Pro Tools LE 6.9 high cpu when idle

[steve_canuck]

Hi there,

I'm using Windows XP with PT LE 6.9 and an original USB based MBox. My CPU is a 1.6 GHz Centrino and I have 2 GB of RAM.

When I start Pro Tools the first time, the CPU just goes to 95-100% usage right off the bat. After 2 minutes, Pro Tools still hasn't come up on my screen. I can see in the process list that it's there with 95-100% usage.

So I kill the process, and restart Pro Tools. The second time, Pro Tools comes up. But right off the bat, it's still at 95-100% CPU, even without a session loaded. I notice the process is at normal priority, and it has 20 threads.

Or even if I load a session and the computer is currently idle, PT always seems to consume very high CPU.

If I go to Display->System Usage, I don't see any CPU usage on the meters, however, when I've left PT idle.

I've tried changing my CPU settings in the Playback Engine. I like to keep them at 85%, but even at 65% I don't notice a difference in this behavior.

Does anyone have an idea about what may be going on here? If I run my computer at high CPU all the time like this, my obvious concern is it's going to burn out much faster.

As a programmer, the obvious thing that comes to mind is with 20 threads, Pro Tools might be spending its time context switching even when idle, and I have no idea how I would go about changing this sort of behaviour?

Thanks for your help.

Cheers,
Steve

[The Weed]

IIRC this is normal behavior for Pro Tools on laptops. See this thread.

Cheers,

[steve_canuck]

Thanks for the link. It looks like I'm screwed in terms of my current setup then. Either I have to pony up the dough for a new desktop machine, or I have to buy a newer version of Pro Tools.

[The Weed]

Not sure if the problem has been fixed in newer versions. Sorry, I only have a desktop not a laptop. Perhaps someone else will chime in who does know.

Cheers,

[steve_canuck]

Thanks a bunch for your help. The thread you sent had the answers - the problem seems to be fixed as of PT LE 7.4. It also explained that the 100% CPU consumption was intentionally implemented by Digi because of laptop power management behaviours. It seems some of that logic has been rethought!

Cheers,
Steve