High Power Usage (Fan Spin Up) When Typing Only When Sync Is On

Bug reports
1

Steps to reproduce

Obsidian Windows 1.12.5 (Installer 1.12.4)
Shortly after beginning to type in obsidian my fans spin up and I see power usage spike for the obsidian.exe process in task manager. Regardless of community plugins off or on. Regardless of hardware acceleration off or on. Regardless of vault on external hard-drive or internal C:\ drive.

Did you follow the troubleshooting guide? [Y/N]

Yes

Expected result

Should be able to type in obsidian without my fans turning on and without “high power use” showing in task manager.

Actual result

Even when community plugins are disabled (restricted mode). Even when hardware acceleration is turned off, I begin hearing my fans run on my laptop shortly after I begin typing in obsidian. While watching task manager, I see the power usage of the obsidian.exe process move from “low” to “very high” power usage. This only happens when obsidian native sync is on.

Environment

SYSTEM INFO:
Obsidian version: 1.12.5
Installer version: 1.12.4
Operating system: Windows 11 Pro 10.0.26200
Login status: logged in
Language: en
Catalyst license: insider
Insider build toggle: on
Live preview: on
Base theme: dark
Community theme: Things 2.1.20
Snippets enabled: 1
Restricted mode: on
Lenovo Thinkpad P16 | Intel i9-12950HX | Nvidia RTX A4500

Additional information

1 Like
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4

Any ideas?

5

I have been unable to reproduce excessive levels of CPU usage when sync is on and typing.

6

Indeed, well how should we troubleshoot this then?

7

In the inbox we tried to disable hardware acceleration.

Does the same thing happen if you set up Obsidian Sync in the sandbox vault? Sandbox vault - Obsidian Help

8

Thank you for your response.

When I open a sandboxed vault and connect to sync, it does have the high battery usage and resultant high fan use issue while typing.

9

And just to reiterate, I still get the issue on my personal vaults even in restricted mode with no community plugins.

10

+1 for this. I am experiencing the exact same thing.
It does not matter the state:

  • Live preview on or off
  • Restrict mode on or off

The only thing that makes a difference is the native sync:

  • on => very high CPU usage and fan
  • off => normal CPU usage and no fan

SYSTEM INFO:
Obsidian version: 1.12.7
Installer version: 1.12.7
Operating system: Arch Linux (Wayland/Sway)

11

I recently got an M2 Macbook Pro. Upon installing Obsidian and interacting with my vault, I experiencing the same issue of High Power Usage While Typing Only With Sync On.

Once again this high power usage occurs even when with community plugins turned off and with hardware acceleration turned off.

12

Interestingly, when I open the “view files” dialogue under sync to see the files currently being uploaded. The Obsidian Helper (Renderer) Process Uses six times more energy while watching the file being uploaded. Not sure if that is helpful.

13

if you pause sync and then type, is the power consumption still high?

1 Like
14

Power consumption is not high when I pause sync.

1 Like
15

The “Obsidian Helper (Renderer)” Process Uses six times more energy typing when I have obsidian sync on.

When I have sync off it moves into the 500 range in activity monitor. When I have sync on it moves into the 3000 range.

16

Could I open the developer pane in obsidian, go to performance tab, and create a trace recording? I am not sure how to do that the best way.