly on this machine. I didn’t run any masking in this session, however. 
        2. The logs also contain WML: Try use GPU? yes — so the WML inference path still targets the GPU on this hardware.
        3. Despite Denoise being run during the session, neither log contains a single Denoise-related entry. One log (v1) terminated cleanly - i.e. it was fully flushed on exit - yet has no denoise entries. The other (v0) stops abruptly at 18:45:11, right around when Denoise began, with no termination entry, and is never written to again.

        My hypothesis: Denoise inference is submitted to the GPU via WML on this hardware (which the "omitted" list protects Masking from, but apparently not Denoise). The submission call hangs - the GPU shows 100% compute indefinitely but nothing ever completes - and because the process is stuck inside that call, no denoise pipeline logging is ever emitted. The abrupt silence of the second log at the moment Denoise started would fit that. 

        For completeness, previously established on this machine: Denoise completes in ~5 minutes on CPU (only achievable by disabling the GPU in Device Manager, since the app's GPU preferences don't govern Denoise), and on the LrC version current around June this same machine completed GPU Denoise in 1-2 minutes. So the hardware is demonstrably capable on both processors.

        The outcome I'm hoping for: routing Denoise to CPU on this hardware might be a reasonable interim workaround, consistent with what LrC appears to already do for Masking - but it shouldn't be the end state. The GPU handled this workload in earlier versions, Intel's current driver is installed, and I'd ask that the GPU path itself be fixed in coordination with Intel, as Intel have publicly stated this needs joint work. The interim workaround would at least allow me to use these features in the meantime, but the full solution should be investigated - this is not uncommon hardware. 

        Please advise on progress. 

        DaddyB99Author
        Participating Frequently
        August 10, 2026

        Summary

        On a current-generation Intel Core Ultra laptop with Arc 140T integrated graphics, AI Denoise in Lightroom Classic 15.4.1 never completes. The GPU computes continuously at ~100% without ever finishing, the progress indicator never advances, and the photo remains locked ("AI processing is in progress for this photo. Editing is temporarily unavailable."). This is a regression: the same machine completed the same operation in 1–2 minutes on the LrC version current ~2 months ago. I originally raised this as a community question and was advised to file it as a formal bug report - this report consolidates all findings and test results from that thread: https://community.adobe.com/bug-reports-674/regression-ai-denoise-never-completes-on-intel-arc-140t-core-ultra-gpu-at-100-compute-progress-stuck-worked-in-1-2-min-on-earlier-lrc-versions-lrc-15-4-1-intel-32-0-101-8860-1635896

        Environment

        • Lightroom Classic 15.4.1 [202606201310-b9f148a4], Camera Raw 18.4
        • Windows 11 Home, build 26200
        • Intel Core Ultra laptop, 16 logical cores, 32 GB RAM
        • Intel Arc 140T integrated GPU (16 GB shared VRAM)
        • Intel graphics driver 32.0.101.8860 WHQL; ALSO reproduced on the newer driver released Aug 2026 — behaviour identical on both
        • Source files: Fujifilm RAF (X-Trans)
        • Full Help > System Info dump available on request

        Steps to reproduce

        1. Select a Fujifilm RAF photo in the Develop module.
        2. Click Denoise (any amount setting).
        3. Observe: progress indicator immediately shows ~10%, then never advances.
        4. Task Manager shows the Arc 140T Compute engine at ~100%, indefinitely.
        5. The photo remains locked for editing. Exiting Lightroom in this state leaves orphaned Lightroom processes that must be ended in Task Manager.

        Reproduces 100% of the time on this system.

        Measured results (7-8 Aug 2026)

        • GPU endurance test: Denoise started 21:05 BST. GPU utilisation logged with typeperf at 60-second intervals: the Compute engine ran at 95-100% (single process: Lightroom) in EVERY sample for 2 hours 9 minutes with zero progress. The run ended only because the system slept on its power timer. The photo was not denoised.
        • Event logs are clean: no Display/TDR events, no Event 4101, no LiveKernelEvent 141 anywhere in the System log or Reliability Monitor during any run. This is not a driver crash/reset loop - the compute simply never terminates.
        • CPU comparison: with the Arc GPU disabled in Device Manager (the only way to force CPU processing - see "Preference ignored" below), the same photo completed successfully in ~5 minutes at 50–80% CPU.
        • Regression baseline: on the LrC version current ~2 months ago, this same machine/driver family completed GPU Denoise of comparable RAFs in 1–2 minutes (unstable - frequent freezes requiring Task Manager kills - but fast when it ran).
        • Important scoping observation: lightweight AI inference works NORMALLY on this system - Select Sky / Select Subject masking completes near-instantly with a brief GPU spike that settles immediately. The failure is specific to sustained, memory-intensive inference (Denoise). This should help localise the defect: model loading and short inference are fine; long tiled full-resolution inference never terminates.

