ACR Ver 17.0 Denoise AI - Strange High CPU use after denoise is complete.

[redcrown on guard]

The following video is a demo of the CPU usage of the latest version of Adobe Denoise AI on Windows 11. There is something strange in that Adobe Camera Raw runs the CPU in the high +90% for a long time after all the Denoise work is done. If you have ACR Version 17 with Technology Preview enabled, please run a similar test and report if you see the same strange CPU usage.

Video at: https://www.arkacy.com/Other/Temp-Upload/n-5RJTN/i-v67pfCT/A

Related thread on DPReview: https://www.dpreview.com/forums/thread/4784646#forum-post-68019063

Related thread on Adobe Camera Raw Forum: https://community.adobe.com/t5/camera-raw-discussions/p-technology-preview-enhance-denoise-super-res...

[D Fosse]

I can not reproduce it here.

The double spike here is opening from ACR into Photoshop. Left of that double spike is the actual Denoise process. Yes, I have the Technology preview on:

And in addition, excessive CPU activity doesn't really make any sense. Denoise runs entirely in the GPU and has never affected the CPU much.

[redcrown on guard]

D Fosse,

Thanks for that. You are only the 2nd to run my test (the other on a different forum), both showing no CPU problem. I guess that's a good indication I've got a unique gremlin in my system. But I'm at a loss to know how to debug that. I tried by killing all processes and services of 3rd party software I've installed, but I still get my 40 second CPU crunching.

Then I tried booting in Safe mode. But when I boot Safe with no internet I can't run Bridge or Photoshop. I get a window saying my subscription can't be verified. I thought Adobe only verified subscriptions periodically, maybe once a month. But I guess not. When I boot Safe with internet I get caught in a Microsoft Edge window that want's me to login and enable Office 365. When I installed Win11 I used the trick to skip the Microsoft account, so I can't login. When I just close that window, Edge freezes and becomes "not responding".

Any hints on how to proceed would be appreciated.

[D Fosse]

I thought Adobe only verified subscriptions periodically, maybe once a month.

By @redcrown on guard

You thought correctly, it's checked once a month. You can normally work offline for a month (and two more with nag screens).

Maybe running it in safe mode is blocking some other service, I don't know. But I've heard of others running in safe mode.

[redcrown on guard]

Yeah, there is something different in Safe Mode-no Internet. Later, with normal boot, I disconnected from the Internet and Photoshop/Bridge worked OK. 

[redcrown on guard]

Loaded updates to Photoshop 26.2.0 and ACR version 17.10.2100 today. No joy on this crunching CPU issue following a Denoise. Still happens. Also, found one Win11 user on a different forum who says he ran the test and saw the same on his system. Also, I updated my seldom used Dell XPX-13 laptop I use for travel. It has Windows 10 and shows the same.

[Aleke]

Hi @redcrown on guard!

Unfortunately, I haven't been able to reproduce this either. Does this happen with every picture you apply Denoise to? Does it also occur with other features like Raw Details or Super Resolution?

Thanks for your patience.

Alek

[redcrown on guard]

Thanks for trying. My CPU crunch does not happen with just Raw Details. I haven't tried Super Resolution, never needed it.

So, counting you, there are 3 confirmed cases and 3 denials. While that's a very limited sample, it seems to point to some unique Windows modification, or some 3rd party add-on. I do a lot of Windows debloating, mostly following the advice from Chris Titus Tech (https://www.youtube.com/@ChrisTitusTech). Maybe there is something there that Adobe dosen't like.

The work around is simple (Denoise last and then immediately exit ACR). So, not a big deal.

[Guest]

I have been having the exact same problem for a while now, first on I5 13500 and now on amd 7 9700x based system, I migrated my hard drives and GPU from i5 build to AMD and at first I was blaming GPU the Intel ARC a580 which can be finicky and doesn't run ACR denoise that well (takes it 65 sec, for single z9 HE raw to finish). But because of this comment you made: ''...it seems to point to some unique Windows modification, or some 3rd party add-on. I do a lot of Windows debloating'',  now I am pretty sure that is the problem as I have also installed debloated Windows 11 on both of my systems and it must have introduced a bug somewhere.

[redcrown on guard]

We finally got an update to ACR today, version 17.2. Sadly it has no fix to the CPU mystery covered in this discussion.

[Zaphod 4200]

Just to share the pain, I'm experiencing the same issue since ACR 17.0.

Win 10, CPU i9-12900K, GPU RTX 4070 Ti Super 16GB, RAM 64GB, always latest Nvidia driver (Studio). Tried ACR 17.0 to 17.2. Always the same (btw, Technology Preview makes no difference). From Bridge and from Photoshop.

The denoising runs quickly on the GPU (with RAW files from Sony, Nikon, and Canon). Afterwards, however, as long as the corresponding images are still in ACR, the CPU load runs up to about 90% for quite a while and the work becomes completely jerky, not only in ACR. If I deactivate denoising, it drops towards zero.

But this is the part that is most bizarre: When I left-click on the title bar (top bar) of the ACR window during the 90% CPU-load and hold down the mouse button, the CPU also immediately drops towards zero. When I release the mouse button, it goes back to 90. The same happens when I open a pop-up menu in ACR (e.g. the one for selecting the sorting of the thumbnails) and then click it away again.

In addition, the CPU-fuss starts all over again when I reload already succesfully denoised RAW images into ACR! If I reload several of such images at a time this happens for each single image as soon as I select it in ACR! This last aspect makes it particularly annoying, as sometimes you want to do some re-editing. So you can't simply avoid the problem by only denoising at the end. That only helps if you then don't touch these RAW images anymore.

All this applies to all RAW files I've denoised so far (quite a lot).
If I find a solution, I'll post it of course...

