Massive CPU Spikes on intel i9 macbook

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natemiles
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Joined: Sat Jun 25, 2022 10:41 pm

Massive CPU Spikes on intel i9 macbook

Post by natemiles » Sat Jun 25, 2022 11:09 pm

Hey guys,
Ive been on an intel i9 macbook the last year and a half. Specs are high, 32gb ram, 2tb storage (which i have plently of left) and have been experiencing very sudden cpu issues the last couple weeks. Sessions i could usually run no problem are now unplayable. No new installs, did not change anything in what i was doing. Large sessions work fine after a restart, then after 20 minutes of use ill start idling around 90% cpu and it does not resolve itself. Computer should be more than capable of handling what im throwing at it. No general problems with browsing or other tasks.

Gone through and updated all the plugins im using regularly. went to apple store and checked battery health. anyone know any issues i may be overlooking or causes for the sudden problems?

Thanks guys!

entropy_disorder
Posts: 1
Joined: Sat Jul 02, 2022 7:20 am

Re: Massive CPU Spikes on intel i9 macbook

Post by entropy_disorder » Sat Jul 02, 2022 7:29 am

I have the same specification too, and massive CPU spikes... Always glitchin my soundcard that receives sound from my outboard synth, with just 30 tracks, but a lot of audio recording. Its something within Ableton 10 or the external instrument device, as if I monitor via my soundcard software, there is absolute no CPU glitch affecting the sound from my soundcard.

Like the OP said, our laptop has quite high spec already. Anyone successful run their Live 10 smoothly on i9 Intel, and Big Sur?

Machinesworking
Posts: 11408
Joined: Wed Jun 23, 2004 9:30 pm
Location: Seattle

Re: Massive CPU Spikes on intel i9 macbook

Post by Machinesworking » Tue Jul 05, 2022 8:44 pm

I don't have this specific laptop but there's really not enough information here to know what the issue might be. CPU spikes can happen from all sorts of problems, especially with third party VSTs, even just heavy CPU internal ones like Wavetable etc.

The first thing to do when something seems to have changed in the way CPU is working for a setup is to document the setup: the exact model laptop, how many cores? What plug ins are active in the song? What audio interface is being used? Is it a certain point in the song that the CPU spikes?

I've used Kontakt for years for instance and certain scripts in a heavy sample library loaded will spike the CPU in Ableton. Opening Activity Monitor and looking at the CPU history window is a good thing to do as well. Lets you know if it's an internal spike to Live or the system etc.

BambaGreen
Posts: 1
Joined: Mon Jul 25, 2022 3:52 pm

Re: Massive CPU Spikes on intel i9 macbook

Post by BambaGreen » Mon Jul 25, 2022 3:53 pm

I'm experiencing the same issues, I can barely work with 3rd party instruments like NI since updating to the latest Ableton 11.1.6 + macOS Monterey. It's a nightmare. 30 seconds into the session I'm getting massive dropouts and computer heats up + extreme noise fan. I don't know what to do

Mark Williams
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Joined: Sun Aug 10, 2014 2:43 pm
Location: Kent

Re: Massive CPU Spikes on intel i9 macbook

Post by Mark Williams » Mon Jul 25, 2022 4:20 pm

Too little info to even start to help!!
Live 11, M1 Mac Mini, Push 2, Scarlett 18i20 & ADA8200, Softube Console 1 Mk2, Deepmind12, Hydrasynth, Cobalt 8M, Moog Subsequent 25, IK Uno Synth Pro, Plethora X3, Nord Drum 3P

Machinesworking
Posts: 11408
Joined: Wed Jun 23, 2004 9:30 pm
Location: Seattle

Re: Massive CPU Spikes on intel i9 macbook

Post by Machinesworking » Mon Jul 25, 2022 8:17 pm

So the basic issue here is not very defined, but one thing comes to mind right away. This is looking like a third party conflict with some VST/AU or another. Some plug in is acting up with some update you guys did.

So the way to solve this is two fold, find a Live set that starts acting up and spiking and starts removing plug ins from it one at a time, so for instance remove all copies of Massive from a set and see what kind of difference that makes, if it makes no difference hit Undo and remove another plug in (and any copies in the set).

After that if you get one plug in that's spiking the CPU at a crazy rate, try a Live set without that plug in, and see if the problem remains. There's not any easy way around this, but because it's happening in Live sets on a regular basis you have a set of plug ins that can be certainly likely the problem. The one positive of this is it's also possible that it's just a problem with one format, so say it's Kontakt that's acting up, it might only act up with the AU version, so replacing it with the VSTi might do the trick.

The other ugly is your laptops might be thermal throttling, in that case looking at Activity monitor, and third party ,monitoring solutions like stat menus https://bjango.com/mac/istatmenus/ that will tell you when you're cores are overheating etc. Istat Menus is a whole $12, and has a trial period.

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