        Summary table — same machine, same file type:

        Configuration Result
        Earlier LrC (~June 2026), GPU 1–2 min (crash-prone but fast)
        LrC 15.4.1, GPU (8860 and newer driver) Never completes (>2h09m @ 100% GPU)
        LrC 15.4.1, CPU (GPU disabled in Device Manager) ~5 min, reliable

        The current GPU path is therefore ≥25× slower than the CPU on the same laptop and in practice never terminates — a regression of roughly two orders of magnitude.

        Preference ignored

        Preferences > Performance > Use Graphics Processor set to Off or Custom (with "Use GPU for image processing" unticked) does NOT stop Denoise using the GPU - confirmed behaviour per community experts ("AI Denoise uses the GPU regardless of the settings in Preferences"). DisableGPUInference.txt also explicitly does not cover Denoise per the ACR GPU FAQ. The only user-accessible workaround is disabling the entire GPU in Device Manager, which also disables GPU display acceleration system-wide. This cannot be the intended fallback.

        Related Intel reports

        Requests

        1. Investigate what changed in the Denoise/AI inference path for Intel Arc in recent LrC / Camera Raw releases - the regression from 1-2 min to never-completing on identical hardware indicates a software change, not a hardware limitation.
        2. Coordinate with Intel - Intel has stated publicly that resolution requires joint work and says it awaits engagement from Adobe's side.
        3. Provide a supported preference to run Denoise (and other heavy AI features) on CPU. On this hardware the CPU completes in minutes; the GPU never completes; and there is currently no supported way to choose.
          Community Expert
          Jao vdLCommunity Expert
          Community Expert
          August 8, 2026

          >driver 32.0.101.8860 WHQL

          The most recent driver is 32.0.101.8864. https://www.intel.com/content/www/us/en/products/sku/241598/intel-arc-b580-graphics/downloads.html 

          You might want to try updating that first. Windows update rarely has the most recent drivers for GPUs and Lightroom is very sensitive to GPU drivers as you might know.

            DaddyB99Author
            Participating Frequently
            August 8, 2026

            Thanks - tested 32.0.101.8864: identical behaviour, 30 minutes at 100% GPU compute, no progress - progress bar stuck at about 10%, and no warnings or errors in event viewer. So the current and previous WHQL drivers both exhibit this same problem. Really hoping someone from Adobe can respond and take this up, as there will be a significant community of people on Intel Arc graphics that are impacted, unable to use the features they are paying for. 

            Community Expert
            Jao vdLCommunity Expert
            Community Expert
            August 9, 2026

            Hopefully somebody else with similar hardware can weigh in too to see if this is reproducible. I am responding just to get this back up to the top to see if Adobe folks pick up on it. You might want to submit a bug report instead of a question on this referring to this thread. I can’t do turn this thread into a big report unfortunately.

            DaddyB99Author
            Participating Frequently
            August 8, 2026

            Follow-up with completed test results.

            GPU endurance test (7–8 Aug): Denoise started at 21:05 BST on a single RAF. GPU utilisation logged via typeperf at 60-second intervals: the Arc 140T Compute engine ran at a continuous 95–100% (single process: Lightroom) in every sample for 2 hours 9 minutes, with the progress indicator never advancing beyond its initial position. No dips, no resets, and no Display/TDR/LiveKernel events anywhere in the Windows event logs across the entire run. The system then slept on its normal power timer; an overnight Windows maintenance restart cleared the job. The photo was not denoised. Result: Denoise on GPU did not complete in 2h09m of continuous 100% GPU compute.

            CPU comparison test (8 Aug): Disabled the Arc 140T in Device Manager (the only way to force CPU processing, since Denoise ignores the Lightroom setting: Use Graphics Processor preference). Same photo, same catalogue: Denoise completed successfully in ~5 minutes at 50–80% CPU utilisation. This is not a viable workaround, however - I can’t disable my GPU every time I want to execute any Lightroom AI function. 

            Summary - same machine, same type of file:

            • Earlier LrC (approx. 2 months ago), GPU: 1–2 minutes (unstable — frequent freezes requiring Task Manager kill — but fast when it ran)
            • LrC 15.4.1, GPU: does not complete (>2h09m at 100% GPU compute, zero progress)
            • LrC 15.4.1, CPU (GPU disabled at OS level): ~5 minutes, completes reliably

            So in the current release, the GPU inference path on this hardware is at minimum ~25× slower than the CPU on the same laptop, and I have not had an instance of it actually completing, so it might even be in an infinite loop for all I can tell.

            Repeating the two requests: (1) please investigate what changed in the Denoise/AI inference path for Intel Arc in recent releases, and provide a permanent solution; (2) please provide a supported option to run Denoise on CPU - disabling the entire GPU in Device Manager cannot be the intended workaround, as it also disables GPU display acceleration for the whole system.

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