Cursor for Windows takes up a lot of GPU resources

Bug Reports
1

Where does the bug appear (feature/product)?

Cursor IDE

Describe the Bug

I’m using the latest version of Cursor on Windows 11, and it’s using up a significant amount of my GPU, causing my computer to overheat and experience interface lag. I’ve tried switching the GPU Cursor uses, but Cursor always uses up the GPU I choose (whether it’s an NVIDIA or Intel CPU with integrated graphics).

Steps to Reproduce

Windows11
version:1.7.54
GPU: 4090 for laptop and intel UHD gpu

Operating System

Windows 10/11

Current Cursor Version (Menu → About Cursor → Copy)

cursor version:1.7.54

For AI issues: which model did you use?

gpt5 and claude sonnet 4.5

Does this stop you from using Cursor

No - Cursor works, but with this issue

2

Hey, thanks for the report. This looks similar to a GPU issue we’ve seen.

To help diagnose it, please share:

  1. Process Explorer screenshot: Ctrl+Shift+P → “Developer: Open Process Explorer”
  2. Actual GPU usage (%) from Task Manager while Cursor is running
  3. A test with extensions disabled: launch Cursor with cursor --disable-extensions and see if the issue persists

Also, please try launching Cursor with GPU acceleration disabled as a temporary workaround:

cursor --disable-gpu

This will help confirm if it’s related to GPU acceleration and help us prioritize a fix.

3

Weixin Image_20251029200217_21_24
Weixin Image_20251029200217_21_243145×1159 488 KB

Weixin Image_20251029200116_20_24
Weixin Image_20251029200116_20_243207×1245 491 KB

I found that PID 27268 was consuming most of the GPU resources. I’ve already run Cursor with the GPU disabled, which does solve the high GPU usage issue, but Cursor is still lagging, and the interface switching speed and code editing area rendering speed are very slow.

5

Thanks for the screenshots! I see the ptyHost process (PID 27268). The ptyHost process manages terminal instances in Cursor.

This is important diagnostic info, please test with extensions disabled to isolate the cause:

cursor --disable-extensions

While running with extensions disabled:

  • Does ptyHost GPU usage drop?
  • Are you running any terminals or tasks that might be rendering heavily?

Also helpful to know:

  • Does this happen right at launch, or only with specific files/projects?
  • Do you have multiple terminal instances open?

If high GPU usage persists with extensions disabled, this points to a core Cursor/Electron issue we should escalate. If it goes away, find which extension is causing the terminal rendering issue.

6

i tested cursor --disable-extensions but gpu usage also high.

I’m creating automated trades using a cursor, and there are no tasks that involve high GPU usage.

1 Like
7

Thanks for the additional info, that’s very helpful.

1 Like
8

Press Ctrl+Shift+P and select Preferences: Configure Runtime Arguments. This will open argv.json file. Uncomment the line // "disable-hardware-acceleration": true