gnome-shell using most of CPU in VirtualBox

Question

I just installed Ubuntu 17.10.1 on VirtualBox an hour ago, and everything seems to lag. I allocated the system 4GB of RAM and 128MB of VRAM. I'm not sure if it's because of the fact that it only has 128MB of VRAM, or something else. (I'm completely new to Linux or GNOME, so please answer in a way I can understand.)

That is sort of expected. Gnome Shell is quit demanding, and might not be ideal for vitualization. — mikewhatever, May 12 '18 at 08:44
You can allocate up to 256MB VRAM by running this command in the terminal: VBoxManage modifyvm "name-of-virtualbox-guest-OS-in-vbox" --vram 256 — karel, May 12 '18 at 16:35
Running an OS on a virtual machine will never provide the level of performance you can expect from running it on bare metal. You might want to run a lighter version like Lubuntu or Xubuntu to see if you get the expected results. — Elder Geek, May 12 '18 at 20:04
What's the host OS you installed virtualbox on? Thank you for helping us help you! — Elder Geek, May 12 '18 at 20:09
I have it too. Any action leads GS to use more than 80% CPU for a few seconds, in which the system is totally frozen. This sounds like a bug. — Hey, May 14 '18 at 09:48
Possible duplicate of How do I find out which version and derivative of Ubuntu is right for my hardware in terms of minimal system requirements? — David Foerster, May 14 '18 at 20:24

muru · Answer 1 · 2018-11-13T03:28:25.720

GNOME Shell requires 3D acceleration, so you need to have that enabled in the VM settings (look for a checkbox for 3D Acceleration in the Display tab of the VM settings):

In addition, you need to install the Guest Additions.

Once both are done (and the OS rebooted), GNOME Shell CPU usage goes down considerably when window management isn't actively being used:

However, the GNOME Shell interface still feels laggy and jerky. Finally, make sure RAM and Video Memory is set properly - should be 4096 MB and 128 MB respectively.

gnome-shell using most of CPU in VirtualBox

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