3ds Max minute-long calculations but CPU usage 5%

#1

3ds Max needs a long time for many operations, for the Retopology Modifier (default settings) of a model with 150,000 vertices it takes about 30 minutes. I think the whole process only runs on the CPU not GPU.

Processor Intel ® Core ™ i7-6820HQ CPU @ 2.70GHz 2.70 GHz
Installed RAM 16.0 GB

I wonder why the CPU is not fully utilized during these lengthy operations only 5-10% (especially if the process is not optimized for multithreading and only runs on one core)

Can it be that something is wrong with my hardware or that the settings are wrong?

#2

Article on Multithreading for viewports and some features of 3ds MAX

You could try this tutorial -
Retopology on youtube

Retoplogy Article

Optimization Modifiers

I think the best approach for creating/re-creating a 150,000 vertices model would be

  1. Reduce the face count. (optimization modifiers)
  2. then add turbosmooth/subdivide/quadrify/retopology.

Many of 3ds max modifiers have an option of displaying results - only while rendering/while working in viewport, this could save you some GPU/RAM usage.
I dont know how big is your scene…
But -
16gb RAM is a little low… (there are many factors to consider).

Keep a copy of your scene… as a backup… only then try this…