High CPU usage in Eclipse when idle

Question

On my multicore machine, Eclipse uses between 100 and 250 % CPU power, even when idling on a new plain install and an empty workspace. When actually doing things, it becomes slo

Answer 1

I've seen such behaviour only when the garbage collector went crazy because the allocated memory really reached the configured maximum memory limits of the VM. If you have a large Eclipse installation, your first step should always be to increase the memory settings in the eclipse.ini.

Please also activate Window -> Preferences -> General -> Show heap status. It will show you how much memory Eclipse currently uses (in the status line). If that goes up to the allowed maximum and doesn't drop anymore (i.e. the garbage collector cannot clean up unused objects), then that is exactly the indication for what I described above.

Edit: It would also be good to know what Eclipse package you use, as those contain different plugins by default. Classic, Modeling, Java EE developers,...?