Lightroom uses PC resources inadequately (Win 7 64 bit, core i7 CPU)

Question

Generating standard and full sized previews for a sizeable catalogue can take hours. However, I have noticed that during the procedure the CPU utilization rarely goes above 25% (Win 7 64 bit, Core i7 960 CPU, 3.2 Ghz, 8 virtual cores), and Disk Utilization sits around 15-20% highest active time (in Win 7 Resource Monitor). So what prevents LR from speeding up? Apparently nothing but the intrinsic inefficient coding. If my observations are correct, this is a bug and needs to be addressed. Can anybody confirm?

Answer 1

We have about the same rig:
Win 7/64 Pro, Service Pack 1.
Intel Core i7 980X at 3.33 GHz.
ASUS Rampage 3 Extreme Board.
Corsair Dominator 12GB, PC12800, DDR3, 1600MHz memory.
OCZ 240GB RevoDrive X2 PCI-Express x4 SSD Raid 0, boot drive.
WD VelociRaptor 300GB SATA-3 data drive.
OCZ 120GB Agility 2 SSD Win cache and Lr raw cache drive.
EVGA 768-P3-1362-TR GeForce GTX 460 Dual DVI graphics cards.
HP LP3065, TFT, wide gamut, 2560 x 1600, 30”, main and second monitors.
This has been used since January and Lr is fast, full size previews take less the 1/2 second each to complete, and exporting 4200 JPEG images is completed in 14 minutes.  Library to Develop switch time is a bit slow, about 2 seconds, the first time, instant thereafter for the entire session.  The spot removal tool does on occasion slow for a few seconds, but recovers completely, again for the session.  Everything else has no lag time.
The 2560 x 1600 monitors were initially a problem, slowing everything down,  when they were configered properly, everything performed at full speed, all 12 virtual cores are now often over 80%.
Our Win7/64 performance rating is as follows:
Processor               7.8
Memory                   7.8
Graphics                 7.6
Primary Hard Disk 7.9
The above excellent scores were not affected by the initial problem of monitor configeration.
If I were you, a check for the latest graphics card drivers and a check their proper configuration would be the first step.  A minimum of 8GB of RAM is recommended.  A utility check of all memory and disk I/Os is also a good idea.
Since you did not mention any details of your setup, the above are just general suggestions.
If Adobe's code was your culprit, this community would be the first to know, and few of us would be satisified.  Obvioulsy that is not the case.
Good luck