I also work with a Dell XPS 15 9510 Laptop under Win 10 with i7-11800H CPU, RTX 3050 Ti GPU, 64 GB RAM - with no issues,
and with an old Dell Optiplex 5070 MT under Win 10 with i5-something CPU, RTX 3060 Ti V2 Mini GPU, 32 GB RAM - with no issues.
I compared the settings to no avail.

[redcrown on guard]

Welcome to the club, Zaphod. I have since reached out to 4 other Photoshoppers from a local photography club. All 4 are technophobes, but they let me nurse them through the test sequence, and all 4 showed the same runaway CPU following Denoise AI. These guys take everything out-of-the-box and never modify their Windows. I suspect they are even on Microsoft auto updates!

I expect (and hope) Adobe will quietly fix this issue in a future update. I imagine they are working on all the "AI" stuff to improve efficiency. Just be patient.

[redcrown on guard]

Finally got some Adobe updates via Creative Cloud today. Now we have ACR version 17.3.0.2224.

Sadly, this new version does not fix this runaway CPU problem. On my Windows 11 desktop system at least. I'm tired of asking others to test, but confident it's still there.

[Zaphod 4200]

Same here, even with ACR 17.3.1.2227

Sigh

[redcrown on guard]

Today I installed a "fresh" Windows 11 Version 23H2 on my desktop PC: 12th Gen Intel Core i7-12700KF/3.60 GHz, 64GB. So, no Windows mods/hacks/debloat, no 3rd party software. Then I installed Adobe Creative Cloud, and used it to install Photoshop (26.6.1) and Bridge (15.0.4.534) and ACR (17.3.1.2227). In other words, a system as virgin and up to date as possible.

I loaded a Canon CR3 raw file into ACR with Bridge. Launched Task Manager to monitor Bridge/ACR CPU, and ticked Denoise AI. After about 8 to 10 seconds of high GPU as the Denoise Window appeared, I still saw about 40 seconds of high CPU, rising to 95% then dropping back to less than 1%. I closed ACR, reopened with the Denoised raw, and saw the same 40 seconds of high CPU.

So, I'm confident I don't have some strange gremlin in my system that causes this ACR-CPU problem. It's got to be fully contained within Adobe.

[redcrown on guard]

Another ACR update to Version 17.4.0.2272, this one in step with a Lightroom update that does Denoise AI without the DNG file.

Doing a Denoise in ACR now takes about the same time for me. And, it still spins the CPU up to 100% after the Denoise is complete. However, it spins the CPU for only about half the time. On my Win11 system the CPU used to spin for about 40 seconds. Now it only spins for about 20 seconds. Progress, I guess.

Also, on my system when ACR is hosted in Bridge, it used to take 30 to 40 seconds for a Denoised Raw to appear in Photoshop after hitting Open in ACR. Now it only takes 4 to 5 seconds. If ACR is hosted in Photoshop, the Open is instantaneous. That's why I've been dragging/dropping Denoised Raw files from Bridge into Photoshop instead of opening in Bridge.

[redcrown on guard]

The mystery deepens. Today I noticed that my ACR in Bridge was no longer spinning the CPU up to 100% following a Denoise AI. Also, not spinning the CPU when an already Denoised Raw is opened in ACR. But the time to Open a Denoised Raw into Photoshop from Bridge/ACR has increased from 5 seconds to 15 seconds. No unusual CPU activity seen during that 15 seconds. Non Denoised Raws open instantaneously.

The only thing that has changed since my previous post is that I updated Lightroom. I never use Lightroom to "Develop", and updated it just to test. I have never seen before a connection between Lightroom and Bridge/ACR. We are always told the Camera Raw code is the same, but physically separate. Bridge loads a separate Camera Raw.8bi file while Lightroom has it embedded in the main code.

The few others here who have seen the spinning CPU, please test under new versions and report what happens.

[redcrown on guard]

Well, my credibility is definitely in question. Today, my ACR spinning CPU on Denoised Raws is back. No system changes or updates since my post 3 days ago, other than several re-boots.

[redcrown on guard]

Another ACR update to Version 17.4.1.2280 today. Says it's only for new camera models, but who knows.

This time I did more thorough testing, including a couple reboots, and found no runaway CPU spinning. Torture tested by Denoising a batch of 100 raws. No gradual slow down, no spinning CPU. So, fingers crossed.

[redcrown on guard]

Well, I'll be a %#$@],  my spinning CPU is back again. And after Denoising about 10 images the process slows to a crawl. Normal 8 seconds becomes 60 to 90 seconds. Close and relaunch = Denoise speed returns to normal.

I refuse to give up, plus I really enjoy talking to myself. I have a cat, so I'm used to it.

[redcrown on guard]

Camera Raw update today - Version 17.5.0.2318. Spinning CPU not fixed. I'm just hanging in there.

[Ken32375170kohg]

I have the exact same issue when I use Denois.  The CPU will continue at aprox 70-90 percent for many minutes.  Very frustrating.  When I uncheck the Denois box the CPU returns to normal.  It all started with the 14.2 update.

[redcrown on guard]

Thanks, Ken... Please tell your system specs. It's not happening to everybody so must be system specific. Windows or MAC? Processor? Version? We need all the evidence we can get in case anybody at Adobe is paying attention.

[Ken32375170kohg]

Windows 11 Desktop PC, 12th Gen Intel i5-12000F 2.5 Ghz Prosessor

32 GB Ram, 4 TB Solid State Storage Drive

On my previous post I said that the problem began with the 14.2 update of LRCC.  However, that was in error.  The problem began with the latest update of 14.4.  With LRCC 14.2 everything worked perfectly.

[Ken32375170kohg]

I also have a Nvidia Geforce RTX 4060 Video Card