Mac-shuddering issues

[mattlef]

Hey everyone.

i know that this is kinda taboo, but I was asked to troubleshoot for the people i intern for.

The device is a new Macbook with Leapord.
Basically, when the mail application is used, the screen starts to shudder and the processor seems to be at high usage. (wheel keeps on a spinnin)
Recently, there has been an update applied to the macbook (or so i'm told) so I'm assuming that this could actually be the major cause of the issue. i personally think that its a driver issue matched with a shotty update to the mail application that causes the CPU to work harder then needed.

What do you think?

[lowfat]

Who is your email provider? A massive email coming in can cause this a lot of the time.

[mattlef]

Email provider is internal, host provided through the web-page.
As well, the search function is very sketchy. It seems to have trouble actually finding what you want it to.

i think the issue with the screen shaking is a GPU load issue, or a Heat issue... because we always have the macbooks plugged into a power source.

[mattlef]

Did a bit of research, and I guess this is a widespread problem. Apple seems to have done a great job at controling the negative attention this problem gets, but it seems that there are a few issues that cause this "flicker".

- the CPU loads up for no apparent reason, and seems to overload the GPU... causing the stutter...
- the light adjustment sensor is faulty
- internal cable from mobo to monitor is faulty.

For this case I'd have to say its the CPU randomly on load. I'm wondering what tools are available to macs that can allow me to track cpu usage, and if its a hardware or OS issue?

[MacJunky]

/Applications/Utilities/Activity\ Monitor.app


Or just open up /Applications/Utilities/Terminal.app
then type "top" without the "