Why is Flash CPU usage so high on my PC?

Report · Apr 19, 2013

To other psoters here - Please do not hijack my thread for any other performance issues with Flash other than high CPU usage.

This thread is (hopefully) dedicated to why the CPU usage on my desktop PC jumps when I go to a page with flash 'content'. Thank you!

I am hoping that there is an answer for why my computer is using a very high amount of CPU percentage when I am viewing flash content?

I am running Windows Vista Home Premium Service Pack 2 on a Gateway GT5432 desktop computer.

I have Shockwave Flash version 11.7.700.169 installed.

I am using Firefox version 20.0.1 (but I have seen same problem of high CPU with Google chrome).

Here is one page that is causing the high CPU usage.

- http://logansroadhouse.com/Default.aspx

That page appears to have lots of Flash content.

If I open that logans roadhouse page, my CPU usage goes from an average of 12%, to 80%!

The process I see jump are:

- Firefox's "plugin-container.exe" goes from 0% to about 50%

- Firefox browser "firefox.exe" goes from around 8% to 14%

- Adobe's plugin "FlashPlayerPlugin_11_7_700_169.exe" goes from 0% to 16%

- TOTAL CPU change from 8% to 80% after opening up just this one page !

When I close the page, the CPU usage goes down again. Open again - CPU goes high again.

Also if I go to the firefox addons page and DISABLE the SHOCKWAVE FLASH plugin, then go to that Logans Roadhouse page, very little of the content I saw with Flash enabled is visible - which I take to mean it is a page consisting of lots of Flash 'content'. Also the CPU usage remains low (8%) if I go to that page - after disabling the Shockwave Flash plugin.

I have seen the CPU also go high on youtube.com pages also - CPU jumps just as I said above - if Flash is enabled. CPU then drops after disabling Flash plugin.

I was hoping you had a fix for my problem? My PC becomes almost unusable with the CPU so high. It sure looks like it is the Flash plugin driving the CPU so high.

Report · Apr 19, 2013

On my system (windows 8, Intel i5 2500K @ 3.3Ghz) I'm seeing the following after fully loading the URL referenced above

Firefox: .3% - 1.2%

Plugin container: .4% - 1.0%

FlashPlayerPlugin_11_7_700_169.exe: .4% - 2.2%

Of course our CPU's are different so I wouldn't expect the percentages to be the same. However, I'm definitely not seeing anything dramatic. Do you notice any difference if you temporarily disable protected mode (see the bottom of the FAQ below)?

How do I troubleshoot Flash Player's protected mode for Firefox?

Report · Apr 19, 2013

I added the line ProtectedMode=0 to that mms.cfg file, and it made very little difference to the overall CPU usage.

The "FlashPlayerPlugin_11_7_700_169.exe" file was lower - at about 6% , instead of 16% - but the other two files were about the same:

- Firefox's "plugin-container.exe" goes from 0% to about 50%

- Firefox browser "firefox.exe" goes from around 8% to 14%

- Adobe's plugin "FlashPlayerPlugin_11_7_700_169.exe" goes from 0% to 6%

- TOTAL CPU changed from 8% to 70% after opening up that page - with protected mode disabled .

(For reference purposes, my PC has an AMD Athlon 64 X2 Dual Core 5000+ 2.60Ghz CPU chip.)

Report · Apr 19, 2013

I have very similar pc specs, same flash version, and use firefox too. I am also experiencing very high cpu usage (80-100%) with any site that uses flash player. When I switch to HTML5 on You Tube the problem goes away. All other video players work fine with low cpu levels. There are many other people experiencing similar problems.

Report · Apr 22, 2013

Thoughtspart3,

If switching to HTML5 is not good for some reason, can you switch back?

That solution would only work for youtube though?

Chris Campbell,

I wrote a letter to logans, and they were already aware that their webpage was causing problems.

A Logan's Roadhouse representative told me they are currently working on a redesign, that will not use Flash!

Their reply was "We are currently upgrading our website and the new site will not have flash capabilities which will resolve this issue"

Chris, did you have any other ideas for a solution to the high CPU usage.

Report · Apr 22, 2013

Unfortunately, no I don't have any other suggestions to the cpu usage. It's possible that there's a problem with Flash and the amd cpu you are using or the bios. I would suggest opening a bug report over at bugbase.adobe.com and include a copy of your system's dxdiag report along with the URL that you have problems with. I can then ask someone on the team to try and find a similar machine (if available) to test against.

Thanks,

Chris

Report · Apr 22, 2013

OK. How do I get a dxdiag report?

what is that bugbase site?

Report · Apr 23, 2013

Chris Carpenter,

I figured out how to create the dxdiag report, and submitted it to bugbase.adobe.com as you suggested.

It is bug # 3548056

Title: Why is Flash CPU usage so high (90%+) on my PC?

Do you have any guess as to what type of attention this will get there?

