Firefox CPU Usage Help!

When I am browsing Reddit (sometimes), load eBay and/or scroll down, outlook.com, Twitch, and a few others, causes my CPU to spike to almost 20% and my fans RPMs to go way up. I have already disabled Hardware Acceleration. What else can I do?

SightUp said:

causes my CPU to spike to almost 20% and my fans RPMs to go way up.

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Check it with browser addons disabled. If cpu is at only 20%, but fans go crazy. I would monitor temps.
CoreTemp is great for that as it sits in your system tray so you can see temps at all times. https://www.alcpu.com/CoreTemp/
If temps are the cause, it may be time to clean the dust out of the system and apply new thermal paste.

My solution to the Firefox problem, which for me was huge memory consumption on my laptop - granted, this is not your issue, except that it is somewhat related, was to switch browsers. I settled on Brave as I found this the closest browser to Firefox in functions.

Never had a problem with firefox.


You can use the esp version.

SightUp said:

causes my CPU to spike to almost 20% and my fans RPMs to go way up.

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20% is completely normal for any web browser (not only firefox) but it depends on web site you're using.
When I browse this forums my CPU is at some 2%-15%, but when I switch to browser game it goes 20%-35%.

It's not browser issue IMO but it depends on web site that is used and also the actions that you're doing on a website.

SightUp said:

fans RPMs to go way up

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You might want to clean up your PC of dust and perhaps re-paste it, fans go to max when the CPU gets hot.
And monitor temps, you intel CPU should not go above 40C when idle.

Like @zebal mentioned, 20% is quite normal for a web browser, especially when most websites load copious amounts of JavaScript and CSS because everything has to be a single-page application these days.

As already mentioned, look at another browser like LibreWolf or Brave which have ad-blockers enabled by default, this should reduce the amount of rubbish like ad-sense scripts and GA tracking being enabled.

x BlueRobot said:

Like @zebal mentioned, 20% is quite normal for a web browser, especially when most websites load copious amounts of JavaScript and CSS because everything has to be a single-page application these days.

As already mentioned, look at another browser like LibreWolf or Brave which have ad-blockers enabled by default, this should reduce the amount of rubbish like ad-sense scripts and GA tracking being enabled.

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Am I the only one who thinks it's crazy we cannot limit the resources at all that this program uses?

SightUp said:

Am I the only one who thinks it's crazy we cannot limit the resources at all that this program uses?

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hdmi said:

How to Reduce CPU Usage in Firefox

You may find Firefox taking too much of your system resources and spoiling your browsing experience. Here's how to reduce its CPU usage.

www.makeuseof.com

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One of the fixes is no longer able to be done unfortunately, the one that is Content Process Limit. How do you do that one now?

SightUp said:

One of the fixes is no longer able to be done unfortunately, the one that is Content Process Limit. How do you do that one now?

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I suppose that the current version of Firefox automatically lowers Content Processing (or does something else that is similar to that effect) when it sees more RAM. The article linked in post #4 in this thread also seems to suggest as much (specifically, the part of it that suggests to buy more RAM does). But there also exists an addon for Firefox, Auto Tab Discard, that can help to greatly reduce Firefox RAM usage especially if you are in the habit of keeping a lot of tabs open:
Another way to reduce the number of open tabs freeing up additional RAM is to close more tabs of course, but then, you might find that too impractical when you need to reopen them. So, to make it more practical you could also decide to check out these addons:
Simple Tab Groups: Simple Tab Groups – Get this Extension for Firefox (en-US)
OneTab: OneTab extension for Google Chrome and Firefox - save up to 95% memory and reduce tab clutter
Tab Session Manager: Tab Session Manager

That said, on my laptop I keep Intel Turbo Boost disabled because AFAIK it's the only easy way to prevent the fan from ramping up loudly. (I can still always turn it back on instantly whenever I want.) My laptop is almost 3 years old, but the behavior has always been the same so I am certain that it's not dust nor needing to repaste the CPU. I buy a new laptop every ~3 years mainly because I find that doing so is a very cost effective way to compensate for software/apps gradually getting more CPU hungry as they continue to evolve with updates. The same about websites, at first the limiting factor is not the CPU, but after 3 years of ownership more and more websites have already become noticeably slower than they used to be. The laptop's got a 3-year warranty period. When that runs out, it's time. Time to ditch the vintique CPU and toss some extra cash in the direction of Intel.