MT Lion, video memory problem?

[kjlee5435]

Is it normal full usage of video memory on MT Lion?

I use Mac mini 2011 which use HD 6330M graphics chipset.

As you can see attached figure, istat's gpu memory bar is full.

 

[manicwinter]

I'm getting the same thing on my 2011 15 inch Macbook Pro. Some transition animations are now choppy that never were before.

 

[ticotoo]

MT lion video usage

Yes, I'm getting 100% usage on both my MP ATI 5870 (1 gig) and my MBP 6750m, but when I switch to the HD3000 (integrated graphics) the usage shows ~30%. I have 16 gigs of ram installed. This didn't happen in Lion. It appears that ML automatically allocates all of the video memory upon starting. I don't know how this affects graphic performance in ML compared with Lion. Is more GPU memory over 1 gig better for everyday use?
thanks
jeff

 

[manicwinter]

Yes, I'm getting 100% usage on both my MP ATI 5870 (1 gig) and my MBP 6750m, but when I switch to the HD3000 (integrated graphics) the usage shows ~30%. I have 16 gigs of ram installed. This didn't happen in Lion. It appears that ML automatically allocates all of the video memory upon starting. I don't know how this affects graphic performance in ML compared with Lion. Is more GPU memory over 1 gig better for everyday use?
thanks
jeff

I just tried switching to the HD3000 instead of the 6770 and the cube animation for switching users is smoother than with the ATI - ML obviously has issues.

 

[Romasport]

... and increase in heat too?

I presume that's why the temperatures around my GPU have increased. I have a mbp 13 mid 2010, with the Nvidia 320m, and it's the same thing.

 

[zOMGie9]

Im having the same problem - 100% GPU usage on a 2GB HD 6970m! I think this may be an issue with iStat in Mountain Lion because I highly doubt MT would consistently use 100% of everyone's GPU.

 

[50548]

Isn't ALL this supposed to happen exactly because ML offloads more of its work to the GPU?

 

[WesCole]

Same issue here...This also happened in Lion, too, with iStat. I contacted them about it and apparently it is just something with OS X that gives an incorrect reading of used GPU memory...they told me that they are waiting for Apple to fix it.

 

[Icy1007]

Isn't ALL this supposed to happen exactly because ML offloads more of its work to the GPU?

No, no it's not.

 

[Peppery]

I'm having the same issue with the 1GB 6970M in my 2011 iMac 27". iStat constantly shows 100% usage, whereas the Intel HD 4000 in my 2012 Air 13" shows it correctly. I'm not sure if it's an iStat or OS X bug or not, but some of the performance issues I'm seeing are in line with video memory being maxed out. Most Adobe Flash videos stutter and have issues playing in full screen, as soon as I exit full screen mode they play fine. When I connect the iMac over Thunderbolt target display mode to my MacBook Air, I can play the exact same videos in full screen just fine. I definitely didn't have this issue under 10.7.

 

[lotones]

I'm having the same issue with the 1GB 6970M in my 2011 iMac 27". iStat constantly shows 100% usage, whereas the Intel HD 4000 in my 2012 Air 13" shows it correctly. I'm not sure if it's an iStat or OS X bug or not, but some of the performance issues I'm seeing are in line with video memory being maxed out. Most Adobe Flash videos stutter and have issues playing in full screen, as soon as I exit full screen mode they play fine. When I connect the iMac over Thunderbolt target display mode to my MacBook Air, I can play the exact same videos in full screen just fine. I definitely didn't have this issue under 10.7.

Same problem here (2011 27" i7 16GB). Eyetv recordings and live TV were stuttering in fullscreen also. Since 10.8.1 things seem ok, but still testing. The iStat GPU mem meter is still maxed out though...

 

[kftrainer]

I'm having the same problems as the ones that are mentioned above I have a MacBook Pro late 2008 with four gigs of memory Ram
Then my GPU get max out when I start showing videos at full-screen and it either shuts down or automatically goes to sleep. Is this a bug or does anyone have any suggestions about what I should do?

I hopefully solved the problem I went to the System Preference>Energy Saver , and changed the setting from Better Performance to Better Battery Life , and it now runs cooler and my full screen videos (you tube, Hulu,.etc) dont automatically put in my laptop in sleep status or shut it down and I am exclusively used the Electric Adapter instead of using battery power

 

[lotones]

done testing...

...and still stuttering with 10.8.1. I was hoping the Java and Flash updates would help, but nope.

Originally Posted by Peppery > I'm not sure if it's an iStat or OS X bug or not, but some of the performance issues I'm seeing are in line with video memory being maxed out.

I totally agree.

 

[Peppery]

Same problem here (2011 27" i7 16GB). Eyetv recordings and live TV were stuttering in fullscreen also. Since 10.8.1 things seem ok, but still testing. The iStat GPU mem meter is still maxed out though...

Exactly! I was editing some photos in Adobe Lightroom earlier today while streaming music through Spotify and it seemed as if the entire system was choking, which is strange as there's plenty of RAM and everything is on an SSD. I'm going to try a clean install later this week to see if it sorts itself out.

...and still stuttering with 10.8.1. I was hoping the Java and Flash updates would help, but nope.

Damn, that doesn't sound too promising.

 

[quickxlr8]

I did a clean install after having issues with choppy full screen videos (flash, html5, silverlight). Still having the same issue after a clean install

 

[jon08]

Still no fix for this?

My iStat Menus also shows GPU memory bar as full. (I'm on 10.8.2, late-2011 15" MBP).

 

[CIA]

Just upgraded to 10.8.2 from 10.7.5 on a MacPro 2008 with Apple 5870 card and iStat shows 100% video Memory use as well. Causes occasional freezes and restarts. Not happy.