Will I get some notice, email or update on the "bug report" when anyone decides to work on it, or not?

Thanks,

Matt

Report · Apr 23, 2013

Thanks for adding the bug. Could you try updating your video drivers? The ones you have installed are 5 years old.

http://www.nvidia.com/object/win7-winvista-32bit-307.83-whql-driver.html

Report · Apr 23, 2013

I'm having the exact same problem. My CPU usage will jump from 20% to 60% while watching anything with flash.

Report · Apr 23, 2013

I am willing to update the video drivers. And I hope it helps.

Can I ask you though, I am wondering, if it does not work well on my pc, will I be able to revert to the old drivers easily? Or should I do some type of backup prior to running that driver update executble?

I will probably do this tomorrow, as it's kind of late now. And perhpas by tomorrow I will see your advice on this question.

Thanks,

matt

Report · Apr 24, 2013

Chris,

I updated my video driver 4/24/13. It is now version 9.18.13.783. (From the web page you pointed me to).

Unfortunately, the high CPU usage on pages with Flash content still persists.

Any other advice?

matt

Report · Apr 29, 2013

Hi Chris, I am not getting any reply about the bugbase.com entry. Are you guys giving up?

Is there other software to use in the meantime? I tried that HTML5 trial on youtube, and most of the videos are still ni flash - besides, that only works for youtube page, not the rest of teh web .

Do you have any knowledge about these, or other replacements:

- Gnash

- Lightspeak

- others?

Report · Jul 05, 2013

I am also facing the same problem from last 2-3 weeks since i upgraded my flash player to latest one.

All softwares and drivers are upto-date.

I play wartune MMO flash browser based game (also applicable to youtube videos) which is now using above 80% of CPU. Before upgrading, CPU usage was normal around 5-15% depending upon the events, but not more than 20% even if i open 3-4 accounts of wartune in different windows at the same time. It happens in all browsers (IE10, Mozila22.00, Opera12.15, Chrome27.0.1453.116 m).

I tried all solutions like disabling hardware acceleration, flash cache size to unlimited, clearing all flash cache etc but the same problem.

Please fix this problem as soon as possible.

My System Specs as follows

System

	Manufacturer	System manufacturer
	Model	System Product Name
	Total amount of system memory	4.00 GB RAM
	System type	64-bit operating system
	Number of processor cores	2

Storage

	Total size of hard disk(s)	307 GB
	Disk partition (C:)	18 GB Free (40 GB Total)
	Disk partition (D:)	28 GB Free (34 GB Total)
	Disk partition (E:)	11 GB Free (58 GB Total)
	Disk partition (F:)	4 GB Free (58 GB Total)
	Disk partition (G:)	6 GB Free (116 GB Total)

Graphics

	Display adapter type	Intel(R) G41 Express Chipset
	Total available graphics memory	1759 MB
	Dedicated graphics memory	128 MB
	Dedicated system memory	0 MB
	Shared system memory	1631 MB
	Display adapter driver version	8.15.10.2869
	Primary monitor resolution	1440x900
	DirectX version	DirectX 10

Network

Network Adapter

Realtek RTL8168D/8111D Family PCI-E Gigabit Ethernet NIC (NDIS 6.20)

OS Name	Microsoft Windows 7 Ultimate
Version	6.1.7601 Service Pack 1 Build 7601
Other OS Description	Not Available
OS Manufacturer	Microsoft Corporation
System Name	Y2K-PC
System Manufacturer	System manufacturer
System Model	System Product Name
System Type	x64-based PC
Processor	Intel(R) Core(TM)2 Duo CPU	E4500 @ 2.20GHz, 2203 Mhz, 2 Core(s), 2 Logical Processor(s)
BIOS Version/Date	American Megatrends Inc. 0702, 17-01-2011
SMBIOS Version	2.5
Windows Directory	C:\Windows
System Directory	C:\Windows\system32
Boot Device	\Device\HarddiskVolume1
Locale	India
Hardware Abstraction Layer	Version = "6.1.7601.17514"
User Name	y2k-PC\y2k
Time Zone	India Standard Time
Installed Physical Memory (RAM)	4.00 GB
Total Physical Memory	3.75 GB
Available Physical Memory	2.07 GB
Total Virtual Memory	7.49 GB
Available Virtual Memory	5.80 GB
Page File Space	3.75 GB
Page File	C:\pagefile.sys

