MATLAB consuming a lot of CPU while idle

I have noticed in my machine that some processes started by MATLAB are consuming a lot of CPU power while MATLAB being idle (I can tell because my computer fans never stop until I close MATLAB!).

Checking the processes, I can see two instances of "jxbrowser-chromium.exe" always taking +15% of CPU time each (see image below).

My MATLAB instance is usually open with a MATLAB project loaded and idle (not running any scripts or functions or anything that displays the "Busy" label in the Command prompt).

Any suggestions or things I can try to make MATLAB consume less CPU?

Thanks in advance!

Answer 1

[Harsh Mahalwar]

Hey Isaac,

I understand, you are looking for ways to limit MATLAB CPU usage.

Here are some ways to do so:

1. You can try decreasing the priority of MATLAB proccess, to do so you can simply go to details in your taskmanager, find MATLAB proccess, right click on it and change it's priority.
2. Limit the number of parallel workers, If you are using parallel computing in MATLAB, reducing the number of parallel workers can help lower the CPU usage. To do so, you can adjust the number of workers using the parpool command or by modifying the parallel pool settings.
3. Optimize graphics settings, for example, you can disable certain graphics features or reduce the resolution of plots to lower the computational load
4. Use MATLAB compiler instead, If you have MATLAB code that runs in the background as a standalone application, consider using MATLAB Compiler to create an executable file. (this might not help much in your case)

These methods might help you in reducing the CPU usage of MATLAB but if they don't, feel free to reach out to MATLAB email support (If you have a valid license).

https://in.mathworks.com/help/matlab/ref/maxnumcompthreads.html

You can click on this link to learn more about limiting the CPU availablity to MATLAB.

Best regards,

Harsh Mahalwar

[Isaac De La Cruz]

Hello Harsh!

Thanks for the quick response.

Actually (while MATLAB being idle), I do not use any of the points mentioned above. I am okay with MATLAB consuming processing time, but not while being idle.

I tried just killing the "jxbrowser-chromium.exe" processes and MATLAB did not crash at all! (I know it has to do something with MATLAB documentation window). It may not be a good solution, but it keeps my PC not sounding like a furnace while having MATLAB idle.

However, I am interested in the bullet 3), how can I modify the graphics settings and reduce plots resolution?