Sidebar Sidebar
Become a MacRumors Supporter for $50/year with no ads, ability to filter front page stories, and private forums.

Does your rMBP/MBP run hot while playing flash

M

Melons

macrumors member
Original poster
Mar 28, 2012
44
1
So, to try this out. Head out to http://www.twitch.tv find a suitable stream and put 720+ or 1080p on. Open your Activity monitor and locate the flash plugin process, then see how many % cpu its using.

Is Os X really handling flash that bad, because when watching a stream fullscreen and quickly tab to activity monitor that process is at 150% cpu usage while the computer is running really hot(of course it will).

Write which computer, os version and browser you are using aswell.

Thanks
 
Melons said:
So, to try this out. Head out to http://www.twitch.tv find a suitable stream and put 720+ or 1080p on. Open your Activity monitor and locate the flash plugin process, then see how many % cpu its using.

Is Os X really handling flash that bad, because when watching a stream fullscreen and quickly tab to activity monitor that process is at 150% cpu usage while the computer is running really hot(of course it will).

Write which computer, os version and browser you are using aswell.

Thanks
Click to expand...

Yes, it is quite bad. I have a rMBP on 10.8.2. The old nonretina plugin for chrome wasn't as bad. Now it generally runs in the mid 70s with high definition videos. Safari is a little bit better in terms of temps, but safari is crap :).
 
Adobe flash for OSX is a resource hog. I use click to flash to keep it disabled unless I actually want it.
 
T5BRICK said:
Adobe flash for OSX is a resource hog. I use click to flash to keep it disabled unless I actually want it.
Click to expand...

Yeah, i have no problems except when i want to watch some streams, then its flash only, and it looks like html5 streaming for those sites is not close either. Sad really.
 
I use Flash on Safari with ClickToFlash to control which content plays, and I have zero issues with it. Generally speaking, Flash is notorious for consuming system resources, raising temps and decreasing battery life. For Flash-related issues:
  • Find your Flash version and make sure it's the latest version available. Never install or update Flash from a pop-up on a website. Always go to Adobe's site to get Flash or updates.
  • Install ClickToFlash (Safari), Flashblock (Firefox) or FlashBlock (Chrome) to control which Flash content plays on websites.
  • Try using the YouTube HTML5 Video Player to watch YouTube videos, when available. (May impact fullscreen viewing. See link for details.) Some have reported better performance with HTML5, while some have reported worse. Try it and find out what works best for you.
 
Fans are idling at their normal 2000 rpm speed. Temps in the low 60s. I took 1000 samples in top for the affected process whilst running the clip in full screen mode. I get an average CPU usage of about 110%. It's basically what I expected from flash.
 
GGJstudios said:
I use Flash on Safari with ClickToFlash to control which content plays, and I have zero issues with it. Generally speaking, Flash is notorious for consuming system resources, raising temps and decreasing battery life. For Flash-related issues:
  • Find your Flash version and make sure it's the latest version available. Never install or update Flash from a pop-up on a website. Always go to Adobe's site to get Flash or updates.
  • Install ClickToFlash (Safari), Flashblock (Firefox) or FlashBlock (Chrome) to control which Flash content plays on websites.
  • Try using the YouTube HTML5 Video Player to watch YouTube videos, when available. (May impact fullscreen viewing. See link for details.) Some have reported better performance with HTML5, while some have reported worse. Try it and find out what works best for you.
Click to expand...

Good instructions, but it has nothing what so ever to do with my issue. Try watching a stream in 720p+ on twitch and then report back on cpu use.
 
Melons said:
Good instructions, but it has nothing what so ever to do with my issue. Try watching a stream in 720p+ on twitch and then report back on cpu use.
Click to expand...

And you report back on technical understanding. Optimizations and API's are paramount in GPU HW accelerations. Apple don't share much. It is what it is. I can watch 720p just fine but only because my chips is supported. I get 28-30% on 720p on Twitch HD 4000. 16-22% on GT650m. But it is quite lame watching kids play video games regardless.
 
Last edited:
derbothaus said:
And you report back on technical understanding. Optimizations and API's are paramount in GPU HW accelerations. Apple don't share much. It is what it is. I can watch 720p just fine but only because my chips is supported. I get 28-30% on 720p on Twitch HD 4000. 16-22% on GT650m. But it is quite lame watching kids play video games regardless.
Click to expand...

Thank good the all knowing just entered the thread to tell us what is lame or not. Which chips might that be?
 
derbothaus said:
And you report back on technical understanding. Optimizations and API's are paramount in GPU HW accelerations. Apple don't share much. It is what it is. I can watch 720p just fine but only because my chips is supported. I get 28-30% on 720p on Twitch HD 4000. 16-22% on GT650m. But it is quite lame watching kids play video games regardless.
Click to expand...


Many feel that watching people play sports is lame (and many pro gamers aren't kids).