Name	Intel(R) G41 Express Chipset
PNP Device ID	PCI\VEN_8086&DEV_2E32&SUBSYS_836D1043&REV_03\3&11583659&0&10
Adapter Type	Intel(R) 4 Series Express Chipset Family, Intel Corporation compatible
Adapter Description	Intel(R) G41 Express Chipset
Adapter RAM	1.75 GB (1,877,536,768 bytes)
Installed Drivers	igdumd64.dll,igd10umd64.dll,igdumdx32,igd10umd32
Driver Version	8.15.10.2869
INF File	oem6.inf (iEGL0 section)
Color Planes	Not Available
Color Table Entries	4294967296
Resolution	1440 x 900 x 59 hertz
Bits/Pixel	32
Memory Address	0xFE400000-0xFE7FFFFF
Memory Address	0xE0000000-0xEFFFFFFF
I/O Port	0x0000DC00-0x0000DC07
IRQ Channel	IRQ 4294967294
I/O Port	0x000003B0-0x000003BB
I/O Port	0x000003C0-0x000003DF
Memory Address	0xA0000-0xBFFFF
Driver	c:\windows\system32\drivers\igdkmd64.sys (8.15.10.2869, 10.14 MB (10,629,408 bytes), 14-11-2012 16:57)

Report · Jul 05, 2013

I am still having the problem too. It seems like this is not getting addressed. The posting has decreased because people are just giving up and learning to live with it. I can only watch 5 minutes of any flash video before my cpu overheats. I have no problem with any other video player. I just don't watch anything flash anymore which sucks but what can you do? If Adobe doesn't fix it there isn't any way for us to do it.

The thing that stinks is that a significant but small number of people have the problem. So, it doesn't get much resourses at Adobe. At least that is the way it seems to be playing out. In their defense it is really hard to isolate any consistent variables because it happens on newer and older systems with a variety of configurations.

If you find a solution please post it here.

Report · Jul 05, 2013

Also, there is another long thread somewhere where a buch of us raised this issue. I can't remember the name but it had cpu in it. A moderator locked it so some of us started posting on this one.

Report · Jul 05, 2013

Hi snd1988, thoughtspart3,

I have downgraded my player to version 10.3.183.86. This has slightly lowered my CPU, but I still do not watch much youtube videos any more. Only when I really need to (like to find a repair video), not for entertainment anymore.

I still have an open bug report here -

https://bugbase.adobe.com/index.cfm?event=bug&id=3548056

But it has not received attention since April, 2013.

I think Adobe is not very motivated for some reason, maybe not enough of us having this problem? I also imagine it is difficult for them to find the reason.

If anyone resolves this, I sure would like to know about it!

Report · Oct 05, 2013

i read a lot about this problem now, and I can come up with a solution, that will not satisfy everybody, but sure did satisfy me. (the cpu priority setting solution does not compute on my xp system; but is arguable on my windows 7 and 8 systems with more than 1 cpu cores. however, on my systems it only works until the program is reopened again, so i guess it is not a real solution after all; mine is.)

all you have to do -and this why some guys will hate me now- is to use chrome resp iron _version 18_ (not that you will also have to find compatible addons like abblock, which are out there; just ask me)

that's it.

besides iron/chrome v18 i have iron/chrome v29 ff v23 safari v5 ie v? and so on where _all of them_ on _all systems_ go as far up as to 100% cpu usage -depending on the # cores; the single core notebook obviously having the most trouble- when _1_ flash video only is played which what resolution soever; i think i don't have to go on about that.

now, what is my concern is, if when this happens on about 30% of all systems on earth combined, the energy cost to the user and the climate should go up a significant amount; so i think adobe should find a solution very fast.

i can see this behaviour for about 2 years now.

as you might expect, chrome 18 has become my #1 goto browser now.

thank you. please reply and suggest.

Report · Jun 03, 2015

Because the flash player coding is absolute crap. I have a 2.8GHZ quad-core intel xeon with 10gb DDR ram and when i open a youtube video the shockwave flash can run close to 90% of the CPU power. How ridiculous is that?

Report · Nov 02, 2015

On our computer there is also high CPU usage using Flash with Firefox. However, the CPU usage is much lower, a third or a quarter, when the very same sites are opened using Flash with Microsoft Edge (the new browser bundled with Windows 10). Consequently, the CPU heats up dramatically with Firefox+Flash, but the temperature is moderate with Edge+Flash. So it seems to be a problem of the Flash plugin for Firefox.

Until the problem is solved by Adobe and/or Firefox, open up Tools>Add-Ons>Plugins in Firefox and change the setting for Shockwave Flash from Always Activate to Ask to Activate. Then Flash will run (and send CPU usage shooting up) only if you want it for some particular feature on a website and choose to activate it.

Report · Nov 25, 2015

Same here petramal. I was running Flash Player version 19.0 r0 within Firefox 42.0 on Windows 7, and disabled it because of high CPU usage.

Report · Dec 07, 2015

You guys might want to try out the 64-bit Firefox Beta. This version uses Firefox's native plugin sandbox, instead of the one that we had to retrofit to 32-bit Firefox. It should also make much better use of available memory on 64-bit machines.

Mozilla Firefox Web Browser — Download Firefox Developer Edition or Beta & Help Determine the Next F...

Report · Jul 31, 2016

I wish but most of add-ons I use can't be run in FF x64.