Excessive GPU memory usage when visiting websites (especially watching live streams)
Firefox always uses excessive GPU memory when I watch video and livestream. about:memory shows that the explict GPU memory allocation is only about 200 MB but in the task manager the GPU memory usage is 1GB, and the latter doesn't decrease even if I close the tab. I suspect that this is a memory leak. I searched for Bugzilla and found a similar issue that has been existing for years: https://bugzilla.mozilla.org/show_bug.cgi?id=1386177
Modified by ZeroAurora
Chosen solution
Interesting! Upgrading the driver to the official version does a lot of help! (except the super hard-to-use Arc control lol) It seems that the issue is resolved! I would try again using the other Nvidia video card to make sure that it's a problem caused by my driver. (Previously the memory leak existed even if I switch to Nvidia card in Windows settings - I'm using laptop and have two cards crossfiring) However, I would still recommend the dev team to try to fix it instead of trying to persuade users to upgrade the driver, because the OEM driver is more stable than the official one in many more cases. And moreover, this issue doesn't exist in other browsers. Users may easily switch to other brands because of this. Thank you for your patient help!
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Update: Comfirmed that memory leak won't happen again. If the problem arises again I will report it.
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I recommend you to also see this: https://mzl.la/3WoXCmt
Bithiah said
I recommend you to also see this: https://mzl.la/3WoXCmt
Yes I have tried many approaches, including restarting in safe mode and reinstalling Firefox, but the issue still exists. And this is a problem related to GPU, not CPU. My graphic driver is the latest version offered by my OEM, HP. I would try to upgrade my graphic driver to the latest non-OEM version later but I doubt whether this helps.
Hmmm, well submitting a bugzilla report is the worst case from my point of view. Based on various bugs such as https://bugzilla.mozilla.org/show_bug.cgi?id=1386177 and https://bugzilla.mozilla.org/show_bug.cgi?id=1715957, it seems the issue of very high GPU memory usage has been persisting for a long time. I am sorry I cannot be of any help.
Does this occur on Nightly or Developer Firefox edition as well (if you have)?
Tried on a fresh Nightly version and the issue still exists. I'm upgrading the driver and will try again.
Chosen Solution
Interesting! Upgrading the driver to the official version does a lot of help! (except the super hard-to-use Arc control lol) It seems that the issue is resolved! I would try again using the other Nvidia video card to make sure that it's a problem caused by my driver. (Previously the memory leak existed even if I switch to Nvidia card in Windows settings - I'm using laptop and have two cards crossfiring) However, I would still recommend the dev team to try to fix it instead of trying to persuade users to upgrade the driver, because the OEM driver is more stable than the official one in many more cases. And moreover, this issue doesn't exist in other browsers. Users may easily switch to other brands because of this. Thank you for your patient help!
---
Update: Comfirmed that memory leak won't happen again. If the problem arises again I will report it.
Modified by ZeroAurora
That's great!! Yes, the dev team should have a deeper look on the issue (and fix it). Well, from my understanding, the fastest way to get attention from the devs on an issue/proposal is to post the issue on https://connect.mozilla.org/. The more upvotes you get, the more likely a dev will catch on to it.
Sadly it's still occasionally reproducible. I've posted a comment under a bugzilla bug and hope that it will get a fix.
Every time I tried to use Firefox, I've found that the GPU memory goes through the roof and slows down the laptop. This is despite having a up to date graphics driver. If and when mozilla comes up with a solution to the problem, when they do, Firefox would be a match, speed-wise, for chrome and it's clones.