OT - OP, flash is a poorly coded, terrible piece of software. Higher temps, CPU usage and system slowdown are not unexpected.
 
Melons said:
So, to try this out. Head out to http://www.twitch.tv find a suitable stream and put 720+ or 1080p on. Open your Activity monitor and locate the flash plugin process, then see how many % cpu its using.

Is Os X really handling flash that bad, because when watching a stream fullscreen and quickly tab to activity monitor that process is at 150% cpu usage while the computer is running really hot(of course it will).

Write which computer, os version and browser you are using aswell.

Thanks
Click to expand...
Wow... Is Flash on OS X even using hardware acceleration (the graphics card)? 150% CPU while also using the GPU at least sounds absolutely ridiculous. Flash should by using the GPU by now though?
 
Melons said:
Good instructions, but it has nothing what so ever to do with my issue. Try watching a stream in 720p+ on twitch and then report back on cpu use.
Click to expand...
As I said, I have zero issues with Flash:
ScreenCap 2012-11-30 at Fri, Nov 30,11.15.01 AM .PNG​
 
Flash is a resource hog; it's been established a long time ago.

Anyways it's using about 40% CPU on my computer for 1080p.
 
I don't have flash installed on my Macs, including my rMBP. If I need flash, I will use Chrome as it is installed as a plugin or whatever in that browser. But, other than that, I don't allow flash on my computers. It's a bloated pig, and it sucks up tons of resources and slows everything down.

BTW, as soon as I am done with Chrome, I close that browser down. I don't let it stay running because I don't want flash gumming up my system. Flash sucks.
 
Melons said:
Well that is really wierd. What version of flash are you running? Done anything else that might have an impact?
Click to expand...
As I said before, I use ClickToFlash to restrict which Flash content plays, which greatly reduces added resource demands from Flash ads and other Flash elements of sites I visit. Only the content I want to see is allowed.
ScreenCap 2012-12-01 at Sat, Dec 1,11.30.33 AM .PNG​
Melons said:
Which retina build do you have btw?
Click to expand...
I don't have a rMBP. I'm getting those results on a Early 2008 non-unibody MBP running Snow Leopard.
 
Mine runs just fine. It's actually running cooler than my late 2011 15" cMBP.
Flash is not optimised under OSX because Apple doesn't want to cooperate and help them improve it.
Sure, blame Flash or Adobe or Apple or whatever... I think it runs decently enough.

PS: From what I can remember, video content isn't GPU accelerated under OSX, it uses only CPU rendering ( that's why the high CPU usage ). I remember there were quite heavy discussions on this subject a few years back... and they ended in Apple refusing to collaborate with Adobe to improve the player and I think they've also came up with some restrictions, kinda killing the chances of Adobe engineers implementing proper GPU acceleration. Again, don't take my word on this ( it has been a while since ), but that's what I can recall right now ( although I've been developing applications for the Flash platform since 2002, I've never focused on video / audio )...
 
Last edited:
So, i reinstalled my rMBP thinking it would give me some improvements on the cpu usage when it came to flash, but no. Attaching two screenshots of me running A. 1080p stream, i just came out of fullscreen when the screenshot was taken. B. 3x1080p stream(even though the other 2 is in other tabs) and as in A i just came out of fullscreen.

A: http://i.imgur.com/zB1tT.jpg

B: http://i.imgur.com/L1vYk.jpg

The highest % in the activity monitor is Chromes pepperflashplayer. And yes, its the same in safari. Almost 300% cpu usage and 96 degrees celsius from 1 1080p stream doesnt not feel right.

If people want to try the same, the stream link is http://www.twitch.tv/phantoml0rd

Have it fullscreen for 20-30 sec, press escape and take a screenshot really fast.
 
Have you tried disabling Chrome's PepperFlash? I know you said it was the same with Safari but if it doesn't help with the temps, at least you'll stop having audio syncing issues ;)
 
dastinger said:
Have you tried disabling Chrome's PepperFlash? I know you said it was the same with Safari but if it doesn't help with the temps, at least you'll stop having audio syncing issues ;)
Click to expand...

I have not, but since it will use the standard flash instead of Chromes, it wont make a difference. Not sure if i had any issues with audio being out of sync either, is this Os x only or pepper flash in general?

Would be great if 2-3 people could try this on their Macbooks. Ran the 1080p stream on my W8 computer, 30% usage. I know flash is poor for os x, but requiring 10 times more cpu usage is just bull...
 
Look at your thread count, its really high. Closing some of those tabs will help. As stated several times, install Click2Flash.
 
Last edited:
jpeezy said:
Look are your thread count, its really high. Closing some of those tabs will help. As stated several times, install Click2Flash.
Click to expand...

It wont help anything sadly. And why would i install Click2Flash when i want to watch flash? If people could just do what i ask for, which takes 1 minute, so i know if i should get my rmbp checked at.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Register on MacRumors! This sidebar will go away, and you'll see fewer ads.
Top Bottom
Back