[Socialinterior]

I had this problem and I think I have solved it.

I am running Pro Tools HD 2018.10 on a MBP (mid 2015), 2.5GHz, 16MB Ram. I have 2 external 24" DELL displays - one running from the thunderbolt out, the other from the HDMI. Nice to have that screen real estate.

I usually dock the MBP and operate in clamshell mode, but I have been getting random CPU spikes, which I could clear by opening and closing the mix and edit windows. The CPU when sitting at around 60% would randomly spike up to 100% for no apparent reason, although opening and closing the windows led me to think it had to be something to do with the monitors or graphics.

So I experimented by unplugging the HDMI monitor and leaving the thunderbolt in. Bingo. The CPU level dropped by 30% immediately and no more spikes. So far so good. It looks like PT is having an issue operating with a display driven from HDMI.

This seems to be a new issue. I have run my rig like this on PT 11 and 12 and never had these issues. So if you are running an HDMI display, try disconnecting it and have a look at your CPU meter.